BALI, Oct 3 — The next time you get your Eat, Pray, Love on and book a Bali getaway, do yourself a favour and get out of the hotel.
No, you won’t find Javier Bardem pretending to be Brazilian (his irrepressibly Spanish accent gives him away), but if you’re lucky, you’ll find something better.
Nusa Dua is far away from the rowdy clubs and sweaty surfers in Seminyak and Canggu, but also a safe distance from the cult-like brand of yoga expats in Ubud.
Developed as a resort area in the 1970s, it’s an enclave of mostly five-star hotels, with brands like Marriott, Accor, and Hilton dotting the coastline.
Venture further into the many narrow roads in town and you’ll come across warungs galore.
Some, despite the tourist influx, remain steadfastly local – perhaps because they are unwilling or unable to bend to the demands that come with it.
Others, like Warung Babi Guling Sari Dewi Bp. Dobil, a revered institution since 1980, has seen its reputation and popularity with tourists soar.
Now perpetually busy, this spot serves the iconic Balinese dish every day to throngs of visitors (including Indonesian tourists) who spill out onto the road, alongside a never-ending stream of food delivery riders.
Ask any cab driver or hotel employee in the area; they’ll tell you all about the crowd at Dobil.
But the real gem is hidden a few hundred metres away, on a nondescript corner facing a cell phone store.
This soot-covered shack is Sate Bawah Gardu Ibu Kirana, where plenty of folks in the area zip by on mopeds to get their fix of sate babi.
If you’ve braved the queue and sweltering lunch experience at Dobil, you’ll know that a standard plate comes with a solid stick of sate babi – and plenty of other places sell the same thing, so why bother with this roadside joint?
The answer is in each bite of charred, smoky and slightly sweet pork.
Each stick contains a thumb-sized wedge of fat, skin still on, sandwiched between tender nuggets of meat.
Licked by flames and bathed in its own smoke, the initial resistance of the fat gives way to greasy porcine bliss.
30 sticks for 80k IDR (roughly RM22) is a steal, and the cabe garam — chopped chillies and salt — is the perfect accompaniment for the tipat, the Balinese equivalent to our ketupat.
It took us three tries to finally get a taste: on the first try, it was sold out by 1pm — but we met the ibu herself, who was warm and cheery and told us to return at 7.30am the next day.
We did, but an urgent matter meant she was closed for the day and wouldn't open till late afternoon the next day.
Still, on the morning of our flight, I tried my luck and called – and she was open.
It was raining, the sky grey and gloomy, and there I was, huddled by the glowing embers of her grill, tearing up from the smoke as I sought refuge from the downpour.
Sure, one could claim that the journey to procure said sate might make me go to lengths to justify it, but that hardly matters when I just got to eat 15 sticks of the best sate babi at eight in the morning.
It's a better breakfast than you'll get in any hotel restaurant, and you’ll be so giddy and content that no soul-searching is needed.
Sate Babi Ibu Kirana
Corner of Jl. Awanga and Jl. Kuruksetra, Benoa, Kecamatan Kuta Selatan, Kabupaten Badung, Bali, Indonesia
Plus code on Google Maps: 662C+8C Benoa, Badung Regency, Bali, Indonesia
Open daily, 7.30am till sold out (usually by noon).
Tel: +62 852-3873 6794
* This is an independent review where the writer paid for the meal.
* Follow us on Instagram @eatdrinkmm for more food gems.
