Urban Burma — Restaurant in Aurora

Buckle up your taste buds, friends. Urban Burma is NOT here to play. This is one of several food stalls within Mango House, a community center for ethnic minorities and refugees. The seating area is shared, and you'll see little hints of cultural flair near each stall.

The menu is short but captures most of the Burmese top hits that you'll see this side of the Pacific (notably missing, mohinga, as well as ginger salad). One of the co-owners, Siri, was manning the front and was elated to be serving a fellow Burmese person (my boyfriend). After ordering and debating the pros/cons of various famous Burmese restaurants in other parts of the country (a certain Superstar in the Bay Area), he sat us down with some water cups and went back to take care of the growing dinner line.

The water cups are small and you'll have to refill yourself at the water station, but that's about the only downside of eating here. We shared the Tea Leaf Salad, Ono Kao Sweh, and their special curry of the day, a Braised Pork Curry. Siri himself came out to deliver each dish as it was prepared, each one neatly portioned out on elegant serving-ware that contrasts with the otherwise rather sparse decor in Mango House. The Ono Kao Sweh was sublime - wonderfully thick and brothy with a hint of lime and coconut. If you've never had Tea Leaf Salad, I envy you for getting to experience the mouth-feel of its textures and tastes for the first time. It hits, in all the right ways. The Pork Curry was rich and salty, maybe too salty for me, but comforting in the ways that only aunties and uncles can perfect.

My belly can't wait to experience Urban...

The reviews prompted me to try this restaurant's food. However, either the reviewers have a low high mark, or I am at the edge of the universe in what I consider five-stars. Mind you, I ordered through Yelp for home delivery, and the Yelp App won't allow the upload of the photos I took of the Samosas, so I figured I would extend my review here.

The Samosas were dripping with grease and simply not eatable. I tried to dab off the oil using paper towels, but after seven sheets, they still kept draining grease! It took three hand washings with Dawn dishwashing liquid to get the grease off my hands. I said my ABC's as I soaped so this is not an exaggeration!

The Curry was also greasy and lacked flavor. I dumped it before I thought of taking photos. Why all the high five-star reviews are beyond my understanding, but needless to say, I do not recommend this restaurant!

UPDATE: After the owner's response, which is passive-aggressive with stating two things. 1) Sorry you were not happy with your food - how about taking ownership and say instead, "Sorry, you were not happy with OUR food." 2) Thanks for going out of your way to spread a little Christmas cheer - is that supposed to be a dig? Show some class and stay silent or don't thank someone's honesty in a backhanded fashion ... now I'm wondering how many of the five-star reviews are real. Next time leave...

What can I say? This place is dynamite and those great reviews are bang on the money. I get suspicious of a clean record like this but then I ate there. Had the sampler which had a samosa, curry with rice and this banging crunchy salad and an exquisite dipping sauce for the samosa. It came with a lovely chai which is a milky tea it had a caramel flavor bit like condensed milk. But the perfect accompaniment to the light spices and flavors. The chap who helped with the order was really helpful and did not steer us wrong.

I have had some very bad food experiences of late when it comes to experimenting with new restaurants. Authentic restaurants that claim to be the taste of home yet are so full of salt, grease and sugar. Not sure what home they're talking about, unless it's the cardiothoracic surgery wing after having a massive fat induced coronary! Burmese food which made me eat like food was going out of fashion. Just hope there weren't hidden cameras watching me scoff this lot! Thank you Urban Burma for trusting us to LOVE your authentic foods without compromising it for...