Ibu Oka is one of the most famous food joints on the entire island of Bali– located in a touristy area of Ubud, Ibu Oka serves some of the best suckling pig. Anthony Bourdain has been here, as have many other food celebrities. Since we stayed around Kuta, the drive was about an hour. I was told we have to go before noon, otherwise the good stuff runs out.

We arrived around 11:45am, and it wasn’t crowded.

As I was walking in, I saw this beautifully roasted as. Since I am not a celebrity, I couldn’t go to back to see the cooking process.

Although you can’t see it, they stuff a lot of herbs and blood sausage in the gut.

The restaurant, or I should say shack.

The portion isn’t too large, and this is $2.50. Apparently when locals go, they give you half off. The sauce on top kind of tasted similar to jerk sauce. Very herby and spicy.

Extra order of skin. There were two types of skin, one was just skin (middle three pieces) and almost candy-like, and the other had a bit of meat attached (outer two pieces). This was the bomb! So flavorful, and the crunchiness was just right. You can also tell how candy-like it is in the picture below. I bet it’s from the belly area since it’s hollow.

Some kind of deep fried pork parts. Eating anything deep fried, without knowing what it is, is awesome.

No wonder this place is famous. My expectation was not too high. I thought pig might be a bit stinky, but I was blown away by how succulent it was, and even the blood sausage was very clean and flavorful. I don’t know what they do to it– from what I saw on the Anthony Bourdain show, they basted it with coconut water throughout, and takes about 24 hours, yet, it was super moist.

Amazing job Ibu Oka.  Hallelujah for Babi Guling!!!

IBU OKA
Jalan Suweta, Tegal Sari No. 2
Bali, Indonesia
T: 361.976345

Check out this story I shot for Metromix yesterday…what fun!
Cochon 555
photos by erin gleeson