Bali Food

Bali food is delicious and varied. This cuisine centres around fresh vegetables, rice, noodles, fish, pork and spices.

Indonesian food is unique from other foods in Asia, but you can also see the Chinese and Indian influences due to the ingredients used in their cuisine.

Bali Food Prices, Balinese Street Food & Traditional Indonesian Cuisine

Basa Gede is the backbone of local delicacies on the island, in addition to other common ingredients such as shallots, ginger, cumin, palm sugar and pepper. Salam leaves, which can be compared to a bay leaf, are also used in many dishes.

Some common dishes you fill find in Indonesia include Sate (or ‘satay’) which are marinated, skewered and grilled meats, served with spicy sauce. The Indonesian twist on this classic dish is that you will receive the meat which has been minced and wrapped around bamboo or lemongrass. This gives the meat an additional flavour and is absolutely delicious!

A staple of a Balinese diet is Nasi Ayam. Many westerners refer to it is “chicken rice” and is found on most menus. Just be warned that this dish can sometimes be spicy, so if you do not enjoy spicy dishes, ask that it be prepared without sambal (chilli).

Bebek and Ayam Betutu is a traditional slow-cooked meal where a whole chicken is stuffed with spices, wrapped in banana leaves and bark and then baked for 6 hours. Lawar is another Balinese staple consisting of chopped meat, vegetables, grated coconut and spices.

There are so many traditional Balinese dishes with street food prices as low as 1,000 IDR ($1 AUD). So on your next visit to Bali, make sure to taste some of these favourites.