I was in SF (ok, really I was in Burlingame, but close enough right?) for literally 24 hours and was lucky enough to be able to snag dinner with Neera and Levi while I was there. While the idea of having dinner in SF was ideal, I was so tired from flying in that morning, that having dinner in Burlingame seemed like the best idea.
Luckily Neera had actually been to a good restaurant in the area so we didn't really have to do a lot of thinking or research. By the time Neera came to pick me up at my hotel, I barely had one eye open but was excited for her suggestion of Burmese food. Strangely enough, despite all my travels and eating, I have never had Burmese food. I suspected it would be similar to Thai, India, and Cambodian food and it was. We ended up at Mingalaba and it was surprisingly packed on a random rainy Tuesday night. The menu was indeed very similar to Thai but also to Chinese (although I wonder if it had anything to do with the fact that the place was run by Chinese people). We ordered the tea leaf salad, string beans, spicy basil beef, and spicy asparagus chicken. The tea leaf salad was unlike anything I have before: it comes out totally deconstructed with small piles of cabbage, dried shrimp, fried garlic, sesame seeds, peanuts, split yellow peas, tomatoes and this mixture of tea leaves. The waiter then mixes it all up for you at the table. It was a really interesting combination of flavors and texture. The peanuts, peas, cabbage, and sesame seeds gave it a nice crunch while the garlic really packed in much of the flavor. I could see this being more of a dipping "sauce" than a salad but none the less, I had no real complaints about it. Next came the 3 other dishes and surprisingly my favorite was the string beans. They were so crispy and fresh tasting but maybe I liked it because it was covered in garlic too (thank god I was not on a date!). But I could barely stop myself from eating them. The other two dishes were also tasty but kind of reminded me or your typical Chinese or Thai chicken or beef dish. They were good, but kind of scrimped on the meat. There were more veggies on these dishes than chicken or beef, but the meat that was there was flavorful and the veggies were also crisp and delicious so it wasn't like the dish was lacking in goodness.
Overall, I enjoyed my first Burmese meal, although with the exception of the tea leaf salad, you could have told me we were in a typical Asian restaurant and I would have believed you. Maybe next time I will order more "typical" Burmese dishes (although everything we ordered had a lovely lotus flower next to it indicating that they were Burmese specialties). Total bill including rice and 3 drinks was $72.
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