Wow, the hype is legitimate AF. A very late dark horse entry for my best new NYC establishment of 2025, this tiny little Burmese counter spot also offering a full menu of bubble teas, thoroughly knocked our socks off. I've been a fan of the cuisine since first encountering it in the Bay Area years back, where it's longe flourished (s/o the fellow in the know Yelper here who already s/o'd the GOATED Burma Superstar. It's historically been pretty tough to find in the 5 Boroughs though it's happily slowly become more common the past few years. The area this is located, near the Queens Center Mall seems to be somewhat of an emerging hub for the cuisine, as this establishment was predated by both Burmese Bites, another counter evolved out of a food truck with a cult following, as well as Asian Bowl, a former generic Chinese take out spot which introduced Burmese classics to the menu a short way East Down Queens Blvd. I've tried both of those spots in the past and enjoyed them, but I would have to say definitively this is the best one yet, and the best Burmese I've yet to try outside of the Yay area.
The most famous and iconic dish in the Burmese culinary cannon, is no doubt the legendary national dish, the Tea Leaf Salad or Lapet Thoke. A menagerie of contrasts in both tastes and textures it's a glorious mixture of fermented tea leaves along with crunchy peanuts and seeds, yellow split peas slippery cilantro and bright citrus juices resulting in a crunchy, earthy, salty, sweet, tart cacophony of delicious flavors and contrasting consistency unlike literally any other dish. The version here is nothing short of transcendent, perfectly proportioned and bursting with bright fresh contrasting flavors and mouthfeels in every bite. Another consistently amazing favorites has been the Kyarsan Sichat (Garlic Flavor Vermicilli Chicken), juicy chunks of steamed, dark meat chicken, marinated in a delectable garlic heavy glaze tossed with likewise wonderfully fresh tasting box choy, seared tofu, a fat yolky soft boiled egg and of course perfectly prepared angel hair thin vermicelli. A brilliant mastery of the deep fryer, a Godsend considering the lilliputian size space they're operating out of in this tiny little kiosk crammed next to a Popeyes, was displayed on all of the apps we sampled, namely an delicious and nutty dish here known as "Burmese falafel" which has as it's base yellow split peas as opposed to chickpeas as well as the distinctly Burmese version of samosas redolent of coriander. As amazing as all this food is it's somehow made even more wonderful by the fact that the pricing qualifies as even less than dirt cheap in these inflation wracked times, proof that Queens still remains a haven for affordable delicious ethic cuisines of all stripes. I look forward to working my way through the rest of the menu and enjoying this current version of the establishment for as long as it exists, as I wouldn't be surprised if they level up to a larger more full service establishment sooner rather than later and only continue to rise to even greater levels of culinary excellence. read more