Happy Birthday, Anthony! (Burmese House)

Birthday boy Anthony.

It was not really Anthony's birthday on Friday, but it was decided that we celebrate on a day convenient for everyone. This time, we went to Burmese House which, of course, serves Burmese food. I was quite intrigued by the idea of Burmese food, having never tried it before.

The menu.

Looking at the menu, it seems that we were at a mamak stall, just a fancier, more posh and more expensive version. There were the usual curries and masalas, even roti canai. Considering that Myanmar is so close to India, a strong Indian influence on the cuisine is not at the very least surprising.

Pumpkin curry.

Probably the best dish of the night for me. The curry was not as flavourful and pungent as those typically found in Malaysia. However, the pumpkin was perfectly cooked. It was tender and not overly mushy.

Beef masala.

The first thing that came to mind when I saw the dish was the ridiculously small portion for the price. The dish costs about AUD 20 and it has no more than ten chunks of beef. As though that is not bad enough, the beef was not that good at all. The gravy was rather bland. It was almost devoid of the spicy fragrance typical of masala dishes. The texture of the meat was fine, but with a slow cooked dish, how bad can it get?

Chicken salad.

The chicken salad was nothing to shout about either. The roasted chicken was very dry and tough, not surprising as they used breast meat. Definitely not a dish I would pay for.

Chilli crab.

Probably the worst dish for me. That is not because I do not like crabs. On the contrary, I love crabs to bits. However, I must, at least, applaud Burmese House for being able to cook such an awful dish out of such a wonderful ingredient.

First of all, the crabs were not something I, or anyone in the right mind, would associate with the word "fresh". The flesh reminded me of frozen shelled crab meat in packets.

The cooking was nowhere near fantastic either. The sambal was just pungent without any fragrance. It was also too oily and soggy. Personally, I take this version of chilli crab as an insult to the much exalted dish in Malaysia and Singapore.

Chicken masala.

Due to the portion of the food being so small, we were unsatisfied after we finished the food from the first order and we ordered chicken and lamb masalas. I suppose I could compliment them for their consistency in serving equally appalling beef, lamb and chicken masalas.

Fried noodles.

The fried noodles was probably one of the better dishes for the night. It tasted very much like tom yam, but I have never encountered such a dish in Thailand or Thai restaurants. The Thai influence on the dish is undeniable though. My complaint for this dish is probably the overly moist noodles. Had it been drier it would have been my favourite dish for the night.

Overall, the food was just decent if price is not taken into account. The quality of the food is just tantamount to those of simple home cooked food. Minimal effort is put into the presentation of the dishes. Therefore, I can safely conclude that the food is very much overpriced.

However, there are many online reviews of Burmese House which paint a really good picture. Shockingly, there are even Malaysians who claim that the food is spectacular. I have no comments on that (that would be safe for publishing).

If I were given two words to describe the food there, it would be "crappy mamak".

I would like to apologise to anyone who finds this review offensive. The descriptions of the food are merely my opinion.

I would also like to apologise to Anthony for writing such a short review for his birthday dinner, but if I were to go any longer, things would only get worse. Once again, sorry, and happy birthday.

303 Bridge Road,
Richmond,
VIC 3121.

03 94212861


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