If you come to Bali expecting the range and exuberance of the cooking found elsewhere in Southeast Asia, you ll be disappointed. Somehow the ingenuity and panache don t seem to have reached this far, or maybe they ve just been elbowed out of the way by pizzas, hamburgers or French fries. Ironically the most elusive cuisine on the island is the native Balinese most of it is Indonesian or Western although Padang food from Sumatra is well worth seeking out.
Indonesian food is based on rice or noodles with side dishes of vegetables, meat or fish.
It is flavored with chillis, soy sauce, garlic, cinnamon, ginger, turmeric and lemon grass. Two dishes available in even the humblest eatery are nasi campur , boiled rice with small amounts of side dishes, and nasi goreng , fried rice containing meat, vegetables or fish. The noodle equivalent of these dishes is widely available. The other mainstays of the Indonesian diet are gado-gado , steamed vegetables served with a spicy peanut sauce, and satay, small barbecued meat kebabs. The range of eating places in Bali is incredible.