Done with the breakfast, our driver paced through the small roads leading to the sleepy town of Ubud. After over an hour of driving, the only thing that have seemed to pass really quickly was time. The road leading to Ubud is a cross between a rally trail thanks to its windy road and a bumper car with all the holes in the road. We soon reached Ubud and decided to get something to drink as the windy road took a toll on our stomachs. After coffee at Seniman Coffee Studio, I recovered my appetite and was ready to go. If there was ever one thing that I wanted to try so badly, it was the famed Babi Guling by Ibu Oka. This Ubud staple is a household name that is popular amongst tourist and locals alike. While its fame saw it grow to three shops around the town of Ubud, was it really worth the hype?
The all season Indonesian drink and a Babi Guling essential, Teh Botol. I have probably had 15 bottles while I was there haha.
There is only one thing people order when they dine at Warung Ibu Oka. It is the Babi Guling.
On first glance, it looks like every other Babi Guling out there. You get the bits and pieces of pork stir fry, a little element of crisp from the deep fried pork, a chopped up spit roast pig and to top it off, a glossy shard of pork crackle. While all Babi Guling look about the same, it was in the finer details where the difference was. Here, the pork crackling failed to deliver the crunch that other places did. Instead, it came with the need of a dental floss. The sticky shards of crackle between my gums was the worst feeling ever. Then comes the overly oily combinations that coated my rice with a yellow stained grease. But what was Warung Ibu Oka’s no.1 failure? There was no standout flavour among the many elements on the plate. Its as though everything on the plate summed up to nothingness and not the porky goodness one would normally expect.
Babi Goreng Tepung was an extra that we ordered.
This is essentially deep fried battered pork, except that it did not come out piping hot and crunchy! :( I really wondered whether it was just a bad day at Warung Ibu Oka or its just the way it is.
In my last trip to Ubud, my friend previously advised against going to Warung Ibu Oka. But hearing how this institution built a reputation for the sleepy town of Ubud, I just had to try it. Alas, trust the local and move on. Warung Ibu Oka might previously be the king of the Babi Guling's porky goodness, but it was now clear to me that whatever mention Ibu Oka get is just a momentum of the past.
WenY
