Other than the Khao Suey – one dish soup meal – not many of us know much about Burmese cuisine. Given the location of Burma (now known as Myanmar), its cuisine is influenced by Chinese, Indian and Thai cuisine which most of us love. Burma Burma is a Mumbai based restaurant which has recently opened an outlet in Cyber City, Gurgaon. Burmese cuisine extensively uses fish sauce and fermented seafood. However, Ankit Gupta, the proud owner-partner of Burma Burma whose mom comes from Burma, decided to keep his restaurant completely vegetarian. Not only vegetarian, but vegan though the restaurant may not be publicized as such. Hence, one will find abundance use of peanut, coconut and black gram flour in most of its preparations.
Burma Burma has cafe type warm interiors with a little bar counter (there is no alcohol but different variety of teas). The bulky menu has almost half of its pages dedicated to the variety of teas showing how seriously they take their teas. We start with a couple of mocktails – Oh No Tamarind and Spiced Ginger both of which are very refreshing. Oh No Tamarind has tamarind pulp, jaggery and coconut shavings and Spiced Ginger is a mix of ginger, mint, lime, green chilly and mint. These are served with salted sunflower seeds – an addictive snack that is very popular in Myanmar.
The menu has a few dishes specially catering to Jains with no onion-garlic. I am yet to come across any other restaurant in Gurgaon that indicates Jain dishes. A good gesture I must say! The Samuza Hincho (Rs. 220) is a samosa soup which is a very popular street food in Myanmar. The samosa is dunked in a cabbage and carrot tangy soup of black gram (kala chana) with the samosa adding to the bite and flavours. Tohu Hincho is the nutritious bean curd soup with tofu. Both the soups are nice with my taste buds more in favour of the Samuza Hincho.
The choice of salads is quite impressive. Wanting to try different varieties, we chose the trio of salad (Thoke Sampler at Rs. 480). I learnt that 80% of the tea production in Myanmar is used in making thoke (salad). We first try the Mandalay Laphet Thoke. Laphet means “green tea”, and thoke means “salad” – the salad is an eclectic mix of flavours and textures that includes soft, pickled tea leaves, crisp, roasted peanuts and other crunchy beans, toasted sesame seeds and fried garlic. Laphet is so important to the culture that when tea leaves are harvested, the best of the crop is set aside for fermenting while the rest is dried and processed for drinking tea. Tayat ti Thoke is the raw mango salad with roasted red chilly, brown onion and crushed peanuts and Naykar Gyun Akyaw has sunflower leaves and crispy wheat flakes. Each salad is different from the other. I believe tea salad is an acquired taste that we will have to get used to but for my first visit, I loved the texture and crunch given by wheat flakes in sunflower leaves salad.
In the appetisers, we try the Paukse (Steamed Bun). The variants are priced at Rs. 300 each for 4 buns. If you are in the mood to eat something spicy then try the Brown Onion and Roasted Chilly Paukse though we enjoyed the subtle flavours of Mushroom paukse more.
There are 6 types of khao suey that are served in Burma Burma. Every community has their own version of this traditional dish. We try Shwedagon Kahosuey (Rs. 370) that does not come with different ingredients on the side. It is a thick variant of noodles served with gram flour, tomato curry and thick coconut cream. Next time I will try the signature Kaho Suey at Burma Burma.
Tohu Mok Palata (Rs. 320) is a great value for money dish. Basically, it is shan tohu (Burmese tofu) cooked with onion, tomato and spices. The texture is something like the dry yellow urad dal. It is served with flaky Burmese parantha that resembles our malabari parantha. When the taste/texture is so similar, it is very difficult not to like this dish.
Anyone who likes coconut and peanut will love this dish – Ohn Thamin (Rs. 340). is coconut rice served with peanut tomato chutney; a very comforting dish. We end the meal with Oh No Na Nat Thi/Coco Pina (Rs. 270). The caramelised pineapples are served with chilled coconut custard and some flavoured foam. An excellent dessert indeed!
The day we went, the restaurant was all full with waiting outside. Service was indifferent and lacked at times. I hope they make n improvement on this ground soon.
I am no authority to comment on the authenticity of this cuisine at this restaurant. Myanmar has not too many fine dine options so Burma Burma recreates the taste of street food in a cafe set-up. Going just by the taste, Burma Burma is one of the most exciting vegetarian eateries to open in Delhi-NCR giving a much needed option not only to vegetarians but also to experimental non vegetarians who will not miss the non-veg section what with all the versatile and eclectic options this restaurant offers.
Ratings (Out of 5)
Food: 4.5 | Ambience: 4.0 | Service: 3.0 | Overall: 4.0
Meal for Two: Rs2000 ++ | Wheel Chair Friendly: Yes | Credit Card: Yes | Alcohol: No | Timings: Lunch – 1pm – 3.30pm, Dinner – 8pm & 9.45pm (2 slots), prior reservation recommended.
Address: Burma Burma, Building 8, Tower C, DLF Cybercity, Gurgaon | Phone: 0124-4372999
Disclaimer: This review was done on an invitation from the restaurant. Due judgement and care has been applied by the author to remain objective and unbiased in the review, but readers need to consider this review keeping this fact in mind.
