Kuta really is a melting pot of different flavours and, from a culinary point of view, there really is something for everyone in Bali’s colourful playground.
Thankfully there are also an array of different price points too, so holidaying here doesn’t have to break the bank.
Here are some of the best spots in Kuta to tantalise your tastebuds.
1. Ma Joly
At the fine-dining end of things, this is a great beachfront spot for a special occasion (or perhaps just a few cocktails in the bar). Set in the quiet resort area of Tuban at the southern end of the beach, Ma Joly has become something of an institution in Kuta. The restaurant has indoor and outdoor dining options as well as a number of private dining pergolas for a truly romantic experience. The view of the sunset here is amazing.
2. Fat Tony
It may not be the most refined meal you have on holiday, but if it’s a burger you’re craving then Fat Tony may be just what the doctor ordered. Offering a selection of beef burgers, chicken burgers, wraps, hot dogs and vegetarian options, this is a great place for a quick bite on the go. If you have a big appetite this place won’t disappoint. The portions are huge.
3. Johnny Tacos
There’s something about tacos and Mexican food that really fits with Bali’s warm climate – especially when it’s all washed down with an ice-cold beer or cocktail. This food truck-style offering keeps surfers and sunbathers fuelled with their fresh and tasty tacos. Johnny Tacos also do excellent chips with guacamole and magnificent margaritas.
Johnny Taco really fits with Bali’s warm climate
4. Benih Café
Just a short stroll from the beach, Benih Café is a great option for breakfast, with their excellent pancakes and eggs Benedict. Later in the day you can choose from one of their towering burgers, or a healthier option if the holiday eating is getting out of control. They also do excellent coffee and juices/smoothies.
Burgers at Benih
5. Warung Shinta
If it’s more traditional Indonesian fare that you’d like to try, then put Warung Shinta on your list (‘warung’ means ‘shop’ or ‘restaurant’ in the local lingo). Chargrilled satay sticks, delicious stir-fried veggies, spring rolls and nasi goreng-style rice are all fan favourites. The local staff are friendly, the atmosphere is cheerful and the bill is more than reasonable at the end of your meal.
If Indonesian fare is your thing, then put Warung Shinta on your list
6. Nebula
For super cool ambience in the heart of Kuta, Nebula is a popular spot with travellers. There are some great healthy options here and it’s good for vegetarians and vegans. Asian flavours are executed well in offerings such as Thai chicken laksa, mie goreng and chicken satay. If you want to go European, Nebula also offers some excellent pastas.
For super cool ambience in the heart of Kuta, Nebula is a popular spot with travellers
7. Sushi Tei
For fresh Japanese flavours, head to Sushi Tei – there are outlets all over Bali. Choose from a mouth-watering selection of fresh sushi, tempura, ramen, and other classic Japanese favourites. Side note: the restaurant chain has adopted high food standards, so you can feel more confident that you’re not going to contract a case of the dreaded Bali belly.
Sushi Tei has outlets all over Bali
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8. RossoVivo Dine and Lounge
Since 2006, RossoVivo has been plying visitors with delicious Italian fare in an indoor and outdoor setting. Under the distinctive red umbrellas you can enjoy an antipasto plate, clam spaghetti or their classic seafood pizza while watching the world go by. They also do a great spin on the classic chicken parmy. There’s often a DJ spinning tunes at sunset, making RossoVivo a great spot for a cocktail at the end of the day.
RossoVivo pizzas are waiting
9. Made’s Warung
This is one of the oldest restaurants in Kuta, originally started as a traditional roadside warung. There is a reason Made’s Warung has stood the test of time: there really is something to please every palette with a wide menu covering local and international cuisine. The dishes, including fresh fish dishes, spicy beef rendang and traditional Indonesian classic gado gado, are all beautifully executed.
Made’s Warung has stood the test of time
10. Warung Indonesia
Fancy some late-night satay? Look no further than Warung Indonesia, an enduring favourite on the Kuta map (and a place where a lot of locals eat). It’s a great spot to enjoy the authentic flavours of Indonesia just a stone’s throw from the beach. There are plenty of vegetarian and vegan options and, while the decor isn’t upmarket per se, the friendly service is top notch. The real clincher is the price – it’s hard to beat. If you’re in a hurry, you can also choose to order from the buffet for a quick meal to go. (In the absence of a website, you’ll find them at Jl Popies II Gg Ronta, Kuta).
11. Crumb and Coaster
A common traveller complaint is the difficulty of finding a good coffee. That’s where Crumb and Coaster comes to save the day. Part of many a Kuta visitor’s morning ritual, a visit to this popular eatery delivers excellent java as well as nourishing breakfast / brunch plates to power you through the day. The corn fritters are a popular option, as is the health-giving yoga bowl and smoothie bowl. You can also enjoy dinner and cocktails here in the evening.
After youth-led protests in 2025, this year Nepal elected a 35-year-old former rapper as Prime Minister. In a country where tourism is its biggest industry, what’s next for travellers?
In 1986, Nepal changed its clock. It had used India Standard Time since 1920 so, to differentiate, it wound its clock 15 minutes ahead of, not behind, its big-brother neighbour. Boss move. “Nepal is strongly opposed to the idea that our identity is connected to India,” says Community Homestay Network (CHN) guide Bikal Khanal.
Tharu dance is traditionally set to hand drums. (Credit: Kate Lewis)
Today, Nepal is the only independent country with a 45-minute deviation to universal time; an oddity that’s become a symbol of national pride. The quirk is nearly as endearing as Kathmandu’s Tribhuvan airport where carved varnished wood and shiny red bricks rule. One sign points to a ‘Travelator’ and another to a ‘Grievance Handling Desk’ while visas are noisily stamped at customs for US dollars, cash only. When am I?
Spot the endemic Nepal gray langur. (Credit: Simon Urwin)
The 15 or 45 minute anomaly sees me tap out completely on timezone calculations. Why bend my brain calculating if it’s quarter to or quarter past elsewhere when I’m in the honking here and now of Kathmandu where the air is high-altitude crisp, the prayer flags flutter and the street dogs howl?
How tourism is changing in Nepal
Bardiya National Park is rich with wildlife. (Credit: Simon Urwin)
India is not the only association many Nepalis would like to shake. With eight of the world’s 10 tallest mountains, including Mount Everest and Annapurna, Nepal has long attracted mountaineers and trekkers, and expedition numbers are continuing to rise.
Tourism is one of the country’s biggest sources of foreign currency, so this growth is not negative, per se. But according to Ang Tshering Lama, who co-founded Phaplu Mountain Bike Club, being reduced to a mere trekking destination is limiting.
“Trekking is just one layer of our identity,” says Ang. “When it becomes the dominant narrative, it limits how we’re seen and how we see ourselves.” Nepal’s recent success, however, in diverting trekkers to less-trafficked areas such as Manaslu mofuntain, where visitor numbers rose by 117 per cent last year, offers hope that tourism can diversify even more radically.
Local men in Bhada village. (Credit: Simon Urwin)
The founder of CHN, Shiva Dhakal, wants that change. “The whole idea of the Community Homestay Network is to promote experiences outside of trekking,” he says. “Community tourism changes lives and helps kids stay home instead of coming to the city or migrating to the Middle East.”
Ang grew up seeing people leave, “not because they wanted to but because there weren’t enough opportunities to stay”, he states. Yet from remote villages to living traditions; food, art, music and emerging subcultures, “there’s so much that’s not being seen.”
CHN is opening some of those doors. It doesn’t own, or fund, any homes. Rather, it promotes homestays to travellers on a single, slick platform, while fostering entrepreneurship in places where women, marginalised castes, Indigenous people and the youth stand to benefit the most.
A new generation demanding more
Dalla Town Hall, where volunteers discuss anti-poaching tactics. (Credit: Bheem Thapa)
The future prospects of next-gen Nepalis can no longer be ignored. On a Kathmandu tour with 33-year-old guide Monica K.C, we pass buildings torched in the September 2025 ‘Gen Z protests’, including the Supreme Court and Parliament House. Seventy-two people died. “They were anti-corruption protests,” says Monica. “Politicians’ children are living a lavish life but the airports are crowded with youngsters leaving to find work.”
We stop in ‘little Tibet’ at the wondrous sixth-century Boudha Stupa. “The wheel of life is Buddhism in a nutshell,” says Monica. “Things such as hate, ignorance and anger keep you rotating around the wheel, so you must follow the principles of Buddhism to detach. If you can’t, there’s no nirvana for you.”
Boudha Stupa’s prayer wheels are used to recite Buddhist prayers. (Credit: Kate Lewis)
In a sun-drenched twist to the usual temple visit, we ascend the stupa’s sloping plinth and roam its whitewashed dome. Tendrils of diaphanous prayer flags stream from a steeple-like structure where the Buddha’s unblinking eyes stare out. No nirvana for you…
Tibetan-style prayer flags embellish the whitewashed dome of Bouda Stupa, a Buddhist temple. (Credit: Kate Hennessy)
The dome is delightfully free of guard rails or chiding from security. There is, however, a stern ‘No TikTok’ sign, perhaps in response to the youth’s newly flexed power. The booted-out Prime Minister, K.P. Sharma Oli, was replaced in a resounding election victory in March by 35-year-old Balendra Shah of the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) – a former rapper and mayor of Kathmandu. The RSP’s manifesto indicates tourism is a priority, and that Nepal’s cultural identity in areas such as gastronomy will be strengthened.
Vibrant souvenir shops and cafes around Boudha Stupa. (Credit: Kate Hennessy)
A more confronting stop awaits at Pashupatinath Temple. Today is Bala Chaturdashi, a Hindu festival where thousands of devotees gather to honour their dead ancestors. Vendors hauling foam mattresses do a lucrative trade as people set up for a night of vigil. This includes burning the bodies of recently deceased relatives on bamboo pyres in the Bagmati River, which flows into the sacred Ganges.
A woman at annual Hindu festival Bala Chaturdashi, in Kathmandu. (Credit: Kate Hennessy)
Wrapped in a shroud, the bodies are positioned with their heads facing north to the Himalayas where Lord Shiva resides. They’re covered with flowers and straw and set alight by male family members.
Hours later, the ashes are swept into the river where devotees will take a holy dip the next day. As much as Monica assures us it’s not voyeuristic to watch, I struggle to do so. “Here you see the reality of life because everyone ends up there,” she says, gesturing to the river.
Life unfiltered in the Terai region
Tharu woman and master weaver Parbati Chaudhary in Bhada Village. (Credit: Bheem Thapa)
The reality of life needs processing time, which the western Terai region delivers in spades. The Terai is largely separated from India by the Karnali River and Bardiya National Park, where elephants, rhinos and the elusive Bengal tiger roam.
Once a nomadic tribe, the Indigenous Tharu people are now the largest ethnic group here. “They didn’t know their daily life was interesting for international travellers but they’re starting to understand now,” says CHN founder Shiva.
Take a Jeep safari through Bardiya National Park. (Credit: Bheem Thapa)
We fly Buddha Air to Dhangadhi airport and drive five hours to stay in Tharu homes. The journey to Bhada village is a blur of roadside fruit stalls, traffic-stopping sacred cows and fields sown with wheat, rice, mustard, spinach, cauliflower and potatoes. Nepal’s agriculture feeds only Nepal.
Marigolds are an important part of Hindu rituals. (Credit: Simon Urwin)
“The only thing we export is young people,” says our guide Bikal. As the light dims and we plunge evermore rural, mysterious mounds of compacted hay – some house-sized – loom like the creatures from Where The Wild Things Are. Even our trusty driver gets flummoxed by a dirt road that abruptly ends and we find ourselves hurtling across a paddock.
On arrival, some are ferried to mud-walled cottages greened by gourd creepers, with thatched roofs and rustic-chic mosquito nets. Myself and two others are ushered to the home of corner store owner, mechanic and mushroom farmer Man Kumar Chilaruwa and his wife Rajkumari.
A warm welcome at a community homestay. (Credit: Simon Urwin)
They escort us to a bunker-esque back building with steel doors and a folding security gate, behind which is gleaming linoleum, dolphin-printed tiles and a shower cavity that must be gingerly stepped through to reach the toilet.
The ceiling lights emit a rainbow of colours (the bathroom light gets stuck in, frankly, a quite frightening red). We’re nevertheless touched that our hosts invested in all this bling when the average salary is around $275 a month.
In the coming days, we participate in Tharu traditions such as making moonshine, dancing, weaving straw handicrafts and gold-panning. We’re fed well with staples of rice, mustard greens, lentil pancakes, daal, curried chicken and tomato chutney served on antibacterial saal leaves.
Dig in. (Credit: Kate Hennessy)
Sonara community homestay president Indradevi Tharu tells us river snails are often served, and the boiled and pickled flesh of rats hunted in the rice fields. “Perhaps next time?” we say and all have a laugh.
The power of community homestays
Barda community homestay owners Parbati Chaudhary and Ram Krishni Devi Chaudhary. (Credit: Simon Urwin)
Immersing Western visitors in foreign cultural practices is not new. But with the Tharu, I never get that uneasy sensation that I’m being performed for. Despite being the only tourists, there’s no ‘othering’; just warm, composed and ultra-dignified welcomes. Like we’ve always been here.
“I love to have travellers in my village so I can see the world,” says local woman Parbati Chaudhary. “Why would I travel the world when the world comes to me?”
The graceful acceptance the Tharu offer, as well as the slow pace, works miracles on my frazzled nervous system. One day I even take a nap on a vacant homestay bed.
An authentic stay in the Sonara community. (Credit: Kate Hennessy)
Roosters strut and goats bray as we sit on the ground in al fresco kitchens, rolling rice flour into cylinders steamed to make dhikri (dumplings). When water is needed, we fetch it using a hand-operated pump as a family of ducks strolls by, side-eying us like curious neighbours.
Animal lovers will delight in Tharu villages. Kind and resourceful inventions are everywhere, such as snacking stations where two posts lean together, with leafy boughs dangling on rope for baby goats to forage from.
CHN’s CEO, Aayusha Prasain, nods knowingly when one in our group says she cried when she left her host, Shayam Chaudhary, in Bhada. Shayam’s 17-year-old son, Prashant, had translated, which deepened the connection.
“Community tourism turns travel into a relationship, not a transaction,” says Aayusha. “It places decision-making power in the hands of local communities, especially women and youth.” Since 2018, CHN has hosted more than 4000 travellers from 52 countries in 408 households, and estimates women’s participation has increased by 381 per cent.
Elephant watch. (Credit: Simon Urwin)
In the Bardiya community, where vexing human-animal conflict has been a balancing act for decades due to elephants raiding crops, long-time homestay operator Salik Ram Chaudhary says young people keep the older ones on their toes.
Gathering greens. (Credit: Bheem Thapa)
“We can’t keep homestays stagnant,” he says. “We have to upgrade our service and redefine our product or young people won’t see it as an attractive business. If we can keep evolving with this travelling trend we’re confident the youths will stay and continue it.”
Back in Kathmandu, Monica explains that after the deaths of young protestors in September, a determination had spread to not let their sacrifice be in vain. “We want to keep holding the government accountable,” she says. “We don’t know what situation we’re facing, but we’re ready to face it.”
Interested in Nepal but prefer to experience it in total comfort? Read our guide to luxury travel in Nepal.
