The food that surprised us most in Bali

We didn't go to Bali with big culinary expectations, honestly — it's a destination that sells itself mostly on its temples and beaches. Between hidden warungs, dinners looking out over rice fields and the occasional special treat, we were completely wrong.

The first thing that surprised us was how well you eat at a simple, unpretentious warung: nasi goreng, mie goreng, nasi campur, satay with peanut sauce and, if you genuinely like spicy food, sambal — which can look innocent and is absolutely not, consider yourself warned.

In Ubud we tried babi guling and ayam betutu, pork and chicken with Balinese spices, in versions unlike anything we'd tasted anywhere else before. And one night we had dinner at Sweet Orange Warung, literally surrounded by rice fields — one of those places that sticks with you more for the setting than the dish itself.

In Bali you don't need to constantly hunt for "the number one restaurant" — often the best food memory is a warung you stumble on by chance, without looking for it.

In Gili Trawangan we were surprised to eat a thin-crust pizza barefoot in the sand, watching the sunset, bought to go from Regina Pizzeria — a total contrast to the traditional food of the first days, and exactly what we felt like in that particular moment.

We saved a slightly more special dinner for the end of the trip, in Uluwatu, after two weeks of warungs, noodles and food improvised on the fly — it didn't need to be the most expensive of all, just the one we'd feel like remembering well.