Satay in a Balinese warung

Exploring the area around Mengwi, I smelt the pork satay down the street, then saw 2 guys who were making it. Swinging the bike around and parking, my lunch had just been decided. The small warung was located to the north of Mengwi in Peken, a one horse town, that you will probably never pass through. If you do pass through, the pork satay is worth a go. The lady who owned the place, a large 40 year old Balinese, was busy sweating away serving customers, some of whom did a double-take upon seeing me. My order was straight forward, “Samua,” (all) I said, pointing to her display cabinet. She knew the drill and went about assembling a local meal. It consisted of a small bowl of tasty, spicy soup, a plate of nasi putih (plain rice), some ikat laut (mashed sea fish on a stick) a craker and sosis babi (pork homemade sausage), lawar (pork scraps with spices) and sate babi (satay pork sticks).

The whole thing was good, and not too fatty at all. Waiting for the food to arrive I snapped the guys who were making it, plus a local lady and her young son, who burst into tears, poor little bugger. Must of thought I’d stolen his soul or something.

Getting ready to hit the road after 20 minutes I paid the bill, which was 10,000rp. I know they overcharged me, by probably 50%, but that’s how it is out here. Interesting to see what they’ll do when I let them. When touring Bali, you might be pleasantly surprised by the tastes you come across, when stopping at local warungs and fruit stalls.