Ibu Oka Babi Guling in Ubud at Bali

Ibu Oka Babi Guling

Was on a short trip to Bali to celebrate my boyfriend's birthday in December. Been to Bali a few times previously. So for this trip, I wanted to visit places and plan activities that we had not tried before.

While channel surfing on StarHub about a year or 2 back, I saw a short documentary on TV on tourists who fell in love with Bali and decided to stay there after they visited the place. One of them eventually married a Balinese lady and they opened a BBQ pork eatery together.

So I googled and found out about "Babi Guling". It literally means "Sucking Pig", "Roasted Pork" or "Barbequed Pork" with crispy, crackling skin that's being freshly roasted daily. It's usually served with rice and some side dishes.

Here's a related video on BABI GULING by BBC programme Rick Stein's Far Eastern Odyssey that I found on YouTube:


View other related videos at: http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=babi%20guling&sm=3

We eventually settled on visiting IBU OKA BABU GULING located at Ubud, partly because of the rave reviews from Trip Advisor. We also wanted to roam around the Ubud village area after our lunch to soak in the Balinese atmosphere.

There are actually 3 different outlets under the IBU OKA BABU GULING franchise. Here are the different addresses:

IBU OKA 1. Jalan Suweta, Ubud.(DID: 0361-2077-490)
IBU OKA 2. Jalan Raya Teges, Peliatan, Ubud. (Handphone:  082-897-005-063)
IBU OKA 3. Jalan Tegal Sari, Ubud. (DID: 0361-976-345)

The one I went is the IBU OKA 3. It was recommended by our local hotel concierge. He had discussed with our cab driver and they both thought it would be a less crowded place to visit.

We hailed a cab and reached Ubud area in around 45 minutes. Our cab fare was about 230,000 rupiah. We left from our hotel area at Sunset Road. There was a slight jam at the Ubud area as it was lunch hour and lots of tourists were making their way there.

 

 

While in the jam, we were charmed by the Balinese architecture, abundant spa resorts and quaint craft shops that lined the streets.  I asked the cab driver why so many shops had the word "Warung" written on their signs, and he grinned and say it simply meant "small shop".

Our cab driver drop us off at a main junction nearby to avoid another jammed area upfront and we walked for about 10 minutes before we reached our destination.

 

Along the way, we were guided by signs of IBU OKA BABI GULING that were scattered along the different shops and road junctions.

We had to walk down a secretive looking narrow lane before we finally managed to reach the eatery. Seemed like a little food hunting game or pilgrimage.

The place looked very old and had natural day lighting. Was kind dark

Most of the tables were filled up with people who had finished their meal.

I noticed that most of them had nothing left on their plate. I felt it had to be a good sign.

 And we sat down and took our time to examine the menu.

The set meal that we ordered which cost around S$4.00

Empty Plates!

We ordered the set meal and an additional side of "crispy pork skin". He had Bintang beer and I ordered Coke. Our orders arrived in about 5 to 10 minutes. And we dug in.

The Babi Guling set meal which includes rice, pork, pork skin, chilli and a side serving of vegetable.

The infamous pork skin

Verdict? It was pretty good and tasty. I preferred the pork meat to the skin actually. It was very tender, succulent and juicy. We were very surprised by the price. It was a reasonably priced meal at around S$4 for each set meal. I think the only pricey thing about eating at IBU OKA BABI GULING was our transport to and fro from our hotel. Which cost us around S$30 - $40. If I stayed around the Ubud area, it would be a really good place to visit for a hearty meal. But I would not go out of the way to visit the eatery for my next trip to Bali though.

Our cab driver who brought us there, also shared that there were other nicer BABI GULING eateries in Bali and advised us to try them out in our next trip. Will blog about it when I visit Bali again.

Garden Square of Ibu Oka 3 with pig sculptures and pavillion

We walked around the vicinity of the eatery after our meal to work off the calories. There were some sculptures of pigs around in the garden square. They also had squirrels and parrots for pets.

3 Squirrels  at Garden Square of Ibu Oka 3

Parrot at Garden Square of Ibu Oka 3

Local Lingo:
Babi Guling:
Balinese "Sucking Pig", "Roasted Pork" or "Barbequed Pork" with crispy, crackling skin

Warung:
Small Shop

Tip:
1. To avoid a jam at Ubud during lunch hour, make your way there earlier for a early walkaround.

Sources:
http://www.tripadvisor.com.sg/Restaurant_Review-g297701-d1075057-Reviews-Ibu_Oka-Ubud_Bali.html