Ubud is located in the middle of Bali. There are no beaches or mr. macho walking around topless and hands swinging by his hand. Instead this town is surrounded by rain forests, rice padi fields and terraces, little art communities, temples, rivers and villages. The lifestyle here is more boho, lesser noise pollution from honking traffic and fresher air from lack of continous construction. So this is a preferred place to visit in Bali if you like the more cultured and peaceful environment.
I heard so much about Babi Guling and how good it is. Even Anthony Bourdain gave it a big thumbs up. I always say that good food is worth travelling for. Ubud is about 11/2 hours away from Seminyak depending on traffic. But this is a trip that must be made.
So what is this Babi Guling that everyone is raving about. The first thing most people tell me that I need to eat when I get to Bali is Babi Guling from Ibu Oka at Ubud. Even the locals mention the same thing. Babi Guling is suckling pig that has been rubbed in Balinese spices and roasted over wood and coconut husk. There is a Babi Guling stall almost every corner of Bali but apparently the one in Ubud is the best. This small humble stall started in Ubud near the town centre and the Ubud market and have since opened another much bigger and grander warung outside of Ubud. This was the first Ibu Oka that we visited on our way to Ubud market for lunch.
Looking out to the street from Ibu ora
The land is massive and the restaurant is huge. It has become more touristy and I guess made a lot of money through the years and exposure from all sorts of media. From the second level, it overlooked a rice padi field at the back. Very peaceful indeed. I guess another reason is that we have travelled away from busy Seminyak to something a little more tranquil.
View from the back
All 3 of us ordered the Babi special. It is served with pieces of blood sausages, crispy skin (crackling), deep fried skin, soft meat and urap. The green chillies and fried shallots is my second favourite condiment in Bali. I will post my most favourite condiment in later posts. The Babi special was really something quite special. Crispy skin was just perfect. Crunch, crunch, crunch. Nothing need to be said. The meat was so juicy and tender from all those Balinese spice rub. The blood sausage was nasty and gritty but in a good way. All this with a good drizzle of the dark spicy sauce. No wonder it is so well loved by both locals and travellers.
Green chillies with fried shallots and oil
Babi Special from Ibu Oka
Since we were in Ubud, we did end up visiting the original Ibu Oka. We bought take away from dinner. The prices here are slightly more than the newer Ibu Oka. I guess you get the authenticity in this restaurant. This place is crowded with locals and tourists but no longer do you have to be here by 10.30am as stated in many blogs and travel guides and miss out on the Babi Guling. We were there at 2pm and there was still plenty to go around.
Old Ibu Oka
And here is more food porn. Just look at the massive pig and the amount of rubbed spices. And not forgetting the fatty, evil crackling that people keep coming back for. I could fly back just to have some of that now 
Woman slicing meat off the babi
Crispy skin
I found a youtube video of this infamous Babi Guling.
We were very sinful that day and took away one special and a box of crispy skin. How could we resist? It was shameless greed.
Packet crispy skin
Packet babi special take away
This was not the only takeaway that we bought back from Ubud. You have to stay tune for more to find out what we else we bought! Greed was a kind word to use on us that day. We were definitely spoilt with fantastic food, great scenery and company.
What is the most unique and great tasting dish in your hometown? Please do share!
Yum – that looks great! I don’t remember this dish when I was in Ubud but perhaps that’s because it’s nearly 15 years ago….
Yay! I’m glad you got to try this amazing Balinese dish
BTW Rick Stein’s newest book “Far Eastern Odyssey” has Ibu Oka’s own recipe for Babi Guling along with the amazing sambal’s and condiments that are served with most Balinese foods. I was so excited when I saw this 
Sounds really good. That Babi Guling is similar to our roasted suckling pig called lechon in the Philippines which is served wiht liver sauce. Anthony Bourdain very much likes it as well and says that it is the best in the world.
Another great post…I don’t like meat but this looks really tasty, love the pictures, so real – I think every country has its version of stuffed pig, wish I could travel to Bali sometime
I heard alot about this famous dish, the Balinese babi guling. With all the spices and real roasting over fire, I’m sure the flavour and taste is powerful. I hope to travel there one day.
Looks incredibly tasty, and I dare anyone to resist that skin!
Don’t think I’ll make it to Ubud on my holiday next week (woo! so close!!) but next time I’ll definitely make time to get there again, and to attend that cooking school that they have there.
Thanks for another great Bali post
Oh my, that crackling looks so tasty. My mouth is watering!
I have just watched the Youtube video Penny, and guess what…Me & Jayson are in it (one of our trips in 2005) What are the odds of that! ha ha…freaky stuff.
Gosh, they actually eat lots pork huh! Unbelievable. I love the skin… with some sweet & sour sauce. haha….
@Mardi – I think it is time to head back!
@Karla – I must check it out! Where are you on the video?
@Divina – Where can I find that lechon that Anthony talks about? It seems that a trip must be made
@citronetvanille – I can almost taste it when I was writing this post. I am sure that you must have one you can recommend in your world.
@MaryMoh – Maybe you can make a baby suckling?
@Conor – I miss out on the cooking school too. Will go back and do one next time at Casa Luna
@Kate – I know exactly how you feel
@Kristy – They sure do! And they do it very very well.
I love roasted pork! We had roasted suckling pig in Puerto Rico only it was made with different spices. Also, I gave you the Tasty award!
Wow this looks great! I have to say just the description of the crackling makes my mouth water, I can almost taste the texture and the crunch!
How interesting to learn about this unique and delicious dish! I would love to try Babi Guling someday!
Wow, I had never heard of this…it sounds great! I love reading these posts about your trip because it makes me feel like I am on vacation. Hoffman Farms Chicken is may favorite local specialty!
OK that wa sa really bad idea to read this story before breakfast because all I want is some of that suckling pig!
Looks yummy and scary at the same time. lol. But I definitely want to try them!
okay I have to admit this is very new to me and intriguing! I can imagine it must be really tasty
Poor little piggy! That’s all I can think. I am hopeless!! But it looks like you had fun that day – what is vacation for if not for a little overindulging? Well, Maryland is known for crabs but I don’t think many of them are local anymore because the Chesapeake Bay is an environmental disaster … this is why I want to move to south Louisiana so I can brag about all the great local dishes!
Oh yum…babi guling from Ibu Oka’s! We were there earlier in the year too. We will still caution about arriving for lunch too late though. On our visit to the larger warung (just short of two o’clock) they were all out of crispy skin! Now, that was a real tragedy!!
Oh, what photos! I am so envious!
I want to vacation too!!! Great post.
@Hummingbird – Oh! Thanks so much!!! huggies
@Rochelle – It was beautiful and knowing that you like pork too, this will tingle your tastebuds!
@Natasha – I would not mind having this knowledge too!
@Stacy – Hoffman Farms Chicken? Do you have a post on this? Will like to find out more too.
@CheapAppetite – You must if you ever head to Bali. And it is cheap! $2?
@Jessie – You love big flavours. This is surely for you.
@Trix – So no more crab? Crabs are fantastic and I will be so envious!
@Towz – Oh suck! We were there after 2pm and I guess we were fortunate!
@The little teochew – You should! You are so close to Bali
Last month we went to Coorg a hill station in India. And their speciality is pork! We dont find much of pork dishes in India, so my hubbie and I did gorge till I couldnt sleep at night, since I had hogged too much on the hog! Sinful yes.
Shirley – These sins are welcomed
And we did sleep later that night as well. Ate too much!
Your pictures are great! The place looks so picturesque and peaceful.
The one thing I miss the most from home is Ba Wan – It’s a specialty in the ChuangHua region in Taiwan (which is also where my grandparents reside), and it’s a tasty, flavorful, not-so-delicate “delicacy”! Basically it’s a huge dumpling/bun with translucent skin and delicious savory filling, drizzled with an irresistible sauce. I’m hungry just thinking about it! Anyway, in case you’re not familiar, here’s the wiki link
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ba-wan
Wow, thanks for the great pics and descriptions of your amazing quest for pig. I cannot believe the amount of pig skin used, it looks like heaven on earth, sorry, I have a pork addiction.
If I can eat only one thing only, babi guling has to be it!!
@Shelly – Never had or seen that before. Actually thinking of heading to Taiwan sometime next year.
@Brad – No shame. I have a pork addiction too
@3hungrytummies – Yes. I will go back for more.