The best places to eat in Ubud, Bali

Food is an important part of traveling. It’s a way of discovering new tastes and eating together is an excellent way of getting to know new friends. Nothing beats a pleasant conversation with delicious food. Arriving in a new country and figuring out where to eat can be a bit tricky, especially if you are not an adventurous eater. I’ve already made a list of Joyce-approved places to eat in Pererenan, Canggu, and now it’s time to tackle Ubud. Get ready for a mouth-watering list.

Where in Bali is Ubud located?

When talking about Bali, there are usually two places’ people know: Canggu and Ubud. Canggu is most often described as the lively expat community by the sea, while Ubud is a spiritual getaway in the mountains where you can surround yourself with jungle, rice fields, and temples. After living in Canggu and Ubud for three months, I must say that these stereotypes are pretty accurate.

So where is Ubud located? Ubud is about an hour’s drive away from Canggu, depending on the traffic. The city of Ubud is more to the center of the island. If you look at a map, you’ll see that it’s north of Denpasar. Most travel guides say that it’s cooler in Ubud than at the coasts because of its higher elevation, but I didn’t notice a difference. Bali is hot, no matter where you are.

Daily Baguette

Being from Europe, I have an obsession with bread. Bali doesn’t, so by the time I arrived in Ubud, I hadn’t eaten a decent meal with bread in 8 weeks. Luckily, I discovered Daily Baguette early on. As the name implies, it’s a French bakery and you’ll find anything from bread to pastries to croissants and, of course, baguettes. What intrigued me were the bagels. I still dream about the bagels. My absolute favorite is the cream cheese, ham, lettuce, and tomato bagel. You’ll get a very generous spread of cream cheese, lots of ham, and the juiciest tomatoes I’ve ever eaten. Normally, I don’t like tomatoes except if they’re on a pizza or in lasagna, but these tomatoes made me reconsider.

At first glance, this little place doesn’t look like a good spot to take lunch. There’s only 1 small table downstairs, but the rooftop bar is where the magic happens. You order downstairs and take a seat upstairs. Daily Baguette is located right across the street from Museum Puri Lukisan on Jl. Raya Ubud, Ubud’s main street. There’s a long bar that looks across the street, as well as tables for groups. I found that a seat overlooking the street to people watch is the perfect place to enjoy lunch.

Garcon Ubud

While the name implies another French restaurant, this one is a combination of local cuisine and classic western dishes. Garcon Ubud was the first restaurant I tried in Ubud, mostly because of its convenient location to my villa, but the reason I kept coming back was simply because the food is excellent. Trying a new restaurant is always a gamble and I’ve been disappointed more often than not by fancy interiors and bad chefs, so I was thrilled to discover Garcon Ubud early on.

Garcon Ubud is on Jl. Bisma, a side street in Ubud that leads to the Monkey Forest. You’ll recognize the restaurant by its big mural and wall full of old radios and TVs. There’s indoor and outdoor seating. The staff and the owner are super friendly, especially if they notice you’re a regular. Like all restaurants in Bali, there is Wi-Fi, and they welcome you to use their restaurant to work. The menu consists of local Indonesian food and classic western dishes like spaghetti Bolognese and Fish and Chips. I highly recommend the spaghetti Bolognese, nasi goreng, and pineapple smoothie. They always ask if you want spicy or not. While I like spicy back home, it turned out I am nowhere near ready for Indonesian spicy.

Milk & Madu

If you want pizza, this is the place to be. It’s more expensive than other pizza places in Ubud, but their 2-for-1 Tuesday and Sunday make it worth it. (Yes, I did have a pizza party for myself.) Milk & Madu is one of the bigger restaurants in Ubud and is located across Ubud Palace on Jl. Suweta, a side street right off the main street. The outside looks like a giant greenhouse with enormous windows and high ceilings. The inside has an open kitchen and coffee bar, booths along the wall, and big dining tables in the middle for groups of up to 20 people. There’s also outside seating, which gives you a nice view of the pizza ovens. The place is basically all tourists and very busy during lunch and dinner, so if you like your meals a bit quieter, try to go for a late lunch or early dinner to avoid the crowds.

I can 100% guarantee the pizzas are a must-eat here in Ubud. And if you’re a cheese addict like me, the truffle mac and cheese will haunt you for the rest of your life. They serve it as a side dish and it seems small when it first arrives, but the cheese is so rich and flavorful that you’ll have a hard time finishing the dish. I must admit, not all of their dishes are worth it. The first time I ate there, I had the spaghetti carbonade, and that was not a success.

Places to avoid in Ubud

While I was lucky in Canggu to never have a bad eating experience, the same can’t be said about Ubud. I don’t enjoy tearing down local businesses that are working hard to make a living, but I feel like I must be fair to you guys.

Lemongrass warung

It breaks my heart that I must put this one on the list because they have a beautiful view of a rice field down below on their terrace. However, if you say you are a warung, then I expect the local dishes to be good.

Umah Pizza

This one is a mixed bag and I’m willing to give it a second chance. The pizzas are decent and cheap. The pasta is okay too. Reviews rave about the lasagna, so of course, I had to try it, but it was a vast disappointment. Barely any cheese and basically all tomato sauce.