In less than a month, The Boy and I will find ourselves back on the beautiful island of Bali. This time, we are returning with Thanh from @ieatblog and Emma from @emcrameri.

Going through our itinerary which was set out last year (2015), The Boy and I have decided to put a few of the places we ate at in one blog post for two reasons.

One: To help us remember where we should be heading to when we touchdown in Bali.

Two: To help others who might be interested in following our footsteps. This is by no means a proper Bali guide to find food, it’s just a few places which we visited based on our research from other bloggers and instagrammers who frequent this beautiful island of Indonesia.

There is so much information out there and it can be hard to distil the good from the not so good. Bali is often called the extra state of Australia, as so many of us find ourselves sunning on the beach during holidays, which means, everyone is an expert of where to go and what to do when you tell them you are heading to Bali!

So without further ado, here are some of our recommendations when hitting up Bali. If you have any other recommendations you think we should visit in the next few weeks, do let us know so that we can try and lock it into our itinerary! Thanks in advance!

Menega Cafe, Jimbaran

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What to do when you get there: Smile and grab the attention of one of the busy waiters ASAP. Else, you will be left standing on your own in this very busy night spot with no tables left. Try and snap a table away from the water (to avoid the tide waters coming in at night).

What to order: EVERYTHING! Don’t worry, they have a menu with pictures if you need some visual guidelines. Else, just go with the flow and grab some lobsters and skewers.

It doesn’t get better than: Grilled seafood over coconut husks (extra smoky) and a stunning backdrop.

Address: Jl. Four Seasons Muaya Beach, Jimbaran, Kabupaten Badung, Bali, Indonesia
Opening Hours: 11:00am – 10:00pm
Phone: (+62) 361 705888
Website: http://www.menega.com/

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Warung Babi Guling Pak Malen, Seminyak

How to get there: Ask any cab driver, private driver, or whatever form of transport you are taking to drop you at Pak Malen (the place is famous enough that all the locals will know where it is). It’s harder to leave the place and we tried unsuccessfully to hail a cab for ages, before one came along (this was during peak lunch hour).

What to order: This place is famous for Babi Guling (Balinese styled suckling pig), which comes together with an assortment of veggies, and soup. Definitely order a few cans of Bintang or Teh Botol, trust us, you’ll need it to put the fire out when you are done eating.

What to watch out for: The level of spiciness (my ears were twining, my palms were sweaty, and my eyes were tearing. I normally am able to handle spicy, but this was insanely spicy and oh so good!).

Address: Jl. Sunset Road No. 554, Seminyak, Kuta, Kabupaten Badung, Bali 80361, Indonesia
Opening Hours: 9:00am – 6:00pm
Phone: (+62) 851-0045-2968

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Restoran Sederhana, Kuta

How to get there: Again, this place seems to be popular to both tourists and locals alike and our driver had no issues finding it and dropping us off.

What happens when you sit down: You are literally brought a wide variety of dishes to choose your meal from. The staff wait for you to sit, get your drink orders, and then the food keeps coming. We worked out (by watching other tables); that you could either go the modern way of picking your dishes right at the front of the restaurant before sitting, or go full steam ahead with how the locals do it. That is go with the choices selected for you, and pick the items you want to eat. Make sure that you do only touch the plates you want to eat from (the untouched food goes back to the front for other guests), and if you touch but not eat it, you’ll get charged for it!

What to do after eating: We decided to start walking towards Kuta beach, as it didn’t look too far away via Google Maps (25 minutes walk) and we had to burn off all the carbolicious food we had just consumed. I forgot to take into account the extreme heat and humidity that would make the walk seem like a torture. By the time we got to Kuta, I was grumpy and sweating like a pig. To top it off, Kuta seemed like madness and chaos all at once. We stayed for a good 45 minutes (to stroll along the beach) before heading back to our peaceful beach resort at Sofitel Nusa Dua.

Address: Jl By Pass Ngurah Rai No.11 C, Kuta, Bali, Indonesia
Opening Hours: 9:00am – 10:30pm
Phone: (+62) 361 754875

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Bebek Tepi Sawah, Nusa Dua Branch

Why go there: If you happen to find yourself on a short trip to Bali without time to venture out to Ubud for a few extra days, but still want to try the food available at Ubud, the next best thing is to visit the tourist area (what we deemed as the Tourist Trap) zone in Nusa Dua. Surprisingly, we found Bebek Tepi Sawah, which we were gutted to find out was in Ubud when we arrived and had resigned ourselves to missing out on this famed duck dish. The duck was amazing! The skin was super crispy and the meat incredibly tender. We also ordered the satay dish, only because it came with its own mini charcoal grill and was too cute to pass by!

What else to do when you are there: Shop around, head into some bars and enjoy the live band and music at various pubs and restaurants. If you are like us, and that isn’t quite your scene, you can also head to the mini market to purchase some delicious local fruits (think mangosteen, snake skin fruit, jackfruit, and star fruit) or local snacks to enjoy by the pool side the next morning.

Address: Kawasan BTDC Area Bali Collection, Nusa Dua, Benoa, Kuta Sel., Kabupaten Badung, Bali 80363, Indonesia
Opening Hours: 10:00am – 10:00pm
Phone: (+62) 361 770221
Website: http://www.bebektepisawahrestaurant.com/

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Merah Putih, Kerobokan

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What is Merah Putih? It literally means red, white when translated. My guess is that it is a patriotic nod to the colours of the Indonesian flag. This was also our most memorable restaurant meal in Bali. Everything we ate was delicious and the architecture was a definite highlight.

How to order: The dishes are made to share, tapas style, like all modern casual dining restaurants are these days. We had planned to order 1 of each small plates to share (there were about 8 dish choices), but the waiter thought we were mad and talked us out of it, particularly, as he indicated, that there would be dessert as well. We didn’t have the heart to tell him that we weren’t big dessert eaters, and took on his suggestion about the quantity. He was wrong. We could have eaten more! He must have thought we were used to tiny Asian portions of food and not giant Australian servings.

What to do after: Walk off the calories by visiting the many shops surrounding Kerobokan up to Seminyak.

Address: Jalan Petitenget No. 100x, Kerobokan, Kuta Utara, Badung, Kabupaten Badung, Bali 80361, Indonesia
Opening Hours: 12:00pm – 3pm; 6:00pm – 11:00pm
Phone: (+62) 361 8465950
Website: https://merahputihbali.com/