Balinese cooking class in Ubud with a professional chef

Meet Santika

Santika grew up in Bali, and has worked in various restaurants in Indonesia and overseas. He started his career as a sous chef and worked his way up to become executive chef. He went on to work and live in Turks and Caicos island and even won awards while he was there. Then 10 years later in 2016, Santika decided to come back to Indonesia and start something on his own. So he opened a homestay for travelers along with his wife, and now enjoys teaching them how to cook local Balinese food. He is excited to share his knowledge of traditional Balinese cuisine from his home kitchen, during this fun cooking class in Bali.

When we asked Santika why he would like to become a Traveling Spoon host, this is what he had to say, “I want to share our cooking experience with everyone around the world, especially authentic Balinese cuisine. I want Balinese cuisine to be a part of the culinary world, something that every family can do at home.”

What to expect

Please note menu might vary. If there are particular dishes you are interested in trying, please include your request in the booking form.

Cooking experience: (2-9 guests) Santika's home is located in Pesalakan village, which is surrounded with rice paddies and is a 20 minute drive from Ubud city center. You will be picked up from your Ubud hotel and will drive to Santika's home for your Balinese cooking class. Join your hosts in their beautiful open kitchen and help cook a range of traditional Balinese daily dishes, using local ingredients and spices. You will have your own work area with a chopping board, motor and pestle and stove, so you can cook along with Santika. After you 1.5 hour hands-on cooking class, enjoy the delicious meal you helped prepare. The dishes that you will try may include sate ayam (chicken skewers) served with bumbu kacang (peanut sauce), sambal tomat (tomato sambal) or sambal matah (Balinese salsa), tempe and kacang manis (soybean cake) or tum babi (steamed spiced pork) or urab campur (mixed vegetable salad), pulung-pulung ayam (minced chicken balls) and nasi goreng (Indonesian fried rice) or nasi sele (sweet potato rice). End your meal with a dessert such as dadar gulung (sweet pancakes filled with fresh coconut and palm sugar) or lak lak (rice cakes served with fresh coconut and palm sugar). After your meal you will be driven back to your Ubud hotel.

Market visit: (2-5 guests) After you're picked up from your Ubud central hotel, you will drive to a local market. Here you will be taken on a tour of the local market, so you can discover local Balinese vegetables such as cassava, ferns, lemongrass and a variety of bananas. You may even buy spices or a few vegetables that are in season, which will be later used to cook a traditional Balinese meal in the cooking class. After your market tour, drive to Santika's home amid rice fields for your cooking class.

Notes: Prices include round-trip transport from Ubud hotels that are located in the city center (only if your hotel is within the 10km radius from Santika's home in Pesalakan Village). Please be sure to include your hotel name on the reservation form so your host can arrange for your pick-up. If you are staying outside of central Ubud (beyond the 10km radius) there will be an additional charge for transportation.

Santika can offer lactose free, gluten free, vegetarian and vegan meals, on request. Please note that Santika also runs a homestay, so even though there maybe other guests on the property, your Traveling Spoon experience will be private.

Languages spoken: English and Indonesian

Sample menu

• Sate ayam (chicken skewers) served with bumbu kacang (peanut sauce)
• Sambal tomat (tomato sambal) or sambal matah (Balinese salsa)
• Tempe and kacang manis (soybean cake) or tum babi (steamed spiced pork) or urab campur (mixed vegetable salad), pulung-pulung ayam (minced chicken balls)
• Nasi goreng (Indonesian fried rice) or nasi sele (sweet potato rice)
• Dadar gulung (sweet pancakes filled with fresh coconut and palm sugar) or lak lak (rice cakes served with fresh coconut and palm sugar)

Traveler reviews

Santika was fabulous! A local and international chef, we cooked a spectacular meal together which was brilliant for my teen and 2 young children. He made us all feel welcome and it was a lot of fun and a truly delicious meal! Would highly recommend. His restaurant in the hills had a beautiful breezy outlook overlooking the lush gardens of their villas where you can stay. Loved the whole experience!

- Laara G July 11, 2024

We had a wonderful evening with chef Santika! I would highly recommend this experience to anyone! He picked us up at our accommodation and drove us to his village about 20 minutes from Ubud and was happy to answer all our many questions along the way. Santika’s place is very scenic (he also has accommodation available there which looked great) and the kitchen fully equipped. The cooking class was very interesting, informative and fast paced. We learned how to make lots of dishes and I actually feel confident I could make them again at home. They all tasted AMAZING! It was a real privilege to get such hands on instruction from such an experienced chef. For anyone with food allergies just remind Santika beforehand and he can cater to your needs. For kids, be careful, the knives are extremely sharp!

- clairelO June 21, 2024

🌟🌟🌟We would highly recommend this cooking class. 4 family members did Class 1. We spent a fun few hours learning how to make some wonderful Indonesian food. The Chef, Santika, is so knowledgable and helpful and is obviously passionate about food preparation. His whole team work hard to make sure the class runs very smoothly. Enjoying the food after the class was really wonderful. Can't wait to try the recipes once we are home again.

- Camper December 01, 2023

Although I have had many times to eat Indonesia food. But Chef Santika really brought us a wonderful Balinese spice experience. A lot of fun and knowledge. I start liking Bali food now.

- Cheng August 03, 2023