Moe Palae' Myanmar Restaurant — Restaurant in Whau

We were excited to try Burmese cuisine for the first time and made almost an hour long drive to this restaurant with high expectations. Upon arrival, we were greeted warmly by the friendly staff, the restaurant was clean and the restaurant was a lot bigger than I had initially expected which set a positive tone for our experience.

We ordered the Khao Soi, Khao Soi Thoat, a vegetarian starter platter, and an iced milk tea. However, the first to arrive were the mains before anything else. When our mains arrived, they were both lukewarm. I wasn’t sure whether my dish was meant to be served hot or cold, as it contained grated cucumber, but it was an odd contrast—some elements, like the deep-fried battered onion, were hot, while the rest was noticeably cool. The aromatic flavours when mixed properly, were nice but the temperature inconsistency was confusing.

The Khao Soi dish also differed from our expectations, though the chicken was decent. That said, the noodle texture in both dishes were quite a nice texture.

As for the vegetarian platter, it came with just one lettuce cup for about 13 pieces of deep-fried items. If the lettuce was meant as decoration, it would have been more useful as a way to balance the heavy oiliness of the fried elements. Additionally, they could have been better drained or placed on a paper towel to absorb some of the excess oil. On the bright side, the tamarind sauce had a nice flavour and the best item I would say would have been the corn fritter.

The iced milk tea, which arrived last, was actually very enjoyable, boasting an authentic tea taste.

Overall, this restaurant left me feeling a bit confused with what they had to offer and the oiliness of the platter did leave a bad aftertaste in my throat. Perhaps it was just an off day for them, but based on this experience, I wouldn’t make the long trip to another side of Auckland for this...

The staff was friendly and welcoming, engaging my daughter and bringing her a large strawberry which she loved. The restaurant was tidy and clean. The chairs were comfy and I like the solid wood dining tables. I also like the traditional, handmade tissue box and tooth pick jar on the tables. + having warm tea served before and during the meal is lovely. The food was presented nicely.

I feel sorry to say this but in my opinion the food was quite bad. In the night and today me and my wife both have sore tummies. The food was not flavoursome. The noodles where soft and overcooked. There were not enough fresh vegetables. There were too many toppings like nuts, shrimps etc and these items tasted dull and seemed stale and chewy to me (especially in the tea leaf salad). It was a confusing experience for me because we read about the Masterchef thing.. and then the food made me wonder if anyone in the kitchen is actually tasting the dishes before they come out. These factors made me feel like I was eating food that had been made to display in the window and not for eating.

The price was quite low compared to many other restaurants in 2024 and I guess this is why the ingredients are not so good? However, this seems incongruent to me with the whole 'master chef' thing.. if the thats the marketing strategy then I don't think you should being trying to cut costs so much on the ingredients.

My personal recommendations are: A description of the food on the menu including ingredients, taste and cultural significance. Some magazines, posters, flyers about Myanmar would be great bring another layer to the experience. Put the price up 30% and add more vegetables, larger pieces of meat and swap out some of the dry toppings for fresher versions (for example toast some seeds and nuts yourself so they are...

We have been looking forward to try this place since it is very difficult to find Myanmar cuisine in Auckland.

This place is not good.

Things I can understand and walk off are items not being available, which happens to any restaurant so they get a pass for this. Front of house was nice and polite, but oddly inattentive such as confusion with our reservation, not picking up our order or refilling our tea unless we asked for it.

The food took a very long time to come out. We each ordered a main dish for ourselves and had three entrees to share. Two entrees came out, followed by one main, then a 45min wait before two more mains. One main never arrived, we asked for it twice, did not get an indication of when it would come, and eventually after an hour and a half we cancelled it. The wait was not worth it. It was far too salty with some dry chicken and lukewarm noodles. Apparently a Masterchef winner is the head chef, in which case I assume they competed against blind people with no hands. When we went up to pay they also forgot to take off two items, one that was not available, and the one that never arrived, until we pointed it out.

I am not coming here again. I wish them luck, and I hope they fix these problems. Decor is nice though, unfortunately I...