Community eating has been at the heart of all Asian cultures. And what better place than the Burma Burma chain of restaurants and their ongoing Thingyan Festival to relish this concept?
I can’t get over the ‘Village Set’ they first place in before me. It’s an assortment of traditional Burmese dishes arranged beautifully on a cane flat basket. The colours, the aroma, the delicacies and ornamentation of the whole platter...so much like the Indian thali.
“Start by peeling and munching the sunflower seeds,” says Ankit Gupta, Founder of the vegetarian Burmese cuisine chain. He explains how guests in Burma are first served sunflower seeds till the main course arrives. Gupta, as a host, is gentle and warm, makes sure I savour my food like the Burmese do. “As the cuisine is based on a specific country, it is impertinent on our part to celebrate its customs, traditions and the grand festival of Burma. The Thingyan Festival is a big festival in Burma as it welcomes the New Year. We travelled back to our roots, to explore and bring back new, authentic dishes and flavours to India.”
By now, I’m tasting the Yangon tea shop favourite ‘Quack Quack Palata’ – square pockets filled with a special mix of tangy and sour spices. Next, I dig into the traditional ‘999 noodles’, flavourful, without any sauces. My companion choose the black sticky rice with eyed pea and pickled vegetables, its robust nutty flavour was a welcome change. It went well the sweet, tangy and thick eggplant-long bean-and-potato curry. ‘Shan Khow Suey’ is my favourite – rice noodles in tomato relish, garnished with tofu, pickled mustard leaves, carrot and radish. Another favourite was the ‘Tofu Steamed Buns’ with fried tofu, a soft-and-crispy combo with lettuce, onion, tomato and mayonnaise stuffing. But the star of my meal was the Lotus Stem Fritters – lotus stems sliced, fried and dusted with roasted paprika, rightly flavoured with curry leaves.
“Our village sets will serve two and four (people), and for the first time Burma Burma will also serve a small plate menu inspired by West Burma,” informs Gupta. This includes an authentic Burmese dishes with names ‘Kyan Tribe Rainbow Soup’; ‘Spicy Sour Tea Leaf and Avocado Salad’, and ‘Rangoon Ruby’.
Burma Burma
Till: May 5
Timings: Lunch (12-4pm) and Dinner (6.30pm-11.30pm)
Outlets at Select City Walk, Cyber Hub & DLF Mall of India, Noida