The tea leaf salad is insane! Friendly staff and lunch time was jump in but the food came out quick and delicious!

The friends and I ordered literally half of the menu. And I can safely say that all of their salads are spectacular. The one that stood out the most for all of us (4 of us were in attendance but we ordered 3 salads haha) was the softshell crab salad. It was the favorite of the table, the showstopper, and it had a lot of complex flavors that just makes you want to eat more. The pennywort leaf salad gives off a more nuttier impression so if that's up your alley, go for it. As for thr tea leaf, it's probably the best overall for a good salad:) Also got the crispy tofu salad filling, the Burmese samusa, both were great but the tofu appetizer is not as a wow factor as the upcoming dishes. As for the main courses we had the lamb burmese curry, the golden fried shan tofu, another curry, and coconut rice to bring it all together. Overall, this place is a real big hit. And I love that it's not too crowded when you avoid the weekends. Still reserve a table! It's a smart move if you are planning to eat here at night since it does get busy. read more

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I had never had Burmese food before moving to Hawaii, but boy was I missing out! I have now become a regular here and the food is to die for. All of the curries are rich and full of flavor, but are well balanced by the lighter salad options. You cannot leave here without getting the mango salad. It is so addicting that you will not be able to stop eating. The chicken coconut curry appetizer with palatha is also one of my favorites. Honestly though I have tried many things on the menu and all have been delicious. The only drawback is service can sometimes be slow. I have had experiences where my drink took a while to arrive or something we ordered was lost in the shuffle. Otherwise it's always a great dinner. read more

Rangoon Burmese Kitchen - Mango salad - Burmese Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

This review is about the service. I've eaten here previously and have enjoyed their food. I called Wednesday night to make a reservation for 6 people on Friday. Fast forward to Friday, I had a question so I happened to call before my reservation. When I spoke to the staff, there was some confusion and I found out that they did not have my reservation. I was thoroughly confused because I had a 2 minute conversation with someone who seemed like they took my name and number down. I had an out of town guest in my party and chose this restaurant after much discussion so I know I did make that call. Anyway, silver lining was that my friends and I hadnt gone to the restaurant yet and I made alternate plans. Imagine if we had been at the restaurant, ready to have dinner only to realize we couldn't eat. Rangoon, you need better staff. This isn't the first time I've had poor service. I'm never bringing my business here again. read more

The food was great. I swear we had almost everything and let me tell you The ambiance is beautiful, dimly lit and the layout was so relaxing. The service was great. They were very attentive and never forgot we were there (back table). read more

We had been wanting to try this place and it did not disappoint. The atmosphere is pretty! And the food is amazing. We wanted to try dessert but we were so full. The service was great and there were only two women. They were incredible. We will definitely be going back. read more

Rangoon Burmese Kitchen - Coconut Curry with Potatoes - Burmese Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

We had tickets to the theater just around the corner, so foodie friends suggested we eat at Rangoon, which turned out to be one of the better meals I've ever eaten on Oahu. We arrived early due to light traffic and nearby parking garage, and had a round of cocktails in the lovely dining room while we waited for the rest of our party. This seemed to stress the wait staff out a little, as they kept swinging by to see if we wouldn't like to start ordering food, too. Just about everyone in the (noisy) dining room ended up in the theater with us, so maybe the staff worries about getting everyone fed and out the door on time? The cocktails were excellent, despite drink menu spelling errors so profound that it was often impossible to tell what flavor profile you'd be getting, except for the base alcohol. Out of curiosity and skepticism, I ordered something whose ingredients included balsamic vinegar and it turned out to be based on pomegranate with black pepper, and quite delicious! Our waiter was elegant and funny, joking gently with us about the menu spelling. The food, when we finally got around to it, was very quick to arrive, and just excellent. Flavors and textures were delightfully vegetable-heavy, fresh, varied and interesting, from the crunchy tea salad, to the complex fish curry. Previous reviews have trashed on Rangoon's curries a bit because they apparently aren't hot enough, but that seems like a nonsensical complaint: this is delightful and well-executed stuff! Smuggle in your own bottle of fire if you are that addicted to pain...or seek help. The only weak spot I found was the pineapple fried rice. Though not awful by any stretch it just wasn't inspired, and used canned pineapple, right here dead-center of US pineapple agriculture. Seems like kind of a ridiculous oversight in this era of locavore cuisine. I buried the rice in curry and it was fine for that. read more

After we got seated, it took them 15 minutes just to give us the menu. We ordered baya kyaw and platha & curry dip as appetizers. The former was good, but the curry dip was meh. It was stated on the menu that it was coconut chicken curry, but there was not a single piece of chicken in it. It was also less fragrant than expected. Most of the menu was curry, so we ordered two curry dishes: burmese fish curry and mandalay pork curry. They were very disappointing. The food was cold and the proteins didn't have much taste to them. They were likely cooked separately and just mixed together. The curry itself was also only okay. We also had biryani, Myeik Pan fried noodles, and Moh Hin Ga soup. They were also only okay, but at least better than the two curries. The fried noodles were stir fried well and the best out of the dishes. It was overall a disappointing experience and I don't understand why this restaurant has such good reviews. Maybe it would've been better if we completely skipped out on the curry dishes. read more

Rangoon gets points for being the second restaurant in Honolulu to offer Burmese cuisine, which I absolutely love for its bold flavors, and I prefer the cleanliness and spaciousness of Rangoon to the roach-infested Dagon, but there were some missteps that prevent me from giving Rangoon four stars right now. I would like to return and write a more positive updated review this year. My first visit was during the first week Rangoon opened its doors. I was not fond of the female servers that night. I had arrived earlier than my friends, and was given a table towards the back by the display of fragile vases and ornaments, despite there being ample space at the front of the restaurant where the seats were comfier and more spacious. When I decided to sit towards the front, I had the waitress tell me that the seating area was not ideal for the number of people in my party, which would turn out to be three, although I was unsure if it could go up to four or five people. I had to make a case for why there was enough room to seat the people in my party, and it turned out there was definitely room by the cushioned seats to fit me and my two friends with no problems whatsoever. After that encounter, I noticed several of the waitresses looking over my way and clearly talking about me. Rude, unprofessional, and a total lack of common sense. Luckily, I did not see those women again on my second visit. On the bright side, the food on my first visit was very delicious. I am a fan of Rangoon's salads, and I enjoyed both the Tea Leaf and Pennywort salads. I love the Palatha and ended up ordering that on both of my visits. I would also recommend the Kachin Whole Fish, Mandalay Meeshay, and Kebat Lamb. The second time I ate at Rangoon, I had very professional and polite male servers. The service was excellent that night, a completely different experience from my first visit. Again, I arrived earlier than my friend, but this time I was able to choose whatever seat I wanted. Our waiter checked on us and filled our water throughout the night. Unfortunately, our entree was surprisingly under-cooked and a disappointment for us. We were happy with the salad and palatha, but for our main dish, we ordered the Burmese Lamb Curry for $20. The potatoes were hard and parts of them were nearly raw. The lamb wasn't all that tasty either. A very underwhelming dish that I cannot recommend, especially for the price. Based on my two visits, service and food were inconsistent. It can be good one day and really bad the next. I'm hoping on my next visit I'll be satisfied with both the food and the service. read more

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Amazing how cosmopolitan Honolulu is to have not just one, but two Burmese restaurants. I came here to catch up with a friend, inauspiciously on the day of the coup in Myanmar. THe restaurant is pretty spacious and stylishly decorated, and was surprisingly crowded on a weeknight. THey quickly brought us (as one of the surprisingly few POC parties there) a few delicious cups with lemon and dried chili to add to the food (I would buy the chili--very smoky and salty--to take home and use in my cup noodle btw). We started with the mango salad and platha with curry. The salad was fantastic--with tangy and sweet slices of soft mango (and a sweet dressing as well), sharp pieces of onion, crunchy sprouts and specks of other vegetables too. The salad was coated in crunchy bits of garlic and fried bean (?) which added a deep taste. Refreshing and light, but still with complex flavors. The plathas were light and crisp, a tad oily but they soaked up the spicy and aromatic curry--kind of a lighter, less sweet japanese curry. We also got the mohinga and garlic noodles (I think that was the name?). Compared to the one at dagon, this mohinga was more soupy and less fishy. The noodles were soft and soaked with the sweet and somewhat tangy soup. I thought it tastes somewhat reminiscent of grilled saba. THe garlic noodles were a dry noodle dish with nicely chewy noodles and a spicy garlic sauce that I thought tasted vaguely Italian. This would've made for a great post-drinking dish, but was delightful with our classy cocktails as well. A little expensive but we had leftovers so can't complain too much. We also had an uncomfortable experience with a dude outside who stared at us and followed us while we were eating, and the servers were very accommodating at making us feel safe and getting the guy to go away, so I'm very thankful for that! read more

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We love Rangoon, and have been here number of times. So this is long overdue. We have our main dishes we stick to/love, but we try to get new dishes as well whenever we go and visit. We love the Rangoon Tea Leaf Salad, Platha and curry dip, and Kachin Whole fish wrapped in banana leaf (this one is hard though because they don't always have it and sadly they didn't have it this time). But highly recommend trying it if you get the chance. Wait Time: With things now opening up and it seems like it's really in full swing it's almost impossible to eat at places without a long wait unless you reserve in advance. We had to wait because we walked in, and we knew it was going to be a wait so we were prepared for that. It took us about 30ish minutes to get seated. Our experience: We came here last night and the restaurant was busy which was nice to see that they are doing well and picking up since Corona. When we finally got sat after about a 30ish min we ordered our usual. The Rangoon Tea Leaf Salad and the brussel sprouts and fish on the appetizer menu, and my friend got the basil & eggplant dish under the vegetable category. Our salad of course is always amazing and these other 2 dishes we tried, that was our  first time  and it wasn't our favorite. It was just average, but that's okay because you gotta try new things! Our wait time to get our food was actually really long.We were there almost for 2 hours and only ordered 3 dishes. Ending thoughts: Of course with things opening up now there are some things to keep in mind. I always keep my own experience in hand when reviewing cause I know how it goes. With that being said they were pretty much at  full capacity with staff probably running at half capacity because they had either let people go or just cut down how many people are in the back for safety reasons (covid ya know?) So that's probably why it took a really long time to get our food. Our waitress was nice! Only one thing  that was a turn off was that she didn't wear gloves and other people who either refilled water or gave us our food had gloves It's just nice to be a little cautious cause it looks like there was like maybe 2 waitress maybe even 3 that night and they were serving a full restraunt . We're cautious and vaccinated, but we're not like paranoid ya know? So it's like not a deal breaker just some things we noticed. Overall: Rangoon is a great establishment! Before covid from the food to service and atmosphere everything was stellar! It's still great before  and even in the after with of course some  hiccups but it's expected. That's why I'm still rating it 5 stars because in these times there has to be some flexibility and they have always gave us great service. They are doing their best during covid so I think we all need to have a little grace. We're all not perfect but we gotta help each other in these times. So if you haven't yet  I would highly recommend coming. Just get a reservation in advance, or even getting take out! Food is still great even when doing take out (we've done it a couple times). Next time my friends and I want Rangoon I think we'll stick to just ordering take out for now, and still love this place and will continue to recommend/support! read more

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Food is absolutely delicious and delightful. Had most of the items on their menu. Recommend you to try everything on it. My absolutely favourite dish to order everytime I went there was their Rangoon Tea Leaf Salad. Parking: is a challenge Cons: saw cockroaches running around on that block, outside on the pavement/road. made me wonder if there are cockroaches indoors. read more

Eater crowned Rangoon as the top 38 restaurants in Honolulu, I cannot disagree more that "to eat was the biggest sleeper hit of the year". The food is not refined in flavor and ambience was kinda off. The tea leafs salad came pre-mixed, which I am more used to a table side toss. The salad really lacks the layers of textures and crunchiness that I was expecting, except for the citrus (was very sour). Other "highlight" for the evening was the big roach that made the special appearance, parading around the dining room to meet and greet guests. The restaurant was so busy and understaffed (only 2 servers: one of them also the bartender), which she was making drinks and serving tables. There is absolutely no time to properly clean tables in between guests or to handcraft a gourmet cocktail. Wine list featured under 10 bottles total so the choice is lacking. The food was not bad (4 stars): we ordered the catfish soup that was amazing (5 stars), curry lamb was also pretty good (4 stars) but this place really was not run well and I was my least favorite meal out of our 2 weeks stay in Oahu. My personal favorites of the trip would be izakaya Naru, TBD and Japanese BBQ Yoshi. read more

I finally made it to Rangoon Burmese Kitchen. They've been open a while now but I've not found the opportunity to dine here. For those of you familiar with downtown Honolulu, it is located at the old Restaurant Epic location on the corner of Nuuanu Avenue and Pauhi Street. The interior is refreshed with Myanmar decor and ambiance. My friend suggested this place since I haven't been here, and she's been here once with her girlfriends and really wanted to come back here. I really enjoyed the food here. For you vegetarians, the menu is very vegan/vegetarian friendly. These dishes are very refreshing, full of flavor and spices. The Tea Leaf Salad was highly recommended and full of flavor. It does not come with your traditional salad dressing, but instead a fermented green tea leaf as it's "dressing". The difference between the Tea Leaf Salad and Rangoon Tea Leaf Salad is the Tea Leaf Salad is served with lettuce, while the Rangoon Tea Leaf Salad is served with cabbage. Also, the Tea Leaf Salad 's presentation displays all the colorful, different ingredients and mixed at your table by your server. The Rangoon Tea Leaf Salad comes already mixed. The Burmese Samusa is a great starter to wet your taste buds, full of flavor and spices. The Coconut Lamb Curry was prepared spot on. The lamb was very soft, very tender you could taste the flavors and the lamb was not gamy or overpowering. The place is clean and spacious, and our server was very knowledgeable of the dishes. It is recommended you call and make reservations (sorry, they're not on Open Table) as this place can get a busy. Downtown Honolulu parking can be quite challenging, however, there is metered parking on street or city municipal lots within walking distance nearby. read more

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Writing for our party, we enjoyed all that we ordered; salads, noodles, curry, healthy entree. each tasted unique and flavorful and kept us curious. They have something for anyone. read more

I ate well while in Honolulu and this restaurant is one of them. BOYB and they don't charge you a corkage fee! Cute decor inside. I liked their umbrellas on the ceiling. I never had Burmese food, I didn't know what to expect. I was with a group of local Yelpers and they did the ordering for the table. Whatever they ordered, all tasted good. Calamari had nice spicy kick to it, I really liked it. I don't know what else we had, I seemed to remember some sort of curry dish and it tasted like it was cooked long time to bring out nice flavor of meat. Service was good, clean bathroom. Municipal parking is available within a walking distance. read more

Rangoon Burmese Kitchen - Calamari - Burmese Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

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I took one star off since I made reservations and was told that they didn't have reservations for me. Although the restaurant was kind of empty, the hostess still made a fuss that we didn't have reservations. I told her that we did call but apparently the person who did the reservation probably put it on the wrong day since they didn't have our name. We had to wait for a while even though there were so many open tables. The hostess had to ask the waitress if it was ok if we were seated. We were finally seated after waiting for at least 10 minutes. I never knew what Burmese food was until my friend suggested Burmese. It was so unique and tasty. Kind of a mix of Indian and Thai foods. The portion sizes are very generous. We had a fried chickpea fritter, a coconut curry noodle, and some sort of veggie dish I couldn't remember. If you're looking for something tasty and different try Rangoon. Surely beats the hole in the wall Burmese food restaurant on university. read more

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We found this restaurant on yelp and they had a lot of vegetarian/vegan options. We were lucky to make a reservation hours before dinner time and got seated right when we checked in. The restaurant was small, but they had dividers to separate the tables and they followed the cdc guidelines. They had a wide selections of food. We ordered the tea leaf salad, crispy tofu with salad fillings, mixed vegetable curry, samusa, shrimp garlic noodles, chicken curry, coconut rice, and spicy chile lamb. Everything tasted good and had a lot of flavors. My favorites were the tea leaf salad, crispy tofu with salad fillings, chicken curry and spicy chile lamb. Overall, the food were delicious, reasonable pricing, and service was good. It was also nice to eat authentic asian food and we did not realize that there was an asian area in Honolulu with many asian food/drinks. read more

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Was good. I hope to go again to try more. I tried the appetizer chicken curry and a drink.

I was bummed when Epic closed its doors. When this place opened up, I was intrigued....Burmese food? What is that? A dear friend of mine, who always is up for trying new and different places, suggested we try it. She had eaten here before and she raved about the tea leaf salad...so i agreed. Lets go! The 2 page menu was a bit overwhelming - so many choices! Everything looked so good! What to order????? We settled on ordering 3 things to split, and ordered the Chili Chicken (just the right amount of spicy) the Rangoon Tea Leaf Salad and topped it off with the Garlic Fried Rice. All were perfectly spiced and flavorful. There are so many other things I'm dying to try, so guess I'll be eating here more often . . . !! Service was fast and friendly. No complaints. read more

This is hands down my favorite restaurant on island, each bite is filled with bursting flavors. Recommend the coconut rice for everyone. Drink were strong & delicious. Loved our servers!! Amazing food, amazing service, I will be returning!! read more

Rangoon Burmese Kitchen - Lady in Pink - Burmese Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

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Absolute best meal so far since I landed yesterday morning in Hawaii. Service was phenomenal by the entire staff. The lamb biryani in combination with the coconut beef curry was divine and hit all the right flavor and notes. It was a 15 out of 10 if that was a thing. Love this place and would highly recommend those 2 dishes together. read more

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There for lunch w a friend that had never been. It didn't disappoint! As pre-pandemic their service is superb and their food is still amazing. It is NOT cheap but totally worth it. We had the Rangoon tea leaf salad, samusas, garlic shrimp, lamb coconut curry and Burmese rice. It was A LOT of food (as always) and could've fed another person. HIGHLY recommend all of the above and anything else as this is my 4th time here without any disappointments. Last but not least... it is BYOB! Without a corkage fee (that I'm aware) which makes it even that much better. Only downside... it's in Chinatown which means parking is a bitch. Small price to pay so suck it up buttercup and you won't be disappointed. read more

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We really love Burmese food (or at least the version you get in the U.S.). Unfortunately we haven't found any decent Burmese restuarants in our hometown of NYC. So of course we jumped at the opportunity when we found a credible Burmese restaurant for take-out in Oahu... We actually jumped twice (we went two times)... The first time we had the food it was phenomenal. Their tea leaf salad is a great version, the mohinga (catfish noodle soup) was among the best soups we've EVER had (like ever)... similarly great paratha, chicken pumpkin curry, and beef curry. This was one of our best meals we had in all of Oahu. The second time... the tea leaf salad was still great, but the mohinga wasn't prepared well, and some of the other new dishes we tried were also not great. So we averaged the ratings of 5 (initial experience) and 3 (2nd visit) and came up with a 4. I wish they were more consistent, but if you catch them on a good day your mouth will be very, very happy. read more

Great food and fast service the Biryani is my favorite they have a full bar and good for all groups

The food is amazing! Similar to Thai, but different. The flavors are amazing and hard to stop eating. The service is equally great. Our server Alex was very knowledgeable and gave us so much help choosing what to eat. I could recomend things, but you really need to come and just experience what sounds good. This was our first time here, but definitely not our last. read more

Rangoon is located in the old Epic space, the interior and layout is similar, the owner added some Asian touch to the place. I don't often have Burmese food, so I didn't know what to expect. However, I got really excited when I read through the menu. And of course, all those Yelp pictures made everything even more enticing. There's a group of us so we were able to order a variety of items and try it. We ordered the tea leaf salad, garlic noodles, basil chicken and Burmese fish soup noodles. The verdict.... tea leaf was too bitter, basil chicken was too sweet and the fish soup was too oily. The one dish with no complaints was the garlic noodle. read more

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"It is unwise to be too sure of one's own wisdom" - Mahatma Ghandhi I know nothing about the food of Myanmar or Burmese culture. A load of research (thank you Mark Wiens), now armed with knowledge and salivating, eager to try. Let's go! The food is humble. Religious beliefs and necessity equals very little meat, use of alternative protein sources (legumes and beans) made flavorful with loads of spices. Simplistically, it's flavors and ingredients found in India with fish sauce. Moh Hin Ga - the national dish of Myanmar. Fish chowder with noodles is excellent. Loaded with bits of fish and bloated noodles (think of laksa in Singapore or chicken noodle soup in a can), all swimming in a fish broth seasoned with ginger, lemongrass, a load of turmeric, and sweet fish sauce. Add some lime and chili flakes, to kick up the spice and add a fresh zing, and wow. So simple yet the flavors go on and on. Tea Leaf Salad - if you could have two national dishes... salted, fermented tea leaves mixed with sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, crisped garlic, split peas, lentils, peanuts, tomato, jalapeno, fresh squeezed lime and a bit of lettuce for good measure. The salt and lime help release water from the lettuce dressing the salad. The oils from the seeds mixes with the fermented "juices" of the tea to make a vinaigrette in your mouth. Stunning flavor and texture. Extremely well balanced. It just gets better as you let it sit. Samusas - the most common street food tea snack, filled with potato, lentils, and seasoned with spices and mint are outstanding. Crisp layered crust, an explosion of flavors that becomes even better with the vinegar steeped chili garlic sauce. Notes: - BYOB until the liquor license is in, however, the bold spices do NOT pair well with booze. They drink tea with their meals in Myanmar just saying. - No tea or coffee other from cans currently served. - Understaffed at the moment (just two servers at lunch). Patience is a virtue. An eye opening experience and one that will have me exploring more good eats from Rangoon Burmese Kitchen. read more

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4.5 rounded up to 5.0 just because the half point was not worth writing about. A wonderful food experience which I can not wait to repeat but with more, different dishes. Don't misconstrue that as a negative....I really want to try more of the dishes! My foodie extraordinaire friend and I arrived five minutes before the scheduled opening which gave us the choice of seats. Our server was right there to give us menus and water with a smile and pleasantries like we were the only people in the restaurant....well at that point we were but not for long. Tea Leaf salad was delightful, our server brought the dish to the table, squeezed a lime over it and then mixed the six nuts & seeds, romaine, fermented tea leaves and tomatoes together (I actually speared a tea leaf before he mixed it as I wanted to taste the main ingredient ((yummy)) on its own). The salad was so refreshing and flavorful I actually just held it for a second on my tongue to savor its uniqueness. I asked the server what the difference was between the Rangoon Tea Leaf salad and the Tea Leaf salad.....Rangoon is made with shredded purple cabbage and the Tea Leaf Salad is chopped Romaine. Next selection placed on our table was the Burmese Samusa. Beautifully phylo wrapped triangles stuffed with potatoes, onions, spices and mint, deep fried to a deep golden brown and served with a garlic chili sauce. Avoid the immediate overwhelming temptation to bite into one of these babies. Split it open and let the steam out, you'll thank me. So good and a must order. The traditional Burmese soup Moh Hin Ga could stand alone as a lunch dish if you're wanting something to satisfy your need for spice with a little protein and fat, bloated noodles. A squeeze of lime and an addition of the crispy chili flakes and this bowl of goodness will make your day. So, soup, salad, appetizer...we moved on to the Coconut Curry Lamb. Again, this dish could stand on its own, with chunks of potato in the mix of curry and lamb. Thick curry gravy infused with coconut milk. We ordered the Garlic Fried Rice as a side to this dish. Jasmine rice perfectly tossed with minced Chinese sausage, green onions and crispy fried garlic crunches on top. Okay, needless to say, I'm a newbie fan and can't wait to return. The only draw back is the lack of waitstaff but the two young men that were handling the entire restaurant did so cheerfully and with great patience. I had no problems with waiting as I'm a retired and had no place I needed to be after so go with people whose company you enjoy and just savor the food and cool ambiance. read more

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Interesting dishes but their food is amazing. The smells and everything about Burmese food made our table so hungry. I ordered their beef curry and the quantity is what was so shocking. There is more than enough to share with people and the seating inside welcomes everyone to share dishes. This place is a must try! read more

Rangoon Burmese Kitchen - Burmese Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

Amidst the traditional Asian restaurants in downtown Honolulu, Rangoon Burmese Kitchen stands out as a great new addition. If you're familiar with Honolulu's Dagon restaurant on King Street, you'll find that Rangoon is Dagon's younger and upscale sister. This Southeast Asian cuisine is a complex blend of diverse cultural and religious (Buddhist or Muslim) influences from its neighboring countries of India, Bangladesh, China, India, Laos and Thailand. With all of the diversity, it's no wonder the cuisine has a liveliness or zest that will please most palates. We liked the welcoming and stylish décor of Rangoon Burmese Kitchen. As soon as we entered, we were greeted and seated by Brandon. As the first ones in to the restaurant, we were able to chat with him to get suggestions for our dinner. He was friendly and gave us great descriptions of several dishes. He did suggest the traditional tea leaf salad (lahpet thohk) but we've had it before at Dagon and though it's tasty, I think that salad is something that you either love or dislike. So, we just went on to order the following. FOOD: -Burmese Samusas: inspired by Indian samosas, these dumplings were were filled with potato, green onion, mint leaves, onion, green bean, garlic, chili and spices BUT wrapped in egg roll-like wrappers in a triangular-shape then fried crisp. RESIST the urge to bite right into a samusa as they come out of the fryer still packing a hot temperature. 4 samusas are served with a chili sauce which gave just enough spice kick without setting my palate on fire. $12 -Soft Shell Crab Salad with Spring Mix: this colorful and texturally diverse mixed salad was lightly dressed with a garlic chili sauce. There were chunks of lightly battered and fried soft shell crab tossed with spring mix, radish, cucumber, bean sprouts, carrots, cabbage and cherry tomato. Unusually, my husband found this salad to be spicy whereas I did not. $14 -Lamb Curry: Burmese traditional slow-cooked curry with potato. This curry was unlike Indian yellow curry or Thai red, yellow or green. The dark curry had flavors of garlic, onion, cumin and fish sauce which permeated the chunks of tender lamb and potatoes. The curry wasn't spicy so don't be thinking it'll be like a vindaloo even though it's dark. It looked a bit greasy but we assumed it was how the curry was fried. Very tasty. $19 -Garlic Noodle with Shrimp: egg noodles with crisp garlic, garlic oil, green onion, cucumber and red onion tossed with special house sauce. These noodles reminded me of Pad Thai but amped up with garlic. We splashed on some of the chili sauce that came with this dish and voilà talk about kicking up that garlicky factor! We enjoyed this noodle dish and were chuckling to ourselves about exuding garlic body odors while walking home.$16 -Side Dish: a bowl of steamed white Jasmine rice to complement the curry. If you're a rice lover, I'll warn you that the bowl is the size of a regular rice bowl so don't expect what you might get from a Chinese family restaurant. After all, the jasmine rice is cooked to perfection (not sticky, soggy but is fluffy) as its aroma perfumes your dining area. $3 All in all we had a wonderful first experience at Rangoon Burmese Kitchen and look forward to returning to trying more of their seafood dishes. The portions were quite generous and a decent value given the labor-intensive preparation of certain dishes. BYOB for now but when it'll change, I'm not sure but it looks like they're gearing up for a full bar. We welcome this new cuisine and restaurant to the downtown district and look forward to returning, soon. read more

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We were here on a date night. This is where we chose. This restaurant has something for everyone. They have great salads, yummy flavorful dishes and a menu with so many choices. Burmese food has so much fricken flavor, I wanted to cry when there was no more SALAD. Like seriously!! A salad was mindblowing, you do not hear that all the time. Just so I don't repeat the same info from the other reviews here are my list of pros and cons. PROS: - The menu is extensive. It's family style, so you can share or even get a bunch of appetizers. You really can not go wrong. - We only ordered 5 things off their long menu. Yet everything we had was delicious. Be prepared for a flavor explosion of herbs, vinegar and garlic. It is YUM. - A lot of menu items made it "diet friendly" without skimping on flavor. Their salads are soooo good! CONS: -It's in Chinatown, plan to give yourself time to find parking. The municipal isn't far. - When we came, they had no drinks or desserts yet. I can't wait to come back when they are fully up and running. Overall, it was a great dinner. Service was great! We will be back to try more of their menu items and hopefully some dessert! read more

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We were driving through downtown and wanted to try something new. I've only had Burmese food once before, so it sounded intriguing. I found one-hour meter parking a block down, so it wasn't too bad. It was lunch time, so it went from semi-busy to very busy during our visit. There were two servers working 20 tables, which is a lot. I could tell they were struggling, there were several tables ahead of us who were ready to order and were just waiting. They were running back and forth, seating customers, delivering dishes out to customers, taking and entering orders. They were seriously stretched thin. We waited about 15 minutes before we could order. I had time to admire the decor, which was modern and trendy. Our server was really nice and helpful when he came around. He apologized for the delay, answered our questions, and took our order. It was another 20 minutes to get the food. I'll admit I was anxious that we had to rush to eat so we could get back to the car before the meter expired. In the meantime, we tried to enjoy the food, knowing we had 15 to 20 minutes to eat, pay, and run back to the car. First up was Pineapple Chicken Curry. It was sweet yellow curry cooked with coconut milk. I found it indistinguishable from Thai curry, perhaps because my palette is not sophisticated enough to tell. It was good, but nothing made it stand out. $17. Second, we had the Myeik Pan Fried Noodles. The flat rice noodles are fried with bean sprouts, chicken and shrimp. It reminds me of Pad See Ew. not bad. $15. Rice was $3 per bowl. I would return to try other dishes. They do need to add more staff to fix the operational issues. read more

If I could eat at one place only on island, It would be here! I love lamb and the lamb curry here is the best on island. My husband goes insane for the mango salad, its so fresh, flavorful and the textures, (insert drooling emoji) Every thing I have tried on the menu has been delicious. Service at almost all times has been really great. Once my dish only took about 40 minutes to come out, and arrived after my husband finished eating so he had to sit and wait for me to shove my face. I love bring people here for something a little different to the usual hawaiian fare. read more

This place was absolutely fantastic! We stumbled on it after our restaurant we planned to go to was unexpectedly closed for the evening. I am so glad we found this place. The flavors are so unique yet comforting. An absolute gem of a place. read more

Rangoon Burmese Kitchen - Mango shrimp curry - Burmese Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

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I heard raving reviews about this place. We decided to come here to see if the it does lived up to the hype. We met our good friend Mel and his girlfriend, Mog for dinner. Location: Located in the heart of downtown, Rangoon Burma draws locals and tourists alike. We came here during the Hallaballoo Halloween festival. Food: For the appetizer, we ordered the Baya Kyaw. It tasted scrumptious! It comes with ginger, mint leaf, yellow split pea, curry leaves. For the main entree, I ordered the Rangoon pan fried noodle. It comes with wheat noodle, red onion, green bell pepper, red bell pepper, cabbage, string bean, ginger. The ginger gives this dish an extra punch. It tasted great. Service: When we came in our server warmest greeted us and led us to our seats. The food came within 15 mins of us ordering. Not a problem since people started to come in around 530. I loved looking at the decor. Even though the place provides space to move around it looks intimate. Upon entering, to the left we see a bar used for drinking and for eating. Good for single patrons and for groups. Bring your date, friends, family here. Definitely recommend this place! read more

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This is the sister restaurant of Dagon but one wouldn't be able to tell. Rangoon Burmese Kitchen has a modern chic vibe to the restaurant and they took time to design the place to look upscale. Like Dagon, it's also BYOB which is a plus. Unlike Dagon, which is a smaller restaurant, the customer service here was a little slow because they were understaffed when we came for lunch. Good thing we had wine to sip on as we waited for water to be refilled. We ordered the Mashed Potato Salad (Aloo Dok), Rangoon Tea Leaf Salad, Garlic Noodle w/Shrimp, Mandalay Pork Curry and the Chili Chicken. I liked the Mashed Potato Salad a little more than the Rangoon Tea Leaf Salad because it had a little kick to it. The Garlic Noodle w/Shrimp is good and I would recommend that dish as it was my favorite of the afternoon. The Chili Chicken was also notable and I would order that again. Their Mandalay Pork Curry is tasty but has a little too much fat for my liking since I'm trying to shed a few pounds. Overall, this is a nice new addition to the downtown restaurant scene. The restaurant is huge and I like the ambiance here more than Dagon. If they increase the amount of servers then that would increase the customer experience. It's still a solid restaurant and one of two Burmese restaurants on Oahu. Too bad Mink doesn't like Burmese. I'll just have to come back with some friends in the future to try out some other menu items. Thanks Peter for a great lunch! read more

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This place is super cute located in China Town in a hipster area. Lovely decorated restaurant with a few really unique feel and ambiance. This place has been on my to do list for a few months so when we were starving after a hike I knew this was the best place to get lunch. Surprisingly this place was absolutely empty - great for social distancing but I felt bad for the proprietors. We started out with the tea leaf salad which was phenomenal and completely different than anything else I have had! I don't even love garlic and the crispy garlic was amazing. Then we had the sambusas which had an amazing sauce just spicy enough. Followed by coconut lamb curry and coconut rice with platha bread. Overall an amazing meal and reminded me of Southeast Asia. We will definitely be coming back and will continue to hope decent Asian food will make it's way to Kapolei! read more

Rangoon Burmese Kitchen - Coconut rice and coconut lamb curry - Burmese Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

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Burmese restaurants are few and far between in Hawaii. To be honest, the only other one I really know is Dagon, which shares the same owners. So I was beyond thrilled that another location had opened and in a much larger space. The menu is very similar to Dagon's with all my favorite dishes. I like that Rangoon Burmese Kitchen has mixed the downtown brick-hipster vibe with its own cultural decorations like beautiful colorful umbrellas hanging from the ceiling. Parking is either street, metered, or municipal. All of their dishes are good, but some are exceptional. I highly recommend their tea leaf salad. The leafs they use are actually imported adding to the authenticity of the dish. It has a wonderful balance of textures and subtle heat and acidity. It's a very well rounded dish and mixed together tableside. I hear the Rangoon tea leaf salad is also good but I'm just so in love with the original that I have never ventured away from it. I also like their samusas, which are flaky and crispy with a potato veggie filling, packed with spices. Their kung pao chicken is also really tasty and fresh. I thin their coconut based curry/stews are always winners. I tried the pumpkin vegetable stew and it was good but not as flavor rich as other dishes. The potato salad appetizer was also fine but not something I would order again. It lacked spices/flavor to me although I did like how they use fresh cilantro and cherry tomatoes. Service was good. And our waters were always refilled. Overall, I love the diversity of different ethnic foods coming to the downtown area and I hope Rangoon Burmese kitchen stays around for a long time. read more

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I stopped in to check this newish restaurant out because it has a rare 5-star Yelp rating and ... it was open at 9:30pm! ;) It's in the space on Nuuanu & Pauahi formerly occupied by Epic Restaurant. After a quick lesson on Burma, my waiter walked me through the menu & I chose Kachin Whole Fish Wrapped in Banana Leaf, even though it would take 25-30 mins to prepare: "The whole fish (tonight it was moi, or Pacific threadfin aka the fish of Hawaiian royalty), marinated with traditional herbs, chili, garlic, ginger, prickly ash with fern shoots." Kachin is the northernmost state of Myanmar (formerly Burma). The moi was succulent, moist, flaky ... so flavorful, steaming hot and spicy, in just the right amount (about a 12-inch moi). If the portion had been bigger, I still would have eaten it all and been stuffed! ... it was so good! As it was, my moi dish was $24, plus I ordered coconut rice ($5) to go with it. All delicious! So, not a cheap dinner though worthwhile, scrumptious food! It's located in a still gritty part of Chinatown/downtown, so watch yourself going to and coming from the restaurant. read more

Rangoon Burmese Kitchen - Moi - Burmese Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

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