Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
EATING
Yangon's eating scene offers a striking reflection of the country's years of isolation, with a
surprising lack of Western-style cafés and restaurants for a place of well over four million
people. This is one of the few cities of its size in Asia where you'll find not a single
McDon-
ald's
or
Starbucks
(although local fast-food chains and modern cafés are beginning to spread
through the city) - instead, most Yangonites still eat on the streets, perched on tiny plastic
chairs amid the endless
foodstalls
which mushroom onmany ofdowntown'spavements, es-
pecially after dark. Eating your way around some of the city's food stalls remains Yangon's
quintessential foodie experience (if you don't mind the dodgy hygiene), while there are also
plenty of little local noodle cafés and
mohinga
joints for cheap eats and local colour. More
upscale venues remain thin on the ground, although a rash of recent new openings (including
Gecko
and the
Union Bar and Grill
) suggests that Yangon is finally beginning to catch up
with other, more cosmopolitan, Asian destinations.
SELF-CATERING
For self-catering and food shopping, try
Market Place by City Mart
(daily 9am-9pm), a
well-stocked little supermarket with imported goods, a bakery and a deli in the basement
of the FMI Centre (Parkson Building; go in between the escalators) on Bogyoke Aung San
Road.
City Mart
is the main city supermarket, with branches across Yangon including a
big branch on Gyo Phyu Street (near the Aung San Stadium and bus company ticket of-
fices justnorthofthecentre) plussmaller downtownbranches onAnawrahta Road(east of
the centre near the
Lucky Seven
teashop), and at the junction of Mahabandoola Road and
PongyiStreet westofthecentre.
RubyMart
(daily9am-9pm),atthejunction ofBogyoke
Aung San Road and Pansodan Street is conveniently central, but utterly manic.
DOWNTOWN
50th Street
50th St 01 397060,
50thstreetyangon.com
;
map
.
The most enjoyable of
downtown Yangon's small handful of upscale Western venues, looking a bit like a superior
European pub, with a lively bar area downstairs and slightly more sedate restaurant seat-
ing upstairs. The excellent (though pricey; most mains K9000-12,000) food includes top-
notch pizzas, pasta, burgers and sandwiches, plus some slightly cheaper salads and Asian-
style tapas (K4500-8500) and seriously pricey Australian steaks (K29,000-33,000). There's
also a good drinks list (25 percent off during the daily 3-7pm happy hour), a pool table and
regular live music.
Daily 10am-3/4am.
of the best Shan noodles in town at rock-bottom prices along with assorted other noodle
soups, salads and stir-fries. Mains K1000-1500. No beer.
Daily 6am-7pm.