When we’re in Bali, we always try to go to Mak Beng, a popular and highly-rated traditional culinary near Sanur beach. One problem with that place is it’s becoming too popular, you need to queue for place to sit during weekend.

So when we heard from some friends that there’s alternative of Mak Beng, which offer the same great taste of fried fish and fish head soup but without the need to queue, we followed the tip and headed there this morning for breakfast.

Well, one thing is true: there’s no queue. Warung Be Sanur, which is located near Renon Denpasar, has quite big dining hall. It approximately has seating for 200 guests, compared to Mak Beng which can only accomodate for probably 30-40. You’ll have no problem for seating, even if you come in large groups.

But in term of dishes, my family agreed that “nothing beats the original”. On the first sip of my soup, I already know that this is not Mak Beng. It’s lacking the spice Mak Beng’s soup is known for. The fried fish is also not as crunchy as the Sanur’a original. The sambal/chili.. well you get my point.

Don’t get me wrong, as the dishes itself, it’s actually quite decent. It would be categorized as “enak“, if only we didn’t compare it with Mak Beng.

So, having satisfied out curiosity in searching for the alternative, in the end we conclude: we would stick with the original next time we go to Bali again 😉