It's no secret that getting halal food in Ubud can be tricky. While Denpasar offers a bigger chance to spot one, as 20% of its city dwellers are Muslim, however Ubud represents the more common situation in Bali where less than 4% of its population are Muslim. A stark contrast to the 85% majority nation wide, which make Indonesia a country with the largest Muslim population in the world.

(Yes, Bali is not a stand alone nation but a part of a bigger nation called Indonesia, in case you haven't noticed.)

Well known as the Yoga Capital of Indonesia, and made more famous in recent years thanks to Julia Robert's movie "Eat, Pray, Love," most foodies sought for Babi Guling Ibu Oka when visiting Ubud. Acknowledged as one of the most delicious pork dishes in the world by international TV Chefs, many tried to keep up with Ibu Oka's achievement hence roasted whole pig, or its modernized siblings pork ribs, are two of the most common dish to find in Ubud's restaurants.

Throughout years of Epicurina's food blogging adventure in Bali however, we're able to recommend some Halal food selections worth to try in Ubud. Here they are in absolutely unordered list:

1. Puteri Minang 

Perhaps the most obvious selections is nothing else than the food from a region long associated with Islam and halal food: Nasi Padang, that's what Puteri Minang sells.

With dishes ranging from the well known Rendang Padang, into the more traditional options like Tunjang, Kikil, Otak, and Paru, Puteri Minang offers a wide selection fits the most selective eaters. Just a bit of warning though that car parking space is very limited, and the food here is quite spicy hot.

Alternatively there are also some other Padang Restaurants further down the road, but Puteri Minang is the most famous.

Puteri Minang
Address:
Jalan Raya Ubud 77,
Ubud,
Bali,
Indonesia
Phone: (+62) 361 975577

Halal status: HL2 - Halal by seller's claim

2. Nasi Ayam Kedewatan Ibu Mangku

Perhaps the closest contender to Babi Guling Ibu Oka in term of fame, Nasi Ayam Kedewatan Ibu Mangku is also a long standing brand in Ubud. Serving Kedewatan style Nasi Ayam Bali, where instead of Ayam Betutu, they're using Ayam Gerang Asam.

The other component of the dish are quite typical of Balinese Chicken Rice found throughout the island, like Ayam Sisit, Sate Lilit Ayam, Urab Sayur, Telur Rebus, Kacang Goreng, and Sambal.

Nasi Ayam Kedewatan Ibu Mangku
Address:
Jalan Raya Kedewatan No.18,
Ubud,
Bali 80571
Indonesia
Phone: (+62) 361 974795
⌚ Opens: 7:30 am – 6:00 pm

Halal status: HL1 - Halal by own observation

3. Warung Pulau Kelapa

Located really close to another one of Ubud's most famous eateries, Naughty Nuri's, Warung Pulau Kelapa serves Indonesian and some International food selections.

Led by Chef Lambon, Warung Pulau Kelapa occupies a joglo styled building, with both indoor and outdoor seating, including one set in a cow's cage setting. Another interesting feature of Warung Pulau Kelapa is the garden where guests can pick their own vegetables to be cooked by the kitchen staff, including the less common ones like Bunga Turi, or the edible flower of Sebasnia grandiflora.

To better fit the international audience, Warung Pulau Kelapa also applies #NoMSG policy.

It is not a coincidence then, that Warung Pulau Kelapa sits on the recommendation list of Indonesia's prominent food experts like William Wongso and Bondan Winarno.

Warung Pulau Kelapa
Address:
Jl. Raya Sanggingan,
Lungsiakan,
Ubud,
Bali,
Indonesia

Halal status: HL1 - Halal by own observation

4. Bale Udang Ubud 

Formerly known as Bale Udang Mang Engking, their Ubud branch is quite a new venue, Bale Udang Ubud is perhaps the only large sized restaurant in Ubud that serves Halal food. With parking space fits tourist busses and plenty cars all at once, the venue doesn't sacrifice quality for quantity, as the spaces are beautifully designed around the artificial pond, complete with individual bamboo huts erected over the water.

The restaurant is also well managed, and the foods are actually delicious, with affordable prices. It even has musholla (praying space) with decent facility.

As the name implies, Bale Udang Ubud serves prawn based dishes (Udang = prawn or shrimp) in several varieties like fried, grilled, honey marinated, boiled, or made into soup. They also serves other seafood like squid and crab, fresh water fishes like Carp and Gourami. And for the seafood challenged guests, there are also selections of beef, chicken and duck based dishes. There's quite something for everyone.

Bale Udang Ubud
Address:
Jl. Raya Goa Gajah,
Banjar Teges Kanginan,
Desa Peliatan,
Ubud,
Bali,
Indonesia
Website: http://www.baleudang.com/

Halal status: HL2 - Halal by seller's claim

5. Sitara Indian Restaurant

A decent Indian restaurant offering classic Indian food, which means normally there would be no pork, or beef, just mutton, chicken, prawn, fish, cheese, and lots lots lots of curry. 

Sitara Indian Restaurant

Address: 

Jalan Hanoman 99 X, 

Tegal, 

Ubud, 

Bali

Indonesia

☎ (+62) 361 977195

⌚ Opens: 11:00 am – 10:00 pm
🚗 90 minutes from Airport

Halal status: HL1 - Halal by own observation

6. Taco Casa

Serving Mexican favourite like Tacos, Enchiladas, Burritos, Quesadillas, and Fajitas, it's quite a rarity that they uses only beef and chicken for the meat selection. But we're grateful for that.

Taco Casa

Address: 

Jl. Pengosekan, 

Ubud, 

Gianyar, 

Bali 80571

Indonesia

☎ (+62) 812 2422 2357

✉ social@bali-bohemia.com 
💻 http://tacocasabali.com
⌚ Opens: 11:00 am – 10:00 pm
🚗 90 minutes from Airport

Halal status: HL1 - Halal by own observation

7. Sari Organik

Serving mostly organic and locally grown vegetable dishes, Sari Organik offers selection of local and international vegetarian dishes on their menu. When the menu is not vegetarian, they uses either chicken, or fish.

The catch -- or the beauty, depends on how you see it -- is that you have to walk through the rice fields for about 15 minutes as Sari Organik is located deep in the countryside, where only human and motorcycles (and water buffalos of course) can fit to the narrow path in between the rice fields. Some are so narrow that you have to step aside to give way to motorcycle passing by.

Impressive? Absolutely, if you've never seen rice fields up close before, or having your meal in the beautiful bamboo hut surrounded by lush green rice fields. But if rice fields is already abundant in your regular daily sights, Sari Organik still worth a visit, at least once.

Just don't forget to bring extra clothes and plan your trip outside of Bali's most hot hours. The setting sun do look beautiful to watch from here.

Warung Bodag Maliah Sari Organik

Address: 

In the middle of Tjampuhan countryside
Jl. Raya Tjampuhan, 

Ubud, 

Gianyar, 

Bali

⌚ Opens: 8:00 am – 8:00 pm
☎ (+62) 361 972087
🚗 120 minutes from Airport

Park your vehicle on the roadside, then continue by walking.

Halal status: HL1 - Halal by own observation

8. Bali Bohemia

It's a funky new hangout opened in early 2015, located just outside the Monkey Forest Ubud's rear entrance gate. Bali Bohemia offer various meze (appetizers) from Levantine cuisine, like hummus, tabouleh, and baba ghanoush.

Best reached through Nyuh Kuning, branched off the main Pengosekan street, Bali Bohemia offers a laid back atmosphere with lovely mural paintings, and lots of beautiful beads and trinkets.

Bali Bohemia 
Address:
Banjar Nyuh Kuning,
Jl Nyuh Bojog,
Monkey Forest Gate D
Ubud
Bali
Indonesia
☎ (+62) 361 978361
✉ social@bali-bohemia.com 
💻 bali-bohemia.com
🚗 90 minutes from Airport

Halal status: HL1 - Halal by own observation, HL2 - Halal by seller's claim

Last, some general notes:

1. Should you're nowhere near these recommendations, as a general rule you can expect all Padang Restaurants are 100% Halal, Vegetarian Restaurants are your next best chance to have Halal food, and Indian Restaurants are also worth options to inspect.
2. Most of the restaurants recommended above serves alcohol, which is among the reason why many don't bother to try getting certified by halal certification body (Majelis Ulama Indonesia - MUI) in Indonesia.
3. Observation and personal judgement should always be practiced, as these recommendations are made through a limited mean of personal observation which includes visual and listed ingredients inspection, interview with the restaurant staff, backed up with online research and peer opinions. 

There you are folks, your list of halal food recommendation in Ubud for your holiday. Which one is your favorite? Do let us know should you have other halal food recommendations in Ubud to include in the list. (byms)

One of the biggest pleasure I have as a food blogger in Bali, is when I can present you dear readers, something new and uniquely Bali, and last week we found something perfectly fit that description named Warung Basang.

Located near the Krishna gift shop in Tuban, Kuta, Warung Basang serves quality Balinese food with affordable prices, and authentic home cooking Balinese dishes.

Warung Basang itself was born out of passion to preserve Balinese cuisine tradition, which contains many wonderful delicious dishes, including those less known to people outside Bali. That's why on the menu you'd find lots of interesting selections like Lawar Klungah which uses very young coconut shells (yes its shells!), with a crunchy rubbery texture. Or Tum Ares which uses young banana stalks, beside of the well known Bebek Betutu, or Sate Lilit Ikan Laut. 

For a modern and easy to like alternative, Warung Basang also serves creations like Nasi Goreng Bongkot which uses fragrant torch ginger root and white fish meat.

Aiming for authenticity, Warung Basang ensure they only minimally adjust the flavors to match domestic tourists' palate, including toning down the spiciness standard to better fit non-Balinese heat tolerance level. And we have testimonies from our fellow Balinese foodies in #Mekulicious to certify its authenticity.

That being said, I personally find the heat level of food in Warung Basang still sits on the top end of my heat tolerance range, however my lovely spouse think the spiciness level was just standard and fits her appetite really well.

For you spicy food lovers though, Warung Basang serves six different kind of Balinese sambal to please your appetite.

Outside of the heat factor, I found Warung Basang cooking is flavorful, rich, and memorable. Something I'd happily recommend even to my most reserved, judgmental, annoyingly truthful friends.

Halal Balinese 

What's even more interesting from Warung Basang though, it's something that's very rare in Balinese eateries: a halal standard.

Therefore if you've been wondering how Lawar taste, but was hesitant as you're following a no-pork dietary like majority of muslim are, here's your chance.

Upon asked why choosing halal Balinese concept, Warung Basang's owner Anindya Mantik (Indy) revealed that the decision was come after a thorough research, and her wish to preserve a family's culinary tradition:

The Tuban area was chosen since its close to the Ngurah Rai Airport, and quickly becoming a prominent destination for domestic tourists, especially with the development of new budget hotels in this stretch of street, not to mention the famous shops already residing in this street: Krishna souvenir shop, Joger Bali, and Nasi Ayam Ibu Andika.

While there's already some Balinese eateries in the area, Indy figured none caters a fully fledged Balinese menu yet. On the other hand, one of her fondest memory of childhood was the cooking of her grandmother from Tabanan, which despite her experience living abroad, kept lingering in her mind. 

Her decision to go Halal was further fueled by the fact that most domestic travelers are muslim, and they rarely touch Balinese dishes for fear that it contains pork, while in truth Balinese cuisine is not always about pork. That's why it's becoming her passion also to introduce the halal side of Balinese cookings.  

To ensure the Halal standard, Warung Basang employs a muslim female chef, and source their ingredients from muslim sellers in the nearby traditional market.

Lending her passion in fashion design, Indy ensures that your visit in Warung Basang creates a lasting impression with its comfy atmosphere, that's ornamented with snapshots from the past.

Warung Basang (@warungbasang) 

Jalan Raya Tuban 58A (next to Rahayu), 

Tuban, Kuta, Bali, 

Indonesia. 

Phone: +62 812 3632 0603

Ayam Taliwang RM As Sidiq, Bedugul, Bali, Indonesia

As we are hungry and it's already 2 p.m., we have no other choice but to visit this restaurant RM Ayam Taliwang As-Sidiq specializing in Ayam Taliwang dish from the Lombok island. At the time of our research, it was the most mentioned eating place on the blogs about traveling to Bedugul. The other popular choice was Strawberry House, but it was located quite far from the travel destination, and it focuses on strawberry dishes while our hungry Indonesian stomach long for something more familiar and heavier, hence we picked the Ayam Taliwang instead.

Located right across the parking space for Pura Ulun Danu at Danau Beratan, RM Ayam Taliwang As-Sidiq is housed in a decent old building with various choices of all-Indonesian dishes. Prices are affordable, those who are under tight budget can still get a decent meal for about 20K IDR (around $2). If you are aiming for their specialty however, both Ayam Bakar Taliwang and Ayam Bumbu Taliwang costs almost 30K IDR alone. It's a whole chicken dish but please hold yourself from drooling as chicken used are young ones which is quite petite. It's closer to quail instead of a respectable sized chicken.

Lucky I ordered the Nasi Campur which consisted of rice, a piece of grilled chicken, tahu, mixed vegetable, and sambal. The portion is hearty while the taste was all right; a good hit for a 19K dish.

Scoville's Gado-Gado

My mother in law, who is the reason we're in Bedugul in the first place, is a decent lady in her late 60s. Her upbringing and cultural background dictates, that she should be humble at all times, and she doesn't eat anything unfamiliar, especially when not cooked in Minang custom; which poses a problem since the dishes served at RM Ayam Taliwang As Sidiq was mostly unfamiliar to her. Except for the Gado-Gado which is a Betawi dish, and so she ordered one.

Coming from a Minang background, she's also accustomed to the high level of chillies and oil for all that she can remember, hence instructed the waiter to have her Gado-Gado "pedas".

However, this is Bali, the land where its dishes uses Lombok type of chilli, which far more superior than regular red chillies she's accustomed with. It's more like the fondness of Jawa Barat people in using Cabai Rawit (bird-eye chilli) in their dishes instead of Cabai Merah like Minang culture does, tripled.

As comparison, when the hottest food with Cabai Merah burns your lips and tongue, the hotness of Cabai Lombok is similar with having firecrackers lit inside your mouth. And as the waiter walked away I was just realized those facts, but was too hungry to think straight hence just hoping that "pedas" here doesn't really pedas as I thought it will be.

...

We ended up ordering another plate of Gado-Gado for her, and this time not pedas at all. Anyway she's still suffers from stomach ache for two following days afterward, due to the novel attempt to finish half of the dish before giving up.

A Tame Taliwang

Surprisingly enough, the Ayam Taliwang that the waiter said is the pedas choice, and we anticipated with high curiosity, turned out to be not pedas at all. Yes it's spicy and tasty, but nowhere near pedas. Not in Balinese standard especially. My Nasi Ayam trained taste buds cried their disappointment, but I told them I have no choice.

Another concern is that while the seasoning is good and flavourful, the cooking is not. Both my one-piece grilled chicken, and the whole mini Ayam Taliwang chicken, were dried and lost most of its moisture. The Picky Eater however, think this is perfect and eat almost the whole chicken beside the charity parts she left me with.

As a wrap-up, on overall we found the food quality is still above average, prices are reasonable, service is fast, the parking space is wide, while the dining area itself is clean but a bit disorganized. Wouldn't protest if I should visit them again, however I'm wide open for other options. (byms)

This is a road side stall we discovered earlier this month. We've passed it so many times before and got curious as why this place always attracts so many customers, but was hesitant due to the absence of any sign whatsoever that could signals what sort of food they are selling.

Well it turned out that out sells Nasi Kuning, in the fashion of mixed rice/rice combo that is a common in Denpasar, Bali.

While the taste is not the best we ever had, it is enough to satisfy our crave of Nasi Kuning, not to mention it is dead cheap as well; a dinner for two including ice teas costs only 15K IDR ($1.5). (byms)

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