A Foodies Guide to the Best Restaurants in Ubud [+ Map]

Ubud is one of our favourite foodie destinations in Bali. The popular tourist town truly has something for everyone, from nutritious plant-based dishes and tasty brunches to rich Indonesian flavours and a wide range of upscale fine dining.

Having eaten our way around countless fantastic restaurants in Ubud over the last several years, it felt like time to put together a list of our absolute favourites. So here are our 22 top places to eat in Ubud for every occasion.

Where to Eat in Ubud: Map

Our Favourite Restaurants in Ubud

1. Donna

Donna is our absolute favourite restaurant in Ubud for a special occasion. It's a popular fine dining spot right in the town centre that specialises in creative Mediterranean and Latin American flavours.

Even just walking past Donna draws you in, with its street front bar, low lighting, stylish earthy-tone decor, and a cool vibe. From the minute we laid eyes on it, we knew we needed to visit. And it did not disappoint one bit!

The menu is small, but packed with incredible options, from pasta and paella to grilled meats. We tried several dishes, including the meatballs, roasted pumpkin, Donna's gnocchi, and tiramisu, and cannot fault a single thing. I'd order any of these again in a heartbeat!

While Donna is open for lunch, with a lovely open-air terrace area, we'd recommend going for dinner and enjoying its stylish evening atmosphere. On Fridays, dinner usually turns into a late-night party, with live DJs, drinks, and dancing.

We recently visited Donna for dinner on a weekday and ended our meal with a cocktail in their elegant upstairs speakeasy lounge. We were even given a 2-for-1 cocktail voucher for dining in-house first.

Donna is one of the most popular restaurants in Ubud right now and gets full during peak times, so we'd definitely suggest booking a table well in advance.

2. Nari

Nari is one of the newer restaurants in Ubud, but it's already become one of our firm favourites. The stylish spot overlooks the famous Campuhan Ridge, a lush greenery-covered valley on the edge of town. Its large terrace has a fantastic view over the neighbouring Pura Gunung Lebah temple.

Nari Ubud is a wood-fire bistro, meaning many of their creative dishes are cooked or smoked over a traditional wood fire, right in front of you in their large open-air kitchen. Kieren could sit and watch the fire cooking all day!

The menu features modern, Mediterranean flavours with plenty of meat and seafood dishes. We had the barbecue chicken and wood-fired pumpkin, both of which were incredibly delicious (especially the chicken). Next time we'll be trying the steak for sure!

We'd recommend visiting Nari for an early dinner around 5:30-6pm, so you can take in the views and enjoy the sunset over the valley, before darkness falls and the firepits are lit, creating a cosy and romantic evening atmosphere.

3. Honey & Smoke

Honey & Smoke is located right next door to popular Donna on central Monkey Forest Road, but it's much smaller and has a more low-key vibe. The restaurant is newer, so it's still a bit of a hidden gem (for now!).

Their menu focuses on wood-fired cooking and bold, smoky flavours, with Southern European influences. There's everything from slow-smoked meats and flame-kissed seafood to creative pastas, seasonal vegetable dishes, and sharing plates. The dishes are innovative without being too fussy.

We love the sharing plates at Honey & Smoke, so we usually order cocktails and a few dishes to share. The Turkish pide with lamb was rich and delicious, while the burrata worked beautifully with fennel jam and burnt orange vinaigrette. The cauliflower shawarma was also a pleasant surprise.

The restaurant itself is stylish yet relaxed. There's an open-air dining area downstairs, while upstairs is dimly lit with a cool, speakeasy feel - it was actually designed to resemble a 1920s-style train carriage. We enjoy people-watching downstairs, but upstairs offers a more intimate experience.

4. Pasir

Pasir was another love at first bite for us. We first stopped by for lunch and had the most incredible falafel bowl and roasted pumpkin dish, then came straight back the next evening to try their famous hanging tomahawk pork, which looked cool and tasted delicious!

The small menu focuses on fresh Mediterranean flavours, including seafood, veggies, and creative light bites that are perfect for any time of day. Every dish is so beautifully plated that no one will judge you for snapping some photos before you eat.

The laid-back restaurant is located right in central Ubud, with both a small downstairs seating area that overlooks the street and a larger upstairs terrace (easy to miss). It's perfect for a casual lunch or a slightly classier dinner. There's even a speakeasy bar (Whisper Cove) right next door.

Unique Ubud Restaurants

5. Merlin's Magic

Merlin’s is definitely one of the more unique dining experiences in Ubud. It's an unusual magic-themed immersive restaurant, with mystical candle-lit tables, robed waiters, and lots of delicious and innovative dishes. This is a must-have experience in Ubud!

The restaurant is best known for its unusual method of ordering, in which “the food chooses you.” In other words, instead of picking from a menu, we both received a tarot reading. The three cards we picked represented our past, present, and future, as well as our starter, main, and dessert.

For the full experience, you can stick with the dishes chosen for you. Or you can swap any of them for something else. While Kieren stuck with all three of his, I'm a fussier eater and decided to swap a couple - plus I really wanted the steak, which was totally worth it!

What makes Merlin’s even better is that the food is just as magical as the vibe. Each dish is thoughtfully crafted, packed with flavour, and presented with an enchanting flair. The burrata was delicious, while the 'cauldron of life' soup came out in a smoking spherical bowl.

6. Seven Paintings

Seven Paintings is another of Bali's most unique dining experiences, also in central Ubud. It's located within Ubud’s Kaamala Luxury Resort, but is open to both resort guests and outside visitors.

The unique culinary journey combines a seven-course menu with amazing 3D visuals and interactive storytelling. The experience is led by the Mona Lisa herself, while each course takes inspiration from different artists, including Michelangelo, Banksy, and Van Gogh.

There was plenty of edible artwork and interactive dishes, including colour-changing cocktails and plenty of dry ice. We even got to create our own masterpieces on the table with purees and paint a chocolate bar.

The menu is preset, so you can only choose between vegetarian and meat. We had the meat option but asked for no seafood, and they were able to accommodate us by swapping a couple of our dishes for the veggie ones.

While a couple of dishes were quite simple and nothing to write home about, we really enjoyed the beef cheek and the unusual white chocolate and potato soufflé for dessert.

Seating at Seven Paintings Ubud is limited to just 16 guests per session, so it’s important to make a reservation in advance.

7. Shichirin Japanese Restaurant

If you love authentic Japanese food, Shichirin is a must-visit in Ubud. It's a Japanese konro grill restaurant which offers an exciting teppanyaki dining experience, where fresh meat, seafood, and veggies are grilled on a large iron plate in an open-air kitchen.

We sat right at the counter and ordered several teppanyaki dishes, including the steak and veggies, then watched as the talented chef cooked our food right in front of us, with lots of cool knife tricks and huge flames. It was such a fun and entertaining experience, and all of the food was fantastic.

Even if you don't want the teppanyaki, Shichirin does plenty of other delicious Japanese dishes too, including various types of sushi, tonkatsu, salads, rice dishes, and even Japanese tacos.

We also paired our meal with some fantastic Japanese-inspired cocktails. The 'Karai Shinsen' with tequila, wasabi, and pineapple is a must-try!

8. Swiss Chalet

Snow in Bali? Yep, that's what we discovered at Swiss Chalet, another of the most unusual restaurants in Ubud.

This restaurant was designed to resemble a cosy alpine lodge, with beautiful wooden architecture, stone details, fake alpine landscapes in the windows, and even a snow machine at the entrance. It truly feels like stepping into a dreamy mountain escape (minus the hot weather outside).

Inside, the restaurant serves authentic Swiss dishes, including cheese fondue, succulent roast beef, stews and casseroles, veal sausages, and apple strudel. We tried the traditional Swiss raclette, which came with plenty of proper raclette cheese that we grilled ourselves right at the table.

While a Swiss mountain chalet may not be the most obvious place to eat in Ubud, it is a fun and unique dining experience. We visited during the day, but I could imagine it's cosier and livelier in the evening.

Best Cafes & Casual Dining in Ubud

9. Tucky

Tucked away on a side street in the busy town center, Tucky is a hidden gem that’s quickly become one of our favourite brunch spots in Ubud.

The cosy little cafe has just a handful of tables and a small but creative menu of artisanal sandwiches, loaded toasts, and fresh pastries, all of which pair perfectly with their fantastic specialty coffee.

Attention to detail is key here, and each of the brunch dishes bursts with unique flavours, using authentic European ingredients, such as pesto Genovese, tomato chutney, and olive tapenade. I tried the poached eggs and ham on brioche with pesto and raved about it for days after!

10. Milk & Madu

Milk & Madu is one of our all-time favourite casual dining chains in Bali, with large, family-friendly restaurants in Ubud, Canggu, Seminyak, and Uluwatu.

Right in the town centre, the modern all-day restaurant serves Aussie comfort-food dishes, including indulgent burgers, sandwiches, chicken parma, fish and chips, pasta, and lots more.

The main reason we come here is for their famous lava stone pizzas, which come with a variety of creative toppings. We must have ordered the “Summer Slice” on every visit, which is topped with an entire burrata (so good!). Plus, all pizzas are 2-4-1 every Tuesday & Sunday, making it fantastic value for money.

11. Habitat Bistro

Habitat Bistro is the in-house Italian restaurant of one of our favourite boutique hotels in Ubud, the Kaamala Luxury Resort, but it's also open to outside guests and is definitely worth visiting.

The casual Italian bistro sits above the hotel's large infinity pool, with a row of stylish orange booths overlooking a lush green jungle valley on the edge of Ubud. It's open all day, but we'd recommend visiting for a leisurely lunch to enjoy the stunning views and sounds of nature.

The menu has everything from pizza and pasta to meat and fresh seafood. While staying at the resort, we managed to try many of the dishes and couldn't fault anything we ate.

We loved the arancini, crostini, eggplant parmigiana, and pork collar. But it was definitely the lamb pappardelle which won the award for best dish, with gorgeous handmade pasta and a rich, flavourful meat ragu. The tiramisu was also a fantastic way to round off every single meal.

12. Brie Restaurant & Cheesery

If you love cheese as much as we do, Brie is a must-visit restaurant in Ubud. The unique spot has its own in-house cheese-making facility on the ground floor, where they turn fresh milk from Java into creamy homemade cheese - visit between 5-6pm for a demonstration.

After visiting the downstairs cheesery, we were super surprised to discover how elegant Brie's semi-fine-dining restaurant on the second floor was, with draped curtains, floating candles, and a large cocktail bar.

We visited for lunch and, of course, ordered the cheese platter, which had a selection of house-made and imported cheeses, including brie, burrata, stracciatella, and smoked cheese, plus preserves, nuts, and breadsticks. We also got the baked brie with toasted bread, which was incredibly delicious.

If you visit for dinner, you can try Brie's full gourmet food menu, including cheese-loaded pizzas, fresh pasta and risotto, salads, and beautiful meat dishes with a sprinkle of cheese. End the meal with their homemade ice cream or creative signature cheese cake that looks like a wedge of cheese.

13. Sayan Point

Sitting on a ridge above the Ayung River on the outskirts of town, Sayan Point is where you’ll find one of our favourite places to enjoy dinner with a view in Ubud. The rustic restaurant has spacious open-air seating with breathtaking panoramic vistas of the river valley, rice terraces, and jungle below.

There's a mixed Indonesian and Western menu. It’s not gourmet dining, but the nasi goreng kampung (fried rice) was delicious. They also have burgers, pizzas, steaks, and more. Prices were surprisingly affordable given the incredible view

There’s a 150,000 IDR ⓘ minimum spend per person to visit, but we easily met this with a main meal and a drink each.

The restaurant gets very busy around sunset, so we’d suggest reserving a table by contacting them on Instagram in advance to ensure a good view.

Best Vegan Food in Ubud

14. Zest

Ubud is famous for its abundance of healthy and delicious plant-based cuisine (it's a fantastic place to be a vegetarian or vegan). And nowhere is this more present than Zest!

Zest is a cool bohemian restaurant in Ubud that focuses on locally grown whole foods and plant-based dishes. You won’t find any animal products, refined sugar, or harmful oils in their food, with many ingredients coming from their own garden.

We're not vegan, but we've still enjoyed every dish we've tried at Zest, from the all-day breakfast to plant-based pizzas and colourful medicine bowls.

With their cosy sofas, gorgeous jungle views, free board games, and regular live music, we often lose a few hours over a slow, laid-back meal here.

15. Plant Bistro

Plant Bistro is another of the most popular vegan restaurants in Ubud. In fact, when our vegan friends came to visit, I think they ate almost every single meal here!

The menu focuses on creative Italian dishes, including lots of plant-based pizza, pasta, and risotto, as well as other innovative vegan creations. We loved the pumpkin pizza the most. They also have a fantastic selection of vegan pastries, desserts, and ice cream.

The hidden restaurant is designed to look like a beautiful European garden bistro. With its round marble-top tables and elegant crystal chandeliers, it feels like something you'd find on the streets of Paris, not a rooftop in Ubud.

16. Mudra Cafe

We visited Mudra Cafe during an Ubud food tour with Bali Culinary Tours (a must-do if you're a foodie!), and it's quickly become another of our favourites for some healthy bites.

While not entirely plant-based, the large bamboo cafe focuses on health-conscious Asian-inspired Ayurvedic food, with plenty of options for all dietary preferences, including vegan, vegetarian, and gluten-free. Specialties include Japanese seaweed tacos, poke bowls, and dim sum.

Some of the best dishes we've tried at Mudra are the BBQ cauliflower wings and the crunchy mushroom wontons. For breakfast, the cloud cakes (soft soufflé-style pancakes) are a must-order.

Mudra also hosts events every day of the week, including handpan classes and performances, open mic nights, and plenty of live music and concerts.

Best Indonesian Restaurants in Ubud

17. This is Bali

Right in the heart of Ubud, This is Bali is a unique, modern take on the local Balinese warung. It serves traditional Balinese and Indonesian dishes, from fried rice to rendang, with a twist. Everything is cooked fresh by award-winning local chefs, and all dishes are free of MSG, preservatives, and additives.

The restaurant has a pretty all-white interior, covered in cute wall art, modern lighting, and plenty of greenery. But it's best known for its floating table, which we were lucky enough to sit at on our most recent visit, but it's usually in high demand (reserve in advance if you can!).

We both ordered the Nasi Campur (mixed rice), which is similar to picking from a counter in a local warung, with a wide selection of rice, meat, veggies, and sambals (chili) to choose from. But rather than a counter, we ordered by taking a card and using a selection of stamps to select our dishes.

All of the food we tried here was delicious, but the crispy tempeh and pumpkin curry were definitely highlights for me. If you don't want to create your own dish, there are plenty of pre-made bowls available too.

18. Nusantara

For an upmarket Indonesian feast in Ubud, Nusantara is the place to go. The elegant restaurant is part of the Locavore Group, an innovative foodie collective that specialises in high-end local flavours.

Nusantara celebrates the diverse flavours of the Indonesian archipelago, with many authentic local dishes from various regions, including Bali, Lombok, Java, and Sumatra, made using local ingredients and traditional cooking techniques.

The menu is organised by small plates, big plates, sides, and sambals, all labeled by region. There's a set tasting menu, or you can pick a selection to share. We'd never heard of most of the dishes before, making it a fantastic way to discover lots of new flavours.

The best parts of our meal were the "Jukut Kelor Mesanten," a gorgeous creamy soup cooked in a whole coconut over a wood fire on the restaurant's terrace, and the "Ayam Serundeng" chicken.

We were also given a complimentary “Berbagi Rasa” platter of local snacks to start the meal, which came with a card explaining each dish and was a fun way to try even more unique flavours.

19. Fair Warung Bale

Fair Warung Bale is a small local warung that serves some of the most delicious traditional Balinese food in Ubud, while also providing free health services and medical care to those in need.

The warung has a big menu of local flavours. We ordered the "Plataran Chicken," a sharing platter that came with a selection of delicious chicken-based dishes, including spring rolls, cashew chicken, and chicken sate. There are also rice dishes, ribs, kebabs, salads, and more.

But the thing that makes this our favourite warung in Ubud is that every meal purchased pays for two free medical consultations for locals in need. You can also donate extra to support the warung's clinic - every little bit counts!

20. Casa Luna

Casa Luna is another slightly more upmarket spot offering delicious Balinese dishes, sitting in a large bamboo building on a main street in central Ubud.

It's a great place to try local dishes like nasi campur, nasi goreng, and Balinese curry. Despite catering towards tourists, the local dishes are still rich, spicy, and packed with Balinese spices. In fact, mine was a little too spicy, so I'd definitely ask them to tone it down if you can't handle the heat!

One great thing about Casa Luna is that, as well as local flavours, they also have a menu of Mediterranean dishes, including salads, mezze dishes, pizza, and pasta. It's a great option if you're travelling with fussy eaters or are simply craving different cuisines for a night.

For a fun evening activity in Ubud, don’t miss the Casa Luna Jazz Club, with live performances every Sunday night.

21. Waroeng Bernadette

Beef rendang is one of our favourite Indonesian dishes, and nowhere in Ubud does it better than Waroeng Bernadette. The popular Indonesian restaurant serves a range of authentic local dishes, from classic nasi goreng (fried rice) to chicken sate and bakso meatball soup.

But the thing that keeps us returning to Waroeng Bernadette over and over again is their delicious rendang, with succulent, melt-in-your-mouth beef slow-cooked in aromatic coconut milk and rich Indonesian spices. It's definitely one of the best rendangs we've eaten and a must-eat in Ubud.

22. Pondok Madu

Another of the best restaurants in Ubud for meat lovers like us is Pondok Madu, which is owned by local couple Sri and Ketut and specialises in the tastiest "babi iga," or BBQ pork ribs.

The restaurant uses traditional methods to slow-smoke its locally sourced pork for 8–10 hours over firewood, infusing every rack with a rich, tender flavour. Recipes are rooted in Balinese herbs and the use of coconut oil.

You can also choose your own sauce for your ribs. We usually order the classic BBQ ribs to share, but there's also traditional Balinese sambal matah, sweet and spicy pedas manis, coconut curry sauce, and several others.

We also pair our ribs with mashed potatoes, but there's also rice, noodles, vegetables, and plenty of other local dishes to pair with the meat.