Tried Burmese food for the first time yesterday–apparently, Irrawaddy is the only Burmese restaurant in all of Orange County per their Instagram page.
Not being familiar with Burmese food, I was amazed by just how many foods were either already vegan (all the appetizers and salads) or could be made vegetarian/vegan (substitute meat for chickpea tofu for a vegetarian version of a dish as well as remove eggs for a vegan version).
Got the tea leaf salad per recommendations from the owner and it’s incredibly good. Apparently because it’s made from fermented tea leaves, it’s also loaded with caffeine, haha.
beesmakenoise on
I had some excellent Burmese food in San Francisco a few years ago, that was a first for me as well.
Tea leaf salad is so good isn’t it!
Justagirleatingcake on
I was just watching Anthony Bourdain’s episode on Myanmar today. He had that salad and said it was delicious even though he wasn’t really a salad guy.
LilLilac50 on
There was no shrimp paste in this salad?
FearlessTravels on
I was in Myanmar a few weeks before their genocide against the Rohingya started. The vegetarian and vegan food was amazing, and even with a language barrier restaurants were very familiar with vegetarian and vegan foods. Also, prices were insane – I remember one restaurant in Yangon that was mostly for local construction workers, where they had unlimited vegetarian curry and rice for less than $0.75 USD. I would love to go back when I can be sure my money isn’t supporting a genocide. (It’s not as simple as it sounds, as human rights organizations have found that most licenses for touristic businesses are granted to people who give kickbacks to the military regime.)
California_4ever on
Ohhh one of my favorite salads! I love it. My local grocery stores sell the Burma Star version of it but they’re so expensive. If you buy from the store it’s like $9 and at the restaurant it’s a couple dollars more but bigger.
ShockMonkey2001 on
Is there a sauce for/on the salad? It looks delicious!
MarioRex on
It actually looks fantastic! I’m glad you had great time.
IntelligentStress0 on
I thought this was a huge piece of weed or a small spoon next to average size weed nug
Ashilikia on
That’s super cool! Does it give you a caffeine kick from the leaves?
DeezerWeezer on
Thanks for the recommendation! This is less than 10 minutes away from me so I’m glad you put this on my radar. And I’m grateful for the reminder about caffeine or else I probably would’ve made the mistake of having it for dinner.
Did you eat anything else there you’d recommend?
ZiaMan24 on
I used to go to that UPS store all the time, and the new vegan burger place
Peepee_kaki on
Seems healthy and yummy
julsey414 on
Question: is it actually a pile of tea leaves, and therefore is it highly caffeinated?
Breakfastcrisis on
YES! I’m Burmese. Thank you for sharing our cuisine. It’s such an undiscovered gem for so many.
NiceGuyJoe on
i have never heard all of those words together
NiceGuyJoe on
Big up Stanton, CA. “Gateway to Buena Park” as the locals call it
18 Comments
Tried Burmese food for the first time yesterday–apparently, Irrawaddy is the only Burmese restaurant in all of Orange County per their Instagram page.
Not being familiar with Burmese food, I was amazed by just how many foods were either already vegan (all the appetizers and salads) or could be made vegetarian/vegan (substitute meat for chickpea tofu for a vegetarian version of a dish as well as remove eggs for a vegan version).
Got the tea leaf salad per recommendations from the owner and it’s incredibly good. Apparently because it’s made from fermented tea leaves, it’s also loaded with caffeine, haha.
I had some excellent Burmese food in San Francisco a few years ago, that was a first for me as well.
Tea leaf salad is so good isn’t it!
I was just watching Anthony Bourdain’s episode on Myanmar today. He had that salad and said it was delicious even though he wasn’t really a salad guy.
There was no shrimp paste in this salad?
I was in Myanmar a few weeks before their genocide against the Rohingya started. The vegetarian and vegan food was amazing, and even with a language barrier restaurants were very familiar with vegetarian and vegan foods. Also, prices were insane – I remember one restaurant in Yangon that was mostly for local construction workers, where they had unlimited vegetarian curry and rice for less than $0.75 USD. I would love to go back when I can be sure my money isn’t supporting a genocide. (It’s not as simple as it sounds, as human rights organizations have found that most licenses for touristic businesses are granted to people who give kickbacks to the military regime.)
Ohhh one of my favorite salads! I love it. My local grocery stores sell the Burma Star version of it but they’re so expensive. If you buy from the store it’s like $9 and at the restaurant it’s a couple dollars more but bigger.
Is there a sauce for/on the salad? It looks delicious!
It actually looks fantastic! I’m glad you had great time.
I thought this was a huge piece of weed or a small spoon next to average size weed nug
That’s super cool! Does it give you a caffeine kick from the leaves?
Thanks for the recommendation! This is less than 10 minutes away from me so I’m glad you put this on my radar. And I’m grateful for the reminder about caffeine or else I probably would’ve made the mistake of having it for dinner.
Did you eat anything else there you’d recommend?
I used to go to that UPS store all the time, and the new vegan burger place
Seems healthy and yummy
Question: is it actually a pile of tea leaves, and therefore is it highly caffeinated?
YES! I’m Burmese. Thank you for sharing our cuisine. It’s such an undiscovered gem for so many.
i have never heard all of those words together
Big up Stanton, CA. “Gateway to Buena Park” as the locals call it
Sounds delicious!!