During my multi-week stay here, I have had the pleasure of my youngest daughter’s company for four of those weeks. When I travel solo, I rarely eat out, it is the predominate way I save money. However, having little bug with me gave me the opportunity to dine out on multiple occasions. These are some of the delicious eats & treats in Bali and an equal number that were just plain average and not worth the price.
Prices
I don’t like to make a simple statement like ‘Bali is expensive’ because that is relative to what each individual deems as expensive. For me though, the prices here have seemed quite high compared to some other Asian countries. Similar enough to western prices high. And for the most part, the food does not live up to those inflated prices.
Bali has become a haven for the digital nomad, especially the Canggu area. Because of this, many, nay most restaurants are geared to foreigners. The flip side is there is virtually no street food, very unlike Thailand, Vietnam and other parts of Asia.
Here is a small run down of where we ate, what we ate and what I thought, plus prices (in CAD).
Ubud
Daily Baguette Ubud – Plain croissant, delicious $2; Almond croissant, terrible soggy stale mess $4
Brie Restaurant & Cheesery – The Big Brie Breakfast, delicious $15; Pancakes, average $8; Burrata, delicious $14, 2 lattes $10
Cosmo – Cosmo breakfast, average $7; Avo toast, average $5; 2 fruit juices, watery $8
Dharma Café – Smoothie bowl, too liquid, bland and simple $5; iced latte & water $7
Seminyak
Ozzies – Nasi Goreng on the beach, great $3; lumpia, great $3; small can coke zero $2 each
Baked – Coconut croissant, too sweet and soggy $3.50; latte, average $4
Canggu
Dang Cookies! – 2 cookies, way to sweet & underbaked, $2.15 each; Chai latte, less than average flavour $3
Crate – Brekkie plate, very good $5.50; smoothie bowl, great $5.50, latte, average $2.50; fresh lime slushie, amazing $2.50
GigiSusu – Croissant, great $3; almond croissant, great $4
Roman Pizza – Carbonara, good $5; Pepperoni, average at best $5
The Avocado Factory – Eggs benny, good $7.50; croissant, great $2.50; juice shot, watery no flavour $3.50; pandan latte, okay, $4
Black Sand Brewery – smashed cheeseburger, excellent $11 each; glass of beer, good $7.25; small cans coke zero $3 each
OakBerry – Acai cup, size small, very good $7
Sanur
Goddes Bakery – smallish croissant, good $2; smallish choco croissant, good $2.50; cappuccino, very good $3
Simply Brew – smoothie bowl, amazing, $5; Indonesian black coffee, great, $2.75
Redback Coffee – iced latte, good $3; cold brew, good $3
Kayu Manis Seaside Restaurant – Corn cake breakfast bowl, terrible $6.50
Glass House – Benedict bagel, less than average, no flavour $7; Signature breakfast, average $7;
Shotgun Social – Fish & chips, great $8; chicken quesadilla, great $6.50; bottle of beer $3.50; small can coke zero $3; 2 soda waters $5.50
All in all, I would rate the food that we ate as average. Nothing blew me away, nothing I would return to the place and order again, except for the smashed burger from Black Sand if I was really craving a burger. There is an over abundance of places to choose from, western food and really any type of food your heart could desire. Visitors will have no problem getting anything they were used to at home, here in Bali.
This is not the norm for me while travelling. Eating out this much is not something I can afford or really enjoy that much. The amount I spent blew any hopes of saving money on this trip to Asia, especially when you add in all of the drinks picked up to take to the beach, pool, and enjoy at home. Bali is not cheap, for me anyway.
