#4 on Bali's Top 10 — Ubud
Warung Ibu Oka
The babi guling (suckling pig) warung across from Ubud Palace, featured on Anthony Bourdain's shows
Ibu Oka has been serving babi guling — Balinese roast suckling pig, seasoned inside and out with a dense mix of turmeric, galangal, chili and herbs — across from Ubud's royal palace for decades. It's simple, plastic-chair, communal-table dining, and it's exactly the kind of place that ends up on "best of" lists precisely because it never tried to be anything else.
The dish
One dish, done one way: crispy-skinned roast pork, rich yellow spiced meat, served over rice with a scoop of the crackling and a side of vegetables. It's rich, intensely flavored, and nothing like Western-style roast pork.
The experience
This is genuinely a warung — simple seating, fast service, no menu to agonize over. It typically sells out its daily batch of pig by early-to-mid afternoon, so this isn't a dinner spot.
Practical tips
- —Go for lunch, not dinner — the pig genuinely sells out most days once it's gone.
- —It's communal, casual seating — don't expect a quiet, private meal.
- —Multiple branches now exist around Ubud carrying the Ibu Oka name — the original, across from the palace, is the famous one.