Bali · The directory · Vol. 01
Places to know in Bali, the ones we'd text to a friend who just landed. Picked from research and not yet walked in person, so check before you go. No sponsored picks.
Labeled nasi campur trays in Batu Bolong, babi guling in Seminyak and Ubud, and one Lodtunduh tasting menu worth booking from home.
A buffet warung on Jalan Pantai Batu Bolong where every nasi campur dish carries a label, so you point, build a plate and the server totals it. It runs all day, but the best dishes sell out, so come early for the full spread.
Labeled trays make day-one nasi campur easy.
Order: The curry, with rice and two or three vegetable sides
A buffet-and-menu warung a short walk from Batu Bolong beach, with a quieter terrace upstairs and a coffee and gelato stall out front. It's the easy second choice on the same street once Bu Mi's trays run low.
The same street's answer when Bu Mi sells out.
Order: Honey chicken and spicy fried tempeh from the buffet
The best-known babi guling stop on the Seminyak side: suckling pig spit-roasted with chili, turmeric, garlic and ginger, served fast with crackling, lawar and sambal. It's pork from top to bottom, so skip it if you avoid pork. Sunset Road jams badly in the late afternoon, so make it lunch.
Bali's spit-roast pig, plated fast on Sunset Road.
Order: The nasi special; ask for less spicy if needed
Modern Indonesian cooking under an executive chef on Jalan Petitenget, with a large wine and spirits bar alongside the dining room. It's the dress-up dinner on the Seminyak side, for the night a warung plate won't suit the occasion.
Indonesian cooking, dressed up for a Petitenget night.
Order: Ask for a steer through the regional Indonesian dishes
Ubud's famous babi guling name, now spread across several branches; the one listed here is Ibu Oka 3 on Jalan Tegal Sari. Ubud sits in Gianyar, the regency with babi guling's strongest reputation, which makes this the Ubud lunch to plan around. Check which branch is serving before you head over.
The lunch everyone's heard of, at whichever branch is open.
Order: The set plate with pork broth and rice
A tasting-menu restaurant in Lodtunduh, south of central Ubud, that cooks only with Indonesian ingredients, with a food forest on the roof and a fermentation lab. It's on Asia's 50 Best Restaurants list for 2026. Dinner runs by reservation, so book well before you land.
Indonesian ingredients only, and a booking made from home.
Order: The current tasting menu; book well ahead
A call-day coworking campus and two cafes with desks attached in Canggu, then an Ubud roaster and a cafe that teaches Bahasa.
Canggu's big coworking campus on Jalan Nelayan: member floors that run around the clock, a cafe, focus and meeting rooms, and a pool and gym for the breaks between calls. It's the call-day fix when villa wifi won't hold up. BWork also lists a second site in Uluwatu, on Jalan Labuansait.
Buy the day pass when the villa wifi wobbles.
Order: A day pass for a call-heavy day
A long-hours cafe on Jalan Nelayan with a coworking area right next door for anyone eating or drinking there; there's no membership to sign up for. It's the easy laptop day in Canggu when you don't need a booked desk.
Buy lunch, and the desks next door are yours.
Order: Food and drink at the cafe, then work next door
A Canggu restaurant on Jalan Canggu Padang Linjong with a coworking space upstairs, pitched as one place to work through the day and then slow down. Put in the hours on the floor above, then come down for dinner.
Work the upstairs desk, then eat downstairs.
Order: A desk upstairs, then a meal downstairs
A long-running cafe and restaurant on Jalan Hanoman with vegetarian, vegan and seafood menus. It hosts a weekly Bahasa Indonesia class and chess afternoons, which makes it a base for the whole day rather than a quick coffee.
Coffee, lunch, and a few words of Bahasa.
Order: A dish from the vegetarian or vegan menu
Ubud's specialty coffee studio since 2010, roasting its beans across the street on Jalan Sriwedari. Start with the cold-brew taster. A second studio in Renon covers Denpasar.
Roasted across the street, poured since 2010.
Order: The cold-brew taster
Canggu's Wednesday beach bar, a Batu Bolong brewery, two beach clubs, and sunset over the Uluwatu lineup.
The big beach bar at the foot of Jalan Pantai Batu Bolong, where Canggu nights tend to end up, with a weekly program built around its Wednesday party. It doubles as the landmark to give a driver for anywhere in Batu Bolong. Pickups are hard right at the beachfront, so walk back up the road before you book a ride home.
Where a Canggu Wednesday night ends up.
Order: A round for the Wednesday party
A Batu Bolong craft brewery and kitchen pouring its own IPA and a rice lager, with weekly pizza and pasta nights. It's the craft-beer stop on the strip, and the kitchen makes it dinner too.
Bali-brewed beer on the Batu Bolong strip.
Order: The IPA, or the rice lager
Berawa's very large, adults-only beach club, built for a whole day by the water. Go early, and sort out your ride home before you get comfortable: pickups from the Berawa beach clubs are hard.
The big day out; arrive early, leave with a plan.
The Petitenget beach club that bills itself as a creative village, with a general store, wellbeing sessions and craft workshops running alongside the beach. Come for a workshop in the day and stay for the sunset; Seminyak is walkable along Jalan Petitenget, so dinner after is on foot.
Workshops by day, the beach at sunset.
Order: A craft workshop, then stay on for the beach
The clifftop surf bar above the Uluwatu break, on the stretch of Bukit coast a 1972 surf film made famous. Come for sunset over the lineup, and stay on for the Sunday and Wednesday nights, which run late.
Sunset over the lineup, beer in hand.
Order: A cold beer at sunset
Uluwatu's cliff temple at sunset, the Ubud Art Market, Tanah Lot on its rock, and a day at the Jatiluwih terraces.
Pura Luhur Uluwatu, the sea temple on the cliffs at the Bukit's southwestern tip, with a Kecak performance on the clifftop at sunset. Arrive well before sunset to see the temple first. Mind the macaques, and keep a hand on your sunglasses.
Everyone's sunset, and worth the crowd.
Order: Arrive before sunset for the Kecak
Ubud's central craft and textile market, across Jalan Raya Ubud from the palace. Stalls differ in how they take payment, so look for the QRIS sticker before you start choosing, and bargain politely. Mornings are quieter.
Crafts opposite the palace; spot the sticker first.
Order: Textiles and crafts; bargain politely
The sea temple on a rock islet in Tabanan, a short drive west of Pererenan and Echo Beach, at its best in the golden hour. Entry is ticketed. Leave Canggu early, because its roads jam worst in the late afternoon and around sunset, right when you'll be heading out.
Canggu's nearest sunset temple, out on its rock.
Order: Arrive before sunset
Broad rice terraces under Mount Batukaru in Tabanan, part of the UNESCO listing for Bali's subak, the water-temple irrigation system. Walk one of the paddy trails, and go in the morning for the light. It's a day out with a driver from Ubud or Canggu.
The terraces worth a whole day's drive.
Order: A walk on one of the paddy trails
We haven't confirmed which of these places take the local QR yet. Look for the code at the counter before you order. Verify in the app first, then scan the QRIS at the counter: a licensed local partner pays the merchant in rupiah, and your stablecoins stay in a wallet you control. Not every counter shows a code, so look for the sticker before you order.
How to pay in Indonesia →Verify in the app, hold stablecoins, and scan the QRIS at the counter. A licensed local partner pays the merchant in rupiah.