Where to eat in Canggu can be challenging sometimes but only because you have so many places you can choose from. Few people know that the Balinese cuisine is one of the oldest in the world, older than the Italian or Chinese. The pleasure of food and good living are so ingrained in Bali as the surf and Sun.
Opportunities, particularly in the area of Canggu are plentiful, both local with the unique warung and ethnic where you can choose between various cuisines from around the world whose level is certainly of the highest order.
Where to eat in Canggu: Warungs
Warung in balinese means small shop, basically they are small restaurants, mostly family-run appearing everywhere on the streets of cities and residential areas.
The first time I went into a warung I myself was doubtful about where to go to eat in Canggu, so I visited a warung pushing myself to learn the local cuisine and the good scent of spices and kitchen that pervaded the road around them.
In a warung most of the time you will end up chatting with the owner as if you were a regular customer and choose what you want on your plate of nasi campur (pronounced champur).
The nasi campur is traditional balinese dish: a nice handful of rice, hot and crunchy, to which you can add your choice of vegetables, chicken, eggs, meat or tofu but especially many spicy sauces.
Other typical dishes are:
- Babi Guling
- Nasi Goreng
- Gado Gado
You then must take a good water bottle, which must always be sealed. In months in Bali eating in warung, for my luck, I never had stomach problems. But before leaving I suggest to always go boost your organism few weeks before with lactic acid bacteria to put in force the immune system and intestinal flora.
Little tip: Never drink anything containing ice, most of the time (if not always) is done with “water faucet“, therefore at great risk.
The real surprise will be the average price of around 1 USD for a lunch that will fill some good forks!
Where to eat in Canggu: Meat
One of the best and most characteristic restaurants to eat meat in Canggu is undoubtedly the Hog wild. Obviously don’t expect a luxury Restaurant, nor at sitting at the table alone!
Because they will accommodate you where there is room, maybe with some charming Balinese family or some tourists who like you, went for the same adventure.
Once I even found myself at the table with my Australian physiotherapist!
Recommended dishes, grilled meat, of course, are:
- Chicken quesadillas
- Pork ribs
- Grilled chicken
- Black Angus rib-eye steak
And here the surprise will be the bill, not as in a warung but certainly less than in a Western fast food.
… and for vegetarians.
People coming to Bali are not only looking for purifying the mind and relax, but also the body, and what’s better than a relaxing, meditation, Yoga, surf and vegetarian food?
Where to eat vegetarian food in Canggu is easier than in the most cosmopolitan and modern European capitals.
You can find plenty of restaurants that combine traditional cuisine, Western and vegetarian a mix worthy of a school of haute cuisine.
My favorite vegan restaurant is Green Ginger, where I could enjoy an exquisite menu of:
- Red thai curry with rice
- khao pak yum thai
- tofu puffs
- sticky rice pudding with mango
All organic, well cooked and flavorful, and the price is again very cheap which its always a great plus.
Now you know what are your options and where to go to eat in Canggu, open your mind and immerse yourself in the huge choice of opportunities that Bali offers.