EAST VILLAGE, MANHATTAN
Little Myanmar
Tea-leaf salad and mohinga from a family kitchen on East 2nd Street.
Thidar Kyaw, Tin Ko Naing and their daughter Yun Naing first cooked Burmese food from a bodega-style cafe in Jackson Heights; this small East Village room is the family's Manhattan outpost and one of very few places in the city to eat Burmese cooking done with care. Burma's food sits between India, China and Thailand, and it is built on sour, salty and fermented flavors.
Start with laphet thoke, the fermented tea-leaf salad tossed with crunchy beans, nuts and sesame, and mohinga, the catfish-and-lemongrass noodle soup Burmese families eat for breakfast. Then the Burmese pancake with vegetables and toasted sesame, house-made roti with potato curry, and kaut swe thoke, yellow noodles with chicken in curry. Michelin has given it a Bib Gourmand.
Editor’s tip
The tea-leaf salad and the mohinga together are the quickest introduction to what makes Burmese food its own thing.
Make an evening of it — beautiful stops nearby
Also in the neighborhood
Editorial draft — core details last reviewed October 13, 2026. Confirm practical details with the official site before you go.