Roadtrip: Burma Cafe (Daly City) and other stuff

Full and happy after lunch at the Firestone Grill, we headed northward. Hitting Gilroy we couldn't help but stop at one of these tourists traps.....

We also stopped at the Gilroy Outlets. The Missus doesn't shop much at outlets, it's not Her "thing" I guess. But She was interested to see what the lululemon shop had to offer. Of course She was wearing some limited edition jacket thingy which made all the sales girls go "that's so nice isn't it?" ick..... Then I came to find out that we didn't stop for Her.....we stopped here to get some stuff for me???? Anyway, two shirts later we left the place......me wearing lululemon, sigh. I feel somewhat emasculated for some reason. They are comfortable though.

We eventually got to our hotel. We were staying in San Bruno at the Villa Montes. It gave us lots of options and we kept joking that we were going to NorCal, but not into SF......

After a short rest we got back on the road a drove around a bit. We were still pretty full form lunch and decided on a fairly light dinner. I gave the Missus a couple of options and She chose the restaurant which was located in Daly City. So we drove to Daly City stopping here and there. When the Missus saw the 99 Ranch Market we decided to stop since we were still running a bit early. After stretching our legs a bit we headed to our dinner destination, Burma Cafe.

Burma Cafe is located in, what else, a strip mall. The mall looked a little run down, with most of the shops looking like this one right next to Burma Cafe.

Burma Cafe was without a doubt the nicest looking shop in the place.

****Burma Cafe has closed

They had just opened for dinner when we arrived, so it was pretty empty. The interior was on the dark side, yet it created a fairly nice intimate mood.

The really nice young lady seated us, we came to find out she is the owner's daughter.

The menu is concise, but full of dishes I wanted to try.

Of course we had to have the Lahpet Thoke, the Fermented Tea Leaf Salad, which is often called the Burmese National Dish.

I realize that the traditional version of this dish doesn't usually include lettuce, but in this case the crispness of the greens really made this a refreshing dish. The mildly bitter-astringent-pickled flavor of the fermented tea leaves, which looked a lot like pesto was really enjoyable for us. The addition of various nuts, beans, and seeds added textural contrast and flavor. The tomato gave the dish a bit of an acid kick as well. I'd have this weekly if we lived in the area.

A while back, I read that kabocha is used quite a bit in Burmese cooking. I thought the Missus would really enjoy the Kabocha Pork Stew.

The Missus, a big fan of kabocha loved this dish....even if it had pork in it. The pork was perfectly tender, soft, but not mushy. I really enjoyed the combination of spices used in this dish, complex, mildly spicy, but not overwhelming. I wasn't such a big fan of the kabocha, I felt it was a bit too starchy and undercooked....but hey, the Missus loved it.

We both enjoyed the ambiance. The young lady who served us was very nice and even chatted with us about how the food was prepared and the spices they use. I wish we had a place like this in San Diego.

Burma Cafe
63 St Francis Sq
Daly City, CA 94015 

Comments

[kat]

always enjoy your road trips :)

[Nhbilly]

Interesting

[Kirk]

Thanks Kat!

The food was Billy! Hope you get to try some.

[caninecologne]

Good to know of this Burmese place! I do like their tea leaf salad and mohinga. Must put this place on my gps for a future road trip. :)

[Kirk]

Hi CC - There's at least two more restaurants close to hear as well. Little Yangon is also popular.

[caninecologne]

Thanks for the tips. I will look up those places...

[foodhoe]

looks good, the superstar locations are too packed, this looks like a nice dining experience.

[Kirk]

Hi FH - The location wasn't the best, but for an early dinner on a Thursday evening this was nice.