Bali does not fall short of eating options. One of the cheapest way to eat is probably in of the many warungs. Today, many foreign restaurants, including high-end restaurants call themselves "warung" in order to attract western tourists in quest of authenticity. And this leads to absurdities, since an "Italian warung" or a "German warung" would sound as authentic as a "Chinese brasserie" or a "Belgian teppanyaki". But a "typical" warung is a small family-owned shop, selling cold drinks, snacks, and fresh (or not) nasi campur and nasi goreng.
When my driver Eka asked me if I wanted to eat "local" (meaning the same as he eats) or in a "restaurant" I jumped on the opportunity and replied "local", very curious to see where he would bring me. We stopped and I followed Eka inside the glamorous Warung Asri, trying to avoid the chicken which were happily bathing in the mud.
I was not that sure that the food was freshly made. To me, the food in display looked like it had been rotting in the damp hot weather for a while, in a non refrigerated counter. A real food safety regulation nightmare. At this stage, however there was nothing I could do - without offending Eka - except to seat down and wait for the surprise meal I would get.
As I had to keep a vegetarian diet for a week, I had some plain rice with fried tempeh, glass noodles and vegs. And I must admit it tasted quite good. Though, I must also admit that it is quite difficult to eat while moving both hands to chase flies and dogs away.
A meal in this kind of warung costs between IDR 5,000 and IDR 7,500 (£0,35 - £0.53).
For a healthy snack, you can easily buy tropical fruits in any market. However, be aware of the outrageous prices that are asked to tourists. Now that local sales know that tourists would try to bargain for a third of the asking price, they would not hesitate to ask first a price that is 10 to 20 times the "fair" price.
Or for a more indulgent snack, you can try some of these delicious glutinous rice balls with coconut, sold by old ladies in the street.
Another warung on the motorway (a "warung-routier").
To celebrate the end of the vegetarian diet, I had some roasted suckling pig (babi guling).
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