Popagandhi

Tucked away in the basement of Peninsula Plaza next to several Indian restaurants, is a little Burmese restaurant called Inle Myanmar. Food is very affordable and most dishes are excellent, so it is no wonder the restaurant packs in the crowd even on weekday afternoons. As it is within walking distance from my campus, I’ve found myself returning a number of times.

Burmese food has elements of Thai, Chinese, even Indian cuisine in it. There are rice and noodle dishes, soups, spicy salads. Then there are the fish and curries which are startling reminders of Bangladeshi food (for me, at least).

The mango salad (S$4) tasted nothing like the Thai versions we’re used to. The difference lay in the dressing ââ�¬â�� the Burmese version was not as spicy, did not have fish sauce, just a sprinkling of small cut chilli with an unidentifiable, moderately pungent dressing. Somehow, that worked very well. The fried Myanmar tofu (S$4) was a winner: piping hot, the mix of tofu and egg was encased in little triangles of wonder. It helped that the fried tofu wasn’t too greasy.

The Hsi gje khau hswe (yellow flat noodles with chicken, S$5.50) might disappoint you if you’re used to the Chinese czechar equivalents of fried Hokkien mee. It was nowhere as tasty as the other dishes we’d had, but my dining companion, one young Turk (literally), liked it. The soup it came with was a little better; somewhat sour and spicy, with pieces of soft seaweed. I believe the soup version of this dish might work better.

I preferred the coconut rice with Myanmar curry chicken (S$6.50), a dish only available on Fridays. The rice was fragrant, and the curry brought me to tears ââ�¬â�� it reminded me of curry chicken in remote parts of Bangladesh where I’d had that dish, in Rangpur, Syedpur, and highway stops whose names I don’t recall. Perhaps due to geography, elements of Burmese cuisine were very similar to Bangladeshi food. I found it fascinating how Burmese curries had more similarities to Bangladeshi/Bengali curries than, say, other Indian curries are to Bangladeshi curries. The previous time I visited the restaurant, I’d also had a fish curry with hilsha, a kind of fish used frequently in Bengali food (whether Indian or Bangladeshi), and which I’d tried very hard to locate in Singapore. The first place I found hilsha (outside of my Singapore Bengali friends’ homes) was this Burmese restaurant. It was pretty good too.

For S$2 you get a large cup of Myanmar Milk Tea, apparently brewed with imported Burmese tea leaves. It did taste different, but I’d have to say it’s not everyone’s cup of tea ââ�¬â�� if you’re fond of milky, sweet and strong Indian tea, you’d like this version too. Desserts were also commendable. The Myanmar ‘ice kachang’ and the cake was quite good, as far as Asian desserts go. Inle Myanmar is a place I return to on a regular basis, part of my stable of restaurants “in the area” to grab lunch or have dinner before and after class. With those prices, and a good sampling of an otherwise alien cuisine (to us), it definitely doesn’t hurt. All the staff here are Burmese, and sometimes have difficulty communicating in English, but I have not had any wrong or missed orders or other serious mistakes.. which only adds to the authenticity, doesn’t it?

UOB card members (including Campus card holders) get 15% off.

Disclaimer: all food mentioned on this website was paid for out of my own pockets. I will only recommend food and products I personally use and endorse.

Inle Myanmar Restaurant
11 North Bridge Road
#B1-07(A) Peninsula Plaza
Singapore 179098
Tel: +65 6333 5438
Fax: +65 6333 5436
http://www.inlemyanmar.com.sg