Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
more difficult to spot, however. You may prefer to save your street food sampling for the
end of your trip, meaning that if you do get ill, it at least won't wreck your holiday.
DRINKING AND NIGHTLIFE
There's a distinct lack of Western-style
pubs
and
bars
in Yangon, and although there are a
fair number of local cafés-cum-beer stations they tend to get packed, and aren't always the
nicest places for a quiet tipple. If you want to drink with off-duty Yangonites the best plan is
to head out to
19thStreet
in Chinatown, lined with cafés and foodstalls all serving upcheap
beer, and with a permanent party atmosphere. Yangon's nightlife is getting livelier, but still
has a long way to go before it's anything close to that of somewhere like Bangkok. Check
yanmore.com
and
yangonnite.com
for events listings. With a few exceptions,
nightclubs
in Yangon tend to involve little dancing; many have nightly “fashion shows” (in which fully
clothed young women walk up and down on a stage) or karaoke. You may encounter sexpat-
oriented prostitution in some places, but it's low-key compared to many other large cities in
the region. The major hub for Western-style nightlife is the compound at the Yangon Inter-
national Hotel (
hoteljapanyangon.com
)
on Ahlone Rd, which is where you'll find two of
the city's better clubs, the
Flamingo Bar
and
Pioneer Music Bar
, as well as a couple of other
modern Western-style bars and the slightly sleazy
MBOX
karaoke joint.
BARS
50th Street
50th St 01 397060,
50thstreetyangon.com
;
map
.
This lively
pub-restaurant
is as good for a drink as it is for food, with a big drinks list (25 percent off during the
daily 3-7pm happy hour), pool table and regular live music. A bottle of Myanmar Beer costs
K4000.
Daily 10am-3/4am.
colonial-style bar, in its most characterful old hotel, with an extensive drinks list and live pi-
ano music some evenings.
Daily 10.30am-1am.
retreat in the heart of Yangon - lacking any particular character besides the usual five-star
bland, admittedly, but does the job after a hard day pounding pavements and pagodas, with
a pool table, live sports on TV and a daily two-for-one happy hour (5-8pm) during which
drinks become surprisingly affordable (two glasses of beer for K3000, for example). They
also do decent bar meals (around $7-9) if you're in for the long haul. The hotel also boasts a
small upstairs pool bar if the
Gallery
doesn't appeal.
Daily 1pm-1am.
Kosan
10819thSt 01503232;
map
.
Thispopularlittle
restaurant
isalsoagoodplacefora
drink, serving up bargain beer (big bottles cost just K1400) alongside cheap mojitos (K800)
and cocktails (K1800).
Daily noon-midnight.
