Bali Bulay

Restaurant · Des Moines, Iowa, United States

About Bali Bulay

Bali Bulay is a father-and-son Indonesian satay stall in the Local Bites food hall on the lower level of the Greater Des Moines Partnership Building at 700 Locust Street, in downtown Des Moines. Franklin Crum runs it with his son Kaleb Creighton Crum, who spent the first ten years of his life in Indonesia before the family moved to Iowa, and the pair tested their menu at farmers markets, pop-up events and the CelebrAsian festival, and in the Mickle Center shared-use kitchen, before opening in the food hall in September 2026. The stall serves weekday breakfast and lunch, Monday to Friday from 11 in the morning until 2 in the afternoon, and describes itself as Indonesian satay and sambal with island flavours and Midwest smiles. The menu is deliberately simple: a lunch combo costs 15 dollars including tax and starts with a choice of three satay skewers, chicken, pork belly, beef or tofu, with beef rendang, the slow-braised Indonesian beef dish, available as a substitute for an additional three dollars. The combo comes with coconut-scented rice and crisp garlic chips, plus a side such as corn fritters, noodle salad, pickled vegetables or potato fritters, and tempeh manis, a sweet caramelised tempeh preparation, can be added for fifty cents. Every meal comes with sambal, and the house makes several varieties, including herbal, peanut, sweet and spicy, Balinese relish and fried chilli. For dessert there is pisang goreng, fried banana topped with ice cream, for four dollars, and anyone who buys a combo between 11 and 11.45 in the morning gets a complimentary drink as part of an early-bird special. The menu marks vegetarian and vegan dishes and notes dishes containing egg, gluten, peanut, sesame and soy, so dietary needs are easy to navigate. It is a compact, weekday-only stop, best suited to a downtown lunch break, and a rare chance to eat Indonesian food in central Iowa.

Address

700 Locust St (lower level, Local Bites food hall, Greater Des Moines Partnership Building), Des Moines, IA 50309, USA, Des Moines, Iowa, United States

Opening hours

Monday
11:00 AM - 2:00 PM
Tuesday
11:00 AM - 2:00 PM
Wednesday
11:00 AM - 2:00 PM
Thursday
11:00 AM - 2:00 PM
Friday
11:00 AM - 2:00 PM
Saturday
Closed
Sunday
Closed

Contact

Category

Indonesian Restaurant in United States

Tags

Authentic Indonesian places in United States · Take-away Indonesian places in United States

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