Burma Superstar and a review of my review style
It was 1 AM Wednesday night when I saw the text message from Chris, “hey Mai, do you expect you’ll have another review ready by tomorrow?” “Yeah I think so.” “Oh good. When can you have it in? It’ll have to be sort of early if we want to get it in Friday’s paper.” Chris is the editor of Eating Berkeley, and all of my publications with them so far are online, so it’d be pretty exciting to see my name in print. The problem: it was 1 AM and I had to finish a few scripts for my research the next day. The good thing: I just had dinner at Burma Superstar (the Oakland one) earlier that evening, followed by a LOT of puer, so my eyes were opening as wide as the Pacific Ocean and ready for no sleep. I started typing away about Burma Superstar.
This morning I picked up a copy of the Daily Cal at the bus stop. It IS good to see my piece in print, although it’s on a B&W page and I don’t feel like they chose the best photo there. Later in the day I checked the online section, where it’s also published. Below is what I wrote:
A full bar and a wildly successful sister establishment in San Francisco could be the reason for the huge line outside Burma Superstar in Oakland’s Temescal District on a Wednesday night. But for me, the restaurant’s main draw is its fresh coconut, for which they charge a whopping $5. It brings back childhood flavors from the tropics, though, and that justifies everything.
It wasn’t a young coconut, and I didn’t expect it to be given that we can’t grow coconuts in most of this country. But this middle-aged coconut had such rich water and a sweet fragrant from the husk that I thought I was drinking sugar cane juice, so it was doubly nostalgic. The rest of my meal at Burma Superstar followed smoothly through every sip of that coconut water.
Burmese food is a cross between Chinese, Thai and Indian cuisines, with some dishes showing the influence of one culture more than the others. For example, the curry pork with potato has a strong Indian touch of cumin and shines with chili oil like Szechuan mapo tofu, but it isn’t sweetened by coconut milk like other Southeast Asian curries. Thus, its perfect match is the sweetened coconut rice topped with fried shallots. In fact, the coconut rice is so fluffy and flavorful that it stands well on its own and it enhances everything. In hindsight, the curry pork was the weakest link in the meal for several reasons. The description said that there was pickled mango, but we detected neither mango nor pickle. It had too little potato and too much pork, and the big chunks of pork could have used some more cooking time or fared better in smaller pieces to reduce the fibrousness of the cut.
But whatever slight disappointment we had with the curry was quickly drowned in the dense, confident garlic and chili sauce of the sauteed eggplant. The shrimp served their purpose of keeping the name of the dish not so simple as “sauteed eggplant”, but they were hardly noticeable next to the perfect eggplant — tender but not mushy, and firm but not rubbery. The nan gyi dok was a pleasant surprise. I expected thin rice noodle like in pho, served warm, but Burmese rice noodle is thick, smooth and so fragile. It was also served cold as a noodle salad with fried shallots, boiled egg, cilantro, chickpea flour and coconut chicken curry, tossed together at the table after a squeeze of fresh lemon.
As if to reward the customers for the long wait, the kitchen turns out dishes very quickly and in big enough portions that my friend and I had to ask for three to-go boxes at the end. However, that did not deter us from dessert. We hurriedly drank up the coconut water and asked the server to chop off the tops so that we could scrape off the coconut meat inside, a joy I hadn’t had for years. Meanwhile, we ordered another nostalgic comfort food — warm black rice pudding with coconut ice cream. Well, sliced almond isn’t exactly authentic Southeast Asian, but its toasty crunch earns it a home with the creamy ice cream and the gooey rice.
In the end, I wouldn’t say that Burma Superstar shines as bright as its name suggests, but the food was just as pleasant as the staff. We were full and happy when we walked out, a little slowly so not to burst. Our jackets also smelled like sauteed onion for the rest of the night, but that’s never a bad thing.
EDIT: to adhere to the Daily Cal policy, I’ve removed the quote of the commenter on Eating Berkeley. This post is not a respond to the commenter, but a reflection on my style.
When I reread my review though, I realize the depth of reviewing ethnic restaurants that I should explore. It’s not as simple as saying whether a dish is good or bad because each dish has a complex culture behind it. That makes reviewing ethnic restaurants more challenging but more enjoyable. Burma Superstar was only my second time trying Burmese cuisine, and the first time barely left any impression. Of course, my review needs a lot more research if I was reviewing Burmese cuisine as a whole, but for now, as a single restaurant review, did I do it justice?
Curry pork with potato ($13.95) – description on menu: “specialty curry cooked with pickled mango, potatoes and tender pork”. I think I’ve said enough about this pork in my review…
Nan gyi dok ($9.95) – Burmese rice noodle salad with coconut chicken curry, boiled egg, fried shallots, cilantro, onion, chickpea flour and lemon juice. Complex in flavors and satisfying.
Eggplant and shrimp in garlic sauce ($13.95) – well, it’s eggplant and shrimp in garlic sauce. We asked for mild, so although there was chili in the sauce, it was actually mild. Really good. The shrimp doesn’t need to be there, though.
Black rice pudding with coconut ice cream and sliced almond ($9) – Worth the money. Besides, I always LOVE coconut ice cream.
I truly appreciate this post. I’ve been looking everywhere for this! Thank goodness I found it on Bing. You’ve made my day! Thanks again
1hello!,I like your writing so much! share we communicate more about your article on AOL? I require a specialist on this area to solve my problem. May be that’s you! Looking forward to see you.
2I check the tron energy price before making any move. TRON Energy shows the number up front, and I reload once if the market looks busy.
3Oh my goodness! an incredible article dude. Thanks Nonetheless I’m experiencing situation with ur rss . Don’t know why Unable to subscribe to it. Is there anybody getting similar rss problem? Anyone who knows kindly respond. Thnkx
4Enjoyed reading through this, very good stuff, thanks.
5hello there and thanks to your info – I’ve definitely picked up anything new from proper here. I did however experience several technical issues the usage of this site, as I skilled to reload the website lots of instances prior to I could get it to load properly. I had been brooding about if your web hosting is OK? Not that I’m complaining, but sluggish loading instances occasions will sometimes affect your placement in google and can injury your high-quality score if ads and ***********|advertising|advertising|advertising and *********** with Adwords. Anyway I am including this RSS to my e-mail and could glance out for much more of your respective fascinating content. Ensure that you replace this once more soon..
6L naked peop wheresFree gallery nude thumbnailVaginas filmsQuick
7and easy chicken breastYoung sexy nude teens
freeAsian teen streamingI m sexy i m cute lyricsAdult stories jetstreamBlack
porn stae listIn her jamaican ass xnxx My bondage
was going barefootAsian rides sybianMac math software latexFemales escorts in parisMuscle woman movie
xxxBrutalised titsChloe vevrier sex videosPictures
of men with erect penisPantie hose bondage pic post
https://xnxxfree.win Marti gras nude picsAdult creepy
halloween costumes to makeSan francisco shemalesMartin sexDirtiest bukkake clipsBreast fattieBy cockzilla mature
pussy stretchedJapanese anime comic stripExercise to make your
breast biggerBukkake tampa xnxx Female to male penetrationAss
tits fuckingHustler pussy picsPictures of nudist resortsTrue swinging storiesStrip game
picturesBig pussy fuck picsTruck drivers wives sex storiesConnie her spankAmateur gay blowjobsHentai lesbian smokersSpencer quest
naked boys singingVintage teen coupleRed spots on testicles after sexGay anus picturesReal big mens dicks free pornBlack fine sexy booty womenDownload
full free strip screensaverFemale estim orgasmAdult friend finder hijack
Very nice post. I just stumbled upon your blog and wished to say that I’ve truly enjoyed browsing your blog posts. In any case I’ll be subscribing to your rss feed and I hope you write again very soon!
8Hey there, I think your blog might be having browser compatibility issues. When I look at your website in Firefox, it looks fine but when opening in Internet Explorer, it has some overlapping. I just wanted to give you a quick heads up! Other then that, awesome blog!
9I wanted to thank you for this great read!! I definitely enjoying every little bit of it I have you bookmarked to check out new stuff you post…
10I wanted to thank you for this great read!! I definitely enjoying every little bit of it I have you bookmarked to check out new stuff you post…
11After study a few of the blog posts on your website now, and I truly like your way of blogging. I bookmarked it to my bookmark website list and will be checking back soon. Pls check out my web site as well and let me know what you think.
12Some genuinely interesting points you have written.Helped me a lot, just what I was looking for :D.
13Having read this I thought it was very informative. I appreciate you taking the time and effort to put this article together. I once again find myself spending way to much time both reading and commenting. But so what, it was still worth it!
14Really enjoyed this update, can you make it so I get an update sent in an email when there is a new update?
15I am writing to let you know what a fine experience my daughter enjoyed checking the blog. She came to find several things, which include how it is like to have a wonderful giving heart to have folks clearly have an understanding of certain very confusing topics. You actually exceeded our expected results. Many thanks for imparting such productive, trustworthy, informative and also unique thoughts on the topic to Gloria.
16I haven’t checked in here for a while as I thought it was getting boring, but the last several posts are great quality so I guess I’ll add you back to my everyday bloglist. You deserve it my friend 🙂
17Hi, i think that i saw you visited my blog thus i got here to “return the favor”.I’m attempting to to find things to improve my web site!I assume its adequate to make use of some of your concepts!!
18I got what you intend, thankyou for putting up.Woh I am glad to find this website through google.
19I like your writing style really loving this site.
20I would like to thnkx for the efforts you have put in writing this blog. I am hoping the same high-grade blog post from you in the upcoming as well. In fact your creative writing abilities has inspired me to get my own blog now. Really the blogging is spreading its wings quickly. Your write up is a good example of it.
21You are my breathing in, I have few web logs and occasionally run out from post :). “Yet do I fear thy nature It is too full o’ the milk of human kindness.” by William Shakespeare.
22of course like your website but you need to check the spelling on quite a few of your posts. Many of them are rife with spelling issues and I find it very troublesome to tell the truth nevertheless I will definitely come back again.
23순천출장마사지 타임케어 – 순천출장홈타이와 순천출장안마 순천홈타이 서비스를 전국 어디서나 24시간 편하게! 전문 마사지사의 맞춤 홈케어로 피로를 빠르게 해소
24I have been exploring for a little for any high quality articles or weblog posts in this sort of area . Exploring in Yahoo I eventually stumbled upon this website. Reading this information So i’m satisfied to convey that I’ve a very good uncanny feeling I found out exactly what I needed. I most without a doubt will make sure to do not put out of your mind this web site and provides it a look regularly.
25I wanted to move tokens without paying a huge percentage in fees. Rango gave me a more affordable path after I adjusted the amount slightly.
26My programmer is trying to convince me to move to .net from PHP. I have always disliked the idea because of the costs. But he’s tryiong none the less. I’ve been using Movable-type on a variety of websites for about a year and am worried about switching to another platform. I have heard good things about blogengine.net. Is there a way I can transfer all my wordpress posts into it? Any help would be greatly appreciated!
27Yeah bookmaking this wasn’t a high risk determination outstanding post! .
28시알리스의 성분인 타다라필과 효과, 지속시간, 5mg·10mg·20mg 차이를 알아보세요. 복용 방식, 부작용, 함께 복용하면 안 되는 약, 처방과 가격 확인 방법을 정리했습니다.
29비아그라 구매 전 알아야 할 국내 처방 절차와 약국 이용 방법, 가격 확인 기준을 안내합니다. 실데나필 성분, 정품 확인 시 주의점, 복용 전 상담사항과 자주 묻는 질문을 확인하세요.
30강릉출장안마로 장거리 출장이나 여행의 피로를 풀어보세요. 강릉 전 지역 어디든 찾아가는 전문 아로마 마사지·스포츠 마사지 서비스를 제공합니다. 비즈니스 출장객, 관광객, 강릉 지역 주민 모두 편리하게 이용할 수 있는 강릉출장안마 서비스입니다. 지금 문의하세요.
31인천출장마사지 인천출장안마 셀럽의 코스별 가격과 현장 결제, 예약 방법을 확인하세요. 송도·청라·부평·구월동·영종 등 지역별 방문 가능 여부와 예상 도착 시간, 자택·호텔 이용 안내를 제공합니다.
32제주출장마사지 셀럽의 코스와 가격, 방문 예약 방법을 확인하세요. 제주시·서귀포시·애월·중문 등 지역별 상담과 숙소 출입, 예상 도착 시간, 제주출장안마 현장 결제 기준을 안내합니다.
33I conceive other website proprietors should take this web site as an model, very clean and excellent user friendly style and design.
34Perfectly pent content, regards for entropy. “Life is God’s novel. Let him write it.” by Isaac Bashevis Singer.
35I like this post, enjoyed this one thanks for posting.
36This web page is known as a stroll-through for the entire information you wanted about this and didn’t know who to ask. Glimpse right here, and also you’ll definitely discover it.
37This really answered my problem, thank you!
38포항출장마사지 전문 업체입니다. 24시간 연중무휴 운영과 100 후불제 시스템으로 언제든 편하게 예약 가능! 전원 한국여성 테라피스트가 커플마사지까지 전문 제공
39This site is my inhalation, rattling great pattern and perfect content material.
40I got what you mean , regards for putting up.Woh I am thankful to find this website through google. “Since the Exodus, freedom has always spoken with a Hebrew accent.” by Heinrich Heine.
41Wow! Thank you! I permanently needed to write on my website something like that. Can I implement a part of your post to my website?
42Glad to be one of several visitors on this awing website : D.
43I wanted to thank you for this great read!! I definitely enjoying every little bit of it I have you bookmarked to check out new stuff you post…
44whoah this blog is excellent i love reading your articles. Keep up the great work! You know, a lot of people are searching around for this info, you can help them greatly.
45Hey there! I know this is kind of off topic but I was wondering if you knew where I could find a captcha plugin for my comment form? I’m using the same blog platform as yours and I’m having problems finding one? Thanks a lot!
46Some genuinely superb information, Glad I found this.
47Hello my loved one! I wish to say that this post is amazing, great written and include almost all important infos. I would like to peer more posts like this.
48I’ve recently started a web site, the info you provide on this website has helped me greatly. Thank you for all of your time & work. “It is a great thing to know our vices.” by Cicero.
49Great paintings! That is the kind of info that are supposed to be shared around the internet. Shame on Google for not positioning this submit upper! Come on over and consult with my site . Thanks =)
50