With its abundance of wellness centers, spas and yoga studios, it’s no wonder Ubud has such a vibrant healthy, raw/vegan, and organic restaurant scene. And if you’ve been following us for some time, you’ll know that this is right up our alley! It is, in fact, one of the many reasons why we lingered around Ubud for so long.
Eating vegan in Ubud is generally more for the flashpacker’s budget (especially if you want to taste everything like we did!), but we were happy to splurge because very few cities in South East Asia cater to vegans as well as Ubud does. We spent nearly three weeks in Ubud and felt that we made the rounds enough to present you with our very own guide to vegan food in Ubud. The options are seemingly endless though, and we still didn’t manage to chew through our whole wishlist. Let us know if you visit any of these restaurants and what you thought.
With its abundance of wellness centers, spas and yoga studios, it’s no wonder Ubud has such a vibrant healthy, raw/vegan, and organic restaurant scene. And if you’ve been following us for some time, you’ll know that this is right up our alley! It is, in fact, one of the many reasons why we lingered around Ubud for so long.
Eating vegan in Ubud is generally more for the flashpacker’s budget (especially if you want to taste everything like we did!), but we were happy to splurge because very few cities in South East Asia cater to vegans as well as Ubud does. We spent nearly three weeks in Ubud and felt that we made the rounds enough to present you with our very own guide to vegan food in Ubud. The options are seemingly endless though, and we still didn’t manage to chew through our whole wishlist. Let us know if you visit any of these restaurants and what you thought.
1. NINE HEAVEN VEGAN WARUNG
This is a new restaurant that opened where ‘Vegan Warung’ used to be. Perhaps because they couldn’t be bothered to change the sign on the door, this restaurant is thankfully also vegan. They serve all the traditional Indonesian staples plus some (quite rare in this neck of the woods) Korean-inspired fares. The kimchi pancake was out of this world – I just dribbled on my keyboard writing this. Crispy, spicy, oily, messy, delicious. The bakso and ramen were also mouthwatering: the bakso balls were surprisingly great for mock meat and the ramen was super spicy. Soups are the things I feel I’m missing out on the most in South East Asia, so whenever there’s a vegan version of something available, I always try that. These ones didn’t disappoint. What did disappoint however was the bibimbap: aside from a meagre portion of kimchi, it was very bland and garnished with a big squirt of something resembling ketchup. Otherwise, the food doesn’t seem to be very consistent: we returned for seconds a few days later and the kimchi pancakes were spongier and less crisp, and the ramen was, while equally tasty, presented quite differently. Certainly there are teething problems in any new restaurant and we still recommend you to give them a try.
2. SARI ORGANIK
The one thing our AirBnB neighbour said to us as she checked out of her room and left is “go to Sari Organik”. A quick search online to validate that it was indeed worth a visit and we were on our way, galloping through rice fields so beautiful that I actually got goosebumps. Sari Organik possibly has one of the most beautiful settings I have ever seen, set right amidst the rice terraces. They boast a mostly organic, mostly vegetarian (although there are loads of vegan options) menu. We tried the longtong, a curry made of vegetables, tempeh, tofu and discs of rice cooked in banana leaf and the tofulafel platter. Both were delicious, if maybe a little small. On our second visit, we tried the raw vegan thai soup and the tofu tempura salad. The soup was very small and quite bitter, but the salad was crispy, fresh and a pleasingly different take on the usual fried tofu. Food aside, it is a lovely place to be and definitely deserves a visit. Their daily special juices and smoothies go wonderfully with the gorgeous sunsets.
3. WULAN VEGETARIAN WARUNG
A cute joint with floor seatings located five minute walk from our accommodation (we found ourselves there a lot!), and two minutes from the much hyped Mama’s Warung. There isn’t really a menu, just a couple of items to chose from on a blackboard and a basket of exotic fruits on the counter for juicing. Food was prepared before our eyes by a lady while her daughter danced and sang along to the Bohemian Rhapsody. The place had won me over before I even saw the color of the rice. We both ordered the tempeh curry with spinach and nuts and a watermelon juice, and it was more than we could have hoped for from such a simple location. The dish was served ‘nasi campur’ style, with a lot of yummy little sides such as corn fritters, spicy tomato salad, tiny potatoes in some delicious gravy and the mandatory dollop of sambal. Really delicious and really cheap. We went back about 5 or 6 times.
4. WARUNG SEMESTA
It was quite dark when we visited, so no photo. Semesta is a large and airy two storey restaurant with a mix of meat, fish, vegetarian and vegan dishes like so many others. It’s a very lovely quaint place to have dinner. We both had a dish consisting of fragrant rice cooked in a banana leaf, tofu, tempeh, fritters and sambal which was really good and felt very authentic. The only low point was the accompanying steamed greens in tomato sauce – fantastically healthy but it just felt a little bland. They also have a great menu of healthy green juices.
5. DAYU’S WARUNG
Very healthy. Like, the kind of healthy we cook back home but we have forgotten how to enjoy from an overload of MSG those past 10 months. The food here is made with quality ingredients and organic fresh produce that shines through with minimal seasoning. The menus were kind of confusing and took a while to figure out, in the end we ordered from the “special today” vegan menu: we had the mungbeans spinach burger and the rice noodle beans Thai curry. The burger was especially plentiful. On our second visit we had the tempeh pumpkin lasagna and the sweet potato veggie coconut sandwich and that was even more delicious than the first time, if that’s even possible. Some might call this hippy food. We found it very homey.
6. LIVING FOOD LAB
Cyber-expat-raw-vegan-modern-barefoot-runner-superfood-yogi-laptop central. I want to say bad things about this place, but alas I actually really liked it. The portions are tiny and the prices steep, but we found the food to be superbly executed and the setting gorgeous, overlooking a rice paddy. We had the mango wrap (a bit like a fajitas, but the wrap itself was made of dehydrated mango and herbs, a bit like a fruit leather), the BLT sandwich with tahini ‘cheeze’and basil rawmesan (a gigantic tomato slice made it a little difficult to eat, but the flavors were great) and some raw chocolate sweets. Minuscule portions, but very flavorful. There is a nice garden with bean bags out front if you fancy being a part of the cyber-flop posse.
7. CLEAR CAFE
A bit of a posh cyber-twat joint again, this one felt like we had landed in Cafe del Mar. No matter, we really enjoyed the food and the upper level was a little more low-key. They make their own vegan cashew ‘mylk’ and have a wide selection of vegan milkshakes and smoothies. I had the passion fruit vanilla cashew mylk smoothie, which tasted like a very exotic creamsicle, and Richard had the chocolate maca smoothie, which tasted like Nesquick (in a good way). The raw lasagna was the tiniest, but most delicious fresh bite. But why so tiny? Seems to be a theme around town. Great raw vegan dessert selection.
8. WAYAN COCONUT JUICE BAR
Healthy fruit and veg juice bar that makes huge bottles to go. No water and no sugar added. Some combinations can be a little pricey, but 26k for 1.5 liter of coconut water is the best deal. Get your hydration for the day, or better yet, get it delivered straight to your hotel in the morning.
9. WARUNG SOPA
Bright and airy restaurant with nice modern teak furniture, a great down-to-earth vibe, friendly staff and a fully vegan menu. We went for the much hyped nasi campur, which was excellent. Choose from as many 7,000RP dishes as you wish and have them served around red rice with two types of delicious sambal. We loved the kimchi cabbage rolls and the tempeh manis. The desserts looked yummy.
10. KAFE
Busy and bustling with tourists at all time, we were going to give Kafe a miss because it just seemed too noisy for our taste, but then realized that the upstairs area was a nice little oasis of peace from where you can observe the mayhem below. Like several restaurants in Ubud, Kafe serves meat and fish as well as vegetarian, vegan and raw vegan options, which I think is brilliant. We had the steam veggies with tofu and tempeh and the vegan burger which were both nice and fresh, bursting with newly-picked herbs. The raw vegan moringa peppermint ice cream was out of this world. Read more... http://mostlyamelie.com/15-delicious-vegan-restaurants-to-try-in-ubud/
Ubud is not only known for its vibrant vegan and wellness food scene, but also for its peaceful lifestyle, lush nature, and strong international community. These unique qualities are among the many reasons why people from around the world choose to live and invest in this special part of Bali.
If you’re curious about the lifestyle and property opportunities in the area, explore our guide to Legal Buying Ubud Property and learn how to navigate the legal process safely.
