A Traditional Burmese Meal

Photo courtesy of David McGregor.

The 79 Living Hotel in Mandalay, Myanmar was the nicest of the 3 hotels we stayed in while on holiday. Not only did they have a rooftop bar with 1 free drink per night, they had also compiled an area map complete with a list of nearby restaurant and shopping recommendations. 

We ate at a couple of their picks while we were there, but the most interesting was a restaurant serving traditional Burmese food. Although there were many local diners, it was comforting that we were not the only tourists in the place.

After we each chose a main course (pork for David, vegetable omelet for me as they were out of egg curry), the servers brought an assortment of side dishes to our table, which reminded me a bit of Korean restaurants, though of course the food was very different. 

In total, we got soup, rice, eggplant, cabbage, beans, raw vegetables and sauces, all of which could be refilled if we ran out (we only got extra eggplant and cabbage I think). After we were mostly finished eating, they then brought us a divided plate of tea leaves and the other ingredients that make up tea leaf salad. 

Although some of the things weren't to our taste (having been seasoned with very pungent fish sauce or other dried seafood), overall it was a delicious and very hearty meal. What's more, it only cost about US$5 per person!