Mandalay Burmese Restaurant

Mandalay Burmese Restaurant
444 Edgware Road
London
W2 1EG
Tel: 020 7258 3696
Fax: 020 7258 3696
Email: ially@yahoo.com

After searching for some considerable time for somewhere to eat I came across Mandalay, a Burmese restaurant on the Edgware Road. I was a little reluctant to enter at first and carried on because externally it is rather unassuming. However after another pass, a closer look at the window and study of the menu I decided it sounded just the job and worth a trial visit.

The advertising in the window proclaimed it was awarded the ‘Time Out Best Budget meal Award’ in 1996. I know this is some years ago, so if it still maintained the same standards I couldn’t go wrong. The menu was interesting enough. There were lunchtime options at £3.70 for a single course or £5.90 for three courses. Particularly as I had never eaten in a Burmese restaurant before and the Time Out award clinched the decision for me.

I went in and found a cheerful, clean and friendly little restaurant that wasn’t in anyway pretentious but was much more than a simple café. There were some other diners already seated but the restaurant wasn’t full, however it was later in the afternoon rather than peak lunchtime when I sat down.

The proprietor was friendly and helpful and appeared genuinely interested in pleasing his customers. He appeared from behind a large cold display and counter with the kitchens to the rear of those, where a younger person, possibly his son, was preparing the food. I took the lunchtime menu and chose the single course which was a choice of shrimp fried rice, chicken curry, meatball curry, spicy lamb curry, noodle dishes and one or two other dishes I can’t recall. If I had decided to take the three course meal I could have also chosen starters and a dessert as well. Starters included spring rolls, samosas and soup, and desserts included banana fritters, coconut agar agar jelly and tapioca.

I ordered a meatball curry, which was served with basmati rice. I also ordered a soft drink whilst I waited for the meal to arrive. It duly came and it turned out to be a mouthwatering masterpiece. The basmatic rice was fine quality and perfectly cooked, in fact it was as good as any I have ever been served. The meatballs were served in a spicy tomato flavoured curry sauce. It was not hot but pleasantly spiced. The choice of heat was optional when I ordered the dish. The meatballs were plentiful, firm and meaty. The whole dish was exquisite for just £3.70.

I was inspired by the main course so I then ordered banana fritters for dessert. These were prepared freshly from a whole banana sliced lengthways into two. They were served in a nice piping hot batter and thin syrup sauce. Absolute perfection after a spicy main meal.

For those interested in Burmese cuisine, which I would describe as somewhere between Indian and Chinese, I have reproduced parts of the menu, along with the Burmese name of the dishes, below.

To continue the Burmese theme, they even have some books about Burma on sale within the restaurant.

Overall I was immensely impressed by such an unassuming little place. I consider I was very fortunate to stumble on such a gem by chance and it is a privilege to pass on the details through Eatanddrink. The food is excellent, the choice is excellent, the service is friendly and the value is superb. My bill for the visit was £6.10.

Most highly recommended.

Phil.

MANDALAY MENU

APPETIZERS

PAPADUM (TWO PIECES): PAPARA
PRAWN CRACKERS: NGA-MOAK-KYAW
SPRING ROLLS (TWO): KAW-PYANT-KYAW
VEGETABLE: HIN-THEE-HIN-YWEK KAW-PYANT
SHRIMPS & VEGETABLE: BAZUN KAW-PYANT
CHICKEN & VEGETABLE: KYET-THA KAW-PYANT

SAMOSAS (FOUR): SAMUSA

VEGETABLE: HIN-THEE-HIN-YWEK SAMUSA
EGG & POTATO: KYET-OO & AH-LOO SAMUSA
MINCED CHICKEN: KYET-THA SAMUSA

FRITTERS (TWO): A-KYAW

BEAN SPROUT: PAI-PIN-BAUK
CALABASH: BOO-THEE-KYAW
LEAFY GREEN: A-YWEK-SEIN-KYAW
SHRIMP & BEAN SPROUT— BAZUN-GWEK-KYA
SHRIMP & VEGETABLE: BAZUN & A-YWEK-SONE
CHICKEN & VEGETABLE: KYET-THA & A-YWEK-SONE
SPECIAL ASSORTED: A-KYAW-SONE (THREE PIECES)

SALADS ---A-THOAT

VEGETABLE SAMOSA SALAD: SAMUSA THOAT
VEGETABLE SPRING ROLL SALAD: KAW-PYANT THOAT
SHRIMP & BEAN SPROUT FRITTER: BAZUN-GWEK-KYAW THOAT
RAW PAPAYA & CUCUMBER: TIN-BAW-THEE THOAT
ASSORTED VEGETABLE: THANAT SONE
CHICKEN & CABBAGE: KYET-THA & GAW-BE THOAT
SHRIMP & LETTUCE: BAZUN & SALAT-YWEK THOAT
RICE & NOODLE: HTA-MIN LET-THOAT

SOUPS--HIN-CHO

RED LENTIL:PAI-NEE-LAY
BOTTLE GOURD: BOO-THEE HIN-CHO
DOZEN INGREDIENT: SETT-NA-MYO HIN-CHO
CHICKEN - SHRIMP & LIME: KYET-THA / BAZUN / TANBAYA
CHICKEN & VEGETABLE: KYET-THA & A-YWEK-SONE

RICE - HTA-MIN

NAAN— NAN-PYA
BOILED NOODLES: KHAUK-SWE PYOAT
PLAIN BOILED RICE: HTA-MIN MIU
LENTIL RICE: PAI HTA-MIN
COCONUT RICE: OHN HTA-MIN
PILAU RICE: THAW-BUD HTA-MIN
VEGETABLE FRIED RICE: THAT-THUT-LUT HTA-MIN KYAW
EGG FRIED RICE: KYET-OO HTA-MIN KYAW
MUSHROOM FRIED RICE: MOH HTA-MIN KYAW
SHRIMP FRIED RICE:BAZUN HTA-MIN KYAW
CHICKEN FRIED RICE—KYET-THA HTA-MIN KYAW
SPECIAL FRIED RICE: KYET-THA / BAZUN HTA-MIN KYAW

VEGETARIAN DISHES:- THAT-THUT-LUT

STIR-FRIED CABBAGE: GAW-BE KYAW
LADY'S FINGERS (OKRA) IN SOYA: YON-BADAY
TOFU & BEANSPROUT: TOHU & PAI-PIN-PAUK
STIR FRIED MIXED VEGETABLES: A-SEIN KYAW
BAMBOOSHOOTS & MUSHROOM: MYIT & MOH
STIR-FRIED LONG BEANS: PAI-DAUNK-SHEY KYAW
SPINACH WITH GINGER & GARLIC HIN-NU-NWE & GINN
VEGETABLE NOODLES: HIN-THEE/YWEK KHAUK-SWE KYAW
CABBAGE & PEAS: GAW-BE & PAI-THEE
POTATO & SPINACH: AH-LOO & HIN-NU-NEW
SPICY BAMBOO SHOOT CURRY: MYIT-SUT HIN
OMELET CURRY BURMESE STYLE: KYET-OO KYAW HIN
AUBERGINE WITH POTATOES: KHAYAN THEE & AH-LOO
ASSORTED VEGETABLE CURRY: HIN-THEE/HIN YWEK HIN
NOODLES COCONUT VEGETABLES:OHN-NO KHAUK-SWE

BONELESS LAMB DISHES: SEIT-THA

SPICY LAMB CURRY: SEIT-THA HIN
COUNTRY-STYLE LAMB: SEIT-THA NAT
LAMB WITH GINGER: SEIT-THA & GINN
LAMB & POTATOES: SEIT-THA &AH-LOO
MEATBALL CURRY: SEIT-THA-LONE HIN
PICKLE-STYLE LAMB: SEIT-THA THANAT
LAMB & MINT: SEIT-THA & PU-DE-NAN
LAMB WITH LENTIL: SEIT-THA & PAI-NEE-LAY
LAMB IN TAMARIND: SEIT-THA & MA-GYEE-THEE

BONELESS CHICKEN DISHES: KYET-THA

CHILLI CHICKEN: KON-BAUNG-GYI KYAW
SWEET & SOUR CHICKEN: KYET-THA CHO-CHIN
CHICKEN WITH POTATOES:KYET-THA & AH-LOO
CHICKEN WITH MUSHROOMS: KYET-THA & MOH
CHICKEN WITH VEGETABLES: KYET KYAW
CHICKEN CURRY WITH TOMATOES: KYET-THA HIN
CHICKEN WITH LEMONGRASS:KYET-THA ZABALIN
CHICKEN IN TAMARIND:KYET-THA & MA-GYEE-THEE
CHICKEN WITH CORIANDER: KYET-THA NAN-NAN-PIN

SEAFOOD PISHES:- BAZUN & NGA

BALACHAUNG (DRIED PRAWN GARNISH)
SHRIMPS WITH POTATOES: BAZUN & AH-LOO
SHRIMPS WITH BAMBOOSHOOTS: BAZUN & MYIT
STIR FRIED SHRIMPS WITH GINGER: BAZUN & GINN
FISH IN COCONUT MILK: OHN-NO NGA
TWICE-COOKED FISH CURRY— NGA HIN
CRISP-FRIED FISH IN SEASON SAUCE: NGA KYAW
CHILLI KING PRAWNS: BAZUN-KYA SUT
LEMON GRASS KING PRAWNS: BAZUN-KYA ZABALIZ
KING PRAWNS IN SPICY TOMATOES – BAZU-KYA HIN
SWEET AND SOUR KING PRAWNS – BAZUN_KYA CHO-CHIN

SPECIAL NOODLE & RICE DISHES

NOODLES-CHICKEN & VEGETABLES: KHAOK-SWE KYAW
NOODLES-SHRIMPS & VEGETABLES: BAZIIN KHAUK-SWE KYAW
RICE NOODLES IN FISH SOUP:MOKHINGAR
SPECIAL FRIED NOODLES:PAN-THAY KHAUK-SWE
NOODLES-COCONUT & CHICKEN: KYET-THA OHN-NO KHAUK-SWE
NOODLES-COCONUT & KING PRAWNS: BAZUN-KYA KHACK-SWE >
SPICED RICE AND LAMB: SEIT-THA DAN-BAUK
SPICED RICE AND CHICKEN: KYAK-THA DAN-BAUK
SPICED RICE AND KING PRAWNS: BAZUN-KYA DAN-BAUK

DESSERTS:-  AH-CHO

TAPIOCA: TAR-GU
BANANA FRITTERS: NAT-PYAW-KYAW
COCONUT AGAR AGAR JELLY: KYAUK-KYAW
SEMOLINA IN COCONUT CREAM: SA-NWIN-MA-KIN
BANANA FRITTERS WITH ICE CREAM
ICE-CREAM MANDALAY (WITH ASIAN FRUITS)
FALUDA (MILK, ICE CREAM, JELLY & ROSE SYRUP)