My sister (and fellow food blogger) flew out to San Francisco to visit me for my birthday. She has a great fondness for all things coconut and I thought that she would enjoy going to Burma Superstar. My sister seemed wary despite my reassurances that it's one of my favorite restaurants in the city. Even a recommendation from
Michelin Guide didn't seem to convince her. The name is somewhat ostentatious and it didn't really help that I called it Burma SUPERSTAH!, à la
Mary Katherine Gallagher.
Burma Superstar is a very popular restaurant. We arrived at the restaurant at around 4:45pm and there were already a dozen people in line waiting for the place to open. Since it doesn't take reservations, lining up before the place opens is pretty much the only way to guarantee that you'll get table for dinner.
Burma is located between China, India, and Thailand and the cuisine reflects influences from those countries. However, many of the flavors and ingredients are unique to Burma. The service was very friendly and efficient. The hostess helped guide us through the menu and made many recommendations.
Tea Leaf SaladWe started with the Tea Leaf Salad. This is the restaurant's signature dish. The salad was a combination of fermented tea leaves, lettuce, tomatoes, a variety of nuts and seeds, fried yellow beans and a fish sauce dressing. Our server went through the ingredients in the salad and then artfully mixed everything together with a squeeze of lemon. The fermented tea leaves were pungent and smokey and perfectly contrasted with the crunchy nuts and the mild lettuce and tomatoes.
On Noh Kauswer (Coconut Chicken Noodle Soup) This was a rich, thick stew of chicken, coconut, noodles and hard boiled eggs. The flavor was very deep and savory, but not at all spicy. It was great for warming you up on a frigid summer night in San Francisco.
Tofu Vegetable Kebat and Coconut Rice You can see the Chinese influences in the Kebat. Don't be put off by the deep red oil slick, it was only moderately hot. We also had the coconut rice, which was jasmine rice cooked with coconut milk. The rice paired very well with the vegetables, tofu and blend of spices in the stir fry.
Burma Superstar309 Clement St.
San Francisco, CA 94118
