Bebek Bengil, the dirty duck diner. An institution that everyone who lives or has visited Ubud seems to know. What is less known is that if you have enough people and book a day in advance, the smoked duck is the main dish to try here. Otherwise they have an endless number of fried ducks you can order on the day, but variety is good.
After a nearby massage to fill a casual 90mins before the 630pm dinner, the heavens opened up at precisely the time we started walking along Monkey Forest road. The warm rain drenched down, soaking us all from head to torso to shoes. The 15mins walk through rain, darkness and along the roads kept us focussed at the endgame - mega duck dinner.
We finally arrived and were led to a private table right at the back, where rice fields surrounded (although it was too dark to really appreciate the natural surroundings). As I had pre-ordered 2 smoked ducks, we perused the menus looking for some extras. What we didn't appreciate so much was that each smoked duck also came with 6 chicken sate, vegetables, steamed rice and 2 glasses of Balinese punch. And when they say that each smoked duck order feeds two people, they really mean two people as a full meal. My parents had misguided me that the Balinese ducks they had eaten here previously (the fried ducks) were small and one person could easily eat one to them themselves. Hmmm.
- Whole Balinese Smoked Duck (in traditional way with spices wrapped in betel nut leaf)
- chicken sate
- Gado-gado (steamed mixed vegetables with tofu, egg & peanut sauce)
- Bebek Bengil (half an Original Crispy Duck steamed in Indonesian spices, deep fried for a crispy finish)
Both the smoked and crispy fried ducks were good. The smoked duck was a much bigger meatier bird, with soft delicate flesh. The crispy duck was thin, small and perhaps had a bit more flavour (although nothing compared to the fried pork at Ibu Oka 3). Opinions were divided as to which duck was preferred - I'd have to say I think the fried was my choice. But I wouldn't hesitate to eat both again. The chicken sate and gado-gado were fillers for the main event. The dipping sauces were delicious (and hot!) and went brilliantly with rice as a dish of their own.
Next time I would order 1 smoked duck to share between 4. Consider 1 smoked chicken (also needs pre-ordering) if you have 4-8 people. Top up with Bebek Bengil orders of 1 between 2. Nothing else required.
PS. when saying Dirty Duck, you must automatically think of the Black Eyed Peas - dirty bit, do do doooo... (as horrible of a remake as that is).