Burmese Bowl — Restaurant in Lee

In the Berkshires we appreciate good international food so I had been excited to give the Burmese Bowl in Lee a try and walked into the restaurant yesterday on a Friday night at a moderately busy time.

We were a party of three who were first in line to be seated. About a minute after us a party of five joined the queue. There was no host but the two staff working (a man and woman) kept walking by us alternately looking through us and also deliberately looking away. In response to this my recommendation to management is that staff be trained to GREET guests using words such as “give me a moment and I will be right with you” rather than just allowing us to stand in the middle of a dining room near patrons who were trying to enjoy their own meals, wondering when we would be greeted.

Finally after approximately ten minutes and because we followed them to inquire, the male staff member approached. Although there was a table for four available, this staff offered to seat us at a small table for two by pulling up an additional chair for the third member of our party. Just to note three complications (1) there was very little space at the table. (2) another party was seated in very close proximity (3) we are three fully grown men - two of us taller than six feet. When we asked to be seated at the table for four, we were told they needed it for the party of five BEHIND us in line. Restaurants are part of the hospitality industry - I would note that it is extremely inhospitable to squeeze new guests into an uncomfortable space. I would also note that it would have been possible to create a table for four AND a table for six by just rearranging the open tables, the way small restaurants do all the time.

The happy ending for us is that we had an excellent meal a quarter mile from this establishment (review pending). My bottom line is that although we live ten minutes away in a sparsely populated area we will never patronize this establishment in the future. I’m actually glad that I cannot review the food and feel like I may have dodged a bullet- based on the other elements of the experience I can only imagine I would not have...

We’ve eaten here three times and ordered a total of ten dishes - all wonderful. Reasonable prices - great value. The chef/owner is actually Burmese and works with his wife during the evening shift - and is proud to offer some dishes you’ve not likely to find within a hundred miles radius of the South Berkshires. We loved the Burmese Fermented Tea Leaf Salad with shredded cabbage, and all kinds of interesting crunchy bits and new flavors… fried garlic, sesame seeds, and assorted toasted legumes and peas and peanuts. How did we get so lucky? Also looking forward to the special now being offered of Thai style Hainanese chicken and rice. (Koa Man Gai is rice cooked in the chicken’s broth with ginger and garlic oil for a more aromatic flavor.) Two poke bowls really delivered with precisely cut sushi-grade raw tuna and salmon over rice with mounds of avocado, carrots, edamame green soybean salad, crunchy emerald seaweed salad, poke sauce and spicy mayo sushi sauce. More familiar dishes were just right, like the fried calamari - super fresh tasting with a delicate crunchy coating and tender interior. The pork filled spring rolls were meat-packed and exotically tasty (for the Berkshires). Chicken wings - yum. Pad See Ew and Pad Thai noodle dishes were as good as the best we’ve ever had anywhere, and now we’re looking forward to the other various noodle dishes: Burmese Bowl pepper fish soup with thin rice noodles. Coconut Chicken Noodles. Chicken with coconut milk. Lo Mei (Burmese Style) with choice of meat or seafood. Shan Noodle with Pork or Chicken in tomato sauce. See Jet Noodle Salad with chicken or pork with garlicy noodle. And Nan Gyi Noodles with chicken and fresh thick white rice noodles. Not sure exactly what any of these are, but totally willing to try them all based on our happy experience...

Very much enjoyed the dishes we had here. Ordered Burmese options on the guess those would be the stronger dishes of the many options.

Burmese Chicken Biryani - the rice itself was surprisingly good, an elevated level both for texture and complex flavor/spice, and the chicken was tender and well spiced as well. The side slaw that came with it was a good refreshing touch, fresh and tart not sweet. The fermented tea leaves in the Tea Leaf Salad gave it a satisfying sourness - be aware there is a lot of fried/crunchy legumes of some sort so this sort of salad is less refreshing than say a standard Thai style Papaya or Mango salad, and not sweet like Thai-style salads. Also had the Ginger Salad, which was similar and with lots of fresh ginger but without the good fermented flavor which made the Tea Leaf Salad the better of the two. Burmese hot tea with milk was also satisfying (and sweet).

Ambience is good, a charming house with original woodwork and a nice big porch. We chose to sit inside since the road in front of the porch is...