How to find good local restaurants in Bali

As a cook, I have to confess that I am not good enough to talk about the quality of Balinese food but as a food lover, I am perfectly qualified in talking about all the local traditional food and enjoying them. Since I came to Bali, my husband has been permanently shocked how much I enjoy eating Balinese food. As a polite husband, he can't dare to stop me eating but he seems to worry about the quantity of food I eat. However what can I do when I simply can't stop loving the local food, especially all the fish dishes.

There are plenty of reasons why I love Balinese food. They are surprisingly fresh. All kind of fresh juices here contain real fruits and they are unbelievably cheap so I don't have to hesitate to get them whenever I want with main meals. Fresh banana juice and mango juice are impossible to miss.

The foods are very tasty as there are a lots of local fresh spices used for cooking. Especially fresh garlic, ginger, local white pepper and chilli paste make unforgettably delicious local taste.

The portion of the meals are smaller and lighter than western food so I feel less guilty to enjoy them more.

It has been always hard for me to eat fish dishes often enough in Australia even though they are my favourite because they are very expensive. Therefore I am enjoying fish dishes as much as I want here. Quality of the fish is great here. For lunch I ordered a grilled whole fish dish today and the chef brought out a fresh fish to show to me to confirm the size of the fish. He looked bit concerned that the fish would cost me too much. It was only $5. Can you believe this?

Balinese dishes don't look luxurious or fancy. They look like mum's food and taste like mum's food. 

To get the real local taste, you need to find the right restaurants. As there are too many tourists in Bali, many restaurants moderate local food's strong taste by putting less local spices and use more western ingredients to be suitable for tourists. In my opinion, these chances can spoil the real taste of local food. We have tried hard to find decent local restaurants that serve real local food to both tourists and local people and luckily found several great ones for our daily meals. They cook incredibly tasty local food with unbelievably cheaper price. You can't expect beautiful plates and 5 star service from them but you can taste real local meal. So, I would like to share with you some tips to find good local restaurants in Bali. If you need a higher standard food and service, my tips will not work for you but if you are like me happily experience true local food with local price, then I believe that you can get bit of benefits from my tips.

1. Avoid empty restaurants: If there are no one sitting in the restaurant, don't go in even though the restaurant looks good and menu looks delicious. Good local restaurants are always filled by tourists and local people at anytime. Even it is not a meal time, there must be people who are waiting for the food. Therefore, if there are no customers and only staff are sitting in the restaurant, it will be highly unlikely to get delicious local food. 

2. Too long menu never can be good: Normally you can have a look at the menu before you go into the restaurant. If the menu is too long with too many types of food, It means the quality of food would not be great. Especially full of western food list can guarantee that you will have mixed and unknown origin food with taste which is hard to define actually what it is. 

3. If local people are sitting and having food in the restaurant, then you can have, too : Although food prices are seriously cheap to us but they are still expensive to local people. So having a meal at a restaurant is still for a special occasion to them so if they like to eat their food at the restaurant, it can be a good sign for you to enjoy the local food. 

4. Is expensive food better? : Don't presume expensive food will be tastier. That is not always the case here. We used to get food from bit more expensive places at the beginning but the food didn't seem to be better than cheaper ones. At the moment, we normally go same places which provide delicious food with cheap prices and we are totally happy with them. 

5. Restaurant's outlook is not important : One of our favourite places to eat here is called 'Bamboo corner' located in a small lane, poppies 1. When you see the restaurant from the outside (also inside), you would not be convinced to step in but this restaurant is permanently full. Ugly tables, unstable chairs, 100 years old looking decorations and menu board on the wall and cheapest looking cutlery wouldn't bother you when you start earning and paying. You will be surprised when you eat as food quality is excellent and you will be surprised again when you pay as it is unbelievably cheap. Therefore, don't presume the food quality based on appearance of the restaurant. 'Gong's Corner' located a connecting lane between poppies one and two is also our favourite places to eat here so you can try them if you come here. 

I feel sorry for people who don't know how to enjoy local meals when they are in another country. I understand that it can be very different from some people's taste or too strong for them but I believe that we need to try local food when you travel overseas because trying local food can be one of the best ways to feel/taste the differnt culture. 

Please enjoy some Balinese main dish photos below.

 

                        Creamy crab soup

 

 

                    Grilled fish with spinach 

       

 

                 Rice noodle soup (Bihun Kuhan)

 

 

                 Fried rice (Nasi goreng)