You have spent the day following your own plans. Perhaps you stopped longer than expected at a shop, skipped an attraction, or decided that the afternoon needed absolutely nothing on the schedule.
Now it is time for dinner.
Eating alone gives you a rather lovely freedom: you can choose exactly what you feel like eating. The only slightly tricky part is finding a restaurant where the seating, menu and ordering experience make sense for one person.
Pesona Lounge Ubud welcomes solo diners at its Indian restaurant on Jl. Goutama Selatan No.25A, Ubud. Our bar is one seating option specifically recommended for guests visiting alone, while the menu offers curries, grilled dishes, vegetarian choices and drinks to build a meal around your appetite.
You do not need a group to enjoy Indian food. A little thought about what is already included with your dish can make ordering for one much easier.
Is Pesona Lounge Ubud suitable for dining alone?
Yes. Our bar seating is listed as an option for solo diners, as well as guests stopping for drinks or a bite to eat.
A bar seat gives you somewhere to settle with the activity of the bar in front of you. If that suits the kind of evening you want, mention your preference when booking or arriving.
Prefer a table? Ask about the seating available for one person. Availability and the evening’s reservations will determine what the team can offer. You can view the restaurant’s seating options on our reservation page. Pesona Lounge Ubud
There is no single correct way to enjoy dinner alone. You might want to watch the room, read a few pages while waiting, or put your phone away and concentrate on the food.
Choose the setting that makes you comfortable, rather than the one you think a solo diner is supposed to choose.
Start with what you want to eat
A long menu can make ordering for one surprisingly difficult. Everything sounds interesting, but there is nobody across the table to help finish the extra dishes.
Start with one decision: what would you most enjoy as the centre of your meal?
Perhaps you want a curry with rice. Perhaps you would prefer grilled food. Or perhaps a rice-based dish is what you have been thinking about all afternoon.
Choose that first, then consider the extras.
This is especially helpful if you are new to Indian food. You do not need to order a starter, two curries, rice and bread simply to feel that you have experienced the cuisine properly.
One thoughtfully chosen dish can be a satisfying introduction. You can explore another part of the menu on your next visit.
And if you arrive particularly hungry, say so. Your appetite is a more useful guide than a fixed rule about how many dishes one person should order.
Check what comes with your main
Here is a small menu detail that can save you an unnecessary extra order: Pesona’s curry sections include local rice, and the Tandoori Grill section includes local rice and house chutneys.
Basmati is listed separately, so it should not be confused with the included rice.
Before adding a side, check the description of your chosen dish on the Pesona Lounge Ubud menu. Pesona Lounge Ubud
This does not mean you should skip bread if you genuinely want it. Some meals are made more enjoyable by having something to tear and scoop between spoonfuls of rice.
It simply means you can make that choice deliberately.
When dining alone, knowing what is included helps you balance variety with appetite. It also makes it easier to leave room for a drink or dessert, if those are part of your plan.
Choosing between a curry and a grilled dish
Think about the way you want to eat.
A curry gives you sauce to combine with rice or gather with bread. A grilled dish places more emphasis on the seasoned main ingredient, with accompaniments alongside it.
Both can work for a solo meal. The difference is the eating experience you are in the mood for.
If you are imagining something to spoon over rice, begin with the curry section. If you would rather work your way through a grilled preparation and try its accompaniments separately, explore the tandoori selection.
Our guide to tandoori and curry explains those differences in more detail.
You can also describe a familiar preference to the team. “I usually enjoy tomato-based dishes” or “I would like something grilled” gives a clearer starting point than asking for whichever dish is supposedly best for everyone.
Vegetarian and vegan meals for one
Dining alone means you can choose a vegetarian meal without negotiating the order with anyone else.
At Pesona, our homemade paneer is one part of the vegetarian selection. Paneer contains dairy, so it is suitable for a different set of preferences from a vegan dish.
Our Mung Dal Tadka is vegan, with a fragrant hot chilli oil made using sunflower oil instead of ghee. Our Dal Makhani with Burrata is a signature vegetarian choice and one of our top-selling vegetarian dishes, but the burrata means it is not vegan.
Those distinctions matter more than simply finding the vegetable section of a menu.
If you avoid particular ingredients, make that clear before ordering. You can then choose a meal around what is suitable for you rather than making assumptions from the dish name.
For a wider introduction, explore our guide to vegetarian Indian food in Ubud.
Should you order a starter?
Only if you want one.
It sounds obvious, but restaurant menus can make a meal feel like a sequence of boxes to tick. Starter, main, side, dessert. Dining alone gives you permission to choose the parts you actually enjoy.
A starter may make sense if you want to take your time and begin with something small before the main. If your chosen dish is what brought you in, you might prefer to go straight to it.
You can also ask about the size of an item before deciding. Dish names and photographs do not always explain how much food will arrive.
If you are considering adding something later, check with the team about preparation time. Our food is made to order, so an additional dish should not be assumed to arrive immediately.
The aim is to enjoy the meal, not to complete the menu.
A drink without the group decision
One pleasure of eating alone is that your drink order belongs entirely to you.
There is no shared bottle to agree on and no need to match what somebody else is having. You might want a cocktail, an alcohol-free drink, or a lassi made with our homemade yoghurt.
Think about how the drink fits into your appetite, too. A creamy drink can feel like a substantial part of the meal, while you may prefer something simpler alongside a dish you particularly want to explore.
You can decide on the food first and then choose a drink, or settle in with a drink while reading the menu.
There is no need to rush both decisions at once. A table for one comes with the useful privilege of setting your own pace.
What to mention if you have plans afterwards
Solo dining often fits between other plans: a performance, an appointment, or a pickup back to your accommodation.
If you have a firm departure time, tell the team before ordering. That gives you a chance to discuss what is practical rather than discovering halfway through dinner that you need to leave.
Our kitchen prepares food to order, without added MSG, pork, lard or premade meals. Allow time for your chosen preparation, especially if you intend to order more than one course.
Avoid building the evening around an assumed serving time. A short conversation at the start is more useful than trying to hurry a meal after the order has already been placed.
If you have nowhere else to be, enjoy that freedom too. You can make dinner the plan.
Finding Pesona Lounge Ubud
Pesona Lounge Ubud is located at Jl. Goutama Selatan No.25A, Ubud, Bali, near Ubud Palace and Ubud Art Market. Published opening hours are 12 noon to 11 pm daily.
You can contact the team through the reservation page to request a place for one and mention any seating or dietary preferences. Reservations are confirmed personally through WhatsApp. Pesona Lounge Ubud
A simple message is enough: your preferred date, time, and that you are dining alone. Add a bar-seat preference if that is what you have in mind.
Then comes the enjoyable part: choosing dinner entirely for yourself.
A familiar favourite, a dish you have never tried, or something you noticed on the menu five minutes ago. There is nobody else’s order to work around tonight.
