1. Babi Guling Dobil
Location: Nusa Dua
I have written about how GOOD this is before, and now I’d really like to emphasize how this is the 🔥b e s t🔥 bigul (short for baBI GULing (suckling pig)– cause we locals love to ✨abbreviate✨ everything) and why you have to try it at least once. Now if you have low spicy tolerance like me, please keep in mind that Dobil’s bigul is quite spicier than all biguls that I’ve tried. However, you can always request to have all the spices & seasonings on a separate plate. One thing I really loved from Dobil’s bigul is their soup. It’s a rich pork broth infused with plenty of spices, making it the most flavourful soup to combine with the bigul rice. This place is easily a 10/10 for me, a definite must visit! Make sure to come early though, there’s always a line but it moves pretty quickly. Much better than coming at late afternoon—we went there at 2-3pm and their crisp pork skins had already ran out!
2. Babi Guling Karya Rebo
Location: Kedonganan, Kuta
Honestly the closest competitor to Babi Guling Dobil. Their pork crackers were out of this world, and the spices—I’d say it’s probably stronger & more flavourful than Dobil. The only down side for me was probably their soup. Unlike Dobil’s, the soup at Karya Rebo was not as flavourful. It was almost like plain chicken/vegetable clear soup; still nice, but not what I was looking for. My brother’s favourite was this though, he really loved them pork crackers 🌝.
3. Nasi Ayam Kedewatan
Location: Ubud
It’s always a good to add varieties to our diet, isn’t it? This place is a great choice if you’re looking for chicken after eating heaps and heaps of pork. Similar to the usual Balinese Nasi Campur, it comes with green veggies, satay, and ~spices~. Their seasonings are not as strong as Babi Guling seasonings, but this is easily one of my favorite places to go when I feel like I’ve eaten too much pork lol.
4. Warung Cahaya
Location: Legian, Kuta
So the ones you’ve seen above are Balinese Nasi Campur (Nasi: Rice; Campur: Mix; meaning: rice mixed with proteins/vegetables/seasonings). This one I’m going to talk about is not Nasi Campur. I really loved their Pork Belly Sambal Matah rice. Their pork belly was juicy, tender, and perfectly seasoned. And their Sambal Matah—it was the best Sambal Matah I’ve ever eaten. Sambal (Sambal: Chili) Matah is a refreshing chilli condiment mixed with shallots. It’s a very aromatic condiment, spicy but not too spicy—perfect match to pork belly. I’d usually find eating pork with rice to be too filling and “blegh”, but not with Sambal Matah, definitely a must try.
5. Warung Mak Beng
Location: Ubud & Sanur
We’ve talked about pork (lots) and chicken, so now let’s talk about fish. By now I’m pretty sure you’re familiar already with Balinese cuisine. It’s full of pleasant aroma and strong seasoning. Warung Mak Beng’s specialty is their flavourful fish soup, served with, of course, rice. I’d just say that this is a very comforting meal. They have 2 locations: Sanur and Ubud. We went to their Ubud location for dinner. As you may know, Ubud can get a little bit chilly at night. So this fish soup was a very cozy meal to warm us up.
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