Mingalaba

Do not come here. There are lots new places in Burlingame offer quality food and better service!
We have been coming to this place for years. We do notice the quality of food slowly declined, but we still come here for few dishes we like a lot.
But we will not come to this place anymore. Our group had a reservation on Friday 6 pm, started eating at 6:30pm. At around 7:10pm, waiter and waitress started asking us if we finish and should they pack our food. We told them we were still working on it. At 7:35pm, after asking us more than 5 times, the owner came to told us that we needed to leave in 20 mins because they had a reservation at 8pm.
If they only allow 2 hour dining time, they should specify while we made the reservation. We took our friends recently move here for a great experience, at the end we all felt offended. Will not come back!

We love this place. Great food, but today at lunch the service was horrible. We were at our table but ignored for 30 minutes. After 3 other tables seated after us & their orders taken, then finally, someone took our order. It went down hill from there with delayed food & wrong items.
No apology, no acknowledgement. We get the bill & server takes it away. We think to adjust for the poor experience, but NO! It comes back more $$, not less.
Oops, they forgot to charge a drink.
The owner & 2 servers only seemed concerned about collecting every nickel but not customer service. It will be a long time before we return. Off to Burma superstar next time.

I am a big fan of this place since the place opened. However, over the years the quality and quantity has been going downhill. Now many burmese places are popping up all over the bay area and it is sad to see this place can’t stand tall among them.
Now, let’s get to actual review:
I ordered 2 entrée, tea leaf salad and 2 tapioca milk with coconut.
Taste: (5/10)Everything tasted ok not great. If you don’t have a reference point they you may be ok with it. I was very disappointed by lack of coconut/​tapioca which they used to have in their drink. Tea leaf salad is now barely enough for 2 ppl.
Ambience:(7/10) Same as usual. Nothing has changed in that department.
Service (⁸⁄₁₀): nothing to complain about.
Price (⁶⁄₁₀): $ 35 per person. Tad bit pricey for a restaurant of that stature. I would say $ 30 would have been more appropriate.
Value For Money:(6.5/10)
Verdict: It is now not any different from other burmese places opened across bay area. Nothing specifically stands out. But if you are in the area, then not bad to try. Though now there is a rangoon ruby opened right next door to it.

Whatever people… this place, albeit cute, crowded with a line snaking around the wall daily, is not my cup of tea. Some folks just LOVE that tea leaf salad but it is NOT for me. I’ve eaten at Burma Superstar in Temescal area of Oakland and man, it’s the same thing, cute décor, crowds and lines and it’s the same for me: YUCK!
How do you say bland, monotonous & a waste of my hard-​won money. It’s like a mouth full of a tasteless Donald Trump bowl.
Nice, and friendly wait staff

My favorite Burmese restaurant. The only bummer is that there is usually a wait.
I usually have the mango tofu, green beans, and (always) start with the tea leaf salad. You can get it with dried shrimp or veggie. However every single dish I’ve tried has been absolutely delicious. So flavorful and cooked to perfection. Good service, too.
Also, they have mango lassis (my fav) and yummy ginger lemonade.
Be prepared to wait and you won’t be disappointed.

We wanted to try Mandalay on California Street. Whoever answered the phone was so down-​to-​earth when I inquired about parking. «Forget it! It’s impossible!» He didn’t even bother to take my reservation! There are only a few other places that offer Burmese in the Bay Area but even with a dearth of other options, Unilocal directed me to Mingalaba in Burlingame, a sibling of Mandalay as a viable alternative. Mingalaba is located in quaint Burlingame where parking can be difficult but not impossible. It is not a trendy hangout spot. There are some exotic Burmese artifacts adorning the walls. A small altar built against the back wall captured the peaceful and colorful Buddhist ambiance.
To get 3 hits on a cuisine I know very little about is like winning a lottery! The trick was I did my research ahead of time to minimize mistakes, to not over order since we were ordering family style and to get a chance to read other Unilocalers’ reviews on those entrees. I lucked out by doing so, as my encounter with my server was anything but pleasant. She stopped me dead on my tracks with her curt, surly and brusque demeanor. To answer a question I had, she impatiently replied, «Everything is good!» rolled her eyes, appeared pissed and walked away! I hate to admit she was right. Their food was a straight up mouth-​watering alternative to heavy hitters like Chinese, Japanese and Korean food!
The Mingalaba’s Rainbow Salad ($ 11.95) was intriguing. It reflected the rainbow colors and boasted of 18 ingredients that were as pretty as they were delicious. It had a fabulous range of flavors, crunchy to the bite, subtle, unusual and refreshing in taste. I couldn’t remember all the 18 ingredients but I had no reasons to doubt there were not indeed 18. The menu listed the obvious…3 kinds of noodles, green papaya, tofu, jelly fish (yes, jelly fish), garlic chips, dried shrimps etc and a tamarind dressing. There were just so much going on in my mouth and left me totally overwhelmed. (⁵⁄₅)
Continuing on our food adventure, we tried Kaw Soi Dok ($ 11). With such a singsong name, how could it escape my attention? I’ve read that Asian dishes with singsong names are often delectable in the likes of «pad kee mao, katsu-​curry, kare-​kare» etc. Think Kaw Soi Dok, as you would tossed egg noodles Chinese style, except that the Burmese dressing was nuttier, zestier and tangier. To pep things up further, add crispy fried shallots, fried garlic chips, cucumber slices, dried shrimps, onion and cabbage. Yes, it was all in the dressing and the happy singsong name! (⁵⁄₅)
In any South East Asian cuisine, I just couldn’t resist ordering curry be it Thai or Indian. Again, Mingalaba had something intriguing to offer. There was a Burmese style Fish Curry ($ 15.95) that was a cross between Thai and Indian. When asked what kind of fish, the server gave me a dumb look and said C-​O-​D fish and walked away. Cash-​on-​delivery fish? I soon figured it was cod and I wasn’t sure she was trying to be facetious! The cod filets were lightly fried and cooked in a thick red curry sauce with okra rather than potatoes. It was mildly spicy with a delicious, sourish and tamarind-​y flavor. A fragrant cup of coconut rice ($ 3.75), instead of the regular white rice ($ 2), was hands down a better complement to the fish curry. (⁵⁄₅)
Would I return under these circumstances? It may sound excessive but I have decided to dock 2 stars when this one horrific server had ruined a perfect dinner for me! Before going back, I wanna make sure it would be on her night off!

We were left feeling somewhat unsatisfied and underwhelmed, given the acclaim that this restaurant has. Not that the food was bad or the service appalling, but nothing really stood out. Well, one thing that did consistently stand out was the rather small size of the entrees, although I guess that’s not something to complain about if one comes in knowing this. Just don’t expect to do a lot of sharing.
Among the food items, the combination fried rice was decent but nothing special, the pumpkin chicken curry was fairly tasty (consisted of a small number of large chicken chunks if you’re into that, and no rice on the side), and the house special noodle was admittedly quite interesting, especially with them squeezing fresh lemon and then mixing it all with some fresh herbs. I also quite liked the crispy parathas, which were like roti canai but thicker.
Overall, okay meal but nothing to really write home about. I could come back for the latter two items, though I do wish that the portion sizes were a bit bigger.

I had no idea this was a Michelin recommended restaurant.
My mom and I came here for lunch. There’s two types of lunch sets. On the back is where you choose one entrée and it’s about $ 10 – 13. On the 3^rd page, you can choose a combo of a salad and entrée for $ 14.50. Both versions come with hot and sour soup and your choice of white rice, brown/​red rice or coconut rice.
Some of the entrée choices looked like Americanized Chinese food. I guess this is where the Chinese part comes in but luckily, they label the authentic Burmese entrees. Whether it is authentic or not, I have no clue. I don’t know the cuisine well.
For the lunch combo, I chose the Tea Leaf Salad/​Spicy Basil Fish combo. I chose this one because it’s the only one where you don’t have to add up for the tea leaf salad and I loveeee that stuff. Also, fish was an option which was perfect for my pescatarian ways. :)
The mini tea leaf salad was the perfect size. I love how it’s prepared in front of you. This was pretty good. My mom and I both liked it. My only complaint would be that there were too many garlic chips but you can easily leave that out.
The Spicy Basil Fish came dripping in sauce similar to my mom’s pork dish which was different. However, when I tasted them, they were different sauces but they all had the same style. The stir fry veggies were the same and as I looked around, most of the dishes had the same stir-​fry, glazed style, similar to many Chinese stir fries. This dish really isn’t very spicy. This dish was nice but the tea leaf salad was really the star of the meal!
We had a nice lunch here. Michelin level, I’m not sure but it was a solid 4 stars!

Not a fan!
First off our server was super rude and rushed us through our order!
We ordered a few appetizers & asked to have a few mins to look over the menu. She came back less than a minute later & asked if we were ready. Again, we said we would like time to look at the menu. She came back yet AGAIN within a minute and basically said we needed to order now because she had a large party coming in and needed our table???
…um what? I just waited 40 minutes to get a table & now you’re rushing me out? In all my years of dining out, that was a first!
And maybe, just maybe, if the food was good I could deal with the beyond rude server but it was blah!
Samosas were just ok, I’ve had better.
Spring rolls were ok and way overpriced.
Tea Leaf Salad was not like any I have tasted before. It had a strange flavor and again way overpriced.
The house noodles & curry pork were just bland.
Coconut rice didn’t have much coconut flavor.
The best thing we had was the bottle wine we ordered!

Even though my second visit to Mingalaba was apparently on ‘Bring Your Screaming Toddler To Mingalaba Day’, I’m glad I came back to give this Bay Area Burmese joint another shot.
The service on both visits was nothing to write home about but I felt the vegetarian items I got on my first visit were just meh. The eggplant dishes were surprisingly bland and for the price at this casual eatery that just shouldn’t be the case.
On my second visit I had been craving Thai food but the roomie wanted Burmese so I caved and steered the car in Mingalaba’s general direction,
We ended up not even getting the Tea Leaf Salad (a sin, I know) and instead the vegetarian spring rolls, which were wonderful and the perfect lead-​in to my main dish of Spicy Basil Prawns and a side of brown rice.
The prawns were delicious and legit. Def not those baby skrimps other places try to pass off. The basil flavor was wonderful and my request for ‘extra spicy’ was honored with the perfect amount of heat for my tastes. I was a little weary at first because the sauce looked quite gelatinous with almost an orange chicken (my worst nightmare) look to it, but it was actually a really flavorful and wonderfully textured sauce that worked well throughout.
Now that I know the real-​deal dishes to get here, I def won’t be steering clear of Mingalaba.

My friend who has been coming here really wanted me to try this place. We made the trip out here for a weekend lunch. I was not disappointed. We walked in and there was no wait and was seated immediately. We ordered the Paratha, Tea Leaf Salad and the House Special Noodle, the most popular items on the menu.
Starting with Paratha, it was oily, but the curry dipping sauces were really bomb. But you can pass on this.
The Tea Leaf Salad… OMG! It comes up to you like a bimbimbap, all separated and then the server mixes it up for you. So get your camera ready for. It’s crunchy, flavorful, and a party in your mouth. I think I could’ve eaten maybe 5 of these by myself. Haha
The House Special Noodles were good too! Though the textures are all one note (the fried thin noodles got soggy), the flavors are spot on and amazing. It’s perfect with the crunchy tea leaf salad.
Service may be on the inattentive side, but my company was great, so I hardly noticed. Have fun feasting!

Craving some Burmese food when we got home, our friend took us here. I haven’t been to downtown Burlingame in a while and was pleasantly surprised to see how developed the area has become. With many restaurants to chose from, this place was still crowded on a busy workweek lunch hour.
We tried the tea leaf salad which was a nice vegetarian medley of dried nuts, dried garlic slices, tea, sesame seeds, diced tomato, and cabbage, expertly combined together by the staff with a touch of lime.
The ginger salad had similar components but the slivers of raw ginger were potent and at times overwhelming.
Burmese iced tea, is similar to Thai iced tea, bright orange with a sweet condensed milk to make it dessert-​like.
The grilled eggplant, okra and shrimp, and the beef dishes were all decent and you can choose the spiciness level to suit your taste buds. Side dishes of plain rice or coconut rice (extra) are filling if you’re already getting a set meal.
Service was prompt and polite. Overall a decent lunch but not as good as Burma superstar.

Food is 4 stars but service took it down to 3.
I really enjoyed the mango chicken. I asked for everything to be mild and they really did make everything mild. House special noodles were good but not good enough for me to order again. The tea leaf salad and pumpkin curry were both great.
We were planning to get dessert but got a bill instead of the dessert menu. They really just wanted us to leave so they can take the next party.
Come here for great Burmese but expect a wait and rushed service.

Tea leaf salad was great but the rest not so much…
Food: 3, Atmosphere: 3, Service: 3
Cost to worth it rating: 3 (lunch special $ 8 – 12)
Return worthiness: maybe not
Highlights:
— Tea leaf salad: has all the things you want with the mix of flavors and textures: 4 stars
— Nice to have lunch specials where you can have a tea leaf salad included
— Location on main street in downtown Burlingame
Lowlights:
— Basil spicy fish entrée: greasy, saucy, not much flavor, and not spicy: 2 stars
Nice spot to meet a friend but was disappointed in my entrée so it’s not on the top of my return list…

True rating is 3.5 stars.
Came here for dinner with my boyfriend. I tried this place a couple times over the years. It’s located in the cute streets of Burlingame and not in a huge space. Gets pretty packed here and usually there is a wait, but we went on a Easter Sunday so wasn’t too bad.
We ordered:
Tea Leaf Salad: Pretty good, I like the flavors and how they mix it in front of you.
Fish Curry: OK, tasted more like marina sauce with fried fish, a bit spicy.
Coconut Chicken Soup: I liked it, they give you extra lemons, fish sauce + chili flakes to add. Highly recommend adding more lemons and a bit of fish sauce, it will taste like a Thai Tom Ka.
House Noodles: Decent, I expected it to have more flavors, didn’t WOW me.
Burmese Style Side Rice: Interesting… had raisins and nuts in it. It wasn’t bad
Burmese Ice Tea: Loved it, pretty good and wasn’t too sweet
Overall, I felt this place was better a few years a ago when I tried it. Food got a bit bland in my opinion, I just wasn’t WOWed by it, but it’s a decent place to go get your Burmese on!

I’ve been here multiple times but I don’t know why I haven’t written a review. Plain and simple, it’s awesome. The must have is the tea leaf salad. Freakin phenomenal. We get it every time. Has great flavor, spice, crunch, and pops in your mouth. So good. The rest of the dishes are good as well. Not as awesome as the tea leaf salad, but still really good. Well come back here all the time just for the salad.
These guys are busy so expect to wait. The service is ok but I can see that they fall very far behind some times and that’s not good. I’ve seen some customers get a little irritated, and rightfully so. The food is awesome but thy may need more help on service. Sill worth a visit!

I had really high hopes for this restaurant, since this place has a great rating here on Unilocal.In addition, my mother’s coworker recommended this place with great enthusiasm. Unfortunately, this place was a huge disappointment.
— Firstly, the tea leaf salad — I wouldn’t even call this a salad?! It was more of various nuts and seeds floating in tea leaves with occasional grape tomatoes. This literally should be called «Nuts & seeds marinated in leaves». Flavor was lacking as well… this dish was just horrible and strange for us.
— Papaya salad — Again, bland. To be positive, the papaya was shredded nicely… (The viet side of me wanted to drown this with da nuoc mammmmm)
— Paratha — This was okay. The paratha was chewy and dense, and the dish was served with two different sauces. The dipping curries weren’t as tasteful as we would have liked — we completely ignored one of them, as we felt it tasted weird/​funky.
— Rangoon beef — This reminded us of the typical Chinese sweet and sour pork chops. It was just okay. texture was quite soggy, but flavor was there!
— House special noodles — The sauce was more watery than we would have liked. I felt the noodles could have been cooked just a teensy bit more, as the texture made it feel like it wasn’t fully cooked. Flavor is nothing near to the ones we’re use to in the city.
— Avocado spring rolls w/​shrimp tempura — This was our favorite dish! This was fresh, light, creamy yet crisp from the tempura, and tasted wonderful with the flavorful dipping sauce! If you were to come here, this is the only dish I would recommend!
Service was great. Food… not so much. Personally, I don’t get the hype and I would not recommend as I have tasted much muuuuuch better burmese food elsewhere.

I’ve been here many times and tried a ton of different dishes (fatty fat fat fat!). The perpetual wait for a table may seem intimidating, but becomes insignificant once you’re finally seated with steaming aromatic dishes wafting up your nostrils and giving you a curry facial. I haven’t had a single bad dish here yet. Some of my favorites are: Burmese Style Curry Prawns, Moo Hing Nga (catfish chowder) and Pumpkin Yellow Chicken.

Honestly I was a bit let down here. I had HUGE expectations for this place and I really wanted to like this place and based on how crowded it was I was hoping to have a good meal but unfortunately this was a huge let down.
I tried the Burmese leave salad but it was more like seasoned nuts with some sprouts on the side. It was way too much nuts and it did not feel like a salad. I would never order this again. Reminded me of just eating nuts straight up. Not a fan of this.
I also tried the Paratha with curry and that was fine. Yellow curry was exactly what I expecting and the paratha wasn’t too oily and tasted good. The other sauce they provided which was more tomato/​potato based which could have been left out as I preferred the other curry sauce more.
I ordered the Beef Burmese curry and the beef was overcooked, dry, and tough to eat. I was extremely disappointed in how the beef was cooked. Curry was very meh as well. When I think of curry and beef, I expected super tender and moist beef chunks to go well with the curry and rice. Sadly this was a failure. It was super lean and not good, there was like no fat in the meat. Would never order this here.
Same went for the Pumpkin Chicken curry. The chicken was overcooked and I believe it was breast meat which usually doesn’t soak in the curry as well as dark meat. There were very few chicken meat and more pumpkin chunks. Would never order this again either.
Overall very disappointed in this restaurant. I had huge expectations and wanted to love this place but it did not deliver. I had food that was magnitudes better than what I had here. Sorry would not recommend this place.

This small and cozy Burmese restaurant is always crowded! Expect to wait a bit if you’re going at peak meal times. I have been to this restaurant several times and it is very consistent. The food is authentic, fresh, flavorful, quite spicy and fairly priced. The interior was basic and the level of noise is high. The service was friendly and efficient.
Some of my favorites include mango & papaya salad, avocado wrap, hot and sour soup, roti, coconut rice, house special noodles, Burmese fried rice and pumpkin yellow chicken. All the dishes were plentiful and mouthwatering. But almost everything here is good. You can’t go wrong.
Overall, Mingalaba did not disappoint. Only downside is the hustle and bustle for table. Best is come early, take-​out, or put your name on the list.