If you happen to stay or visit Ubud right now or plan to take a trip to Ubud, don’t forget to include Ibu Oka’s Suckling Pig to your places-to-eat list. Why?

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Here are the reasons:

Chubby Hubby in chubbyhubby.net wrote:
Ibu Oka is a small, slightly dingy open-air restaurant located smack in the middle of Ubud town. You have to go early (ideally around 1030am), firstly to avoid the queues, but also (and more importantly) to ensure that you won’t arrive only to be told that they are sold out (the restaurant only prepares a couple each day). While there are a few variations, order the “pisah”, which translates to a plate full of everything: soft, succulent meat, crispy skin, deep-fried intestines, more pork meat mixed with spices, and a chilli-vegetable relish. This is served with rice. Order your meal, take off your shoes and head into the dining area. Sit on the floor and dig into one of the most transcendental food experiences of your life; it really is an almost religious experience.

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Trisha Sertori from The Jakarta Post wrote:
Squeezed in between Ubud’s central banjar and Jl. Suweta’s upmarket shops and restaurants stands the legendary Ibu Oka’s Warung Babi Guling. The food stall has stood here for the past 20 years, serving up what many say is some of the best roast suckling pig on Bali.

Search any Bali tourist Internet site and there is a good chance you’ll read rave reviews on Ibu Oka’s warung, at least according to a group from Shanghai sitting at a nearby table.

“We read about the suckling pig here (Ibu Oka’s warung) on the Internet and we had to give it a try,” said Lily Feng, a finance manager from Shanghai, adding that word-of-mouth reviews from friends also insisted on the trip to Ubud for an Ibu Oka roast suckling pig lunch.

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Lily’s words are reflected in the warung’s tables, which are glutted with people from around the world along with local Balinese, filling the warung to overflowing.

And they are all digging in to Ibu Oka’s classic Balinese tucker: melt-in-the-mouth suckling pig that was spit-roasted for five hours before being carted on foot from Ibu Oka’s home kitchen and served hot and fresh to the waiting hordes. Within minutes after it opens its doors, the restaurant is full to overflowing. Every table refills as soon as the early bird diners lick their lips is satisfaction before heading back to work, shopping or wandering Ubud’s central market.

Tasting the legend that is Ibu Oka’s babi guling will cost you around Rp 20,000, which includes roast suckling pig and the crackling, blood sausages, Balinese vegetables and rice. A small price to pay for this simple and delicious pleasure.

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Janice Nieder in www.vagablond.com wrote:
Hours before my most memorable meal of 2007 in Ubud, I had one of the best el-cheapo lunches of all time, too. It was a Bali Bali good food day!

Lunch was at Ibu Oka’s Babi Guling, a divey food stall frequented by many local chefs. Don’t even think about ordering anything but the Roast Suckling Pig. (Is this where the word succulent comes from?)

Okay, the owner, told me that they go through about four pigs a day – or approximately 400 servings. She would not divulge the secret blend of spices, (maybe she thought I was going to rip her off and rush back home to open up a chain of McSucks.)

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The banana leaf plate consisted of a pile of fragrant rice , piled high with tender slices of piggy, a piece of blood sausage, some other unidentifiable internal fried bits and pieces, crowned with a piece of kulit (crispy skin). Sheer perfection when doused with the accompanying sambal –– a saucy blend of chilis, coconut, and spices. Ibu Oka’s is located on Jalan Suweta, Ubud. Lunch only, with a line from11-3:00ish or until they run out of pig. ($1-$2.00)

Nick in www.baliblog.com wrote:
Following up on tips can be worthwhile sometimes. A couple of tips for Ubud are as follows. Jeff from Galaxy in Seminyak (no he’s not the tip) told me several times about a babi guling (roast suckling pig) place in Ubud. According to Jeff the pork was sensational and Jamie Oliver reckons its the best he’s ever had. No choice then but to get up there and check it out. The place itself, Warung Babi Guling, is owned by Ibu Oka and is situated just 20 meters off of the main street, Jl. Raya Ubud, on Jl. Tegal Sari. The place is really ‘down home’, with the whole roast pig there in front and half a dozen older Balinese women assembling plates for the gathered masses. Seating is anywhere you can find at low tables under the roof. A waitress wanders around and will sometime get to you. The drink menu is limited to soft drinks but its the pork that is the star.

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For just 20,000rp you’ll get served a plate of rice, with slices of roast pork, sausage, pork fat, skin and Balinese spicy vegetables. Ibu Oka’s does tremendous business due partly to the reputation and partly to the location. Today Chinese tourists from Jakarta, as well as other large groups from Taiwan and Japan sat and enjoyed their food. Ibu Oka’s could easily double the price and still be packed. The proximity to the Ubud Royal Place certainly doesn’t hurt. Nice to see a really traditional place doing well among all the trendy places that come along. Its not often you’ll see bus loads of tourists seated together chowing down on babi guling. This is definitely somewhere you’d hit for lunch rather than dinner.

There are thousand other similar reviews in the net. In short, when you give a shot, Ibu Oka’s Babi Guling won’t let you down.

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