I remember a Burmese restaurant in NYC on 23 street back in the 80's or early 1990's?
can't remember exactly where it was but it was the first Burmese I had ever had- mind blowing combo of flavors and textures!
a funny memory is asking about what kind of teas they served and after the waitress repeated the name a number of times( lakalar) we just ordered it. it was liptons- trying to say regular. lost in translation...
this was before I realized that most of Burmese food might have fish sauce and/or dried shrimp. very disappointed as a life long vegetarian that I might not get to eat Burmese foods again!
can't remember exactly where it was but it was the first Burmese I had ever had- mind blowing combo of flavors and textures!
a funny memory is asking about what kind of teas they served and after the waitress repeated the name a number of times( lakalar) we just ordered it. it was liptons- trying to say regular. lost in translation...
this was before I realized that most of Burmese food might have fish sauce and/or dried shrimp. very disappointed as a life long vegetarian that I might not get to eat Burmese foods again!
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Cafe Mingala. I loved that place.
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There was a Burmese restaurant on East 7th, which was awesome.
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Burmese Mingala had an outpost in the East Village, it was comforting to walk past and look into the windows even when I had plans to eat elsewhere. It was one of the first restaurants I became familiar with as a transplant from the Philippines, the flavors were familiar enough but the combinations were new. A good mixture of home and a "foreign" land.
I first encountered Burmese food via one of my mother's work friends, who would share her meat and dried fish patties (which I tried to replicate, with less than fulfilling results). I think I would make the trip to this restaurant if it is the only way to get my Burmese food fix now.
I first encountered Burmese food via one of my mother's work friends, who would share her meat and dried fish patties (which I tried to replicate, with less than fulfilling results). I think I would make the trip to this restaurant if it is the only way to get my Burmese food fix now.
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All the Mingala- the Upper West Side one went first, years later followed by the one in East Village, and then the Upper East Side recently(lat year?) restaurants in Manhattan have closed permanently.
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What a shame. I used to go to the East Village and the Upper East Side ones regularly. Both of them had wonderfully authentic menus (unfortunately never got around to trying the one on the Upper West Side).
No one has a link to a menu?
Anything there for vegetarians to eat?
Anything there for vegetarians to eat?
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Most of the salads are vegetarian (not fully vegan as the Burmese always put fish sauce to season the dishes) and there are plenty of stir-fried veggies.
What a pity that NYC is down to only one Burmese restaurant. We're short on Persian, too, as well as Cambodian, Lao, Pakistani, East African (apart from Ethiopian) and Bangladeshi (not counting the numerous Indian venues owned by folks from Bangladesh). Hey, L.A.: we'll trade you three good Italian restaurants for one decent Persian.
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Stu, head out to Coney Island ave (from church ave to ave H) - nothing but Pakistani and Bengali/Bangladeshi restaurants and stores
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Not even a tiny shout-out for the much loved Cafe Mingala, which served Burmese food (including a rocking tea-leaf salad) on the Upper East Side for about 20 years, and just closed about eight months ago? It was for decades the city's only dedicated Burmese restaurant.
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Definitely not for decades. There was the Village Mingala on E. 7th street until a few years ago, plus one on Amsterdam on the UWS (am forgetting the name--Rangoon Cafe?) for a long time.
For many years there were two Burmese restaurants on the upper East Side, both named Mingala, with the same management. the food was authentic and delicious. I believe the former Burmese ambassador to the UN was the owner.
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If he gets discouraged, perhaps move to Cleveland, OH? Akron? Kent? Oh, anywhere in this region. Please.
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Is there a big Burmese population there? Did not know, even though I grew up in Kent. No one has taken me to a Burmese joint there!
Not much different then many other S.E. Asian foods with peanuts, tomatoes , noodle, whole Chilies , quartered hard boiled eggs and cheap white bread. So some Asians from Burma dressed in their native garb to make a living try to present their own culture. Food is just food and when good, tasty, fresh free of too much fat oil, processed meat, reasonable in price and served / presented to help induce appetite. If is fine and good. But many such folks like the one shown, would be far better of to assimilate in the culture of the country they live and by all means, they should introduce to others to their kind of food provided, it is better , more healthy, tasteful and authentic . I for one keep an opend mind and just about enjoy all kinds of food .
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Try and count the contradictions and hypocrisies in this comment! There's more than you would think!
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Where is the native garb?
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You seriously need to try Burmese. You don't know what you're missing.
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As an expat living in Yangon, this will be my go to place in NYC when I'm missing the complexity and powerfully flavored food of Myanmar.
A ravel of noodles? A slurry of tomatoes​? How about just telling us if it's good or not?
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If only those terms had been used; at least they make sense. Ravelled noodles are those that have been untangled ("Knit up the ravelled sleave of care" = make it whole again after it's been blasted apart). A slurry of tomatoes would be a purée. But no: the tomatoes are a slur (a pejorative, but what are the tomatoes defaming?). And please, no more "lashings" of anything, unless it's a dish for S&M devotees.
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In exact usage of "slur" in the article is:
"tomatoes in skinny slurs"
It's clear that you've never read a musical score. Nonetheless, you could have connected the use of the adjective "skinny" with an alternative meaning for "slur", no?
The same with "lashings." I don't know about you, but MY primary association with the word has nothing to do with S&M.
"tomatoes in skinny slurs"
It's clear that you've never read a musical score. Nonetheless, you could have connected the use of the adjective "skinny" with an alternative meaning for "slur", no?
The same with "lashings." I don't know about you, but MY primary association with the word has nothing to do with S&M.
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Glad to know that it is not ethnic slurs. Too many of those both in Burma and the USA....
A beautiful read! When I was in elementary school in West Australia, we had a "Cook Chinese Food" day, where somebody's mother demonstrated how to make fried rice. This was the 80's. After we had eaten the rice, dotted with squares of ham, frozen peas and corn, and soy sauce, somebody asked me where my own mother was from, and then suggested that one day we could have a "Cook Burmese Food" day. That night, I reported back to my mother, and she smiled and slowly said, ".... I don't think so, Burmese food is... it's sour and sometimes bitter, salty and crunchy... it's not Chinese food, maybe nobody would like it."
Ligaya's description of the laphet thoke is the best (flipped) translation yet of what my mother said to me back then. I still crave it like I did back then, especially when it was my aunt mixing it for me with her own fingers, the surest sign of love. I'm so happy to see more Burmese food getting airplay now. It seems like some people do like it :)
Ligaya's description of the laphet thoke is the best (flipped) translation yet of what my mother said to me back then. I still crave it like I did back then, especially when it was my aunt mixing it for me with her own fingers, the surest sign of love. I'm so happy to see more Burmese food getting airplay now. It seems like some people do like it :)
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The first Burmese restaurant that I can remember in New York was Rangoon, tucked into a tiny space on the north side of pre-karaoke St Marks, off of 2nd Ave. (This was before Burma Superstar had opened in Inner Richmond in San Francisco in 1992.) Could it have been downstairs from the great video store? I think it had three seats (not tables: seats!) and room in the kitchen for the single chef/server/host to pivot, but not take an actual step. I'd never had food like it, some mystical passage between Thai, Vietnamese, Indian, and Cambodian. Hot, pungent flavors and herb combinations I'd never before experienced, served on...paper plates? (Of course. There was no sink.) How good was it? I'm a tremendous fan of hygiene. Really. When I lived on the Dineh Reservation, I swept the dirt floor of the hogan every day. But when I found the accidental cockroach, deep-fried, amongst the other crunchy morsels in my salad, I simply picked it out, tossed it out the door, and continued with my meal. Yes, that good.
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In conflict with itself, Myanmar/Burma is also a land of "contradictions" and diversity, that is not yet unified.... when i read that "The food makes allies of opposing flavors and textures, which retain their individual contours while contributing to a greater whole," I have to see the political implications and hope for a better future allowing all ethnic ingredients to be accepted and included in the whole nation, as they once were.
What am I going on about? See today's Editorial Statement in the Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/may/03/the-guardian-view-...