Best Food Destinations in Ubud, Bali

A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to join my husband on a trip to Indonesia!

And not only that, we had postponed our honeymoon for two years thanks to the pandemic, so when we found out his company was sending him on a trip to Southeast Asia, we immediately made plans to tack on our honeymoon at the end. 

The first part of our trip was spent in Jakarta, where we explored the malls and ate our way through the city. But all of this was all done with the undertone of anticipation for our weeklong adventure to Bali.

So after a week in the Big Durian, we hopped on a plane, flew past a few volcanoes and took a quick cab ride inland to the Adiwana Unagi resort in Ubud. 

Tucked up into the rice field hills and away from the bustling city center of Ubud is a little slice of paradise. I mean the entire place is paradise, but this place almost seems unreal. The walk to our room felt like it was straight out of a fairytale.

Plus it was fun to say “salamat pagi” to the koi every morning.

The view from our room was even more unreal – overlooking a picturesque jungle hillside and infinity pool inspired by the neighboring rice fields.

Every morning we ordered room service from the attached restaurant for breakfast.

For our first morning my hubby had the ultimate chicken brunch with a pan fried chicken roulade, a fresh salad with poached egg, honey mustard vinaigrette and bumbu Bali powder on the side. 

I am obsessed with eggs benny of any kind so when I saw the “my mom Benedict” – yes that is the real name – I knew I had to try it.

Two thick and crispy English muffins are topped with ham, a perfectly poached egg and baked tomatoes with hollandaise.

All of the breakfasts came with fresh fruit that was so vibrant and so sweet it was like tasting what fruit is supposed to taste like for the first time. you also get a side of fresh croissant and butter and jelly.

All in all, it was a fulfilling way to start out each day of adventuring.

After breakfast we took our hotel’s shuttle to the center of Ubud. One thing to know about Bali – and most of Indonesia for that matter – is that traffic is going to be a thing.

So make sure you prepare extra time for any slow downs along the way to your destination.

Our first priority was the Ubud monkey forest – a beautiful rainforest temple that is home to hundreds of long tailed macaques.

Tucked beneath the kapok trees is a sanctuary for the local monkey population and tourist destination – but it is also home to three functioning hindu temples – the Padangtegal Great Temple of Death, the Beji Temple for Bathing and the Prajapati Temple for Burial. 

There are monkeys everywhere you look – and plenty of photo opportunities as well. For $3, it was absolutely worth it for these shots!

The macaques have little to no fear of the humans gawking from nearby, but you definitely should not try to reach out and touch them without a temple guide’s assistance. 

While the macaques are pretty distracting, we made sure to take in the beauty of the Adiwana rain forest that the monkeys call home. Between the waterfall gorge below and the towering canopy above you, this is truly a place where you can feel at one with nature.

My absolute favorite part about the monkey forest was the central pool. Here the monkeys splash around and even swim under water. They also loved playing on a long branch overhanging the water – Clearly a game of chicken or king of the hill – where the loser winds up in the water below.

After the monkey forest, we caught a cab to the Tegenungan waterfall in the village of Kemenuh. Here the Petanu River flows through a large gorge and creates a spectacular waterfall.

Bali is known for its beautiful water falls, another one of which falls behind us in the Omma restaurant and day club.

Getting down to the waterfalls is a little bit of a hike so at this point we were beyond starving. For my lunch I got the Japs prawn sandwich which was crispy tempura prawns served on a open face baguette and topped with sambal and katsuobushi.

I was also quickly becoming obsessed with aperol spritz – something which I recently had for the first time in little Italy in Cleveland – and was pleasantly surprised to find it was common on many menus here in Bali.

My hubby had the chicken melt sandwich which came on a toasted brioche and was stuffed with egg omelette, spicy cheese and marinated chicken, and of course a cold Bintang on the side.

Then for my dessert, i got a dragon bowl which is similar to what we would think of as a smoothie bowl in the United States. My bowl was packed with frozen mashed dragon fruit with yogurt and topped with berries, banana, granola and shredded coconut. It was the perfect way to cool off on a hot afternoon. 

Afterwards we grabbed a cab back to the resort. Driving though the city never disappoints. And once you start getting away from the city, the streets fade away into rice fields and residential homes.

We arrived at our resort – which actually has a sister resort across the street called the Adiwana Sueweta. Here there is restaurant called the Tablespoon Bistro.

Here I had barramundi for the first time. Served in a lemon butter cream sauce and served with slices of fresh radishes, tomatoes and spinach with potato and leek – The fish was perfectly tender in a creamy but tangy lemon sauce – it was hands down one of the best things I have ever eaten . 

My husband opted for the indonesian satay platter, which had Balinese fish satay, beef satay and chicken satay served with sambal and Thai sweet chili sauce, pickles and rice.

I was back at it again the next morning for breakfast, where my hubby went simple with the duo croissant and scramble and I went extravagant with the cantik manis french toast that came with with berry jam, dulce de leche, crunchy granola, exotic pandan custard and vanilla bean ice cream to top it all off. We wanted to fill up before another full day of exploring.

We started the morning off at the Ubud palace in central Ubud. The palace is small but everywhere you look there are beautiful and intricate demon faces and monkey gods carved into the stone. The palace is free to visit, but I recommend you get there early like we did to avoid the crowds.

After the palace we walked through the Puri Lukisan art museum before stopping for a quick bite to eat at the museum restaurant since the meal was included in the ticket price. We split a couple spring rolls, which were dangerously hot in temperature but still incredibly tasty that it was worth the risk of mouth burns.

Afterwards, something cool caught our eye as we walked up the street. Ice cream stands are abundant in Bali, so needless to say we had to make a stop. I got a mango sorbet, which was the perfect balance to the extreme Indonesian heat.

We continued on through the city to explore the Ubud Art Market, walked to the top of the Campuhan Ridge and even got to go inside of the Saraswati temple to see the lotus pads.

That afternoon we took a quick drink stop at the nomad restaurant and got a quick bite of some of the freshest hummus I have ever tasted. It was thick and creamy but not overly oily like some homemade hummus can tend to be in America.

From there we grabbed our shuttle back to the resort where we said hello to our koi friends before making our way to the pool for a little R&R.

For dinner that night we ate at the resort restaurant, Ely’s Kitchen. Nick had the iga babi – caramelized pork ribs with a Balinese barbecue sauce and steamed rice. Bali is known for its pork quality so you know it had to be delicious.

For my dinner I had the Balinese chicken curry – a creamy coconut based curry packed with tender chicken seasoned with local herbs and spices, tomatoes, beans and kaffir lime along with steamed rice and crispy emping melinjo chips on the side.

After dinner we relaxed on our balcony overlooking the pool and turned in for the evening after a few drinks.

The next morning we ate one more breakfast in our room – this time I went with the salmon Ely’s brekky with smoked salmon, cheesey tomatoes, sautéed spinach and mesclune herb salad with Figaro black olives, toasted breaed, tartar sauce and scrambled eggs. 

I knew I couldn’t leave Bali without getting on one of the many Bali swings located throughout the area so that morning we made our way north to the aloha swings. I even did the appropriately named adrenaline swing that flies you out over the rice fields.

There’s so much more to our Bali trip that I can’t fit it all in one video – so be sure to check back soon for even more travel content. We’re headed to Uluwatu next – you won’t want to miss out on this adventure.

I hope you all enjoyed and I can’t wait for you to join me on our next adventure.`