Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
almost always without prices indicated. Veggie dishes start at around K800 or K1000;
meat dishes at about K1200 or K1500.
More upmarket restaurants - some serving a mix of Asian foods, others specialising in
one food type, such as pizza or Thai - can be found in Bagan, Mandalay, Inle Lake and
especially Yangon. Also, most top-end hotels offer plusher eating places, sometimes set
around the pool. Such comfort is rarer to come by off the beaten track.
Most restaurants keep long hours daily, usually from 7am to 9pm or until the last diner
wants to stumble out, their belly full of curry or beer.
Quick Eats
Like most Southeast Asians, the people of Myanmar are great grab-and-go snackers.
Stands at night markets, selling a host of sweets and barbecued meals and noodles, get
going around 5pm to 8pm or later. Generally you can get some fried noodles, a few
pieces of pork, or sticky rice wrapped in banana leaf for a few hundred kyat.
Drinking Venues
Outside of the big cities, you'll be hard-pressed to find anything resembling the Western
concept of a bar or pub. Most drinking is done at open-air barbecue restaurants, often
called 'beer stations' in Burmese English. Opening hours are therefore the same as for
restaurants. All but Muslim Indian restaurants keep cold bottles of Tiger and Myanmar
Beer handy (charging from K1700 in basic restaurants and up to K3000 or so in swankier
ones). It's perfectly fine to linger for hours and down a few beers.
Teahouses
In addition to being a convenient place to grab a cuppa or a quick snack, teahouses are an
important social institution in Myanmar, a key meeting place for family, friends or busi-
ness associates. 'Morning teahouses' typically open from 6am to 4pm, while evening
ones open from 4pm or 5pm and stay open till 11pm or later.
BURMESE TEAHOUSES
Myanmar's numerous teahouses are not just places to have cups of sweet milky
tea and coffee or pots of Chinese tea while sitting on a tiny plastic stool. They're
places to catch up with a friend. They're where gossip is passed around, deals
made and, in the past government spies were rampant. They're a place of employ-
