At the sign of the knotted chilli stands a small restaurant and bar where daily regulars start drinking Martinis at midday.
Indonesians come by in large groups for a taste of high-quality local food. Tourists enjoy a taste of home with barbecue or chilli con carne if they've lost interest in eating the rice they've travelled so far to see.
This is Naughty Nuri's, a roadside eatery that combines the New York savvy of a man called Brian and his partner, Nuri. She is a cook of the kind who is increasingly hard to find in the international playground Bali has become.
Across the road is the Neka art museum and down the steep hill is the museum of the late artist Antonio Blanco. In elegant bungalows or self-styled ashrams, the world's self-proclaimed visionaries have made Ubud an artists' colony since the 1930s.
But in the frantic main street where traffic and hawkers have overrun whatever charm this hill town once had, it has become well-nigh impossible to do something very simple - find normal Indonesian food.
Back when the European pioneers of Bali's art and music scene were here - including Walter Spies, Colin McPhee and Arie Smit - there was no choice. They lived in simple huts and ate local produce whether they liked it or not.
Those who claim to follow in their footsteps avoid such earthy realities. Instead of a delicious nasi campur (mixed rice, meat and vegetables) for 14,000 rupiah (HK$9.60) at Naughty Nuri's, those searching for the 'authentic' Bali experience flock to restaurants offering what is now called Bali fusion cuisine.