Burma Place in Rancho Bernardo (San Diego)

If you enjoy Thai, Vietnamese, Malaysian or other Southeast Asian cuisines, you will likely enjoy Burmese food.  This was a new experience for me.  The waiter was very helpful in pointing out some of the more unusual dishes that a particular to Burma (Myanmar). 

 I started with the iced tea.  This was made from very strong black tea, steeped for 24 hours and then mellowed with sweetened milk.  I loved it!  It had the slightly bitter, slightly acid bite of strong tea, but the milk was a great counter note.  It also wasn't overly sweet, the way Vietnamese coffee can be.

I wanted to try everything!  I had the shan tofu.  This is a unique dish.  The tofu is made from yellow bean, not soy.  It was crisp and papery on the outside and then very soft and smooth inside. The texture was the highlight of the dish.   It didn't have a strong flavor and was served with a very nice sauce.

My main course was garlic noodles with pork.  This was excellent!  There was plenty of crumbs of fried garlic and the slightly sweet BBQ pork was a great contrast.  There were slices of cucumber to add a fresh crunch.

The portions were large and I had plenty to take home.  I took home the dessert of sticky black rice.  I enjoyed this with my afternoon tea.

The restaurant is a bright space with lots of windows.  It is behind the Jack in the Box and near the post office.  Burma Place is an excellent addition to San Diego restaurants and a unique opportunity to try this cuisine.  The prices are affordable, so it is a comfortable place to explore some new dishes.