NASI BABI GULING DAN NASI AYAM BALI

I can finally make a list about Balinese local food that I love! This time, I'm focusing on chicken and pork mixed rice. Are you curious on to why I chose those two? Because it's the most sought out culinary whenever people from Jakarta go to Bali! In my opinion though, the local favorites are still so underexposed since most people only come to the well known tourist spots, which are ok, but trust me, there are other good places!!! SOOO, here's my list of recommendations! It might be incomplete but this is what I know for now.. and I'm putting the list in order from my PERSONAL OPINION of favorites. Discretion is advised so I ain't accepting complaints since we all have different taste! Anyway, let's start from CHICKEN RICE!

NASI AYAM

1. WARUNG LIKU

They're famous for their Nasi Ayam Betutu. I ate at their central branch which is in Jl. Gandapura. However, the most popular branch is strangely the one in Jl. Nakula. Since they close at 3pm, you can't have these for dinner. I ordered nasi ayam betutu 15k (the one below) and nasi campur bali 15k (the upper pic). Yepp, so cheap I can't even! Price doesn't even compare to its DELICIOUS flavor! The nasi campur used soy pork, and the pork crackers are not included in the 15k price. The type of this rice is the saucy, wet one. My kind!

Honestly, I suggest you to get the nasi campur bali since you'll also get their ayam betutu in it, just with more variety! But for those who don't eat pork, there's the ayam betutu!

2. WARUNG NASI AYAM MEK JUWEL - UBUD

So many people are saying you can't park your car here, but let me tell you this, THEY HAVE PARKING LOT. Just follow the GPS until you enter this small alley that has a laundry in front, then you'll see some rice field and voila, there you'll find a giant parking lot near this health center (puskesmas) sign!

People say it's the best chicken rice in Ubud, and I agree that they're good, but in my opinion only 2nd to Liku! But well, Liku is not in Ubud so they're right when they said it's the best in Ubud HAHAHA! Price is IDR 25k per portion, not including the crackers. It's a double carbs kind of portion since they also include mie goreng, and it's the dry type of chicken rice because they grill the chicken!

3. WARUNG NASI AYAM IBU OKI - NUSA DUA

When I went here it was IDR 15k per portion, but I'm sure price has gone up somehow. It's located near Dobiel so I used to always come here before/after. Place is proper and clean although not air conditioned. This is also quite well known for tourists. As a saucy type of chicken rice, they're well known for its cheap and delicious flavor!

4. WARUNG NASI BALI MEN WETI - SANUR

Despite getting a lot of recommendation for this place, I was honestly a bit disappointed by the taste since it was too... ordinary? HOWEVER they have this BOMB chicken skin that is so GOOD. Another disappointment is that the owner madam doesn't allow you to order more than one portion of chicken skin. Weird -_- . They open from morning to late at around 10pm, and it's great to have one of these after your morning jog along Sanur Beach for breakfast!

5. NASI AYAM KEDEWATAAN IBU MANGKU

If Men Weti was already so-so, this one is even below. It's still okay but to be fair, I tried the one in Seminyak while people say the good one is the Ubud branch. But anyway, I personally think their taste doesn't have this harmony to one another.. Like most of them don't belong to one another, but then again it might be just my personal taste though!

NASI BABI GULING

1. BABI GULING SARI DEWI (DOBIEL) - NUSA DUA

Begh so until this September 2018 there is no competition to this place. I swear. Everything here is so good starting from their pork skewer / skin / roasted pork and even their stock/soup are all PERFECT. Gokil. It's a must visit whenever you come to Bali!

2. PONDOK GENYOL BU AGUS SADING

Alright I swear it confused me on which of their branch is the original one. I went to the one at Jl. Sunset Road (08:00am - 12:00am). Name is the same: Bu agus, but if you google it, they actually have a lot of branches, and when I uploaded it in IG, a DM came to me from the account of @cindyadinda_ telling me that pondok genyol bu agus' official branches are only at:

Jl. Astasura no. 14B, Peguyangan Ayani (ex Warung Sukun) >> main branch (08:00am-02:00am)

Jl. Werkudara, Br. Tampak Gangsul (08:00am - 10:00pm)

Jl. Raya Puputan No. 68 Renon DPS

nah loh, does it mean that the one I ate wasn't one of the originals? LOL! However, I swear that the one I tried was SO GOOD. What's interesting about it was that the shape was kind of like roasted pork (babi guling), but Begenyol means their skin is not crispy roasted, more like chewy. Soup is as good as Dobiel's which means AWESOME.

They have this paket hemat 20k (upper right side of the pic), which is a smaller portion of the normal one but comes with iced tea. The left picture is called be genyol pisah, and the bottom right is be genyol campur. Mind that the ala carte will always be more expensive than the nasi campur since they will give you bigger portion of meat! << this applies in almost every store that sells nasi babi!

campur (mixed rice)

pisah (ala carte)

3. WARUNG BABI GULING BU DAYU

They only open at night, around 6pm-2am. It's kind of a tent, semi outdoor store on a street corner and I never skip this whenever I go to Bali since I always pass by if I happen to be around Kuta. There are a lot of people who say they're TOO spicy, and I admit it, but I love it since they're always so FLAVORFUL (if you've been following my blog for a while, you'll know that this is totally my thing!). This is the saucy, wet type of mixed rice btw.

4. WARUNG TEGES - UBUD

Beh bep, if you're looking for a change of atmosphere, you can just come over here. This place has both normal seating and lesehan, just like the Balinese traditional way. Taste is also real good! They sell both chicken and pork rice, and the one below is the mix of both! Their toppings are also quite varied starting from cukiok, sausages, and fried pork belly! ANDD their best is none other than the sambal matah itself! I dare you to try, it's SO DIFFERENT from the rest!

5. BABI GULING SARI KEMBAR 99 - DENPASAR

Alright so I just tried this one out of curiosity since we just passed by. It turned out good and is quite well known locally!

6. BABI GULING PAK MALEN

Well this one needs no introduction, doesn't it? It's already so famous to tourists and locals alike. It used to be my favorite though: the one in Jl. Sunset Road. Don't get me wrong, I still love it until now, but I just happened to find better ones! Too bad they're now 6th place on my list!

The one above is ordered in separate (ala carte), and the one below is mixed (campur)

7. BABI GULING BU MADE SEKAR - KUTA

I personally sympathize for this place because I think they're really good but not so many people know this place! It's near Bu Dayu and taste almost the same, also a type of saucy rice that's sold in tent type of store. 

8. BABI BAGUS - DENPASAR

It's a bit different from other roasted pork since they have porchetta (the one rolled in shape). Taste is so great since they have REAL crispy skin. Their type is the dry kind of rice although you can get the soup stock and mix it! I ordered the separated toppings btw!

9. BABI GULING MOGLONG 

Alright so this is one of the up and current pork rice for instagrammers! It's located near Nook so you get the rice field view in outdoor settings. It's fortunately not that humid and stuffy since it's got quite some air flow. OH! Apart of their roasted pork, they also have fried pork with sambal matah and that's their true highlight instead of the pork rice! Their roasted pork is dry and light in terms of flavor, so it wasn't really my thing, especially that I love the saucy, flavorful ones!

10. BABI GULING GUNG CUNG - UBUD

This one is located near Bu Oka 3 and pasar Ubud.

This one is more famous for the locals! I came here and there was this queue of locals and most had takeaways. Also, I'm almost sure they differentiate price for locals and tourists. BECAUSE THE LOCALS WOULDN'T QUEUE FOR 45K MIXED RICE. Also, the locals who ordered takeaways were given smaller portion of rice, which made me almost sure that I'm getting the tourism hospitality.

This one doesn't have that much variety for toppings, and tastes quite similar to Bu Oka's, since they both offer thick and bigger slices of pork. Taste was quite good, although not really that amazing.

11. BABI GULING BU OKA

You might be puzzled asking why would I put the infamous Bu Oka as the last of my list! Well just as many others have also said, this one is the most ordinary, while another even said it didn't even taste that good. Well I was kinda indoctrinated so this was actually my FIRST TIME trying Bu Oka, and it was just because I was waiting Gung Cung to open at 11 and since this was close so... yeah. What made me so mad was seeing the soup so clear like A&W fast food?!!!! Pork skin was HARD. Couldn't even bite it and the only redeeming value was the pork meat that was tender and thick. That's it. I think it's adapted to western palate since the taste is weak, not spicy, anddddd expensive~

That's my current list for nasi ayam and nasi babi guling in Bali up to this September 2018! Apologies for not making a thorough review of each places since this is only a list of each one's taste. Anyway, here's a bonus: my future list!

 Babi Guling (suckling pig): Chandra, Karya Rebo, Slingsing (said to be the best in Bali), Sari Kembar, Men Agus, Sari Nadi, Anyar Sari Kapal, and Sarastri.

I'll update you as soon as I get back to Bali again :p