Swivelling Compass

Don't come to Sanur in Bali for trendy restaurants playing music from Ibiza - you can go to Seminyak for that. And you can forget Sanur if you're inclined to sip lattes in modern malls like Kuta's Boardwalk.

Sanur was Bali's original resort area with its highrise Bali Beach Resort built in the Sixties, still a sore sight against the shoreline that boasts a spectacular sunrise.

As the hotels age or move with the times, with new resorts crowding into the dwindling beachfront lots available, restaurants in the neighbourhood have responded to the demands of the expatriate and tourist community in Sanur. Want a burger ? Southern fried chicken ? Doughnuts ? No problem,it's all here at the Ngurah Rai Bypass, the highway forming the western perimeter of Sanur that hugs the east coats of Bali's tip.

Ignoring changing culinary preferences through the years is a stalwart restaurant in Jalan Hang Tuah, just off the tiled Japanese-funded promenade of Sanur's beach. It serves justnone dish, the same through the decades : simple nom-battered fried fish from Sanur's waters, accompanied by a fish soup made from the less meaty parts excluded from the fryer. Not a fish head goes to waste. The furnishings are as sparse as the menu and guestts share wooden benches ventilated by ceiling fans circulating the sea breeze. Office workers on their lunch break, well groomed local ladies and tourists sat shoulder to shoulder. No one complains about the long waits or the heat as Mak Beng is an institution in Sanur, with a long history dating to 1941. Many loyal customers dine here several times a week,dipping their fish pieces into fiery chili sambal, combining the crispy-spicy mixture with white rice,and washing it down with clear fish broth, sweaty brows morphing into satisfied faces.

Sanur was a fishing village and residents remember the time when fish formed a liveihood for manu before tourism changed their lives. Sanur fish is prized as the best and natives say they can taste the difference to fish of other provenance. However, even with higher prices for a Sanur catch, fishermen are resorting to giving tourists pleasure rides in their colourful traditional boats to remain economically viable.

Mak Beng is both comfort food and a historical link to Sanur's past. It's lack of commercial artifice and pride in maintaining quality through decades shows Bali at its best, stripped bare behind its tourist pleasing face.