Burmese food in Christchurch? We were intrigued so we decided to check out Rangoon Ruby for our first dinner in town. It's merged with The Bodhi Tree so don't confuse the two; it's now under one roof. Mama Hooch is located right next door to them.
We dropped in for an early Monday dinner (around 5:45pm). The inside is gorgeous with two floors and a very clean, modern look. Interesting that most of the clientele was Caucasian.
The menu is short and sweet; nibbly bits, soups, vegetable/salad, meat, seafood and desserts. The drink menu is standard but at least the bottles are reasonable.
- Lepet thoke ($14.50 NZD) - tea leaf salad is a Burmese speciality. Pickled tea leaves mixed with lentils, nuts, sesame seeds and chili. Barely any heat nor much tea leaf flavour but still a tasty dish. Also, way too pricey for such a small appetizer.
- 2x steamed rice ($3.00 NZD/person) - we weren't sure but turns out you can get free refills on rice. Sweet because it's steep enough for plain white rice.
- Nga kin ($17.50 NZD) - a boneless fillet of fresh fish (grouper) baked in the oven. When this dish got dropped off, we did a double take. Smallest piece of fish I've seen on a plate. Fish was nicely cooked but plain. Luckily, the side sauce was BOMB; could have drank that on its own. It was sweet, spicy and tangy (a mix of soy sauce, fish sauce, vinegar, cilantro, chives and hot pepper).
- Seit da nut ($16.50 NZD) - lamb curry cooked with lemongrass, ginger and curry leaves. You get three pieces; again, small portion but the lamb was tender and delicious. Wish that you'd get some vegetables with this dish.
Good flavours but know coming in that portions are small. 3.5 stars. read more