Local Dishes You Must Try

Lombok's food is spicier and simpler than its neighbor Bali's, and worth seeking out beyond the villa. A few dishes to look for:

Ayam Taliwang. Grilled or fried chicken rubbed with a chili-and-shrimp-paste sauce — Lombok's best-known dish and usually the spiciest thing on the menu.

Plecing Kangkung. Water spinach blanched and tossed in a raw chili sambal, usually served alongside Ayam Taliwang to cool nothing down at all.

Sate Bulayak. Skewered meat served with a rice cake steamed in woven palm leaf and a thick peanut sauce — a common breakfast or snack food.

Nasi Balap Puyung. A Lombok take on mixed rice, typically served with shredded chicken, a dried soybean cake, and more sambal than seems necessary.

Es Kelapa Muda. Young coconut water and flesh over ice, usually with a little palm sugar syrup — the right answer to Lombok's heat.

Ask us for a recommendation nearby and we're happy to point you to a warung we trust.