The Canadian Connoisseur and The Communist Langolier: Burma Restaurant

The Myanmar, er, Burma Restaurant

A great part of living in DC is the access to the international community. It’s not exactly New York, where on any given street there can be a mini UN of restaurants, but if you look hard enough, you can find some real worldly gems to eat in the District. For instance, did you know that Washington has the country’s oldest Ethiopian restaurant? Or that you can get some fantastic Nepalese food at “Himalayan Heritage” on 18th street in Adams Morgan? Mmmmm, goat…… . But I’ll leave the description of my love for Caprine meat for another day and instead focus on my fantastic vegetarian feast at the Burmese restaurant last Saturday.

One of the many tragedies of the ongoing rule of the military Junta in Burma is that the world hasn’t gotten a chance to get acquainted with the rich history, culture, and cuisine of the ancient land that lies between India, China, Bhutan, and Thailand. Its official name, changed by the tyrants in charge of the newly constructed capital at Naypiydaw, is Myanmar - but it’ll be a cold day in hell when I refer to Burma as that. Unlike North Korea, which only allows a few tourists to go on guided tours once a year, it’s actually remarkable easy for Americans to travel to Burma and it’s a dream of mine to check it out someday. Meanwhile, I can at least get a small sample at the "Burma Restaurant” in Chinatown.

Yes, the restaurant’s location in a converted apartment on the second floor of a rickety old building creates a sketchy atmosphere. The owners try to put up pictures of Buddhist temples and some decorations, but to no avail. In fact, the place kinda reminds me of those skeevy cafes in Little Odessa (Brighton Beach in Brooklyn) – walking in is almost like venturing into Teddy KGB’s casino in “Rounders”. I can only imagine what the Burma restaurant must have looked like in the 1990’s before the MCI Center made Chinatown posh. However, what those places in Brighton Beach lack in ambiance is usually made up for it with delicious Perogis and vodka. The Burma Restaurant is the same way.

The lovely Canadian and I were entertaining a guest from the proletarian town of Cincinnati and wanted to show off our cosmopolitanism with a nice mix of exotic and delicious foods. The obvious choice, one that mixes the two, is pickled green tea leaf salad. If you read any other reviews about the restaurant they’ll always recommend this dish. It’s a flavor the likes of which I’ve never really tasted – a combination of nuts, salad, and tea leafs. The best part? The caffeine in the tea gives you a little energy boost! Next, we got served a huge plate of delicious “kausewe” (noodles). We ordered pickled bamboo shoots, a perfect addition to the Communist Langolier pantheon of weird foods but, sadly, they were all out of bamboo. Instead, the waiter recommended mustard greens and, for some reason, I really enjoyed the zesty taste of this plate. In fact, I enjoyed it so much that, to my everlasting shame, I was unable to finish the yellow and red pea soup that came next (I should have ordered the half-bowl that was available, but I was afraid of losing face in front of the girls. Damn Chinese values)!


Our bellies full and our palates satisfied, we waited anxiously for the bill. Fortunately, it wasn’t that bad either. Five dishes and a couple of beers for only $64 (plus tip) is certainly a decent price in DC. The place was absolutely packed, but the service was above average and the waiter got extra props for looking like a Shaolin monk - peaceful, but can probably kick your ass.

Burma Restaurant is located at 740 6th Street, NW (between G and H).
Make a reservation on Friday and Saturday nights – 202-638-1280.



The Burma Restaurant is one of my all time favorite restaurants simply due to the fact that you can’t get anything like it anywhere else in the District. Burmese food is so delicious and unique that it’s hard to even compare it to anything else. For this reason the Burma Restaurant is also one of my favorite places to take out-of-town guests when I want to show off the best and most diverse restaurants DC has to offer.

At Burma Restaurant I always have a hard time deciding what to order because just about everything on the menu sounds so intriguing – but there is something that I’m sure of every time. The one dish you absolutely cannot miss out on is the fermented green tea leaf salad. The tea leaves are imported from Burma in dried, compacted blocks. In order to make the dish, the leaves are reconstituted with garlic oil and then mixed with shredded cabbage, crushed peanuts, chopped tomato, sesame, fresh lemon juice, and garnished with crunchy roasted soybeans and cilantro. The salad is typically made with ground shrimp; however, it can easily be ordered without the shrimp as a vegetarian option. The mélange of flavors in this concoction is something I really can’t describe…just trust me that it is so unique and amazing that it will actually change your life! (I am sorry to say that we were so excited by the time it arrived at our table, we all dug in immediately, and it was gone before we even remembered to take a picture. To get a visual try to picture coleslaw mixed with pesto. Or better yet – just go there and order some!).

For our entrée our waiter recommended one of the restaurant’s most popular dishes - pickled mustard greens tossed with sautéed shrimp. If you’re noticing a theme here, you are correct – Burmese food often features pickled or fermented components. Believe it or not, though, they all have very different flavors. The mustard greens had more of a tangy taste that combined perfectly with the shrimp for yet another extraordinary dish. Any one of the “kausewe” (noodle) dishes also makes for a great addition to the meal. This time, we decided to try the bean thread noodles with roasted peanuts, sesame seeds, and spices. The description on the menu did not specify which spices, but I picked up on spicy white pepper as one of the dominant flavors.

An important thing to keep in mind while experiencing the Burmese adventure is that each dish arrives when it is ready, and there doesn’t seem to be any sort of method to the madness. Our huge bowl of soup (enough for the whole table) actually appeared last. The people who run the restaurant are extremely nice, and they actually seem to radiate a sense of calmness. (So much, in fact, that when you come into the restaurant, don’t hesitate to wander into the back room and find someone to ask for a table). From the bright yellow walls with old pictures, to the exotic new flavors, to the soft smiles – a visit to Burma Restaurant is a journey of senses that you’ll want to savor.