Laughing Buddha is the room Ubud fills when the town of yoga mats and early nights decides to dance. The band plugs in at 7:30pm sharp, and by eight the tables along Monkey Forest Road are gone.
The bar sits on Jalan Monkey Forest in central Ubud, an open fronted shophouse a short stroll from the football field and the forest sanctuary further south. Honeycombers calls it the beating heart of Ubud's live music scene, and the programming earns the line: a different band takes the stage every night of the week. The same group runs Ubud's Jazz Cafe, and Bali.com describes Laughing Buddha as its little sister, which explains why the booking standard sits well above the usual tourist strip cover act.
Who loves it: travelers who spent the day on temples and rice terraces and want one loud, easy night without leaving town. Who does not: anyone chasing a quiet cocktail, who should keep walking to a hotel lounge instead. For the island wide picture, our Bali bar guide sets Ubud's small but stubborn night scene against Canggu and Seminyak, where Old Mans and La Favela own the late shift.
The room runs narrow and deep, with a low stage up front, communal tables down the middle and the bar along one wall. Seating spills onto the pavement, where the people watching on Monkey Forest Road counts as a second show. Nothing about the fit out reads precious, and that is the point; this venue serves a crowd that stands up between courses.
The cocktail list leans classic, with mojitos and daiquiris doing the volume, and the house deal does the persuading: buy two, get one free from 4pm to 8pm and again from 11pm to 1am. Restaurant Guru pegs the typical spend between 100,000 and 250,000 IDR per person, modest by Bali venue standards. The kitchen's Megibung package, a shared Balinese feast from 150,000 IDR a head served 4pm to 7pm, suits groups settling in for the whole set.
Bintang and a short wine list back up the cocktails, and the bar presses fresh sugar cane juice for daytime walkers coming off Monkey Forest Road. Service moves fast before the band starts and merely steady after it, so front load the first round.
The weekly calendar follows a pattern. Hotels.com's Go Guides maps blues on Mondays, blues rock on Tuesdays and Latin sets on Fridays and Saturdays, with the band on stage from 7:30pm to 10:30pm nightly. The crowd mixes long stay regulars, tour groups and Ubud's own service industry on its nights off, and the room holds a 4.4 rating on Google across more than 1,770 reviews.
The musicianship surprises first timers. The bar rotates session players who circulate between Ubud's handful of stages, and the venue's claim of world class talent lands closer to true than most marketing copy. Expect tight covers over originals, and expect the singer to pull the floor onto its feet by the second set.
Reviewers repeat the same playbook. Arrive before 8pm or stand, order drinks before the set peaks because the kitchen slows once the floor fills, and claim the communal table or a bar stool to sit close to the music. The recurring gripe on Google targets prices rather than quality, so regulars eat light here and save the proper dinner for elsewhere. CP Lounge, further down the same road, takes the overflow when the night runs past midnight.
Best time to go: a Monday or Tuesday blues night around 7pm, when a table comes easy and the band plays to listeners rather than dancers. On Latin weekends, book ahead on WhatsApp or arrive by 7:30pm, because the room fills fast and stays full until the final song. For more stages across the island, start with our Bali live music guide.
Sources: Laughing Buddha Bar official site (2026); Honeycombers (Best Bars in Ubud, 2026); Bali.com venue listing; Hotels.com Go Guides; Google reviews (n=1,771).
