Taliwang Khas Pak Udin

Ayam Taliwang is the dish Lombok is most famous for — a young chicken, butterflied and grilled, then coated in a fiery red sauce of chilli, garlic, tomato and shrimp paste — and Taliwang Khas Pak Udin is a well-loved spot to try the original. The dish is named after the Karang Taliwang area of Mataram, where it was created.

It's classically served with plecing kangkung (water spinach in a punchy chilli-tomato sambal) and rice, the cool greens balancing the heat of the chicken. Open from afternoon into the evening, it's an unfussy warung where the food does the talking — and for first-time visitors, ayam taliwang is the single must-try dish of any trip to Lombok.