World Foodie Guide

Burmese restaurant Mandalay has been at the top of my restaurant wishlist for a while now. It’s always sounded intriguing to me. Not only are the owners Burmese-Norwegian, they also run a little hotel nearby. And I’ve never had Burmese food before. As Time Out included it in its Top 50 London Restaurants list earlier this year, I thought I’d go and investigate with a friend.

It’s located on Edgware Road, and not more than a five minute walk from the tube station (Bakerloo line). I always thought it would be a nightmare to find, which is why it has languished on my wishlist until now. Although we had reservations for 6pm, which was the official opening time, we had to wait outside the metal shuttered door for about ten minutes before the owners came down the road to open up. Luckily we didn’t have to resort to Plan B, because there wasn’t one.

Inside, Mandalay really is no more than a simply decorated café with 28 covers jam-packed next to each other. Most of the tables were reserved and by 7pm, only one table was free. Service was quirky, but in a charming way. But everyone was friendly, and each course arrived relatively quickly.

According to its website, Burmese cuisine is a fusion of Chinese and Indian with a slight Thai influence. The menu was quite extensive and we wanted to choose the ‘right’ dishes. Unfortunately there were too many things that we wanted to sample, so we had to forego (on this occasion!) the samosas and fritters, although practically every other diner had these, and the fritters really looked spectacular.

What we ordered:

In the end, we chose the papaya and cucumber salad (£3.90), chicken with lemongrass (£5.90) and lamb with potatoes (£6.90), with plain rice. The salad, with fish sauce and fresh coriander, was delicious and perfect for a summer evening. I loved the lamb, which was meaty, tender and slightly spicier than I thought it would be. The chicken itself was lovely, but the juices were quite watery in comparison to the rich sauce in which the lamb was cooked.

The portions aren’t huge, but this also means you can have starters, order an extra dish or two and enjoy more variety. From what we had to eat, I could definitely see the Indian and Thai influences. The Chinese part was harder to spot (although my mother does make a mean chicken and potato stew…)

Of course, dessert had to be tapioca cooked in coconut milk and served with jaggery (date palm sugar). It was served hot. In the summer, I prefer it chilled, but it was still delicious. I’ve found that as with Marmite, people either love or hate tapioca. How can anyone hate it?!

The verdict?

Mandalay is down-to-earth and totally unpretentious. And even though it’s small, there is no pressure to leave, so you can enjoy a leisurely dinner, which is increasingly rare in London. Dinner with tip came to £15 per person, which is pretty reasonable for a London meal. For vegetarians, there is plenty to choose from, and my husband would have been delighted with the selection. I’m definitely returning to try some of the other dishes.

We could very well have been sitting in a small eaterie in Burma or ’somewhere’ in Asia, if it had just been the two of us. But squashed next to a gigantic guide dog and its elderly owners, it was hard to imagine being anywhere but in England. Still, as I’m unlikely to fly to Burma in the near future, I won’t have far to travel when I crave a Burmese curry.

10 – Perfection, 9.5 – Sensational, 9 – Outstanding, 8.5 – Superb,
8 – Excellent, 7.5 – Very Good, 7 - Good, 6.5 - Above Average, 6 – Average

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Contact details:
Mandalay
444 Edgware Road
London W2 1EG
www.mandalayway.com
Tel: 020 7258 3696
Lunch – 12:00 noon to 2:30 pm
Dinner – 6:00 pm to 10:30 pm (evening reservations recommended)

Helen Yuet Ling Pang @ World Foodie Guide

Tags: Burmese, dining out, food, London, Mandalay, restaurants, traveleating, vegetarian