After going to all of the wrong places last time, we finally made it up to Ubud today for the famed Ibu Oka (Jalan Suweta at Jalan Raya Ubud, 2077490), where a giant roast suckling pig awaited. The tiny little place was crowded at lunchtime, but we eventually found some seats and got one plate of the "Special" and one plate of what was curiously named in English as "Different." Both were pretty much the same, except that the rice in the latter came in a separate plate, and with the bonus of some soup and pig's ears.
To my surprise, my favorite piece wasn't even the skin, which by itself certainly was still very tasty and crispy. I was more impressed by the meat itself, which sat in a ton of local spices that wasn't hot but really gave it character, making it a bit more distinguished than Filipino lechón. Those spices were also prevalent in the blood sausage, which I quickly devoured, as it didn't even taste of iron. And it all got complimented with some of those crunchy pig's ears with their pork rind-ish flavor (they also had bags of pork rinds on the tables if that wasn't enough). The other amazing thing is that the most expensive thing on the menu was only 40,000 Rupiah, or US$4. This place rocks.
4 comments:
oh em gee... the pork skin in the first pic looks incredible. That will be the first thing on my list to eat when I'm in Bali.. which will be, like, never. But hey, at least I get to enjoy it vicariously thru this blog. Keep up the good work!
Oka is awesome: me and my wife visited some years ago for the first time and have made the pilgrimage back many times. Although there are many places to get babi guling on Bali, this is the best that I've come across
Just had this 3 months ago, and while I might not rate it as the best, it is certainly good. Maybe I caught them on an off they..nevertheles a must visit whenever am in Ubud
The locals (including me) prefer the tastier Babi Guling Handayani on Bypass Road Sanur. Check it out the next time you're in Bali. Get there before 11am before the lunch crowd comes in. They're usually sold out by by 1pm.
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