Discovering Burmese cuisine in the Bay Area

I haven't travelled to Myanmar but I'm intrigued by its cuisine because it sounds like a melting pot containing generous helpings of Thai, Indian, and Chinese cuisine influences. When Biboy proposed that we try Burma Superstar in San Francisco, it opened up a whole new adventure for me and the family. 

Burma Superstar

** Ate Maddie took photos of the food via Instagram. See them here. **

This is one of the highly recommended restaurants to visit in San Francisco... and the one that started my journey into discovering Burmese cuisine. We trusted Biboy with the food choice because he's been there before. My two favourite dishes on this trip were:

Lahpet thoke (tea leaf salad). It had romaine lettuce, jalapeño peppers, tomatoes, chickpeas, sesame seeds, peanuts, pine nuts, fermented tea leaves, and lemon juice. I was expecting this salad to taste like the salads I've tasted in Thailand but the Burmese have their own unique way of seasoning their food. The acoustics while munching the salad was a wholly different experience!

Burmese-style fried catfish curry. I was expecting the dish to have the heavy but well-balanced dose of spices I grew accustomed with in Indian cuisine. The flavours I encountered, however, were more similar to what I enjoyed in Benin. The catfish was juicy and tender while the sauce appeared to be a tomato-based puree and the spiciness was mellowed down (because we asked for the mild version). 

We also had beef, chicken, and noodle dishes that rounded off my first experience. All the dishes Biboy picked were delicious! I now know why Burma Superstar is a nightly blockbuster hit in the Richmond and Sunset Districts. The evaluators who bestowed it Michelin's "L'Assiette" status (good quality food but not ready for the coveted stars yet) seem to agree.

Aung MayLika

On a Friday evening, Daddy and Mommy wanted to eat out. After raving about the Burmese food I ate at Burma Superstar, they wanted to try the cuisine as well. But San Francisco's too far just for a meal and parking there is a challenge, so we opted to scour our options closer to home. We ended up in Aung MayLika in Concord. I was so happy that it had its own parking space (I didn't have to park on the street). It looked welcoming and homey... none of the long queues (a relief to us, the curious and hungry!). I was in charge of ordering the food. My top picks were:

Lahpet thoke (tea leaf salad). Again? Yes, I ordered it again! And just like in Burma Superstar, this salad was a winner. We couldn't get enough of the dish! It had the perfect mix of umami (from the tomatoes and the lahpet), spicy, crunchy, juicy, and tangy to whet one's appetite while filling the belly with lots of healthy food.

Burmese-style chicken biryani. Knowing that Indian cuisine has a heavy influence on Burmese cuisine, I wanted to have a glimpse at how the Burmese made it their own. I don't know if it's just because we're not in Myanmar, but I was surprised that the chicken biryani was served with rice on the side. In India, I always had to dig through a mountain of basmati rice to reach the chicken and/or the potato. Anyway, the Burmese version was definitely not an assault to the palate (because I requested it to be mildly spicy). The chicken was juicy and tender; flavourful by itself even without the generous serving of sauce. It was delicious and can certainly stand among the best biryanis but it has failed from changing my mind: Hyderabadi chicken biryani is still the best for me.