Hog Heaven: Indulge in Naughty Nuri’s Culinary Delights in Ubud, Bali!
This came as a recommendation from the guys in the villa, and was also highly rated in the likes of TripAdvisor. To be absolutely honest for the first 30 minutes or so we were all doubting as to why. You can’t book here, so it is a risk to travel all the way to the place which is quite some way out of Ubud centre. There are actually two Naughty Nuri’s Restaurant, Ubud Bali. One is the original which is very Warung style. The other is newer and is supposedly also Mexican themed. But both have the same main menu – BBQ stuff basically.
It’s cosy shall we say. Maybe because of Bourdain or local recommendation, but it is busy busy busy. So either get here at crack of dawn or prepare to wait. Is it worth a massive wait, not really in my personal reckoning. See the sticky pork ribs at Spice by Chris Salans – now that is a dish worth queuing for.
Interesting is that the main man Anthony Bourdain has visited here, even writing in the guest book. I quote from the New York Times; “And guess who else has been here? Yes, Anthony Bourdain. According to Mr. Aldinger, he sucked down three martinis in a half an hour and wrote in the guest book that they were the best martinis in the world.” He is also supposedly to have mentioned the quality of the BBQ ribs, although I cannot find mention of that. Now that was nine years ago, so have things have since then? Here’s how it goes for our experience – and this is at 1315, so not exactly late in to service.
Can we order some of the BBQ ribs? – sorry we don’t have any left, it will be an hour wait.
OK I’ll have the BBQ pork chop then – we don’t have any pork left.
OK I’ll go for the BBQ steak then – we don’t have any beef.
Quesdallis? – We have no Mexican food available apart from nachos.
What about your famous Martinis that Bourdain mentions? – We only have vodka, we have no gin.
It then goes: “I tell you what why don’t you explain WTF it is you do have to eat from the every decreasing menu options so we can choose something that actually exists.
So we ended up with burgers and some other stuff. The ribs did finally come to fruition 20 minutes later, so we ordered some of them. Therefore our experience at Naughty Nuri’s Restaurant, Ubud Bali was pretty shit all up to start with, so jaded views from the very beginning. If it was not in the middle of nowhere we would absolutely have walked away. But a couple of ‘vodka only’ Martinis and a couple of Bintangs later, it was all good. Let’s have a look shall we…
The other crew finished before us, they popped in to say Hi before disappearing for some retail therapy.
It’s a shame about that initial experience here, because this is a restaurant right up my street. Warung style, all thrown in the middle. Get your hands in. Cold beers flowing. Friends and family chatting and laughing. It’s the perfect ingredients…
Kudos to the burger. Ollie and Jimbo had this, and a belter it was too. Cooked on the open BBQ next to us, so so juicy. Yep this was good good good.
And the legend that is Jimbo introduced me to a new culinary experience today. Take a big bight our of your burger, and then point it over your chips and give it a big squeeze. OMG burger juices come pouring out all over your chips, turning them in to a beefy, juicy chip. Jimbo is a foodie legend because of this event today. Hero status!!!
I ordered the dark gravy sauce as I thought that would be awesome chip dip. So this little dish turned up. Looks dark and gravy like. So a big scoop of this on a tortilla and in the gob she goes. Holy shit it is not dark gravy sauce, it is super hot sambal. Wow did that take Jimbo and I by surprise. Wow! It was actually a stunner of a sambal, once you knew that that was what it is, and could prepare yourself for it. Bloody good!!! Nice one Naughty Nuri.
Here is the dark gravy sauce. Oh yes this is a cracker. I think best thing on the table for us today. I could have showered in this, and then become double-jointed so I could lick it all off. It is an AMAZING dipping sauce. We all got in to this in a big way. Simple, and simply delicious – great work Naughty Nuri for this one, STELLAR!!!
Finally we get some ribs on the go thirty minutes after sitting. These had better be good, they’re smelling pretty damned good so far.
The finished product. Not bad at all. They are damned. Beer food for sure. Yep they are really good.
Friends, family, food, fun
It was a good lunch indeed once we managed to sit and get some available food items from the menu. We did indeed have a blast. Happy days @Naughty Nuri’s Restaurant, Ubud Bali.
“I say Madam, let’s be having a crack at some of those Martinis please…” “Vodka ones please!”
Holy cow they look good. Dirty martinis as Bourdain calls them. These things are super strong, but as long as the boys and I control ourselves what could possibly go wrong?
Naught, Naughty Nuri. Such a bad girl. Men down…
So there you have Naughty Nuri’s Restaurant, Ubud Bali. A bad start, but they finished strong. We had a great lunch, albeit two separate parties. It’s worth popping in to see this place, but you will be taking that risk of no seats or food choices from the menu.
It is quite ‘alone’ in terms of the location, so a tad Hobson’s Choice if you get dropped off in a cab. But again it is absolutely worth a pop in. Get a couple of their Martinis down your neck and the World becomes a wonderful place. So a bitch to start, and deservedly so, but overall it was a groovy place, we had fun, food was good, gravy AMAZE-BALLS. Thanks to Nuri, not so naughty after all. Sit down, order loads, drink Martinis – ENJOY!!!
