chichichicago

Heading to Myanmar in 2 weeks and wanted to pick everyone's brain on good places to eat and places to avoid, We are very partial to Asian cooking and always keen on eating the local fare but preferably not from street vendors, Any help would be appreciated.

rhkkmk

try L'Opera in yangon

gmoz

Bagan you cant go past the Moon.
Mandalay try A Little Tase of Mandalay

Smeagol

We also loved the moon in Bagan. Really great little vegetarian restaurant.

wintersp

The Green Elephant - the first one was in Yangon, but now the lady has one in Mandalay and Bagan.

Kathie

We love SE Asia and S Asian foods, but were generally underwhelmed by most of the Burmese food we had in Burma. Several of the places we stayed had very good food (Rupar Mandalar outside Mandalay, The Mrauk U Princess, the Inle Lakeview two years ago and the Tharbar Gate two years ago also had some good Burmese dishes).

I'd avoid the oft-recommended Monsoon in Yangon. Our food their was both mediocre and overpriced.

We had a good Indian meal at Ashoka in Yangon.

We were so hungry for something different that we ate at L'Opera in Yangon, something we don't usually do.

gailmo

We had a very good dinner at a place called "The Golden Duck". It is located within walking distance (5 minutes) from the south entrance to the Shwedagon Pagoda. We visited the pagota in the late afternoon and got hungry. A local recommended this restaurant and it was great. When we finished dinner, we walked back to the pagoda --it was about 8pm and found most of the tourists were gone and only local people there. It was really interesting and we just sat around and took in the beautiful sights and then walked back to our hotel.

To find the restaurant from inside the pagoda--walk straight out and down the LONG steps of the south exit to the street. Once on the street--look for Happy World Amusement Park across the road. Cross the street and enter the park--(trust me on this one!) and walk along that street and down the hill--if it is dark you will wonder what the heck you are doing! Again, trust me! Within about 100 yards or less you will come upon the restaurant.

The food is Chinese....and excellent. I think there must be several "Golden Duck" restaurants in Yangon because LP has it located in a different location on their map. We were the only Westerners in the place...and they took good care of us. As I recall, they had several English menus...and the prices were pretty reasonable.

So...if you end the day at the pagoda, this is a great place for dinner. There are several reviews of it on TripAdvisor and also you can check the location on google maps.

Smeagol

Kathie, I too was totally underwhelmed with the food in Buma. Pook had mentioned we would be and he was spot on.

gmoz

We were similarly underwhelmed by the food in Burma.
The strange part is that the local markets are full of fresh vegetables and fruit yet the dishes as served up do not feature that freshness and also lack eye appeal and 'crunch".
There were a few tasty exceptions but overall we were disappointed, perhaps we have been eating Thai food for too long.
Like Kathi I would not rave about the Monsoon, the decor was nice and the food OK but I was expecting a bit more after reading the reviews.

rhkkmk

Burma is certainly NOT about the food.

chichichicago

Thanks for the input- I can't say I am surprised. Other than Bangkok our other SE Asia trips have been hit or miss with regards to food. I just wanted to make sure there wasn't something noteworthy that I hadn't heard/read about. Leaving in two weeks- VERY excited. This trip has Been on the wish list for a long time. This site has been very helpful. Signed up with Santa Maria- Zaw, Min Thu etc. Thanks all!

Kathie

Have a wonderful time!

pattyroth

Ashoka was a favorite for us in Yangon. Our food there was great. At other locations in the evening we sometimes just had wine and some appetizer or pizza!

joan47

In Bagan Star Beans restaurant is very good. It is right by Moon but further back away from the road. The owner is a chef who had worked in hotel restaurants. He is from Min Thu's village, so this was how I first got to meet him - but wound up having lunch there several times. The food is western as opposed to Asian. Give it a try.

ekscrunchy

Sabai Sabai in Yangon has good enough Thai food. Nice atmosphere.

The Governor's Palace in Yangon has a good, if very expensive, restaurant.



In Mandalay, good Thai food at Ko's Kitchen. Not as good as Thailand, by any means, though.

Other than those, my best eating was on the street on in small "buffet" type restaurants.

Kathie

If you want to opt for an excellent but very expensive lunch, you can't do better than Le Planteur in Yangon. They have a fixed price business lunch for $25 per person. Our lunch at the Governor's Palace this trip was more expensive than that and much less satisfying. The food wasn't nearly as good as it was 2 years ago.
http://www.travelindependently.com/a...unch-in-yangon

chichichicago

This is all good info....printing this off. Is it possible to get any drinkable wine over there (as in anything that at least be as good as airplane wine...my expectations aren't high...)

Kathie

Not at most places. There is some wine made in country. It wasn't to my taste.

We were yearning for some good wine, and our lunch at Le Planteur satisfied our craving. They have a very good wine list and the prices weren't that bad.

Craig

Back in 2007 we visited a very pretty vineyard outside of Taunggyi near Inle Lake called Athaya Vineyard. They had tastings - $5 to taste three wines. A sauvignon blanc was the best of the bunch. There was also a moscato and a cabernet/shiraz. Bottles were $8-9.

offwego

The best food I had in Burma was in the tea shops. Especially for breakfast. Otherwise, pretty much icky. I ate a lot of oreos.