What to Eat in Bali 2026: 15 Dishes You Have to Try (and What to Watch Out For)
Short answer: start with nasi campur and sate lilit, then work up to babi guling. Nasi campur is the plate locals eat every day — rice with a little bit of everything on it — and it is the fastest way to understand Balinese food without any risk. Sate lilit is the skewer you will think about for years afterwards. Babi guling, the slow-roasted suckling pig, is the dish Bali is known for, and it is worth planning a whole lunch around.
Here are fifteen dishes, what each one actually tastes like, how spicy it is, and the two or three things to know before you order.
The fifteen dishes
| Dish | What it is | Spice |
|---|---|---|
| Nasi campur | Rice with a little of everything: vegetables, egg, meat or fish, a spoonful of sauce | Mild |
| Babi guling | Suckling pig roasted for hours over coconut husk, with crackling | Mild, with a hot sauce on the side |
| Bebek betutu | Duck packed with spice paste, wrapped in banana leaf and slow-cooked | Medium |
| Ayam betutu | The same idea with chicken, usually with rice and vegetables | Medium |
| Sate lilit | Minced fish or chicken moulded onto lemongrass skewers, grilled | Mild to medium |
| Lawar | Green beans and coconut with spices, served with rice | Medium |
| Grilled fish with sambal | Whole fish grilled with sambal, straight off the coals | Medium |
| Balinese curry | A rich coconut and spice stew with meat, vegetables or jackfruit | Medium to hot |
| Vegetable curry (sayur) | The same style without meat: jackfruit, long beans, eggplant | Medium |
| Jaffles | Shredded young jackfruit fried into a crisp fritter | Mild |
| Gado-gado | Blanched vegetables, fried tofu and tempeh with peanut sauce | Mild, sweet |
| Sayur urap | Vegetables with coconut and dried shrimp | Mild |
| Soto ayam | A chicken soup with rice noodles and a yellow turmeric broth | Mild |
| Nasi goreng | Fried rice — the most ordered breakfast in the country | Mild, chilli on the side |
| Es campur | Shaved ice with sweet coconut, beans, fruit and condensed milk | Sweet |
The five you should not skip
Nasi campur — the everyday plate
This is the national dish in miniature and the reason most people fall in love with Balinese food. A small mound of rice with a spoonful of this, a spoonful of that: vegetables, a piece of fried chicken or fish, sometimes satay, and a sauce that is sweet, sour and slightly spicy at once.
Order it this way: point at the dishes you want and say "nasi campur" — that is all. At a warung with no menu, this is the safest and best order in the country. Ask for it again if it is good; many locals do.
Babi guling — the dish Bali is famous for
A whole suckling pig, marinated in a sweet, deep spice paste and roasted slowly over coconut husk until the skin crackles and the meat falls apart. It is served with rice, lawar, and a chilli paste on the side that will wake you up.
It is the most Bali dish on the list, and the one you should try at least once — ideally at lunchtime, when it comes straight out of the oven. The most famous version in Bali is served at a small warung in central Ubud that has been turning the spit since the 1970s.
Two things to know: it contains pork (obviously), and it is often sold by weight rather than by plate, so a portion for one is a small plate of meat with rice and lawar around it.
Bebek betutu — the dish that takes all day
Duck is stuffed with a spice paste the colour of turmeric, wrapped tightly in banana leaf and cooked slowly until the meat is falling apart and the leaves have given up their fragrance into it. Traditionally it is a communal dish, ordered hours ahead, and it turns up at family feasts and ceremonies.
It is rich, mildly spicy and deeply savoury. Order it in the morning for lunch, and make sure you have something light planned for the evening.
Sate lilit — the skewer you will remember
Unlike satay elsewhere in Indonesia, Balinese sate lilit is not cubes of meat on a stick. It is fish or chicken, minced with coconut, spices and lime, then pressed onto a stalk of lemongrass and grilled until the outside caramelises and the inside stays juicy.
It is the perfect first street-food order: one skewer, no utensils, and you know exactly what you are eating.
Balinese curry — hotter and deeper than you expect
Bali's curry is built on a paste of shrimp paste, ginger, galangal, turmeric and lemongrass, cooked down in coconut milk until it is thick and almost paste-like. It is darker and more complex than an Indonesian curry you might know, and the shrimp paste gives it a depth that is not fishy so much as savoury and slightly funky.
Ask for "sedikit" (a little) if you are not sure about spice. Most kitchens will not make it milder unless you ask, but they will happily make it less hot.
Ordering at a warung, when there is no menu
This is where most visitors get stuck, so here is the system:
- Find the busiest warung on the street. That is the local one. The empty one with a menu in English is priced for tourists.
- Point at what you want. "That one, that one, and that" works everywhere. Photos help.
- Say "satu" (one) or "dua" (two) to get the quantity across.
- "Nasi campur" is the fallback when everything looks unfamiliar and you want a safe, good plate.
- "Tolong" (please) and "terima kasih" (thank you) are the two words worth learning.
- Check the drinks: "air putih" is still water, "air mineral" is bottled water, "teh" is tea, "espresso" is coffee, and "jus" is juice.
The food-safety basics
- Drink bottled or filtered water, including ice at small stalls. Ice at a busy place with high turnover is generally fine.
- Eat where the queue is long. Turnover is the single best indicator.
- Cooked food that is steaming hot is the safest thing on the table.
- The 24-hour rule: if your stomach is new to Indonesian food, give your body a day to adjust before the spicy-and-raw end of the menu. Nobody has ever regretted the nasi goreng.
- Vegetarians and halal travellers: this is the single most important warning on this page. Babi guling, sate lilit (it is usually pork) and many "chicken" satays contain pork. Order at places that cook to order and say so clearly, and read our halal tourism guide before you go.
What to drink
- Kopi luwak — coffee passed through a civet. The famous version comes from caged animals kept in poor conditions, so the ethical choice is to skip it; there is excellent single-origin Balinese coffee everywhere.
- Young coconut (kelapa muda) — the coconut opened at the top, drunk with a straw. The most refreshing thing on the island.
- Bintang — the local beer, everywhere.
- Arak — a local distilled spirit from coconut or rice wine. It is strong, homemade and unregulated, so drink it as a shot rather than a round.
- Fresh fruit — mango, rambutan, salak (the brown, puckered fruit that tastes like pineapple and apple), and dragon fruit are in season at different times of year.
The rules about eating outside that are not rules but are common sense
- Right hand, or a spoon. The left hand is traditionally used for washing.
- Do not touch the offerings. The small woven palm-leaf baskets on the pavement outside a house or a temple are daily offerings, and walking over them is the one thing locals genuinely mind. See our temple etiquette guide.
- Eat before you swim. The beach-side food is fine; the water is a separate question.
Frequently asked questions
What is the most famous Balinese dish?
Babi guling — suckling pig slow-roasted over coconut husk. It is the dish Bali is known for outside the island, and the version served in central Ubud has been the reference point for decades.
What should a first-timer order in Bali?
Nasi campur. It is rice with a bit of everything, it is what locals eat daily, it comes in dozens of variations, and there is almost nothing in it that will surprise you. Order one, then order a second dish that looks good to someone else.
Is Balinese food spicy?
Less than you expect, with the heat kept separate. Most dishes are mildly spiced, and the chilli paste is served alongside rather than mixed in. The genuinely hot ones are sambal matah and certain curries — ask for "sedikit" (a little) and mean it.
Is Balinese food safe for tourists?
Generally yes, if you drink bottled water and eat at places with a queue. The main risks are untreated water, raw food and undercooked seafood. A busy warung with high turnover is safer than a quiet one.
Is there vegetarian food in Bali?
Yes, and more than most people expect — vegetable curries, lawar, gado-gado and vegetable lawar are all standard. The complication is cross-contamination in small kitchens, so our vegetarian and vegan guide covers how to order it safely.
What is Balinese food called on a menu?
Warung are the small family eateries and restaurants are the licensed places; "mie goreng" means fried noodles. If a menu says "nasi campur", that is the mixed rice plate. See our Ubud food guide for how to pick a place.
Do people eat with their hands?
In a warung, rice is eaten with the right hand or a spoon, and the rest with utensils. In restaurants you will get cutlery. Either way, wash your hands before eating.
What should I try if I only have one meal in Bali?
One plate of nasi campur, one skewer of sate lilit, and a share of babi guling with lawar if you are there at lunchtime. That is a full introduction to the island in one sitting.
Eat well, then go and do something
Most of our activities end at a warung or include lunch, so the food is part of the day rather than a separate trip. If you are choosing between two mornings, pick the one that ends nearer a market — the Ubud Art Market has food stalls every evening, and the rice terrace trek includes lunch at Gong Jatiluwih.
Message us on WhatsApp at +62 851-7516-3718 if you want a recommendation for a specific area or diet.
Related reading: Ubud food guide, vegetarian and vegan food in Bali, and Bali temple rules.