The Bebek Experience

Ubud Bali is famous for its culture, friendly local community, beautiful countryside views, and of course the local specialty that has grown to be world renowned -- Bebek Bengil. It literally means Dirty Duck Diner. No, it's not dirty at all. On the contrary, it's actually a very beautiful restaurant overlooking paddy fields, you get to sit under wooden and straw huts or long tables.

Whence come the name? Here's the story from the owners...

When we were building the restaurant, we thought long and hard about a name. Many good suggestions came from our friends, but none seemed just right. We knew we wanted a Balinese name that translated well into English. However, for a long time the metaphor eluded us.

One tropical monsoon morning, when the restaurant was very close to being finished (we had the concrete floor down, and the tables in), a flock of ducks from the rice field across the road (yes, there were rice fields all around us then) ran quacking and squawking into the restaurant and across the floor and tables. They left muddy webbed footprints all over the place. They were our first guests - those dirty ducks!

 And so the name stuck. Bebek is duck in Bahasa Indonesia. Their signature dishes include Bebek Bengil (half a duck marinated in spices and deep-fried to crispy perfection) and Balinese Smoked Duck, which takes many hours to marinate and prepare so that you have to pre-book and pre-order this dish. According to our driver Nyoman (who happens to live nearby and knows the guy who handles the marinating spices for the restaurant), apart from the many spices used to marinate the duck, it's actually the special cooking technique that makes it so good. After marinating the duck, it is buried into a heap of rice husk, which will then be lighted. As rice husk does not catch on fire easy or can't be burnt easily, it ends up smoking instead, and the heat from the rice husk smokes the duck slowly, taking at least 4-5 hours to fully cook the duck.

The meat is so tender and juicy, with a slight tinge but not too strong of the taste duck meat. The herbs and spices are so well executed that it doesn't take away the original taste of duck meat, but complements it perfectly.

 The set comes with rice,

Vegetables, which is long beans with beans sprout,

Balinese Sate, which is totally different from what we have in Malaysia and worth trying. The sauce is Mmm~Mmm Yummy!

Keropok

2 glasses of pure fruit punch

 

 True satisfaction! Totally worth its price of IDR 185,000 / RM 67.50. The Smoked Duck set feeds three to the brim.

21 years of business, with branches in Jakarta and Hong Kong (I think). Here's the address:

Bebek Bengil (Dirty Duck Diner)

Hanoman Street,

Padang Tegal, Ubud,

80571 Bali, Indonesia

Telephone Number/Fax No : +(62-361) 975 489

Thank you Lord, for the delicious dinning time together. :)