Mandalay Burmese Restaurant

Simple, relaxed and tasty. The food is subtle in spices but done really well and the service was excellent.

I’ve often eaten Khowsuey and I’ve cooked it myself, but its never been an authentic Burmese version. So when I heard that there was a Burmese restaurant in London with homestyle food, I was intrigued and put it on my wishlist.
Today I was in the Edgware Road area and so I decided to try them out.
The space is tiny and seems cramped compared to the other sprawling Middle Eastern style restaurants on Edgware road, with just 28 covers in 2 rows, but trust me the food is worth it.
Now don’t head here expecting very fancy cuisine, what Mandalay offers is soul food. Pure homestyle cooking. Earthy and finger licking good. Food you could expect your friends mum to cook for you.
This was my first experience of eating authentic Burmese food and I’m completely hooked. We tried the chicken khowsuey, lentil rice, chicken samosas and chilli chicken which were all very good. But the bamboo shoot and mushroom stir fry and the tapioca pudding with Agar Agar blew my mind.
The food was very light and easily digestible, so its definitely not your usual takeaway style food.
We will definitely be back to try more of the food on offer.
They do have a license and offer some wines, and the service is very friendly and homely.

We liked the food here, especially on a rainy London day — I appreciated a warm soothing bowl of Khau Suey! This was the first time I tried, Burmese cuisine. Being close to India and Nepal — Burmese food had good combination of Noodles, soups and spices.
The owners were not burmese, but very friendly — let us enjoy the space & wifi for a while, as we were trying to escape the rain. They were in the middle of afternoon prayers and it was almost closing time, but still let us in and served us well. I really liked the Khau Suey; it was a creamy bowl of noodle soup (kinda like Ramen) but with Indian spices. We also tried the samosa and chai (Indian tea) — but they were both average. Owners were familiar with Indian culture and Bollywood — which sparked some conversation. I think Burmese cuisine has potential to proliferate — we need more restaurants like these around the globe.

Tricked by the ratings to think this was a great restaurant. In reality the food is bland and the ambiance is dirty and not welcoming. The owner/​hostess was constantly yelling at one of the workers which made us feel uncomfortable. The «national dish», prawn noodles had no taste and the meat in the coconut lamb dish was chewy/​poor quality.

The food was great! Especially recommend the Chilli Chicken and Coconut Rice. However, we are not coming back. The ambiance was nonexistent and service was appalling. There was only one waitress and the service was very slow. She never made eye contact or smile.
Next time we’ll order takeaway.

Best and likely only Burmese restaurant in London. It’s of the hole-​in-​the-​wall variety.
Super-​cheap. Best dishes — papaya salad, bean sprout salad, tamarind beef, kausuey, coconut rice. Also go with the recommendations of the older guy who owns the place. After all it’s his mom who runs the kitchen.
For dessert try the falooda

This is a truly hidden gem of a restaurant. The food is so delicious, I really wish I had room for more. This is a place I will definitely be visiting again. Unfortunately there were a few downsides. The décor of the restaurant is so awful and cheap. The chairs I felt were just about ready to collapse under me. The waiting staff were rude and unhelpful and there seemed to be no permanent/​familiar waiting staff as every waiter who I spoke to was a new face, however there was one particular waiter who deserves my gratitude. Mr Ali was so welcoming, polite, kind and helpful and unlike much of the other staff members he carefully and actively listened to my order, greeted me with a smile and was incredibly professional. This made my experience at Mandalay all the more better and so have decided to give it 5 stars instead of 4. Despite the lack of professionalism I received from the rest of the staff my experience with the food and with one staff member made it a very memorable lunch for myself and my fellow colleagues. I truly recommend visiting this amazing little corner and asking for Mr Ali’s brilliant service and dining on some of the greatest Malaysian food in town!

I’ve been to Mandalay several times, but since I have recently joined Unilocal I am only just reviewing… I was there last night.
I’ve visited Myanmar a few times (see profile picture for evidence), and know the cuisine of Myanmar reasonably well. It’s a huge country so cuisine varies wildly throughout the country.
Cut to the point, Mandalay serves an excellent representation of Burmese cuisine — very delicious, with a home-​cooked feel about it. In this I mean, the emphasis is on the taste, not the presentation, which makes this all the better and more authentic in my opinion. It’s like you’ve been invited into a family home in Yangon, and are being served old family recipes from your friend’s aunty… from very good recipes.
As mentioned by others, the surroundings are basic and service casual, but this is definitely part of the charm.
If you’ve never had Burmese food this is a great introduction. I would recommend ordering a few dishes and sharing among you. This is always the way to eat, in my opinion.
Order everything if you can, but specifically: leafy-​green fritters, vegetable samosa salad, papaya and cucumber salad, chicken in tamarind, and country-​style lamb.
I normally visit with my Burmese colleague, and she is a huge fan of this place. She moved from Yangon to the UK a few years ago, so for her to say it’s great is the best endorsement of its quality and authenticity.
Oh, and another thing — don’t tell too many people about this, or the table waiting list could end up very long.

A straight shot walk from Marble Arch, I highly recommend making a reservation (they’re really particular about that) at this tiny little Burmese restaurant. While I wouldn’t say this a place that inspires much in terms of ambiance their food is to die for. To be clear, I wouldn’t criticize them for just having a clean mom and pop space, but just keep your expectations simple.
I went with the coconut chicken curry noodle soup (with a little bit of extra heat at request) and the cucumber/​papaya salad as recommended on Unilocal.ALL THE YES. I’ve never had Burmese food before, but I am totally sold. I wasn’t expecting the complexity of flavors from a curry noodle soup or an appetizer salad, but they were both quite nuanced dishes.
Definitely will make the effort to trek out here again.

Charming food and descent. Dishes are very affordable priced and good flavours but relatively greasy and small. I have never been to Burma so hard for me to comment on authenticity but nice people and flavourful food, why not try and see it yourself?!

I have been coming here for over 15 years! A trip to London would feel incomplete without stopping to taste the delicious offerings of the scrumptious house appetizer and lemongrass chicken with coconut rice. The spices are so rich and yummy. Owners Dwight and his brother Gary, are the friendliest guys around. They will make excellent recommendations and share stories about their history, Burma and much more.

Found this gem of a restaurant while desperately looking for an Asian food fix.
A little skeptical at first. It’s my first time in London, so I was skeptical about how authentic it would be. To my surprise, this place is SO DELICIOUS. Authentic Burmese food made by an incredibly sweet owner. and the meal was so cheap! Got the papaya salad, chicken and coconut curry noodle soup, and mixed fritters — definitely recommend all 3 dishes. The lychee juice was really good too! Not gonna lie, this meal made my day. Only comment — wished there was chili pepper flakes and lime for the noodle soup. That would have been so bomb.

This place is good, cheap and friendly. I’ve been there a few times and it is always delicious and I always eat too much there. Everything is good here but the things that stand out to me are the spinach with garlic and ginger, the noodle dishes and the spring rolls.

It’s our 4^th try to eat here. First two, we didn’t fancy the look of the restaurant or menu and third time the food didn’t look appetising. Time Out kept raving about it for a long time, so we went for lunch last Saturday. The lunch menu was limited either curry or sweet & sour chicken on rice. The basic one was £4.50 and one with spring roll and banana fritter with soft drink was £6.50. The chicken curry was refreshing and not cloying like Indian curry. We also ordered veg samosas which was just cabbage & bean sprouts and nothing special. We should have ordered a potato version. The service was very charming and the owner was very friendly. The cooking was we suppose done by his wife (??). All in all, pleasant home cooking.

This place opens at 6pm for dinner. Owner of the restaurant is extremely friendly and helpful with ordering. We had the green papaya cucumber salad (very refreshing), the samosas (crispy and delicious too), and coconut chicken noodle (quite nice; traditional dish of Burma). They have other south east Asian dishes too. Price is good considered the dishes and service we were getting. Will visit again.

Ugly, green metal chairs. Ugly plastic tablecloths. Ugly décor with chipped paint.
But who cares? Just pretend you are at a roadside vendor in S.E. Asia where the norm is fantastic food and warm staff.
At lunch there are some set specials from 4 – 6.50, several of which include main/​side/​desert and drink. Even Chris Brown can’t beat those prices.
I had lamb meatballs over rice with an eggroll and fried banana for dessert. The main tasted a bit like an Indian curry with a nice touch of heat, but also some Asian flavor influences as well.
I’m definitely looking forward to making my way through the whole menu.

Yep it’s time for another round of Alphabet Dining! We’re onto «B» now and what better than Burmese food? A quick search of Unilocal (and Google… sorry Unilocal… we cheated a little) told us that Mandalay Burmese Restaurant was the place to go (and also kind of the only place…).
The place was quite busy even at 8pm on a Monday night so it was pretty smart thinking by Sharon S to make a reservation ahead of time. We were quickly seated and spent a few minutes perusing the moderately sized menu. I had done some research on both recommended and traditional dishes so after a quick conference we were ready to eat!
At this point I want to give some credit to our very friendly waiter who managed to write down our entire order perfectly in one go despite the rapid fire machine gun method I employed to list all our dishes in one breath (it was a dare…).
We started with some samosas, veggie spring rolls, and a selection of fritters. To clarify, Burmese food is a fusion of the countries around it with heavy influence from both Indian and Chinese cooking. Yet despite these powerhouses surrounding it, the Burmese have managed to put a bit of their own twist on the dishes. The samosa were light and crispy without succumbing to the overwhelming oiliness you often get. Similarly, the spring rolls were tasty and refreshing rather than heart-​stoppingly limp and greasy. The fritters were interesting with three different types (some sort of green leafy herb, prawn, and calabash). They were decent but a bit bland for my taste and far too large for an appetiser. We were starting to get full but there were mains on the way!
Our mains consisted of the coconut chicken curry, raw papaya and cucumber salad, lamb & mint, and the chilli chicken. I think the coconut chicken curry was the majority favourite with a thick slightly sweet curry and tender bits of the chicken. The lamb & mint was also delicious as the lamb had been slow cooked to flaky perfection and almost wanted to melt in your mouth. The papaya and cucumber salad had great flavours but was far too heavily dressed for my tastes. It ended up being more like a wetter coleslaw than anything else.
The chilli chicken is a bit spicy with a number of green chillies. For those of you initiated into spicy food, it’s probably fine and you’ll very much so enjoy it. However, if chillies give you the willies then perhaps it’s better to stay away as my dining companions complained of the heat and inability to taste much else.
Mandalay does offer some desserts but we were far too stuffed to try it. Burmese don’t often have desserts after dinner but rather eat sweets whenever they have a craving. Not a bad idea!

Possible winner for the most succinct menu in London, Mandalay do their best not to try. They’ve been winning awards for cheap eats and top dishes for the best part of 20 years now and that’s enough to bring them the few clientele they need to fill this tiny restaurant. Nice décor? No need. Decent tablecloths? Nope. Room for elbows? Nada. Great attentive service? Sorry, the waiter is playing Angry Birds in the corner. So you can forget about the descriptions, photos or even Burmese names for the food on the menu. You’ll have to use your imagination to work out what is ‘chicken noodle coconut’.
Actually Chicken Noodle Coconut is their signature dish — it’s Khow Suey — also known as Khao Soy in Northern Thailand or Laksa in Singapore. It’s pretty decent and looks nice when it arrives. Make sure you ask them to make it spicy. Does this dish deserve to be in London’s top 100? It’s better than the only other Khao Soys and Laksas I’ve had in London (at Noodle Magic and Bugis Street) but still falls way short of something from Chiang Mai.
To be honest, after all the awards we were a bit disappointed with Mandalay. It’s cheap and good (cheap = beer at only 2.50 a bottle) but the food is really not that exotic, with the menu having a very S. Indian feel. We’ve eaten Burmese a few times in the USA and Burma and this didn’t match our expectations. Mandalay may be a little special for London right now, but if someone were to come along and put a bit more effort into Burmese food, the menu and the décor then they’d be left well and truly behind here.

I was excited when Time Out published their 2012 list of the 100 best dishes in London. Any excuse to eat out more!
One of my favourite foods is soup noodles — laksa, phở, ramen to name a few. So, I perused the one bowl dishes section of the Time Out list with particular interest. Mandalay’s khow suey was described as similar to my favourite Malaysian laksa, hitting several high notes at the same time, particularly the spice, sweet and sour flavours
So, I headed off to Mandalay for lunch one Saturday. Described in Time Out as the only ambassador for Burmese food in the capital, the small café seemed all shut when I arrived at the advertised opening time of noon. However, it wasn’t long before staff arrived and I was sat down at a table window
The café is small and quite basic and the waiter told me that they’re in the process of looking for bigger premises, something which also explained the temporary looking nature of their current menus. However, coming from south east Asia, I am well aware that good food can come from the most humble looking of restaurants
The restaurant obviously relies on repeat trade, always a good sign. Now, I thought Malaysians were fussy but I was amazed at the patience of the cook here. Repeatedly, Burmese customers summoned her out of the kitchen to give her a good grilling about all aspects of the dishes and their ingredients, demanding that she amend the dishes to their particular tastes
I started with a trio of vegetable fritters. Three generously sized fritters, made with bean sprouts, calabash and leafy greens respectively arrived with a trio of dipping sauces — chilli, tamarind and soy. These were lovely and crunchy and the different dipping sauces added different dimensions to the fritters
Then came the piece de resistance — the chicken khow suey. Egg noodles with chicken topped with crispy vermicelli in a soup. I have very high standards for soup noodles and for me, it didn’t quite break into the top bracket. It was more of a korma rather than a complex deep curry broth that I had been led to expect in the Time Out review. It wasn’t bad, just not in the class of the laksa
A plate of banana fritters finished off the meal
There as enough here for me to want to explore more about Burmese food but I’ll skip the khow suey next time

Top marks for being a great value-​for-​money restaurant. The location’s a little iffy but that could just have been me as I made my way there from Warwick Avenue tube station on a cold evening. Service was generally good, but varied depending on whom we were speaking with. The food was generally decent, though I found most of the food okay, but perhaps I’m used to stronger flavoured Asian food. However, one definitely cannot argue with the prices. They’re great!
On the downside, tables are a little cramped. The selection of wines, as you might expect, is limited, and what we chose turned out to be one of the worst whites anyone on the table had ever tasted. I know one doesn’t come to a place like this for the alcohol, but I’ve been to other reasonably-​priced Asian restaurants which managed to have decent tasting wines on the menu. Still, a small quibble.
In contrast to thelondonfoodie, I wouldn’t recommend the banana fritter desserts if you’re more used to the Singapore version of this dessert known as goreng pisang. I simply adore goreng pisang, and, as another member of my table said, the wrong kind of banana was used, and it’s a thicker batter, rather than the crispy, light batter I’m used to. I was tempted to ask for more syrup to pour all over the fritters just to add more taste to it. Again, though, it’s just a matter of personal preference, and, if you love bananas, you’re probably going to like this dish.

Un restaurant birman
Pas trop mal, les spécialités sont le riz au curry et tous les plats épicés donc il faut aimer avant d’y aller. Pas trop cher mais pas très stimulant au niveau de l’ambiance et de la décoration.