Myanmar

satisfying 6

siobhan
2004-08-23

I may be biased by their proximity to my commuting path, and the mango salad ... but I have by & large been very happy with the food at Myanmar.

The service can be very slow — seems that it’s always the same and only woman hostessing & waitressing, with an occassional server coming out of the kitchen. Like other hole-in-the-wall restaurants, if you walk in at the same time as other parties, expect to wait on your food. And order everything you may want at once, if you can.

This is one of those restaurants where I always order the same thing, because it’s so very good & exactly what I want (which is why I go there.)

I highly recommend the gram fritters as an appetizer — their little fried “hush puppies” made of ground chickpea & onions, served with a nice dipping sauce (citrusy, tangy).

And do get the mango salad, and the green papaya salad. This is one of the Must Haves when I go. Mix them a bit on your plate, too. Yum. As kobi has mentioned in other posts, Burmese is (duh, geography) a mix of Thai and Indian and other Asian ... seems to have the attributes of Thai & Indian that I like, with distinctive spices & combinations. Take the mango salad: it’s shredded unripe mango, like you’d find at a Thai place; the sauce is a bit more complex and creamy, like you’d get with Indian; and there’s toasted thin onion and other spices that I’m guessing are distinctly Burmese. Yum.

My fave entree is the mustard with fresh tofu — it’s lightly salty and completely tasty and I’ve been known to order more than one plate when a friend & I go — can’t get enough of it! The jack fruit curry is also nice, and worth trying if you’ve never had jack fruit.

You will get a glass of water when you are seated, but will likely have to ask for more during your meal. Seems to me that an additional waitress would be a good idea, but I’m thinking that this place is genuine family-style, and there may be no other relatives available!

If you are hungry & know what you want, call ahead — they will also do take away, which will pretty much guarantee your food will be ready for you when you get there. I typically call when I’m getting off 66 at Nutley, and the food is ready for me when I walk in the door (I go down 29 from Nutley).

If you are OK with a bit of a wait (have book or friends with you), it’s worth checking out. And save room for the homemade desserts — the cake is excellent!

Vegetarian friendly!! Yay!