We ordered: - 2 Paratha Crispy Pancake w/ Curry Dipping Sauce - 2 Lap Pat Dok Salad (Tea Leaf Salad) - 2 Ong Noh Kaw Soi Chicken Soup w/ Noodles - 3 Sides of Coconut Rice - 1 Vegetable Chow Mein - 1 Rangoon Beef (Beef Kebat) - 1 Kung Pao Prawns - 1 Asparagus Spicy Fish - 1 Garlic Shrimp & Eggplant - 1 Burmese Style Curry Pork w/ Potatoes This Burmese restaurant caught our attention after an event. The place was packed inside and the waiting list to sit inside was a bit too long a wait. The lovely worker "TINA" saw the saw our reaction because we so wanted to eat here but we were already so hungry we didn't want to walk any place else. Tina took it upon herself to approach us and asked if we cared to sit outside as it was a cold night and we were seated right away after Tina wiped down the tables. We couldn't have been any happier. We were ready to order and noticed Tina had no notepad but managed to remember our every order and knew was about business! That blew us away because our order was pretty big! That's how you know she's been doing this a long time. She along with her awesome coworkers checked in on us multiple times and were very patient with us as well. It was a such a top tier experience with the service. I wanted to acknowledge that Tina instantly asked us before ordering if any of us had any food allergies or so and ensured to provide her best opinion on the food options we were curious about. She was very informative and we appreciated that so much. For me I love to ask for opinions as a first timer and she instantly provides great options and boy did I love the choice she assisted me with to choose. Mama Tina I hope this message reaches you and your lovely staff! You are amazing and the service along with a few items I loved is the reason why I marked this place as a 5! Alright now let's get into the food, I just had to express my gratitude to the workers. Paratha Crispy Pancake w/ the curry sauce?!?!?! Ughhh a must have for appetizers! It reminded me of a buttery naan bread but what really blew my world was the sauce! The coconut curry sauce matched with the Paratha so well! It was so damn good I doubled back the following day! I would highly recommend ordering the Paratha w/ curry sauce for starters for sure! 10/10 Lap Pat Dok Salad (Tea Leaf Salad) was so fresh but for my own liking I would probably ask for less peanuts as it overpowered the salad for me. It's so good though don't get me wrong. The flavor explosion I really enjoyed was squeezing in both cut up lemons provided as it enhanced thee flavors of the salad and the jalapeños added were so delicious. I love spicy and it wasn't too spicy but just right. 7/10 Ong Noh Kaw Soi Chicken w/ added noodles was so BOMB! Ughhh the flavors in the soup was so tasty it almost gave a warm feeling to the soul on a perfect cold night. It was very creamy and hearty. We added pepper flakes and lemon to the soup and just wow! It was just a party in a bowl I tell you. So good! I highly recommend that for sure! 10/10. Coconut Rice was good, a bit of some hard pieces but still super yummy! To break that up I added some of the Chicken soup to it and the pair together was chef's kiss. Vegetable Chow Mein was mainly for my sister who doesn't eat meat and the dish was a bit bland to my liking but again I added some flavor to it to spice it up a bit by adding some of the coconut curry sauce from the Paratha dish to the chow Mein and baby let me tell you! So good and so creamy, we made it work! 4/10 but with the sauce 10/10 Ragoon Beef (Beef Kebat) was good but was a bit bland for me again. I'm pretty sure I've married their coconut curry sauce because I added that on the beef dish as well and again chef's kiss. I loved that they did add plenty of vegetables though! 5/10 but with the sauce 10/10 King Pao Prawns was great also. The sauce wasn't too thick and sticky either. The prawns also wasn't over cooked as well. It was perfect and had bit of flavor thats enjoyable. There were also lots of peanuts on the parsecs as well so for the peanut lovers I'm sure you'd enjoy. 6/10 Asparagus Spicy Fish dish was flavorful but not spicy as I predicted, of course I added more flakes but overall it was good. 6/10 The garlic shrimp, I didn't get to but my friends mentioned it's one of their faves. Burmese Style Curry Pork w/ Potatoes was another one of my faves as I am a huge curry fan lol. Overall, the experience was amazing and I see why this place gets the attention and fills up quickly. It's absolutely delicious! Also .... I came back the very next day to get the Paratha LOL! Try it out for yourself if you are in the area! read more

See all

Delicious food and fabulous customer service!. Every dish was prepared with love. Thank you

My favorite restaurant in Burlingame! have been multiple times and they consistently make great food. It also holds up well when taking the food to go! My go to's are the Paratha, House Special Noodles, and Burmese Style Pan Fried String Beans! read more

See all

This place is okay and definitely a 3 stars restaurant in comparison to other Burmese restaurants in the area. Mingalaba's tea leaves salad lacked strong tea flavor and the rangoon beef was a bit tame on the spices. What's nice is the service was fairly quick and there were plenty of outdoor seating. read more

Mingalaba - Curry chicken - Burmese Near Me - Burlingame, California

See all

Excellent service! Pros: Servers were very accommodating and patient. Food tastes amazing! Cons: none at the time I ate there. Ambience: dim, mildly noisy but not too harsh. Outdoor dining was also great, they have heaters. read more

This is a "go to" eatery for us - especially when we have foodies visit. The venue is quite basic and tends to be crowded, but they do have outdoor seating at certain times that is less cramped. The food is always amazing - and the blooming tea is a tea show stopper! Highly recommend! read more

See all

I have seriously lost count of how many times I have been to Mingalaba the last year! The paratha and Burmese-style lamb and beef curry are always my fiancé & my go to! The workers are very sweet as well! read more

My Husband and I have been Customers of Mingalaba for few years, we Love the Food and service they are always Friendly! Food always Fresh and Tasty! Highly recommended. read more

This review is looonnnnggg overdue, but it's a testament to how great and consistent the food has remained all these years! Mingalaba is a Burlingame Ave staple, and if you haven't tried it yet, you're definitely missing out! The service is great and because of covid, they now have outdoor seating, which means more tables because the restaurant itself is quite small and crammed inside. Their tea leaf salad is THE BEST and a must try! The house special noodles ranks up there too! Coconut rice is very good, and I prefer it over regular rice to pair with the dishes. I didn't get to take too many pictures of all the food we ordered because we were starving! Lol! But everything on the menu is good, can't go wrong! read more

See all

My favorite restaurant in Burlingame. Been going for years- amazing chowmein and beef.

Got a great take out meal at Mingalaba, especially if you like okra! I called in the order with friendly service and appreciated that my order was repeated to confirm all the ordered items. Pick up was easy and was ready upon my arrival. We ordered the avocado spring rolls, vegetable chow mein, okra with tofu, sautéed spinach with garlic and the eggplant. Loved the avocado in these rolls. The chow mein had some good flavor and veggies in the noodle dish. Oh the okra! The tofu with okra was great with flavor. The sautéed veggies were great to have for your greens. The eggplant was a bit on the mushy side but had good flavor. I will return for more okra. Thank you Mingalaba for a great meal. read more

See all

The best place to eat in Burlingame for sure! The paratha and samosas are my favorite things.

I love their foods, but don't ask for extra cabbage for the tea leave salad... it costs me $3 but the size is just 3 bites... read more

Mingalaba - Tea Leaf Salad and extra cabbage which will cost you $3... - Burmese Near Me - Burlingame, California

Small portions, slow service, and mid food. We were served smallest bit of tea leaf salad I've ever seen, with about as much lettuce as in a hamburger. Rice was served 15 min after the main dishes. We had to ask for water twice before getting it after 20 min. read more

This is the second time I've been to this restaurant. First time was pre-covid, food was fine and portion is decent. Today is big disappointment, ordered the rainbow chicken, it was so dried. The Burmese noodle was okay but not worth $17.50 for such a small portion. Mandatory tips were also added to the check, nothing special with the service. I will not go back to this restaurant again. Food is just okay but very small portion. read more

After living in the Peninsula for most of my life, I finally got to try Mingalaba this week. I've always seen long lines, and luckily I was able to grab t table right away at 5:40pm on a Thursday for a party of 2. The menu is quite extensive with options for both carnivores and vegetarians. Anytime I see lamb, I'm more inclined to try it, so happy to see plenty of lamb dishes. For a party of 2, we ordered quite a lot. Partha - light flaky, Burmese style pancake. Comes with two different sauces, and I enjoyed the one that was more coconut heavy. Not bad for 8.95. Coconut Chicken Soup - we ordered a small order which is $7, just to try for the flavor. The chicken was really moist, which was nice. Had a nice coconut flavor, and something warm on a cold night. No real stand out/lasting flavors, but still passable. Curry Lamb - I like that they give you a whole lot of lamb! Portion is enough for one person or for a table if you are ordering with multiple people. I asked for 80% spicy, but no real spice hit me here, should've went full 100%. The meat had a good stewed texture, but overall dish was alright. Yellow bean Fried Rice - I love how they put a ton of egg on top over the rice. I didn't really care for the yellow beans and the fried rice was dry tasting. This was a pass for me. Main dishes will run you $15-20 per. No rice is included with any dish, but you can add a single scoop, for $2-4. Overall, maybe it was what I ordered that didn't blow me away, doesn't mean it's not good, just not for me. Maybe I need to go with more ppl to try more dishes! If I go back, I'll definitely update my reviews read more

See all

The noodles were great! We told our server to make it less spicy and the vegetables were cooked to perfection! The Burmese style curry with rice was came out very good and filling! The restaurant was filed, but not too loud or noisy read more

See all

Authentic Burmese food - very similar to the food we had in Burma! We shared two appetizers: tea leaf salad - amazing! Perfect proportion of different ingredients. Palata - the sauce was very tasty. We got Shan noodle, coconut noodle and Burmese noodle salad. High recommend this place. read more

See all

Went here for dinner for the first time at around 7:30PM on a Wednesday night. The place was relatively busy but we didn't have to wait to get seated at a table. They have indoor and outdoor seating available. We ordered the tea leaf salad, burmese style curry chicken, and burmese style noodle. To eat with the curry we also got 1 order of coconut rice. When you eat the coconut rice alone you can taste the coconut, but when you cover it in curry the coconut flavor gets lost so next time I probably wouldn't pay more for coconut rice and just get regular rice to eat with the curry. All of dishes are extremely tasty but the portion sizes are extremely small! I was still a little hungry after dinner, but perhaps I just eat a lot. Highly recommend getting tea leaf salad, but it has nuts in it so be careful if you're allergic! Parking can be difficult as this restaurant is located downtown and all I saw was street parking. Street parking is not free before 6PM but we came afterwards so it was free. read more

See all

Paid $75 for three people and left still hungry I've been coming here for 10 years. It was the first place I ate at when I moved here and I absolutely adored it. It has gone downhill though. Such a huge pity. We had the mango chicken and two house noodles and all were hungry thinking we order more but the waiter came by and took the plates for the two of us that had finished and then left the check so that was that! House noodles are just sauce and noodles with a tiny bit of chicken or tofu. No veg except some decorative cilantro and onion. There is no diaper changing station so we had to change a highly mobile, wiggly one year one on a lap on the toilet. With a poopy diaper to boot. At least the high chair was clean. The food was very tasty but for $25 a person I would want to leave satisfied. We ended up going to the cafe across the street. My husband's family have been coming here for decades and it's a family favorite. Next time we'll go elsewhere though, end of an era. read more

DoorDashed Really good! I got the Singapore noodles and pumpkin curry. Both are so good and flavorful. Kobashi squash in season *happy* soooo yummy! The Singapore noodles were delish as well. Potions are generous! Coconut rice-- yum! read more

Simply put, food is fine, but extremely overpriced. To start, they ask you when you order if you want hot tea, but beware, it's $6, not the free hot tea you may be used to at other Asian restaurants. The tea leaf salad is alright, but $17 for a tiny little plate. We ordered the Burmese curry prawns and at least one prawn was fishy. We also ordered the Burmese curry chicken and the yellow curry chicken pumpkin. Both were OK, not a lot of meat though. Coconut rice is now $5 a bowl. Service is very brusque, like you're bothering them to eat there. It's your average hole in the wall restaurant, nothing fancy. While the food isn't bad, neither the food nor the service nor the atmosphere warrants such high prices. You're better off just driving to SF where there is stiffer competition to win your business. read more

See all

Stumbled upon this place looking for a place to eat for my moms birthday and was not disappointed! Everything was flavorful! Portions are on the smaller side. Every dish was delicious and I was actually impressed every time a dish came to the table. The food came out pretty quick during a busy lunch hour and our server was helpful in assisting what to get there. We had of course the tea leaf salad, paratha, mango fish, green beans and pork, and the burma style noodles. All super flavorful! About $98 without tip for 3 people. read more

See all

Hm, not totally understanding the hype of this place. Came here w my mom and sis. The portions aren't really meant to be shared. Family style felt really awkward because we were focused on not eating too much of one thing so there was enough for others. The ambiance sucked bc the inside is really loud, cramped, and crowded (we came on. Wed night dinner rush though). Service was friendly and fast, but I don't think I'd come back for the above reasons. Not to mention, I've never been to a place where even getting hot water would be $2! We ordered the tea leaf salad, the coconut chicken soup w noodle, the house special noodle, a coconut drink, and a mango lassi drink. The tea leaf salad was pretty decent, on the very crunchy side! I've had better though. And it was really small for $16.50 The coconut chicken soup w noodle was not bad, but not stand-out good either. $17.95 The house special noodle was the best entree in terms of flavor and overall satisfaction. $17.50 The mango lassi LOOKS the nicest, with a tall glass and delicious taste. Just seeing it makes you want it! But surprisingly the coconut tapioca drink was the best of the entire meal! There's coconut chunks in there and it was the perfect mix of sweet, chunky, and chewy w tapioca. Each of these drinks was $8. read more

See all

Mingalaba used to be my regular take out spot when I lived near them in Burlingame. Some of my favorite things here are the paratha, samusa soup ( best thing ever!), Shan noodle. All the veggie dishes are great - when ordering rice try their tampoi rice instead of regular rice - it's delicious. When I wanted to eat more healthy I'd grab a tea leaf salad or a green papaya salad. Pretty much everything I've ordered here has turned to be great. Used to be a little bit of wait in the pre-Covid days but the food was worth it. My meat loving friends also seemed to like anything they tried and I definitely wish I still lived close by. A little pricey to be your regular takeout spot but when it tastes this good - you make exceptions as a foodie. read more

Mingalaba - Shan Noodle - Burmese Near Me - Burlingame, California

Okay, I don't eat out as much as I used to... But 3 dishes + fresh ginger lemonade shouldn't come out to $108. Oh wait, that included 2 plain white rice sides... Did I forget to mention there were 3 of us... Looking closer at the bill... what's this... 18% gratuity added to the bill . That seems kind of steep and sneaky being automatically added to the bill to serve 3 people a very ordinary undemanding meal. When i inquired about the tip being added to the bill, the server brought over a manager, he brought the menu that shows the mandatory tip schedule... serving 2 - 5 charges 18% gratuity, if 6 or more it's 20%. Was service stellar? No, by any measure. We ordered 3 curry dishes, meaning they'd been prepared and simmering in advance. The plain white rice, was cooked in advance too. So, why weren't all the dishes served at once? Instead, there were gaps of at least 5 minutes, between food being served to us. First they brought out 2 meat curry dishes. We waited, expecting the rice to come out immediately, nope. A wait, then the the rice came out. Another wait, finally the chicken pumpkin curry arrived. Of course this all happened before we knew should the mandatory gratuity schedule. Enough griping about the surprise mandatory gratuity schedule and on with the review of the food. Lamb curry was tender and not gamey, sauce was well prepared and very reminiscent of Indian style red curry, only a little less oily. The other meat curry dish looked to be the same. The third curry dish, chicken pumpkin yellow curry, was well prepared and somewhat reminiscent of Thai yellow curry, but less spicy. They were all good decent curries, but not remarkable. Portions were on the small side. Everyone tried the fresh ginger lemonade. I was expecting something special, since they touted it as fresh and remarkable. I thought it good for cleansing the palate, but again it unremarkable. Lemons and ginger came through and had decent balance. No one raved about it, in fact my dining companions wrinkled their noses at it. Moment of truth... would I go back... NO. IMHO the restaurant is overpriced for the quality, quantity and service being provided. Plus the sneaky mandatory gratuity was a real turnoff for us, a small party with a simple order. read more

Mingalaba - Minimum gratuity is 18% for 2 - 5 guests 20% for parties of 6 or more - Burmese Near Me - Burlingame, California

I know the name sounds great, and you probably see how busy it is (or was recommended by a friend.) So in short, the food is pretty good. It's not amazing, but it might also be the best Burmese option in the area. The problem? It's pretty dang expensive. The portions are small, yet cost like $15+, and each individual bowl of rice is $4-5. So the costs add up into something big, especially if you're hungry. Here's what we got: - Tea leaf salad - classic Burmese dish. I'd skip this - their version is not that good, and more importantly, it's super tiny and costs like $13. Like you could maybe eat like 3 of these. - House Noodle Special - one of their specials. It's an interesting play on textures, flavors are American-ized but good. Not bad but pricy for what you get. - Curries - I think we got a beef and chicken one? These were pretty good, but again, high price. Probably what I'd get if I went again. Overall, an okay spot if you're sponsored (haha), or you want Burmese without driving too far. Food isn't bad, but the value just feels like eh. read more

Wanted to try their Paratha, photos on Yelp made it look good. Ordered online on a Sunday afternoon. We must have circled around 3 times before finding 1 parking spot. Lots of others trying to find parking as well, public parking lots all full. Thankfully we got a parking spot close by and walked over for pick up. The older women waitress her tone was harsh, we did not expect that. I thought okay maybe she's just having a bad day but then I read the other Yelp reviewers say about her being rude as well. Then another worker who was friendly gave us our food said it was just done. What we ordered Paratha Pan Fried Okra Prawns Burmese Style Curry Beef (2) Coconut Rice Paratha tasted good with the sauce, a bit oily but crispy in some parts. Pan Fried Okra Prawns - tasted good lots of okra and there was bell peppers in the dish too (next time I'll try their fish) Burmese Style Curry Beef - soft beef cubes, good amount of flavor Coconut rice - tasted really good, can taste the coconut and the fried onions were a nice touch. Overall I would come here again, a bit pricy but I want to try out their other dishes. read more

See all

It has been a year since I've been to Mingalaba and I am so glad I came back because the food is just as delicious as it was a year ago. Parking in the downtown Burlingame area can sometimes be tricky but we were lucky and parked just a block away. It was a saturday evening so the restaurant was busy. We had two parties ahead of us, but we only had to wait about 10 minutes or so. The waiter brought us to our table and quickly came back with menus and water. Here's what we ordered: 1. Burmese style curry pork and potatoes (spicy) 2. Nan gyi dok (Burmese noodle salad with chicken) 3. Tea leaf salad If you have not tried the tea leaf salad, you are missing out! There's something delicious about the tea leaf salad with all of the different things in it, that it's kinda hard to describe unless you eaten it before. I really enjoyed the curry even though by the end of the meal my lips were on fire, but so worth it. I didn't realize how spicy it was until I noticed the water in my cup was quickly disappearing. The curry was thick and consistent; the pork and potatoes were tender and soft. The noodles were really good too! Initially it looked watery from the sauce, but it actually wasn't and was super tasty. As you can see from the menu, there are so many more dishes to try so I will be back for more! read more

See all

The chicken just tasted very soapy. We trashed it eventually. The house noodles were okay. Overall not worth it. read more

I came here with a party of 4 for a friend's birthday on a Thursday evening. They don't take reservations, but you can put your name on a Yelp list. We had to wait around 15-20 min before being seated. We shared the paratha which was super flaky and buttery and the curry was really good. I ordered the House Special Noodle and it was good, but honestly nothing special. I wish I had ordered one of the other noodle dishes. My friends ordered a ton of meat dishes and all seemed to really enjoy it. I also got the coconut drink which was super unique. read more

Mingalaba - Burmese Near Me - Burlingame, California

We put ourselves on the waitlist and waited about 30 minutes for a table, it was very busy for a Tuesday night. The food was good! We got the house noodles, green tea salad and lamb stew. The house noodles were very tasty but I think there was too much of the crunchy topping compared to the amount of noodles on the dish. The green tea salad was also good but there were a lot more peanuts than actual salad on the dish. The lamb stew was also very tasty, the lamb was very tender with lots of flavor. read more

See all

Perfect place for a date night, there's no bad choices at Mingalaba. Affordable and quality, my own meal was full of flavor and the staff was attentive. The mango drink was the right consistency, like a smoothie and I will always order one here. The beef and broccoli was super good, flanked steak but not too thin. Others had Mongolian beef, sweet and sour chicken, and a soup and everyone was raving about their meals. read more

See all

Yum yum yum!! Whenever I see a tea leaf salad on a menu I have to get it! At Mingalaba it is a little different, and arrives at the table already mixed as opposed to each ingredient being separate and mixed table side. But nonetheless the flavor and crunch is all there!!! I would 10/10 order it again. Also 10/10 is the green bean with dried shrimp, super tasty and not oily. The Burmese style chicken curry is also super tasty! It kind of reminds me of a cross between Japanese curry and butter chicken or chicken tandoori. Either way, it's delicious and also a 10/10! Can't wait to come back! read more

Mingalaba - Tea Leaf Salad - Burmese Near Me - Burlingame, California

See all

Never had Burmese food before and tried this place after a friend's recommendation and it was AMAZING!! Wasn't sure on what to order but everything came out to be so satisfying. For appetizers we had the Paratha and LOVE this, it was flakey and had a good amount of chewy. The two dipping sauce that it came with was FIRE, you could really taste the curry in it! The other app we got was their Mango Salad and I was a bit skeptical about this one because I thought the mango would be too soft for a salad but this was fresh and crunchy! It had some fried onions, cilantro, red onion and some vinaigrette and it just really tied everything together. A must if you're look for a good fresh starter for your meal! Our first entree was their Spicy Basil Chicken and I really enjoyed this, wasn't too spicy but definitely had a kick to it. The basil flavor really stood out and complimented the chicken, a really great dish to get! Our second dish was the House Special Noodles and this was literally the STAR of the show, you HAVE to get this. I understand why it's call the House Special because this was just so rich and creamy. The sauce was just everything, the noodles was bouncy and the fried noodle chips just gave it a little balance of crisp! I loved all the dishes so much but these noodles stood out the most for me. Servers were super nice, food came out quick and would definitely come back again!! read more

See all

We were very disappointed with the portion size of the tea leaf salad. It's about 1/3 the size since I last had it from this restaurant before the pandemic. Also we were talked into their specialty non alcoholic ginger/lemon/mint drink. When we received the bill they charged $50 for the 5 glasses. The food was good but not worth what they charged. We have crossed this place off our birthday celebration list of restaurants. read more

The worst food we have ever ordered from what was once a fantastic restaurant! What happened??? Food did not seem fresh, vegetables were soggy and tasteless , meat was on the tough side and chicken was bland! Will never go back!!!! read more

I've been coming here for 8 years. Food and service have really declined. I've even gone as far as to very gently bring it up and they shrug and actually push back on me. Their house special noodle is still great. I ordered the mango chicken tonight. Total $26. And maybe equal to half cup of chicken. And 3 slices of mango? $18 for a side of string beans is embarrassing. read more

Mingalaba - Mango chicken - Burmese Near Me - Burlingame, California

THis place was great. Recommended by my Filipino Chef Friend, who knows all his sh** when it comes to Asian cuisine. And it did not disappoint. It's very popular, sometimes packed, and someone even opened up a "meh" place next door that tries to scoop-up all the "people who don't want to wait for a table at Mingalaba". Don't get lazy, wait for the table! read more

Stopped here for lunch for my favorite tea leaf salad and house noodle. Delicious. Portions are small which I find to be great - can try a couple things by yourself without being too full or carrying home giant bags of take out. A nice place to eat solo. House noodle had an almost floral (but not perfumey) fragrant quality that is mouthwatering. It's creamy but not overly so. The tea leaf salad (with shrimp powder) is crunchy, spicy, pungent, and so satisfyingly crunchy from the cabbage and the peanuts. I love this place. read more