Dining Out: Specialties at Rangoon, a rare Burmese restaurant in Canada, as tasty as they are exotic

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Rangoon Restaurant
634 Somerset St. W., 613-680-8821, rangoonrestaurant.ca
Open: Monday to Thursday, 3 to 9 p.m., Friday and Saturday, 3 to 10 p.m., closed Sunday
Prices: Most shareable dishes under $20
Access: Steps to front door, washrooms upstairs

When we asked our server at Rangoon what the chef had done to make her chickpea-based appetizers so delicious, his response was a little cagey.

“Magic!” he said.

Knowing as little as I do about Burmese food, I might have believed our server had he kept his lips sealed. But we were persistent and he spilled the beans. Or, in this case, the chickpeas.

These impeccably made fritters ($9) wowed us with their tastiness and textural complexity. How did the chef achieve those crisp-fried exteriors with quivering, practically melting interiors that brought to mind silken tofu? We were told that the method involved adding water to chickpea powder and slowly cooking the mixture, stirring all the while, until it was ready to be refrigerated. Later, the batter was carefully fried to order. The result was as irresistible as they were humble.

There was much more to discover at the no-frills Somerset Street West eatery. Or, should I say, re-discover, since I did make several eye- and palate-opening visits there in 2018.

When I returned in December last year, I was happy to see that the family-run business, which first opened in Ottawa in 2010 in a Gloucester Street hole-in-the-wall, was still making a go of things despite the upheavals of the last four years.

The only change in the menu that I was able to note was the addition of a few basic wines and beers, including pale ales from Spark Beer down the street. Previously, Rangoon was unlicensed. Now, you can bring your own bottles too, for the very reasonable corkage fee of $10.

Speaking of reasonable, back in 2018 I noted that most of Rangoon’s shareable dishes came in at under $20, and the same somehow holds true five years later. It’s my turn to say, “Magic!”

In addition to its affordable prices, Rangoon’s menu includes a welcome introductory page explaining that Myanmar, the Southeast Asian country of 60 million people that was formerly Burma, boasts a unique cuisine based on the ethnicities of its inhabitants and the influences of neighbouring countries including India, Bangladesh, Laos, Thailand and China. It’s up to you to taste chef-owner Ngun Tial’s food and connect some dots.

The menu also appends stars to a few special dishes denoted as suggestions by Tial. Follow them!

You will be rewarded, for example, with mohinga ($12.95), one of Rangoon’s four soups. It was a big, savoury, comforting bowl that combined thin rice vermicelli and bits of basa fish in a yellow broth thickened with chickpeas, while a side serving of chiles added some zippy heat. Big enough to be the centrepiece of a meal for one, the soup was split easily into an appetizer for two.

Mohinga, a Burmese fish soup, plus chili powder at Rangoon on Somerset Street West in Chinatown.

Rangoon’s lightly creamy coconut chicken noodle soup ($12.95) was left unstarred, but it too was delicious, in a low-key way.

Another starred item was the green tea leaf salad ($11.95) in which fermented tea leaves imparted bitterness to a compelling dressing for romaine lettuce, while a side bowl held bits of sliced chile and raw garlic for additional jolts of flavour.

Equally appealing was a tomato salad ($11.95), which was blessed with the same magical dressing. Happily, the dressing made with imported fermented tea leaves is listed on the menu as a $10 take-home item, but sadly, when I went in December, the restaurant wasn’t selling any because it had to conserve its stock of the cherished ingredient, which was running a little low.

Of two appetizers, Burmese vegetarian spring rolls that came with a tamarind dipping sauce ($6.95) were starred, while those dynamite chickpea fritters were not. While those large and un-oily spring rolls were exceptional, I’d have given the chickpea fritters some extra love too.

Among 10 main courses, only shan chicken ($18.95) was marked with a star, and rightly so, it seemed to us. In this must-order dish, surprisingly tender white meat — dry-brined, I would bet — mingled with punchily sour pickled mustard leaves, rice noodles, an alluring sauce, peanuts, coriander and more. For vegetarians, the dish is available with tofu instead of chicken.

Of six vegetarian items, we went for the starred choice of sliced eggplant simmered with spices, onion and garlic ($17.95), which came with pieces of raw veg and a spicy, watery, tomato-y dipping sauce for good measure. The eggplant dish was good, but probably the only one of the starred items that I wouldn’t instantly re-order the next time I go to Rangoon.

We tried two other shareable dishes — a beef and basil stir-fry ($20.95) that was markedly milder and more garlicky than its Thai counterparts, and a sautée of shrimp in a tomato-y sauce ($19.95). They rounded out our meals without outdoing the dishes that most excited us.

Beef and basil stir-fry at Rangoon on Somerset Street West in Chinatown.

When we tried Rangoon in December, we were not its only guests, but neither was it full. And yet Tial’s restaurant continues to be a modest but exemplary eatery that treats Ottawa food lovers to appealing dishes that they would otherwise have to travel to enjoy.

So it would seem, given that if you google “Burmese restaurants in Canada,” exactly five examples pop up. There’s one in Vancouver, another that is currently closed in Calgary, a third in Edmonton, a fourth in Toronto, and last, but most likely not least, Rangoon.

Given how rare and even magical its food can be, Rangoon deserves to be a lot busier.

phum@postmedia.com

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