What I ate in Ubud, Bali (Vegetarian friendly)

Basia Leahy
Feb 17, 2023
10 min read

This is part one because I like to ramble so it feels necessary to split this up into a few different parts. Bear with me- I'll create a short, summarized list of the restaurants/coffee shops and my thoughts on them in a following post (I'll link it here once I post it), this post is more about the story behind the meals.

There will also be a short list at the bottom of this blog post, with a description of what I ate and where I ate it. The link to the bottom of the page is here.

Simply Social (Simply Social)

My first meal in Ubud was the night I flew into Bali- when the driver that had picked me up from the Denpasar Airport and drove me to Ubud suggested that we stop so that I could get some dinner (which, btw, was so nice of him and very much appreciated by me). He pulled off at a place called Simply Social and I got my first taste of just how affordable food in Ubud was going to be for me this week.

As my eyelids started to droop heavily, exhausted from the second day of travel in a row, I perused the menu and was shocked by what I held in front of me. At first, I thought I had stumbled upon what would come to be my go-to spot, because, to my surprise, they had a full 3-4 menu pages devoted to vegan and vegetarian options. I would soon find out however, this was not a rarity, but rather, the standard here in Ubud. Everything was incredibly vegan and vegetarian friendly.

Picture of one of the several vegan-friendly menu pages

I decided on something I had previously eaten in the states, the jackfruit tacos, and approached the counter, ready to pay to have it taken to-go. The cost for 3 vegan jackfruit tacos, a meal that at a gentrified “street” taco restaurant in the U.S. would run you no less than $15, (all of the small tacos being at least $3 ~a la carte~), was $60,000 Indonesian Rupiah, or $3.96 in USD. After service charge and a tip, I think the entire bill came out to a little over $5.

And let me tell you, they were incredible.

the kind of bliss only tacos can bring

The next day

Rococo's Warung (Rococo Warung) and Glory Coffee (Glory Coffee)

As I approached the first few restaurants on my way into Ubud on my first full day, my hunger was leading my body more than I was leading it. My movements, being fully and completely controlled by my grumbling stomach after an especially challenging Vinyasa flow, made my stride almost mechanic. As I drug myself along, propelled by the promise of food and with what felt like cinderblocks attached to each of my feet, I spotted what would be my lifeline to the left of my path.

The building I made a beeline for held two restaurants: a Warung, the name for a small family-owned business (cafe, restaurant, shop, etc.) in Indonesia, and a coffee shop, working in conjunction with each other. The restaurant’s name was Rococo’s Warung and the coffee shop was called Glory Coffee.

A quick snap of the menu at Glory Coffee

It was here, on my first day in Indonesia, that I made an irresponsible choice that very well could have shaken my trip, and me, to my core. Based on what I’d like to call the muscle memory of a (far too) frequent iced latte drinker, that’s exactly what I ordered without second thought.

Forgoing and forgetting any previous warning I had read about the effects that water (and ice!!) can have on foreigner's bodies who aren’t used to the local bacteria and haven’t built up immunity to these strains in the way that the locals have, I ordered my latte iced.

[ If you’re unfamiliar, look up “Bali Belly”, and you’ll find that 20-50% (though I’ve been told it’s especially bad this year) of travelers experience the symptoms- which are comparative to a stomach bug, usually within 2-5 days of arrival. Since I'm *ahem* built different and didn't fall victim to the sickness and because we're talking about all of the delicious food I ate in this post, we're not gonna get any further into it than that but you can google it if you'd like to learn more. ]

I realized the mistake I had just made as I was lazily sipping on my latte and waiting for my food. There was nothing I could do now, or rather nothing I could be bothered to do at that point. I decided the best plan of action was to slurp down the rest of the latte as fast as possible so as to drink it all before the ice could melt into it any further.

[ I got a pretty simple meal here, and unfortunately didn’t take a picture of the warung’s menu. My intention in taking photos of my food while in Bali was honestly just to remember the things I had eaten because they were all so delicious, so I apologize in advance if some of this doesn’t seem planned out (it’s because it wasn’t). There were many days I didn’t take pictures of anything I ate and as I go through photos of my days here, I’m trying to recollect the things that didn’t make it into my photo album. I’ll try to list those recommendations for food as well and give a short blurb on the taste, pricing and experience. Hopefully if I describe it in enough detail, you’ll be able to picture the food in your head. ]

At Rococo's Warung, I got an avocado toast with eggs and pesto and it also came with a small side salad. Although it wasn’t the most life-changing thing that I tasted in Ubud, it was quick and tasty and gave me the energy I needed to keep exploring. The pesto was especially good and I didn’t dig into it until I was nearly finished with my meal but looking back, if I had the opportunity to eat it again, I would have put it on top of my eggs and incorporated it more into my meal.

my meal at Rococo's Warung- an avocado toast with eggs, pesto and a side salad

Afterwards, I continued to explore the streets of Ubud before mapping out what I wanted to be my second destination of the day. I needed more coffee. Yes, needed.

I’m a big fan of google searching and finding people's reviews, specifically top 10 or top 5 lists for many things- coffee, food, drinks, yoga, sightseeing, all of the above. So naturally, it was at this point that I decided I needed to do some research and see what people considered to be the top 10 coffee shops in Ubud.

I don’t consider myself a coffee snob by any means and would have been happy getting a latte in most places. But that being said, when I do get the opportunity to go to places that people with actual taste and opinions on coffee go, I will certainly indulge.

Anomali Coffee (Anomali Coffee)

On the top of many a reviewer's list was a place called Anomali Coffee. A quick google search helped me pull it up on maps and I started on my way. It wasn’t too far away from where I was currently situated and the reviews boasted that it was locally owned and operated (something I was trying my best to consistently support on my vacation), and also a great place to get Indonesian coffee- the beans of which were advertised as being roasted, ground and brewed each and every day to ensure ultimate freshness.

Now I don't know if I'm speaking from a lack of knowledge of coffee or ignorance of the world in general, but I had no idea that Indonesia was known for coffee. (I know, embarrassing- but at least I'm being honest!) After having this latte however, I was (and remain to be) convinced that Indonesia is, quite possibly, home to the best coffee in the world. Now, I have no actual knowledge or real-world experience to back that statement up but I have had thousands of lattes in my day so I wouldn't consider myself to be a total amateur.

a life changing latte

The Seeds of Life (The Seeds of Life)

Feeling energized by the incredible cup of coffee I had just had, I went on to further explore. After another hour or so of wandering, I noticed my stomach grumbling again. The coffee had only kept me satiated for so long and as my body adjusted to the new time zone, I knew it wouldn’t be a smart move to wait any later to eat lunch as it was already nearing 4pm. I found myself on a road near the Ubud Art Market, with restaurants flanking both sides of the streets as far as the eye could see. When I saw the signage for The Seeds of Life from afar, I instantly remembered the name from a google search I had done weeks ago to find the best vegan restaurants in Ubud.

As I approached the restaurant, an A-frame sign in front of their entrance advertised the raw vegan food served inside. I walked in and was greeted by another sign that asked me to take off my shoes and sit down anywhere. I chose a seat on the corner of an elevated bench-like structure that was covered in large pillows to sit on and platforms (I don’t think I can call them tables because of their general lack of height and width) which sat at around the same height that my knees did while my legs were folded crisscross applesauce style.

menu page at The Seeds of Life dedicated to fresh juices

As I started to recline comfortably on my respective pillow, I was quickly greeted and given a menu. I chose to order a Beauty Elixir juice (Cucumber, Apple, Mint, Lime, Aloe and Lavender) and a Vege Wrap- a burrito served in a zucchini wrap filled with veggies and a vegan aioli and served with a side of purple sweet potato chips. Service was fast and the food was delicious, though the Vege Wrap was not fully contained in its “tortilla”, which was open on both ends and led to the inevitable fall of many a veggie from its place in the wrap to it's new home on the plate. Good news: it was just as good eaten salad-style.

my Vege Wrap and Beauty Elixir

I have a screenshot in my phone, directly after the pictures I had taken of my food at The Seeds of Life, of my conversion app showing a total of $129,375.00 IDR (Indonesian Rupiah). I can only guess that, because of its location and time stamp, this is what I paid for my meal- bringing the total to… (drumroll please)… $8.67 USD. Name me a place you can get raw vegan food and fresh juice for under $10 in the states… (hell, even under $20!) and I will seriously pay you.

the conversion of what I paid for my meal from IDR to USD

Cafe Pomegranate (Cafe Pomegranate)

After exploring for a little while longer, I decided to make the trek back to the place I was staying.

The increased humidity had brought about a gentle glow to my face and body (definitely not sweat) and I was exhausted from a day of walking around and lugging my heavy backpack, filled with cameras and everything else I could possibly need (I am a serial over-packer, even for daytime excursions). I looked down at my watch and saw that I had already walked 7 miles that day; I was more than ready to jump in the pool and relax.

Because it was a 5-10 minute walk from Ubud, I usually tried to leave the place I was staying early in the morning with my bag packed for a full day and stay out until around sunset when I would make the journey back home. It wasn’t a far walk by any means and the hills didn’t prove to be terribly strenuous, but I have a bad habit of telling myself I’ll “rest” for 10 minutes and then get back into go, go, go mode. (Those 10 minutes usually turn into a Netflix show, and a facemask and then of course the typical “resting my eyes” ~dad nap~ for 5 minutes that quickly turns into an hour of snoozed alarms. So, I’ve found its best for me to avoid this midday rest and power through.)

I got hungry again around 7pm- after the sun had gone down and it was already dark out. My laziness and stomach were competing with each other to see who would win. My hunger, as always, overpowered any need I had for rest or relaxation.

At this point, I had gotten spooked by articles I had read describing all of the types of poisonous snakes found in Bali and how a lot of them really like chilling in the tall prairie grass-esque rice fields that surrounded what was to be my home for the next week. I couldn’t muster up the courage to walk through what felt like a danger zone, armed only with my phone's flashlight to guide the way.

As I had walked the path to and from town several times at this point, I knew that there were restaurants scattered along it. I decided to let Google Maps take the wheel and I searched "restaurants nearby", intent on going to the closest possible option. My hunger had won, but my laziness was still backseat driving.

I found Cafe Pomegranate and saw that it was a mere 0.10 of a mile up the road from my accommodations. It was the second restaurant I’d been to that day that had pillows for chairs- something my parents will tell you, much to their own chagrin, that I was used to, considering my place on Oahu has no dining table or chairs (but several very comfortable floor pillows ok!!).

I ordered a bowl of pumpkin-carrot soup and started to shovel spoonfuls of it into my mouth as soon as it was placed in front of me, without any regard for the burn my impatience had left on my tongue and the roof of my mouth. (Sometimes you just need to dragon breath it out and figure out the rest later you know?)

The soup was good but it wasn't life-changing by any means- and maybe I lost some of the flavor to my seared tongue, I can't tell you with absolute certainty that my burnt mouth wasn't the malefactor here.

I have no picture of my soup but just... picture a bowl of light orange, creamy soup... and while you're doing that... maybe imagine it with those lines that they add into cartoons to show that food is steaming hot and smells good coming off the top of it.

And thus ended my first day and a half of meals in Ubud. Stay tuned for part 2- what's on the horizon you may ask? Pizza. More great coffee. And more eggs. Which feels a little cruel to talk about considering the prices of eggs in the U.S. right now, but you'll just have to bear with me.

List of Restaurants/Coffee Shops mentioned in this post:

Simply Social (Simply Social)

What I had: Vegan Jackfruit Tacos

Read about my experience here

Rococo Warung (Rococo Warung)

What I had: Avocado Toast with Poached Eggs and Pesto

Read about my experience here

Glory Coffee (Glory Coffee)

What I had: Iced Vanilla Latte with Oat Milk

Read about my experience here

Anomali Coffee (Anomali Coffee)

What I had: (Life changing) Hot Vanilla Latte with Oat Milk