Bali Heritage Food Tour

In Bali, the villages all have nightly food markets where locals go when the sun goes down. In Seminyak and beyond, locals head out with their family and friends to local ‘Eat Street,’ and on this Bali food tour, we’re joining them at all their favourite spots!

Your food journey starts in the middle of the rice fields, on our office deck where your guide will offer a rundown for the night ahead. We’ll then depart and wind through the back streets of Bali, riding in a fully restored 1980 VW Kombi limo, with music playing and conversation flowing.

We’ll visit a food market where your guide will take you in and out of the small alley ways highlighting some of the foods you will taste later on Eat Street

Our first stop will be a local roadside warung (café) famous for its babi guling (rotisserie-cooked suckling pig). Your guide will order for you a shared dish for two people and explain all that appears on the plate before you — which will have maybe five or six different elements. Don’t forget to buy some pork crackling!

From there, it’s back into the VW Kombi and we’ll head to the largest local Eat Street in Bali, tucked just behind the major tourist area and easy to get to — but oh-so local! We’ll start at the top of the street, where your expert guide will escort you through the numerous small warungs and stalls, picking out things for us to eat as we go.

The street here is jam-packed with motorbikes and cars, and the later it gets, the busier it becomes; we go a little early to make sure we can get into the places we want. Of course, your guide is also an expert on local food, and will explain to you the food and traditions of what is on offer.

On arrival, your guide will explain all the places that are available for eating here — far too many for one night! The good news, though, is we always share dishes on a night like this, so you’ll have lots of room to try it all.

Unusually for a food tour, we’ll start in the car park! By day this is an assuming place for locals to park their cars but by night, it’s the hippest food spot in town! And it happens to be home to the yummiest soto ayam (chicken noodle soup) in the area. This is one of Indonesia’s most famous national dishes.

Walking along the main street, you’ll learn about all the different culinary influences on offer: Javanese, Sumatran, Sulawesi, Japanese and Thai/Indonesian fusion. You’ll learn about traditions like ikan and ayam bakar (barbecued fish and chicken typically enjoyed with beer and a side of music!).

If you like spice (or think you do), then we can stop at a small place specialising in Japanese fusion, where there’s a chili challenge that goes up five levels to “inferno” with the world’s hottest chilies!

Or, if you need an energy boost, how about an energy-filled dessert, Indonesian-style! You’ll see “Joss Milk” sold all over the country, which is an Indonesian energy powder you mix with milk. Believe it or not, it goes amazingly well with our favourite desert, which we’re going to grab at a small warung. This place is famous for its dessert made from a crumpet-style batter cooked in an earthenware pot over hot coals. Choose from the top 10 list or design your own; our favourite is Toblerone, banana, ice cream and cheese.

The prices are cheap all long Eat Street, so if you decide you want to buy some more treats, you can pick up some extras for about USD$1-2. (How much can you try in one night?!)

Your guide (now your best foodie friend on Bali) will assist you with finding a taxi for your trip back to your hotel (or to the next stop for your night out). And now that you have the keys to Bali’s local Eat Street, you can come back on your own to try even more local dishes.

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