How to Explore Bali as a Vegetarian Without Worry
You are planning to explore Bali as a vegetarian and you are wondering about vegetarian options during your trip? A very wise decision, as you for sure picked the most perfect place to travel as a vegetarian.
Of all the places in the world you could travel to, Bali is a vegetarian haven for endless delicious dishes throughout the island. So look no further and read up on our travel guide on how to explore Bali as a vegetarian.
Let’s get started!
Is it difficult to explore Bali as a vegetarian?
Generally, as a vegetarian traveling Bali, you won’t find many issues, and the food is amazing. You’ll love it!
However it’s always good to be cautious. So I want to provide a guide of helpful tips when you explore Bali as a vegetarian or a vegan, as you are traveling in a country with a completely new language and diet. In other words, depending on your specific diet, you may need to be more cautious.
For instance, if you are a vegetarian who avoids eating eggs, you’ll need to be extra aware of the vegetarian dishes in Bali, as they may include egg.
There may be a vegetarian dish on the menu, but if you’re not careful, you may accidently find eggs in some vegetarian dishes in Bali.
To prevent any surprises like this, it’s important you learn how to read labels in Indonesian (warning: a lot of ingredient labels you’ll find in grocery stores are not in English). And when eating out at a restaurant, you should always ask about the ingredients in the meal that you want to order.
It depends on the type of vegetarian diet
Being more specific about your vegan/vegetarian diet can make it slightly more challenging. Especially if you are vegetarian for religious reasons. For the both of us, as vegetarians who do not eat eggs and with the hopes of eating in restaurants that were completely vegetarian, it was a bit difficult. Finding a completely vegetarian restaurant was definitely something we needed to do our research on ahead of time.
We made it through only by being more flexible, as we couldn’t find a completely vegetarian restaurant in every location we traveled.
If this is something that’s a no-go for you, I recommend shopping and making your own meals, which can be done if you stay at an airbnb with a kitchen.
However, knowing where you will be staying definitely helps when researching the right food options for you that are in the area you are staying.
What locations offer vegetarian options in Bali?
Ubud is without a doubt the perfect place to explore Bali as a vegetarian as it is by far the most vegetarian and vegan part of the island. There are endless options. Be it you’re vegan or vegetarian, you’ll be set for life in Ubud. Whether it’s traditional Balinese food or global dishes like pasta and pizza, all can be found in whichever vegetarian restaurant you choose from.
Is Ubud the only spot on the island with vegetarian options?
Of course not! There are plenty of amazing vegetarian restaurants outside of Ubud, but you would need to carefully plan out your stay to find the most vegetarian options near you.
If you’re staying in a more densely populated part of the island, you’re more likely to find more vegetarian options. For instance, Ubud, Kuta, Seminyak, and Canggu, have the most vegetarian options available on the island.
What are alternative vegetarian options?
Create your own meals
Instead of depending on vegetarian restaurants in the area you’re staying in, you can rent an airbnb with kitchen utilities. This way you have more reassurance in the meals you have while traveling.
It is not only the kitchen utilities you should look out for though. Even if your place has everything, does the place you’re staying in offer vegetarian products in grocery marts?
This was one issue we had while staying in Amed. The place we were staying in had a kitchen, however there was no nearby grocery store for miles, and we would need to drive over an hour to get basic ingredients for cooking our own vegetarian dishes.
We ended up just relying on the vegetarian restaurants in the area, but we realized that cooking at home is only made easy if there’s enough options at local grocery stores. This shouldn’t be a worry if you are staying in Ubud or the Seminyak/Canggu/Legian area.
Final Thoughts
As with traveling anywhere as a vegetarian, thinking about your options beforehand is crucial to planning a perfect trip. Research your area and look for vegetarian restaurants on google maps. Check and see if they are all within walking distance and be sure to check out any grocery stores in the area as well.
When you explore Bali as a vegetarian, you might have many concerns, mostly with making sure you know what exactly is in your food but also with the mindset of trying to avoid Bali belly as well. There’s a lot to keep in mind, but truly Bali is a fairly easy place to navigate for vegetarian/vegan travelers.
Eat at well reviewed restaurants, and keep an open mind. The food in Bali is unlike anything you’ll find anywhere else. It’s guaranteed to be picture perfect. And while it may be new to you, Bali is the perfect place to explore your vegetarian palate.
Maeve & Kart
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We’re Maeve & Kart – an introverted American girl with a love for letters, flowers, and chai on one side, and an introverted extrovert nature enthusiast Indian boy with a sweet tooth on the other.
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Maeve & Kart
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We are Maeve and Kart – a long distance married couple from America and India.
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