Platter from Rangoon

Get a taste of authentic Burmese cuisine during the Thingyan Festival at NCR’s Burma Burma

Burma Burma, the authentic Myanmarese restaurant and Tea Room, celebrated the Burmese New Year at their Delhi-NCR outlets, June 5 – 24. Over a period of four to five days that culminate in the New Year, the Thingyan Festival is celebrated widely in our neighbouring country. The restaurant menu during the festival features authentic taste and cooking prepared from treasured family recipes.

Though small in size, Myanmar is home to many ethnicities, each with its own special dishes and styles of cooking — and no place better to get a taste of such diversity than at Burma Burma. Some common threads that can be expected from the cuisine is a strong sour and savoury flavour being the most prominent taste, as well as the number of garnishes that accompany the dishes. The emphasis is on strong, pungent flavours, very different from the spicy dishes we Indians are accustomed to. The new year feast is a treat for the palate, that too totally vegetarian and non-alcoholic.
We started with soup. Phat Saw Hincho (R250) or Kachin Style Dried Mustard Soup is a light and fragrant clear soup from the mountain region of Kachin. Shwepayon Hincho (R250) or Pumpkin & Basil Soup is a fresh and tangy tasting hearty soup from Yangon region. Both the soups are pleasant.

A personal favourite part of a Burmese meal is the variety of salads as starters, and that is precisely how we start our meal. Anything can be turned into a Burmese salad – crunchy, spicy and sour. Grilled Mock Meat Salad (R370) is unexpectedly tasty with grilled mock meat having a delicious texture with lettuce, tomatoes brown onion tossed with tamarind & chilli providing the right contrast. Kyar Zen Thoke (R370) or glass noodles salad with glass noodles, tofu, potatoes tossed in sweet and spicy dressing does not have a very pleasing feel.

Among the starters, Khowsuey in a Bite (Rs 390) is an interesting concept with a crisps noodle nest topped with reduced khowsuey & finished with roasted chilly but the fried noodles tend to overpower the taste. I wish I had a glass of chilled beer with the next starter which is Crispy Corn Tossed in Tea Leaf (Rs 390), an ideal bar snack. Equally good is Avocado with Papadam (Rs 390), a specialty of tea plantations having creamy avocado topped with chilli oil, garlic and basil on rice papadams.

In the main course, Mock Duck & Baby Potato Curry (Rs 390) has a close to authentic mock duck marinated in robust hand grounded curry paste and coconut milk. The mock meats being used here are a beautiful balance of wheat gluten and soya which makes them taste pleasant. Stir Fried Greens with Fermented Mustard & Tofu (R390) is pleasant though unremarkable. Accompanying them are fried rice from the Buddhist Shan province — Shan Thamin Kyaw (R390) which is perfectly sticky and crunchy. The dried version of Khow Suey, Nan Pyar Khowsuey (R390) is made with flat wheat noodles topped with roasted gram flour, garlic oil, paprika & crisp onions and is delicious.

I end the meal with a mild-tasting Matcha Ice Cream (R330) and my perennial favourite, Durian Ice Cream (R330), a delicious ice cream that is not for the faint hearted!

Whether you are a vegetarian or a carnivore, a visit to Burma Burma will always delight you. It is a much recommended culinary adventure.
Ratings (Out of 5)