Fantastic place to eat. Our favourites Tea Leaf Salad and Samosa Soup, both are exceptional dishes. Weekends are hectic so reservations are important, even on some weekdays its too busy. read more

1 star for poor service. If it seems employees don't care, it's because they truly don't care to assist you. Which is sad because their overpriced food is quite enjoyable. Wish I could say the take out experience is better but be prepared to wait 10 mins for anyone to even see you waiting to pick up. read more

After going to the fantastic Grocery Cafe (underrated gem), Burma Superstar, and B-Star multiple times since forever, I think I have a pretty good read on Burmese food in the Bay Area. I was curious to try this location, located on the peninsula (I don't get out there much). We came in with a large group, but had reservations for 8:00. We arrived a little late, but our table wasn't ready until about 8:30. Additionally, it was clearly a 6 person table that they shoehorned in an extra seat for. Outside of that, service was good. They were quite patient with our indecisive group and weren't too pushy or anything like that. Onto the food! Samusas for the table, which were tasty and crispy, but the potato inside didn't really have an extra kick of flavor like I'm used to. Others at the table had walnut shrimp, garlic noodles, etc., that they all enjoyed. I ordered a tea leaf salad, as did my fiancee sitting across from me. My salad came pre-mixed, whereas hers was mixed tableside. As a result, mine tasted much more oily and less fresh than hers. The tomatoes were kind of mealy- it's summer in the Bay Area! You can get fantastic tomatoes for dirt cheap! These salads were 14 dollars apiece and I don't think the value was quite there. Overall, the prices for each item had a solid premium (Palo Alto?) The meat dishes were in the mid to high 20s and some of the vegetarian entrees were in the low 20s. Yes, this place had linen napkins and a full bar (with some cool cocktails), but it also had a restroom with staff lockers and paper tablecloths. Maybe I'm being too mean here, but I'll take my Grocery Cafe and Burma Superstar every time over this spot. read more

Rangoon Ruby - Tea leaf salad. Mine came premixed? - Asian Fusion Near Me - Palo Alto, California

I was thoroughly pleased with my experience at Rangoon Ruby in Palo Alto. The food is served family-style, so you and your friends can order a couple of dishes and share them. The tea leaf salad was tasty, and the noodle and curry dishes were also very flavorful. Service was attentive even though the restaurant was busy (on a Friday night, to be expected). In addition, the cocktails are super good! There are lots of creative tiki and fruity drinks to taste - I had the one with blue curacao and one with banana rum, both of which were fantastic. read more

Rangoon Ruby - Tea leaf salad - Asian Fusion Near Me - Palo Alto, California

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The place is so dark and the floors were sticky. We ordered samosas which were literally turmeric dipped potatoes in flour jackets - they had no seasoning on it. The vegetable curry had raw uncooked veggies. I could taste the raw onion and garlic. Very disappointing for the price. Wouldn't recommend this place. read more

We were so lucky to find a seat at the bar today. The food and the drinks are prefect. I am so glad we found this great place. We ordered the salad and a dish that I don't remember the name but every bit was full of flavor and perfect. We will be back . read more

Rangoon Ruby - Asian Fusion Near Me - Palo Alto, California

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too oily, literally oil floats over water meat (chicken) quality is not good. Overall, expensive but not good quality. Place has currently some outdoor sitting due to CoVID. read more

Horrible, I went with my other friends and my eggplant was the only redeemable dish. The steak was over cooked, the lemongrass chicken was dry. I should've brought my sous vide and made them use it, because gas cooking isn't their strong suit. The cocktail was more pineapple tart and barely had any rum. The water was refilled a lot, so we stayed hydrated. Also what in the world is wrong with the owners, charging a 4% ACA fee. Build it into your food prices like every other restaurant. read more

Perfect place for Vegetarians. Tea leaf salads and samosa salad were out of the world! Food was served promptly and I really enjoyed the quite ambiance. Not many dessert options though, but they do have a nice collection of beverages. I would strongly recommend you to make a prior reservation to avoid long wait times. A bit high on the price point .. read more

Rangoon Ruby - Samosa Salad - Asian Fusion Near Me - Palo Alto, California

The food at Rangoon Ruby was pretty good. I enjoyed the palata (A multi layered bread served with coconut chicken), Garlic Noodles, country style beef curry (super flavorful and tender) and Burmese-Indian rice. I also ordered coconut water served in a fresh coconut, and it was really refreshing! I had made a reservation, but when we arrived we had to wait for about 20 minutes before anyone to acknowledge us. Honestly, the restaurant was not even close to being full but I guess they had a lot of to go orders. When they brought out our food, some of the dishes were not hot but they happily remade it for us and gave us a dessert for the inconvenience. Overall I would rate this place and the experience 3.5/5. read more

I went their with my husband for a date night. The experience was horrible. The host was not friendly. Service was bad. I have never had a bad tea leaf salada and our entre was served wrong. read more

Good vegetarian selection. Samosa soup was a good starter. Rainbow salad was also good. The appetizer sizes were small. Overall food is very tasty. A very nice fine dining experience. read more

Went there yesterday 04/16/23 and everything was below average, including service not servers fault but seemed way under staff place. Some of the food items was cold and we had to ask them to reheat it. Coconut rice was dry and no flavor. Will not go again and there's nothing you're missing by not going there. read more

Absolutely DISAPPOINTING experience. HORRIBLE FOOD QUALITY! Eggplant-Garlic curry we ordered was mushy and tasteless. Pratha with dipping sauce was literally leftovers served cold and stale. SERVICE was rushed and disaster. WILL NEVER AGAIN return to this place. STAY AWAY and FIND BETTER BURMESE RESTAURANT to spend $$$$ read more

Fancy and cool vibes~ I would definitely recommend this place for a date or a classier meet up! We ordered: Palata appetizer: YUM. The thick pancake was so flaky, doughy and buttery. Kind or reminiscent of a flattened croissant? The chicken curry that comes along with it pairs PERFECTLY. I highly recommend this appetizer if you want something yummy :) Tea leaf salad: I was really excited for this dish, because I have always wanted to try tea leaf salad, but never had the opportunity. It was really...different. Lots of textures going on with the mushy tea leaves, and crunchy peanuts, fried garlic and white beans. Usually when I go for salad, I want something refreshing, but this salad was a little on the heavier side in terms of flavor and also texture. However, it wasn't bad! Just not what I'm used to. I really wanted to love it, but I think it was a little too different for me. Duck Garlic noodles: These noodles came out much differently than I expected. The noodles are thin and flat, and the garlic flavor was subtle. These were not buttery like at Vietnamese restaurants, but it was still good and seemed a little lighter. The duck meat was so tender! Though I was not completely sold on some of the dishes that I tried, I am eager to come back because I can tell that the food is high quality and I am sure that I will find something that I like. read more

Rangoon Ruby - Tea leaf salad - Asian Fusion Near Me - Palo Alto, California

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Minute 34. We have been trapped in a tiny cramped space that was definitely not made for anyone to stand. Into it have also been crammed many loud and annoying people. Chairs are also being ushered in and we are shoved into the very corners. The hostess has no sympathy for our plight. Having a reservation gains you nothing here. Parties of three without a reservation have been granted safe passage to a coveted table. Parties of two in this wasteland are ignored, despised, forgotten. We are famished and parched and still have not been acknowledged. Minute 35. At last, we are led to an oasis brimming with the promise of food. FOOD/DRINKS: ------------------ If I was only rating based on the food, this would be a 5 star review, hands down. However, as we all know, a good Yelp review should be comprehensive of the full experience. After all that, we knew the first thing we needed was a drink. And a drink we got. The **Dragon Punch Bowl** was huge, delicious, and greatly improved our mood. Now we were ready to start our meal! The hostess never expressed much of an apology, but she did offer us a complimentary **Palata** appetizer which consisted of multi-level bread with coconut chicken, reminiscent of yellow curry. This was incredible. Maybe because we were starving, or maybe it was just that good. Smooth, creamy, perfectly flavored, I wished this was a larger dish. We shared two amazing entrees. The **Country Style Lamb** in traditional red curry with onion, garlic and red chili was very hearty and extremely well-seasoned. We HAD to add the roast duck to the **Garlic Noodles** and it was definitely the right choice. The noodles were the perfect complement to the meal. SERVICE/AMBIANCE: -------------------------- Our waitress was outstanding. She provided attentive and helpful service, and definitely compensated for the terrible start of the evening. The hostess needs to take a class in customer service. Because first impressions mean everything, I was left with a sour taste in my mouth that even 100% delicious food could not make up for. This place is rather loud and cramped. Expect to be right up against the next table. If you're looking for a quiet, intimate evening this is not the place for you. I hope to return at some point and give Rangoon Ruby a second try. The food itself deserves it, as well as the great waitress! TIP: Be at least slightly wary of any place that has problems handling their reservations. DATE TIP: The food tastes so romantic you won't need to do anything else! read more

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Let's get right to it: The Basil Chili Beef, served with the coconut rice, is absolutely fantastic. World-class, really. The tea leaf salad was delicious as well. The garlic noodles with duck, not so much. I mean, they were good, but just nothing special. Flavors kind of blended together and the duck was very small pieces with a LOT of noodles. Can't even dock a star for the duck garlic noodles, though, because seriously, the Basil Chili Beef was just outrageously good, as the website arrogantly yet accurately claims. read more

So, if you are familiar with DTPA you might be thinking that this place is associated with the Rangoon restaurant that closed on Bryant - they are not. Completely different owners. But I did learn from our server that two of the chefs worked at Burma Superstar, so that definitely piqued my interest, especially for the Tea Leaf Salad. We came for lunch and ordered three things: The Palata with Chicken Curry http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/vStWaPrdP4ysnKpj0WoHJQ?select=swWjEfqkxjlm6jXNP2xYHA#gW4sjyhsvhB_3hJMvTCdzA The roti was very tasty but it was kind of soggy in middle. :( The curry was rich and flavorful and had fairly good chunks of chicken. Ruby Shrimp with Burmese-Indian Rice http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/vStWaPrdP4ysnKpj0WoHJQ?select=swWjEfqkxjlm6jXNP2xYHA#HqM1lc7vd65YSfuMKobPbQ Our server asked how hot we wanted it and we indicated medium. Their medium here is on the spicy side! Not complaining though, the sweet heat from the shrimp brought on a dewy glow to the huzbeau's face (lol), and the rice was cooked perfectly and helped to temper the heat. You can also get brown or jasmine rice. Tea Leaf Salad http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/vStWaPrdP4ysnKpj0WoHJQ?select=swWjEfqkxjlm6jXNP2xYHA#uvwWv-0mrCS7PZJhg3Ne-g If you haven't had fermented tea leaf salad before, you have to try it! Tossed with crispy garlic and lots of nuts and grains its a feast of textures and flavors. This was great but I'd have to say Burma Superstar's is still better, but having this restaurant so close to work beats having to go to Alameda or the City for this salad. The interior of the restaurant is very classy and very appropriate for a business lunch or a lunch/dinner date. I'll definitely be back. read more

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Ever since Left at Albequerque went under, this space has been a number of things. I thought that Baklava would survive as they made some honestly good Turkish fare. However Rangoon Ruby maybe even an upgrade to that. Is Burmese the new black? it certainly seems to be spreading around. After discovering Burma Super Star years ago before it caught on like wildfire and expanding, it was one of the few games in the whole bay area for the cuisine. Now they have multiple locales and others are following suit. I guess some of the ex employees struck out on their own and opened this place. They've upgraded the decor and made it very modern and sleek. A full bar, awesome glass chandeliers, and very minimalist clean lines. Greeted by a very friendly and super cute hostess (yes I have a crush) we were seated by the large windows up front. We're greeted immediately by our server and given a few moments to look at the menu. Since my friend has a gluten allergy we had to figure what was edible and shareable. After a few run throughs with the kitchen giving feedback we ended up with: -Tea Leaf Salad - Burmese tea leaves, fried garlic, beans, peanuts, sesame seeds, lettuce, tomato and dried shrimp. -Monk Hingar - Thin rice noodles in a chowder made from catfish, ginger, lemon grass, onion, garlic, and fried rice powder. Served with a hard-boiled egg, fried yellow peas and cilantro. -Pumpkin Pork Stew - pork, locally grown pumpkin, fresh onion, garlic, ginger and Burmese spices -Country Style Lamb - Bagan's traditional red curry with onion, garlic, and red chili -Home Style Fried Rice - Tender whole yellow beans steamed for 2 days come together with fried Jasmine rice and topped with fried onions Flavors were all really good. The pork and lamb maybe a bit on the lean side but still tasty nonetheless. Monk Hingar is Burmese staple which every native eats, that with the tea leaf salad is a good way to judge their level of cooking. The fried rice was interesting because it tasted exactly like a dish that my father cooked when I was a kid and I dont think he's ever had Burmese food in his life. Crazy weird how strong food memories are. Service is solid though maybe over anxious at this point. They need to let people just enjoy their food. I do appreciate the attentiveness, better than lack of. WIll have to give the drinks a try when I come back in next to sample more of the fare. Definitely a good addition to the dining scene in PA. 4.3 stars read more

Located in the heart of downtown Palo Alto, it seems to be one of the busiest restaurants on the strip. I would recommend making reservations prior especially on weekends or else you would have to end up waiting like me for over an hour to be seated. It didn't seem too bad with all the shops still opened and must i say... that i really like the Palo Alto nightlife vibe. You can see musicians passionately providing the streets with fantastic music and the christmas lights still up around the trees makes it feel like it's the holidays all over again. After a hour wait we were seated in a somewhat cramped area for two. We were immediately served with menus for food and an ipad menu for drinks. The ambiance seemed like a higher class dining but not to a degree of being too formal which i like. We ended up ordering the garlic noodles with duck meat and the pork pumpkin stew with steamed rice on the side. Wanted to say that the Garlic noodle didn't really taste like garlic noodle but more like pasta. As for the Pork pumpkin stew.... they actually accidentally gave us chicken pumpkin stew instead and we didn't even notice on our first bite until she came over and switched it out for us. My lady liked the chicken better but i personally preferred the pork because it was more tender. The stew went well with the steamed jasmine rice. In terms of the overall ambiance and restaurant experience it's a solid 4 stars. I'm hoping to try the other stuff on the menu as the entrees we got were good but not great. I would say it's kind of overpriced at this spot with 2 entrees that didn't fill us up adding up to $45.... but then again it is downtown pricing and their demand is just so overwhelming. Will be back for round two shortly and this time i won't forget my reservations! read more

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My first Burmese dining experience was here at Rangoon Ruby. Most of the menu was foreign to me, but it seemed pretty similar to most Chinese, Thai, and Vietnamese menus I've grown accustomed to. And luckily for my dinner party, one person was a regular so he knew which entrees were popular, though he did claim that EVERYTHING was good! He wasn't joking around. Everything we did order was good! Everything you see on this plate was amazing -- http://bit.ly/10UOdGk Here's the rundown of what was on there: Pumpkin Shrimp Stew -- made with shrimp, locally grown pumpkin, fresh onion, garlic, ginger and Burmese spices Home Style Fried Rice -- Tender whole yellow beans steamed for 2 days, cooked with fried jasmine rice and topped with fried onions Minted Jalepeno Chicken -- Minced chicken with fresh mint leaves, garlic, ginger and jalapenos Rangoon Lemongrass Chicken -- Wok tossed with chili, garlic, soy sauce, fish sauce, green beans, red bell peppers and lemongrass; finished with fresh basil Eggplant & Garlic -- Sautéed eggplant with garlic and scallions in sweet chili sauce Not pictured on the plate, we also ordered their famous Tea Leaf Salad. Tea Leaf Salad -- A mix of Burmese tea leaves, fried garlic, yellow beans, peanuts, sesame seeds, lettuce, tomato, jalapeno peppers and dried shrimp. While I did enjoy everything on the plate, my favorites were the Minted Jalapeno Chicken and Pumpkin Shrimp Stew. Most of these dishes had a nice amount of heat to them though. So if you're not into spicy food I wouldn't recommend what we had, though I don't think they were too extreme and could be tolerable. The tea leaf salad, while it was very pretty to see, didn't really blow me away. Not saying it was terrible though, I still enjoyed it, plus it was fun to see it prepared table side. We had great service and they also had a nice selection of girly drinks that were pretty good as well. Love it when they put those little umbrellas! Overall, I'd probably go back to Rangoon Ruby. The food was solid and it was a very nice introduction to Burmese Cuisine for me. I could now see why places like Burma Superstar in SF have really long lines. It made me an instant fan. 4 stars! read more

Rangoon Ruby is a welcome addition to Palo Alto and truly the first great Burmese restaurant in the Bay Area. Given that the owners/chefs are ex-Burma Superstar personnel, it should come as no surprise that the food here is up to par. After a disappointing experience at Green Elephant in Palo Alto, I had largely given up on Burmese cuisine, but Rangoon Ruby restored the fondness I have for the cuisine. The ambiance is high class and the restaurant is beautiful as well with a nice bar area and high ceilings that would make it a great Happy Hour spot. It's only been open a short while, but I'm sure the word will slowly get out. Our selections: Tea Leaf Salad - this is the famous Burmese dish that I've had at Mingabala, Burma Superstar and Green Elephant. The version here is excellent with top notch ingredients, but most importantly, plenty of the distinct green tea leaves that are used to flavor and make the salad. A variety of nuts and spices are mixed together with very fresh lettuce and you have a light and refreshing salad quite unlike the salads served everywhere else. Rangoon Lemongrass Curry Pork - they have several lemongrass dishes with fish, pork, chicken, or beef and they're a great compliment with rice. The flavors are strong and pronounced without being overly spicy and the curry is different enough from the many Thai and Japanese curries that litter the Bay Area. Very good. Garlic noodles - we wanted a starch and opted for garlic noodles with duck. The noodles are a variant of Chinese wide egg noodles and taste great. The flavor isn't quite as garlicky as Vietnamese garlic noodles and the duck is a bit sparse for the price point. It's also served with a sweet and sour sauce of onions that is a bit odd flavor wise and I didn't think add much to the noodles. We were very happy with our meal here. A quality Asian restaurant on University Avenue in Palo Alto has been a long time coming and Rangoon Ruby does Burmese cuisine quite proud. The ingredients are high quality, the flavors bold and distinct, and the decor classy. Although prices do add up quickly with dishes typically in the $13-$18 range, it fits in fine with the tonier restaurants in Palo Alto that cater more to the professional crowds than the student crowds. Rangoon Ruby accepts credit cards, including American Express. read more

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My Friday is never the same anymore. I like it! It started as a day where two friends meet up for hikes. Then it extended to food excursions. Then both. Yesterday was a museum trip and then food trip! We have the rain to thank for most recently. Our hiking trips not possible we switched to eating instead! Oh my! So with my friends suggestion to try RR I sneaked a peek into my ever burgeoning bookmark list and lo and behold! It's still filed under " To Try". With one less "To Try" in my life generally speaking it feels like I should breath a sigh of relief that this one is a big hit! We started with their Tea Leaf Salad. This was amazing. I've tried it elsewhere. They're both really good. What set this one apart for me was the pasty sauce they use to mix the salad with. This was better. Less sharpness without losing it's ethnic tone. It just resonated with me. We also shared their Pumpkin Pork Stew. It's an attention grabbing stew made with pork, locally grown pumpkins , fresh onions, garlic, ginger and Burmese spices. It was perfect for a rainy day. We opted for brown rice instead of white. Tender meat with good portion. Big chunks of pumpkins. Awesome sauce. Plenty to share between two hungry excited girlie gorilla appetite. It actually looks deceiving in a sense that it came in a small bowl- that just keeps on giving. ( a magic stew bowl)? In fact we left a tad behind. Sad to leave good food behind but the delicious salad filled us up too! Both dishes came in a timely manner. We were professionally attended to by a knowledgeable staff. Great lively ambience. Busy during lunch around 1pm. With a reservation ahead of time we scored a table in the back by the wall. Another noteworthy happy report: RR has a great control over their noise level. You can have a conversation with your meal partner. Oh yeah!! We're water people. So bill for two was $30+ pre tax. Reasonable!! So there you go! I'm one less "To Try". read more

Dinner for four outside. Service was slow and uncoordinated. We asked for hot spice levels and got. What tasted like mild spice. The waiter made a deal about "not charging us" for spice on the side. Having. Worked in a restaurant myself I'm the past, I always judge the standards by the state of the kitchen. What I saw in passing was not encouraging. Don't plan on returning. read more

Came here for the first time today. I started with the pallata appetizer, which was good. For the entree, I ordered the pumpkin stew. Around 20 minutes after I finished my appetizer, I asked when I would be getting my stew. The waiter said he would check. I had a clear view of the kitchen and could see the cooks were working very slowly as if they didn't care. Food was coming out very slowly, like one dish every 5 minutes. 15 minutes later and still no stew, I told the waiter I would leave if my entree didn't come out. He said it would be out in 2 minutes. 5 minutes later (40 minutes total), the stew finally came out. I would say the stew was very good, but the rice that I had with it was not good. It had whole spices, like cloves and cardamoms. Biting on a cardamom is terrible. It's overpoweringly bitter and after eating one by accident, you won't taste anything else. Although I can possibly overlook the long wait for my stew, what I can't overlook is the 3% "Affordable Care Act Tax" that was placed on my bill. I consider adding such a thing to be deeply offensive, deceptive, and dishonest. On the tables, there is a card with a long, rambling explanation for why such a thing is added to the bill. It explains that while other restaurants "unilaterally raise their prices" (unilateral doesn't mean what they think it means), they have bravely kept their menu prices unchanged. But because that is "financially unfeasible", they add a 3% ACA fee. Excluding that one fee from the menu price is just a dishonest way of hiding the true cost of the meal. They are advertising one cost and then charging you another, just as a way of making a political statement. read more

Rangoon Ruby - the fuck? - Asian Fusion Near Me - Palo Alto, California

Wow, I had a delicious meal at Rangoon Ruby last week. All of our dishes were rich and flavorful, spiced to perfection. We shared the chicken lettuce wraps ($12), tea leaf salad ($12), and basil chili beef ($16). The beef was to die for! Truly amazing. I've had quite a few other dishes in the past, and while some have been better than others, none have been disappointing. And, although our total bill got expensive, each dish is quite reasonable at about $12-16/plate. The jury's still out, but right now, I think this may be the best restaurant in its price range in downtown Palo Alto. read more

I admit, I have a thing for green tea salad. It is just so wonderful when done right. You are probably wondering...do they do it right? Yes, yes they do. It saves me a drive up to San Francisco. I love this stuff, and get it every time I go. The other food is lovely as well. I will stay for it and enjoy it. When I ask for spicy, they do their best. I really have to express to them that I want SPICY though, unless the message doesn't quite go through. A small complaint, to be certain. Of course, I am also a sucker for their little Caribbean drinks. I really don't understand how they fit in with the overall theme of the restaurant, but I am not going to complain. I will drink your rum based island punch, without complaint. It will be delicious. I recommend making a reservation, even if you do so only five minutes in advance. If you don't, you may be waiting a while. read more

I have a new love affair and it's with Rangoon Ruby. All I can think about is our next tryst. In fact, whenever I know my parents will be able to babysit, I inform my husband weeks ahead of time that we WILL be dining at Rangoon Ruby. (Case in point: last night involved informing my husband that we could go to Zeni for dinner but we had to HAD TO go to Rangoon Ruby next.) I haven't felt this way since 2008 when I declared Gulzaar my favorite restaurant to open in the South Bay in two years. Well, Rangoon Ruby is my favorite restaurant to open in the last four. I'm super excited that there's finally a SF-caliber place in the South Bay for Burmese, and one that unapologetically serves only Burmese (unlike the other local restaurants that include Chinese food in their offerings). For you Burma Superstar fans, this place is essentially Burma Superstar South since the chef used to work there. When I first visited on a Friday night a few weeks after it opened, Rangoon Ruby already had a wait out the door, and recently when we ate here on a very busy weekday night we could only procure two seats at the bar. So, reservations, reservations, reservations! Definitely order a soup and a salad. After that let your belly decide how many entrees to get. And by soup I mean get the incredible Samosa Soup. It's everything you want in a soup full of broken pieces of samosa. And if that doesn't sound awesome, trust me - it is. It tastes like a samosa exploded in your mouth. Again, that's an awesome thing. There are several salad options. If you've never had Tea Leaf Salad before, order it. The version here is quite good. If you're looking for something a little different and you're burnt out on Tea Leaf Salad, get the Rainbow Salad, which is similar to the Tea Leaf but with noodles and slightly different toppings. If you want to overdose on samosas you could get the Samosa Salad. It's good in a "You got samosa in my salad! No, you got salad in my samosa!" kind of way, but the soup is better. Another starter we've tried is the Palata. It's a multi-layered bread with coconut chicken. The sauce had an odd taste that I couldn't place. It was okay, but I don't plan on getting it again. I know my critiques will sound harsh, but let it be known that the entrees have all been very good. In many cases I wouldn't reorder things simply because there are so many excellent dishes on the menu that merely "good" doesn't merit a reorder. The Pumpkin Curry was good, but a bit bland compared to other dishes (especially when samosa-anything is on the menu). The Minted Jalapeno Chicken is one of the more popular items we were told. It had interesting flavors but I probably wouldn't get it again. My husband loved the Lemongrass Chicken. I thought it was good though not all that different from Chinese food (which isn't a bad thing, I just wanted something Burmese). My husband also was a big fan of the Mango Chicken. Don't worry - this preparation isn't sweet and sour like at other restaurants. It also comes with spears of mango on the side. We thought the tofu in the Fiery Tofu and Green beans would be fried but it wasn't. I would get the chicken version next time. We've only tried one dessert - the Fried Banana. It was good but a little bland and in need of more honey. The service is more refined than most places - the tap water comes with cucumber (oooh la la). Kathy's Burmese Rankings (It's a 3-way tie for first right now.) 1) Mandalay, San Francisco Burma Superstar, Oakland RANGOON RUBY, Palo Alto 4) Sweet Mango, San Jose 5) B Star, San Francisco 6) Kyusu, San Jose 7) Natoma Cafe (closed), San Francisco 8) Rangoon, Palo Alto 9) Green Elephant, Palo Alto 10) Innya Lake, San Bruno 11) Nan Yang, Oakland (admittedly my taste buds have evolved since I tried it - and hated it - so I might like it more now) read more

My name is Mardia I ate at Rangoon Ruby in Palo Alto for the first time last night. The food was delicious and the service was great I will for sure be coming back, the staff is so good about telling you what their favorite dishes are I appreciate their willingness to wait while we made out final decisions on what to order. I can't wait to take more friends and family I know they will love it as much as I did I am warming up my leftovers right now so I can eat them for lunch...lol PS The tea leaf salad is delicious I loved all the textures and flavors read more

My group of friends are always so busy during the holidays that we've now discovered the best time to do our yearly white elephant exchange is in January. This year Albert L. set it up at Rangoon Ruby. I hadn't heard much about this place at all, and was being lazy so didn't really look up reviews prior to heading there, but I had heard through foodie friends that this restaurant was started from some expats from Burma Superstar. Once we get there our party of 11 was seated and we looked at the various menus. They had a large party menu which definitely seemed "thevalue" but when I looked at the items on that list, nothing really sounded that appetizing and was not very adventurous or varied in terms of dishes. Amongst the foodie friends we decided to get 2 orders of 6 types of things and share. Together we concluded to get: - Palata - Multilayer bread I will always order, I could eat this for DAYS. - Tea leaf salad - classic burmese food, delish - Pumpkin pork stew - so tender great spices - Mango swai (catfish) this was so tasty... I could have eaten the whole thing. - Duck garlic noodles - Sweet sticky rice I also ordered a fruity drink, which was so so and made with Hypnotic (remember that from 1999?) It was bubbling with dry ice and looked awesome, but was a little too sweet for my taste overall. Everything was super tasty and incredibly consistent for such a large party. I would definitely go back. The place was popping the whole time we were there and they take reservations for larger parties. Service was great as some of the people we talked to were from Hawaii and super friendly, they also paused before making the tea leaf salad to let me get a customary food porn photo in. We never felt rushed and they didn't blink an eye as we began the gift exchange. This place is a win all around. P.S. I suggested this place for my coworker to try, and he mentioned that they have an extensive wine selection with some high quality well known wines, which you wouldn't guess upon looking just at their website. read more

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Had dinner with my new besties here recently. We came on a Monday night right after work and let me tell you, THANK GOODNESS my friend Christine L. made reservations for us cause the placed was packed and continued to get more packed even when we left around 8pm. Here's what we ordered: Tea Leaf Salad - You gotta order this salad whenever you're at a Burmese restaurant. It's tradition! And the one they have here is on point. Very comparable to Burma Superstar. Pumpkin Salmon Stew - Sounded interesting, so we ordered it. It came out in a very SMALL portion. Go figure, it's a fancy schmancy restaurant. I loved the pumpkin pieces in this stew. Rangoon Lemongrass Chicken - This is a popular protein dish here. I thought the flavor was good but nothing that really wowed me. Beef Kebat - The one dish that I wasn't a fan of. The beef was hard to chew. Coconut rice - You can never go wrong with sweet, Asian sticky rice. Only downside, still TOO SMALL of a portion, we had to order more for our table. Wine - We ordered a bottle of their Zinfandel I believe. It was okay...for a $44 bottle. Service - Also just okay. The waitress almost forgot my friend's Moscow Mule after we ordered it right in the beginning when she took our drink orders. The seating area here is very small and tight, expect your handbag to be crushed or just sit with it in your lap. If you want even more authentic, bigger portioned Burmese food, head into SF or the East Bay and hit up Burma Superstar. read more

Aaaaaaa-freaking-mazing food!! Absolutely a must try of in San Fran/palo alto!! They truly are the BEST Burmese Cuisine in the bay area. They were recommended to me twice by two different acquaintances so knew i just had to go! and am so glad I did because the food, flavors, and fusion, was one of kind and I'd never tried before! So my taste buds were definitely in for quite the surprise! Since I was there on a business trip and short in time, I asked the waiter to recommend only the BEST and he did just that! Recommendations were: - Appetizer: Palata - Main dish: FIery LAmb Tofu also, please be advised their portions are BIG so definitely go with a big appetite and a taste bud! :-P read more

Rangoon Ruby - Palata!! Appetizer... MUST Try!! Delicious! - Asian Fusion Near Me - Palo Alto, California

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This is easily one of the worst restaurants I've been to in the entire state of California. The shenanigans started when we arrived for our reservation and I saw on the screen which table we had been assigned. I then watched as the maitre d' gave that table to another party. They then seated us directly in front of the door on a 50-degree night. I asked to sit somewhere else, but they told us we would have to wait at least 15 minutes for that luxury. We then ordered cocktails to improve the night, but both tasted like nothing but mixers. Our waiter came by and asked how we were enjoying them. I told him they were really sweet and not very strong... And he just walked away. Terrible. Eventually the couple next to us asked to be moved, which the staff did right away. Hoping that we, too, could now move and not freeze, we asked for the same treatment. They told us that unfortunately all tables were taken up by reservations. Because sometime between when we arrived and when we got our drinks, reservations became something all-holy. I complained that we, too, had once had a reservation for a different table and finally they moved us. Thinking that we would now have an enjoyable meal, our food arrived and we were immediately proven wrong. The tea leaf salad was all right but probably not something I'd order again. The pumpkin salmon stew was terrible. It was watery, bland, the salmon was tough and smelled super fishy and the pumpkin was totally inconsistently cooked. We also got the fiery tofu which was heavy-handed with the ginger, overly salted, and ultimately just nothing special. All of this for a $100 meal. We walked out feeling completely taken advantage of and disgusted with the entire experience. read more

Rangoon Ruby is SO GOOD, make sure to make a reservation to come here because they are always packed FULL! Even without a reservation, many people didn't mind waiting 20-40 minutes to be seated for food this good. This was my first time eating at Rangoon Ruby and it was an amazing experience. From the friendly and professional service, to the nice clean ambiance inside (despite being packed with people, still able to converse with the people at your own table), to the absolutely fantastic food. This place completely deserves 5 stars all around. The menu is pretty sizeable with so many different unique items that I'd love to try. Might be good to come with a larger party size (I only went with one other person) so everyone can try a bunch of different dishes! There's also a wine, beer, and cocktail menu; we went with some local brews (Speakeasy from SF and Cool Beanz Coffee Porter from Palo Alto). All the items we ordered were flavorful and delicious, and every item shined on its own: 1. VEGGIE SAMOSAS ($10, comes with 4 samosas): These had crispy light fried wonton-like skins filled with fluffy seasoned mashed potatoes inside with peas. It came with a chili-garlic sauce made in-house that was ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS. We wanted to request a bottle of this stuff to bring home and put on everything. I love samosas, and these ones especially were very satisfying. 2. FIERY BEEF WITH TOFU ($16): Such tender, flavorful beef! I love tofu, this is the denser type that is sliced up in thin strips, my favorite kind! Definitely not your run-of-the-mill chinese food type beef dish. This dish was so well incorporated with quality ingredients (beef, string beans, bell peppers) that you could taste were fresh. Order a spiciness level of 5 for spicy-lovers! We got it at a 4 (out of 5) and it was still pretty mildly spicy. We had this with a side of coconut rice which was sweet and complimented the savory dish very well. 3. NAN GYI DOK ($13): This. Is a ROCKSTAR dish. Like nothing you've had before, I guarantee! YOU'VE GOT TO TRY IT! Your server will bring what looks like a noodle salad platter with veggies and crispy wonton skins along the side and curry chicken on top of thick round noodles, and they will mix it up for you and squeeze some fresh lemon on top of it all. It is a wonderful flavor; the only way I can describe it is like floating on a noodly curry lemony cloud in the sky, dreaming about eating more nan gyi dok. 4. Dessert roti with sliced banana and mango, coconut, and fresh strawberry ice cream (had chunks of real strawberry in it). This was wonderful as well. We were so full already by the end of the meal and ate as much as we could of this platter of roti and ice cream, but the contrast of the salty and rich roti with the fruity and creamy ice cream and banana was great. We will be back to try the famous tea leaf salad! Next time with more people so we can try more of their great dishes here at Rangoon Ruby! read more

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The food was great as usual, however this was the most pathetic service experience I have ever had at this place. They were understaffed and had no idea which table ordered what food. They missed making our appetizers and brought them mid way our main course. Had to remind them multiple times for our drinks, food came without serving spoons and when asked waiter to get them, he said he cant do it for next 10 mins. I highly recommend not going to this place on weekends because their service is horrible. Better to do just a to go order. read more

Here is what I know about Burmese food in the bay area. It is like the less interesting, less spicy, sister/brother to Thai and Vietnamese food. I am always hoping for a bit more flavor. I like it ok. But, I prefer other South-east Asian cuisines. I think the food at Rangoon Ruby is fairly typical of Burmese food at other places. The flavors are very mild. And, the meat is very overcooked. In every dish we ordered the meat was overcooked. The chicken curry sauce for the palata had overcooked chicken. The pork with preserved mango was mushy. The duck in the garlic noodles was dry. My favorite dish was the one without meat, the tea leaf salad. It was very flavorful. But, I prefer the tea leaf salad at Nan Yang in Oakland. Our waiter tried very hard. But, he was not very experienced. He did not mix the salad very well. He could not figure out the point of service machine. So, we could not leave a tip with our credit card. But, he was very pleasant. The prices are good. But, the portions are very small. We had two appetizers and garlic noodles and a main course. It was enough for two people. It cost almost $50. There were no left overs. I wanted to order a drink, but the prices for the drinks were very expensive. There was no drink under $12. I like the ambiance. The Chihouly inspired chandeliers are very pretty. The space has nice wood trim all around and large bay windows and tall ceilings that make the space feel very spacious and open despite being a narrow restaurant. But, the butcher paper over the table cloths is not very classy. I appreciate the table cloths, but would prefer if the paper were removed. It is like it is trying to be classy, but the management is too cheap to pay for linen service. I don't think that I will come back. It is a nice place for some unique food. But, it is not unique enough or executed well enough to deserve a second trip. read more

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I had a pathetic experience at this place on a weekend lunch. Among 3 of us, we ordered a samosa-soup for the table, my wife ordered a tea-leaf salad for herself and me and a friend decided to split "Fiery Chicken Tofu" along with an order of rice each (mine being coconut one). Only the rice orders came out as ordered and were good. Everything else did not. AND as many have said, it is super pricey for no reason. Our tablet touting waiter made the whole thing a fiasco. I don't know what he wrote on his fancy input device but a plate of samosas came out after a lengthy wait in place of the samosa soup. Our waiter said "I will fix it, don't worry" as if it was our problem even before the samosas were put on our table and sent the delivery waiter back. Samosa soup came out later that was soggy, taste-less, and contained stuff that did not belong. Then he brought out two separate orders of what looked like Fiery Tofu. Clearly, he had not paid attention when taking our order. I told him that this is not what we ordered, we ordered the one with chicken and that too was supposed to be shared. He said again "No problem, I will get the right one". Then, in 4 separate deliveries, they brought out the tea-leaf salad, our rice orders, and then finally, two full dishes of what now were claimed to be Fiery Chicken Tofu. I told him that again he was wrong and we had ordered only one! He said, "Oh.. don't worry. I won't charge you for that but keep it since otherwise it will be thrown out." We reluctantly keep it fully knowing there was no way we were going to eat it. After eating one or two spoons of the fiery chicken tofu, we realized that he had literally added chicken to his earlier "creation" of fiery tofu and re-fried the whole thing to the point that the whole sauce in it was COMPLETELY BURNT. It was anything but fiery and anything but food. So - lunch was ruined. Wife was unhappy with her tea-leaf salad, she said it was nothing but oil oil and oil and said we should have made the drive to Burma SuperStar. TO CAP IT, we got the check and had the whole two tofu-thingies sent to be packed, only to realize that there was a mysterious entry called CHICKEN costing some 4 dollars on our check. WHAT THE HELL? So not only had he literally added chicken to our dish to make it what we had ordered, he was audacious enough to charge us for it!!!!!! I have attached to this review the check with the mysterious entry of chicken to show I am not making this up. So this is a place where some very dishonest people work. Do you want to eat here? I don't. read more

Rangoon Ruby - The charge of 4 dollars for CHICKEN??? Where does it come from? Of course, it is the chicken to fix our dish to make it look ok! - Asian Fusion Near Me - Palo Alto, California

Had been to this expensive restaurant. Took chicken kebat, which was not bad. My friend had ordered coconut rice which was good. Other friend ordered tofu, oh gawd save ppl who eats this. I guess it is dried in Sahara desert or Death Valley or it is 3D printed. Tried hard, but failed to Consume it. The person who took our order never smiled, infact none of them were welcoming. read more

Rangoon Ruby - Sun dried tofu( it was so hard, probably 3D printed) - Asian Fusion Near Me - Palo Alto, California

My favorite restaurant in Palo Alto. Excellent service, epic drinks, and delicious food. I'd recommend: 1) Tea Leaf Salad - Might not suit everyone's tastes, but a must-try 2) Minted Jalapeño chicken - Winner. Will not disappoint 2b) Fiery Chicken with Vegetables - Just had this a couple days ago. Amazing. Warning: Spicy 3) Basil Chili Lamb - Nice distinct flavor 4) Ruby Shrimp - I don't even like shrimp and I love this dish 5) Salt and Pepper Fish - Awesome texture 6) Palata - Good for appetizers or dessert! read more

Rangoon Ruby - Fiery chicken with vegetables - Asian Fusion Near Me - Palo Alto, California

I patroned Rangoon Ruby twice in a week - once for lunch, once for dinner - so suffice to say I am definitely a fan! I came with four other coworkers for lunch and ordered ahead so that we could make the most of our hour lunch. We had to pay in advance, but that was reasonable. Upon arriving at the restaurant at the appointed time (11:45 am) we were delighted that our table was basically set with silverware, waters, and a few of our appetizers! They then brought out the rest of the dishes they did not want to get cold. We sampled the tea leaf salad, garlic noodles with duck, samosa soup, palata with curry chicken (the sauce is a dream!), basil chili beef and a few servings of coconut rice. Everything was delicious and flavorful, and we left with satisfied bellies for $20 pp. Upon returning for dinner on a weeknight, I found it to be extremely busy, so was thankful I made a reservation a few hours prior. In the evenings, people come here for intimate dates and even birthday celebrations (they provide a really fun sparkling candle). The ambiance is lovely with nice chandeliers reminiscent of Chihuly pieces. Service was exquisite and attentive and my water was always refilled. Dinner was about $30 pp which is average for Palo Alto. I haven't had Mingalaba in a while (my favorite Burmese place!) but the food here is almost comparable. I'm in the area a lot for work, so I wouldn't hesitate to return time and time again for this Palo Alto staple! read more

Rangoon Ruby - (Background) Garlic noodles with duck & spicy basil beef (foreground) - Asian Fusion Near Me - Palo Alto, California