Cantina Taco Bar in Ubud (Best Tacos in Bali)
Updated: Aug 1, 2019
Cantina Taco Bar in Ubud is worth a visit any taco Tuesday, cinco de Mayo or any day of the week you need a taco. Cantina serves up by far some of the best tacos in Bali.
What really makes Cantina’s tacos stand out is they use masa flour from Mexico to make their soft corn tortillas so you really can taste that real authentic flavour in their taco.
The flavours of their tacos were to me the closest thing I’ve tasted since Mexico.
Cantina Taco Bar can be a bit tricky to find - I walked pasted it a couple times before I found this cute bar like a hole in the wall along the bustling Jl. Dewisita road in Ubud. The decor is understated but once I found it I wasn’t sure how I missed it.
There are burgers and nachos on their menu - I did see other eating nachos and was told they were good but I was there on a Tuesday - and being a taco lover you have tacos on Taco Tuesday as long as you can help it. Their tacos are served in 3s and there is no negotiating around that unless you want one of their vegetarian tacos like their tempura cauliflower with tomatoes, onion, coriander, lentils and spicy mayo taco or their braised jackfruit, lime mayo, salsa verde, corn, onion and parsley taco.
If I was able to have one of each taco I would have made room for their vegetarian tacos on my visit.
I ordered the crunchy pork, bbq beef and grilled fish taco that I shared with Micah Adams - one of my favourite Photographers visiting Bali from Arizona (@astroadams non Instagram). I saw on his instagram story he was in Bali so I invited him to join me for Taco Tuesday - to my surprise he agreed. To his surprise - I was a lady. I guess my instagram is not very feminine. I am very much a goofy tomboy nonetheless.
I have to say it’s rather enjoyable eating tacos with a pro-photographer because they are just as excited to take as many pictures of tacos in various poses before eating them as you are. Most of my friends find this quality of mine every annoying. Micah even wanted to edit some of the photos before eating the tacos. That took it to a new level. He showed me some tricks and tips on his phone which was worth postponing the devouring of tacos.
Now about these tacos. The crunchy pork was a shredded pulled pork in salsa habanera and some pickled onions topped with chicharron. Very good and very authentic Mexican tasting. I found the habanera salsa used to be very acidic so I opted not to squeeze lime on it. The BBQ Beef is an Australian rib-eye beef with peppers, onion and salsa roja and salsa Mexican was incredible and I would say perhaps the best beef taco in Bali. Australian Beef is the way to go when choosing a menu item with beef. Unless you're going to my secret Warung Ibu Tika in Canggu for their Rawon Soup - it's packed with so much flavour and the beef is so tender I don't care where their beef came from.
Then their grilled fish taco is a fresh fish of the day catch (snapper that day) with roasted salsa verde, onion parsley and sweet pickled cucumbers which where freshly pickled and not overly sweet.
So when in Bali, make a pilgrimage to Cantina in Ubud on your taco tour…and maybe do an ecstatic dance or tantric yoga class after to work off the calories. And if you’re going to stay for a while - then you’ll need to follow the Ubudian for some spiritual comic relief (Instagram: @the_ubudian).