Below is the street right in front of Ibu Oka restaurant.
A little further up the road, I could see many people entering a grand looking archway.
We did not go in there, but I learnt that it was the entrance to one of Ubud's Royal Palaces. Known as Puri Saren Agung, it seemed that this palace also served as a place for public dance performances and also operated as a small homestay style hotel.
We walked pass this palace and across the junction to one of Ubud's most famous road, the Monkey Forest Road.
There were a lot of shops along the whole length of this road and we spent the whole afternoon going from shop to shop.
I passed by a nice restaurant and took some pictures of its outdoor garden and pool.
This is how the Monkey Forest Road looks like with dozens of shops lining both sides of the street.
There were many souvenir shops and restaurants here. It was really relaxing walking along this road.
We also passed by what looked like a theatre building to us.
I was amazed by the number of interesting looking statues and sculptures outside this shop I just had to take a photo of it.
The shop owner, on seeing me taking photos of the sculptures, quickly ran out and told me that photo-taking was forbidden. Oh well, at least I managed to take one photo.
Towards the evening, we went over to the market place where all types of souvenirs were sold. I did not take any photos there as the market was cramped with people!
Finally, it was time for dinner and we had already decided on the place to eat - the infamous Bebek Bengil located at Jalan Padang Tegal which was not very far from Monkey Forest Road.
Also known as Dirty Duck Diner, this restaurant serves Bali's most famous crispy duck since 1990.
Why the name Dirty Duck, you may wonder?
Well, it seems that while the restaurant was being built, a flock of ducks from the rice fields nearby ran quacking and squawking into the restaurant leaving muddy footprints all over the place. And since the ducks were considered the restaurant's first customers, the name Dirty Duck Diner was used.
I thought the ambience here was nice. The place was huge and the greeneries were soothing to the eyes.
There was however, one regret.
Bebek Bengil is famous not only for its crispy duck but also its very popular smoked duck. We had wanted very much to try this smoked duck as it was highly recommended to us before we came here.
Unfortunately, we learnt that the smoked duck must be ordered one day in advance!
Since we would be leaving Ubud after dinner and would not be returning the next day, it would be impossible to taste the smoked duck!
Oh well! I guess we had to make do with the crispy duck then!
However, if you ever plan to dine at this restaurant, do remember to make reservation. We had actually called up earlier to make our reservations.
I found some interesting rock sculptures and took photos of them.
Can you see the ducks in the photo above?
Water shooting out of the iguana's mouth. Or is that an alligator?
Dining next to the pond and the surrounding greeneries would surely make your dining experience much more enjoyable!
There was also a huge lotus pond here and I quickly took a photo of it!
Oh look at this!
Isn't that interesting!
After enjoying walking around the place, we seated ourselves and ordered our dishes.
These were the drinks we ordered.
I had a honey lemongrass drink and it was excellent!
No smoked duck? We settled for crispy duck instead.
Honestly, I did not quite like this crispy duck. It was crispy all right, down to the bones! But it was small and dry and hard! Not my kind of duck dish!
The fried rice was quite OK, but nothing much to shout about.
I am not sure what this is, but I think it's some sort of salad with peanut sauce. I like this one!
This is something like otak otak which was average.
There were a few more other dishes but I did not have the opportunity to take photos of them.
Towards the end of our dinner, there was a musical performance by two men.
I munched on the keropok while watching them performed on the Balinese musical instruments.
I have forgotten how much I spent on this dinner but I remember it was quite expensive.
Despite that, I would not mind returning for that famous smoked duck that everyone keeps raving about!
So besides the sunset at Tanah Lot, here's another good reason for me to visit Bali a second time!
FIRST COMMENTER
chop! :D
monica, congrats!! : )
huhu too bad u guys didn't get to taste the smoked duck.. oh i like the ambience of the restaurant!
to me that looks like an alligator :D
monica, yeah too bad but never mind, will go there again soon! Haha! So you think it's an alligator? : )
wow nice ambience of the restaurant and guess what i was there in 2008 too with my indon friends :) hohoho and they have upgraded the surrounding... much better than 2yrs ago!! it makes me wanna visit again...
ops... i wanna eat the duck too!!! :p i want it for supper now :)
i am hungry now ><
hi foong, i am early this time!
that's huge for an iguana so it looks more like a giant "bayawak" or can be a comodo dragon.
the places you visited were great!
i think i can't stop myself from snapping photos if i were to go there...surely be in trouble! lol
the food here doesnt look so authentic.. more for the "foreigners".... i still love the guling babi... must try when i go next time!
love the pond foong... looks old and antique
the clouds... looks like it's gonna rain or maybe it's afternoon already..
the temple looks great... is a temple?
coz it's the same with what i saw from some Chinese films..
love those wooden sculptures.. hahaha so it's forbidden to take photos of these... i guess it is better if you took a snap shot of that man who forbid you haha and make him an instant celeb here in your blog..
why Dirty Duck? is it literally dirty haha or just a term given to the dish?
why Dirty Duck? is it literally dirty haha or just a term given to the dish?
anyway i never had a chance to taste a duck.. and i wonder how does it taste and how does it differ from chicken meat
some statues are scary foong.. especially the first one but the real-life size iguana is so cool
the one with peanut sauce seems very interesting to me...
have a great day foong... by the way have you seen my recent post... sorry for using your name without your permission by the way,.... oh i think you will love them..
I think our roast duck is better! :) I like tender and juicy duck meat. There's a good one at D'sara Uptown (where there's a stall that sells Hokkien mee in the same restaurant).
Shall remember your tip on making reservation and ordering the smoked duck before visiting the restaurant..if I do travel to Bali.
The reptile is probably a Komodo Dragon.
Ubud was my favorite place. Despite being a popular tourist destination, it remained peaceful. I miss it!
I agree with Khengsiong - that probably is a komodo dragon statue.
The diner's name so cool but reading about how it got named made me wonder whether the diner's 1st customer eventually end up on the dinner plate afterwards? Huhuhu
So much greenery there! They actually have paddy fields right at the doorstep of the diner? Cool!
Great name 'dirty duck' which is very catchy. Looks like you spend quite some time there. Photos of the sign board were taken one in the daylight and the other at night.
Love the lotus flowers so nice. Yeah saw the two ducks in the photo. That's more of an iguana to me. Cool place to have the crispy duck. Sorry missed your smoked duck. Thankz for the virtual tour and the pixs love 'em tQ.
The restaurant area is huge! Nice :)
Is that paddy field in the restaurant surrounding? Wah!
nice building stucture in Bali.
How come you guys didn't go into the palace? :)
Monkey Forest Road? Now that is a weird name. I wonder why. :p Because it used to be a forest inhabited by lots of monkeys? :p
The pool together with the make-shift raft looks very exquisite. :) A very clever idea.
Wow...the statues are really gorgeous. I love the crocodile stools. Very adorable.
Dirty duck diner? And yet a lot of you are going there. Why? Yes...I am wondering right now. LOL :D
What that was the legend? Because the dirty ducks came and made a mess and they were given honour? Hahaha :D
Yeah! The ambiance is really comfy bro.
Wow...the smoked duck must be ordered a day before you go there? Serious? :p
Yeah! There are 2 ducks right? I wonder if that was the owner of this place. :p
It is an iguana bro. Alligator looks completely different. :p
Ouh...the next statue(s)...goodness...so many babies. They are sucking milk too. :p
War...I hope one day I can go there to makan at this dirty place too. LOL :D
wow, another reason you wanted to go to Bali again!! :p
1st to go to Tanah Lot again, 2nd to eat the Smoked Duck again.. is there anymore reasons you wanna visit to Bali again??
i see, this Bebek Bengil is just nearby the Ibu Ota that you had your babi guling..
and our driver that time told us it was far far away and we have no time to go there for babi guling!!! so frustrating~~~
but i remember we had a light lunch before heading to Bebek Dengil, and we weren't able to eat much also.. maybe that's what the driver meant - we ate too much!! hahaha~~
hmmm, we also went to the same restaurant for the Dirty Duck!! i guess this must be the most famous, or the one that gives drivers the most commission to bring tourists??
i would guess so.. look at the decoration and ambience in the restaurant.. so touristy feel, and i guess no locals will be there to dine.. agree??
awww~~ so that's why they call it Bebek Bengil huh?? who told you that story?? somebody local you met in Bali??
i don't remember much about all those stone carvings and statues.. but i remember the paddy fields there, it was huge!!
and i remember the torches lit up to welcome the tourists.. and we kept camwhoring in the paddy field while waiting for the food to be served.. haha!!!
as if we have not seen paddy field before.. sometimes i wonder, will the waiters and waitress laugh at us for being so crazy over something so common to them?? :D
has been more than 6 years, i can't really remember how the duck taste.. but i guess it was quite nice, very crispy and i was ok with that..
but definitely, we did not order as much things as you did.. i think we went there during tea time after our lunch!! haha~~ :D
oh, there was cultural dance performance too?? hmmm, i starting to dislike our driver!! he was so not professional at all, never gave us the best of his service and perks!!! so unfair~~
what when are you planning to go Bali again?? then we can have another 20 posts to read.. also more Tanah Lot and Smoke Duck photos to see~~ :D
you know.. i dont like it when people come rushing to me saying "no no no no photos here, no no no" when i take photos at a no-photography place.
relax lah, tell nice.. not on purpose also.. =P
Eh the fried rice so small portion one! I also haven't been to this restaurant.. need to make reservation somemore! Not very convenient for overseas travellers lor :P
Their satay is good. The crispy duck may not be that exciting, but the smoked duck sure was aromatic enough.
would love to try that smoked duck
Put a cigaratte in the crispy duck beak, then you will have a smoked duck! ha ha ha!
[Pete] that's cool comment on smokey quack quack lol. tQ
This is my fav. Bebek Bengil! Good value for money too!
Nice place,statues and sculptures which you have shoot is really excellent. The dishes are seem very delicious which make me hungry.
Thanks, happy blogging
Statues and sculptures are really very nice. I love honey lemongrass drink. Nice landscape around the restaurant.
TK
Nice restaurant with nice environment. The foods are looking too delicious. I hope you had enjoyed that place.
TK,LOL.
Thanks, Foong, for sharing the pictures. I like the Monkey Forest Road first picture. The place looks so serene and kampong-like Surprised that the road is paved with tiles instead of tarmac.
The lily pond is lovely and that Komodo dragon looks so real. Thanks again for the virtual tour.
chop on slowmosi screamyx!
Aiyoooo so slow la to load pages... def cannot drop ec like dis! :(
The duck looks yummy Foong! Glad u got to taste it while ur there. So where to next?
fufu, oh they have upgraded? Too bad I didn't get to taste the smoked duck!
ayie, you think it's a comodo dragon? Yeah, you are probably right! : )
Wow, nice surroundings.
The surrounding looks quite well decorated. I really loved the lotus pond and the rock sculptures. But the name (dirty ducks) doesn’t really go with the surrounding. It is very depressing to know that you didn’t like the duck dish. Still I hope you enjoyed your time there. Bye and take care.
you so clever eh? u know where and when you should do advance booking and all... seasoned traveller to the max :)
the ambience of the restaurant sure looks inviting and peaceful.
nice lotus pond but the iguana or komodo dragon looks kinda scary.
would like to try the smoked duck when i visit Bali someday.
if the foods were just average... then i won't go there when i go there! haha
what a catchy but odd name for a restaurant! well at least we know now how the name was derived.
Plan your next visit with me, ok?
I am planning a getaway during the end of the year. Bali?
nice, great stuff I found here. Thank you for sharing.
Nice pics...liked your photography a lot..graphic designing
hmmm...yumm...that ducks lokking awesome....i want that.....
graphic designer
I found so many interesting in your blog especially its discussion. keep up the good work.
Fantastic post. Bookmarked this site and emailed it to a few friends, your post was that great, keep it up.
Nice pics...liked your photography a lot.keep up the good work.