Burma 2 — Restaurant in Walnut Creek

This happened a week ago when we visited Walnut Creek, CA. We called at 5pm that day and asked if we needed a reservation for 12 people for 5:30 pm. A female employee answered the call and relied to us that we didn't need a reservation since we will be there in 30 mins and it's not that busy yet. We arrived at the restautant at around 5:30pm and explained to a Male employee/waiter that we need a table for 12 and explained to him we called earlier and a female told us we didn't needed a reservation. We were asked to wait and seat on a temporary table and they will be preparing the table for us. After waiting for about 10 mins, a female employee who claim to be the manager approach us with a very rude and weird attitude and start asking us if we ever made a reservation, whom we spoke to, whether a male or female. We explain to her we called earlier as was told we didn't need a reservation. Now she started to raise her voice that she is the only one who answers calls to that restaurant and claims she never received a call. I told her that it's not a big deal and we can find somewhere else to eat if she can't accomodate us. With a bad tone of voice she relied to us she we make adjustment to the tables and for the mean time as all of us to step out of the restaurant, wait outside and ask the kids not to touch the tables because they are still under COVID guidlines. And they will call us when the table is ready. So we left the restaurant and never will ever go back and even try any Burmese food. I guess this is what you call Burmese Hospitality at it's best. We instead went and had a great and awesome food at the Thai restaurant down the street from them. Well the best part in this is that, when I went to the bathroom before the crazy manager approach us, I over heard her scolding the waiters and servers from a complaint they had received the day before. When we left, one of the waiter apologized for the fiasco and that the female employee who was rude to us was just a manager and not the owner. Be careful at this place, you never know what you get when the manager is in a bad mood or...

Wow! I feel like it's so cliche to call a restaurant a "hidden gem" just because it's in the suburbs or not upscale or something like that. I'll refrain from using the term especially since the place was packed when we went for Valentine's Day. Add in the eye-catching building it's located in and this place is anything but hidden. That being said, Burmese cuisine in general is a bit of a hidden gem. Not very commonly found in the western world but so delicious.

Our dinner at Burma 2 was oh so delicious! We started with samosas and chicken lettuce wraps. The sauces that came with the two dishes were great accompaniments however the dishes were great on their own. For salads, I had heard that their tea leaf salad was something of a specialty and it didn't disappoint. It has some common traits to an ordinary salad except kicked up a notch with nuts for a crunchy texture and the actual tea leaf itself provides a unique bitterness that I've never had in a salad before. My partner got the mango salad which he preferred because of the fresh, bright, sweetness of the salad.

Our entrees were the Burmese shrimp and the basil and chile beef. I swear I could eat both of these dishes everyday for the rest of my life. The words: Depth. Of. Flavor. The shrimp had an incredible combo of sweetness and umami that came out so savory and mouthwatering. Also, I have to give props to the kitchen for perfectly cooking the shrimp. I was pleasantly surprised with the flavor of the beef as well. I thought it would be overly sweet like something from a Chinese takeout place however the flavor was so much more complex and savory. The chile came through beautifully and pairing it with the basil made it all taste very well spiced.

Finished with a fried banana and ice cream for dessert. My bet is they don't make the ice cream in-house but regardless it was a perfectly sweet pairing with the banana which was beautifully fried. The lychee martini is decent; the wine list is better....

Burna 2 is unassuming from the outside, but serves a lot of delicious food. It's definitely a good choice if you're in Walnut Creek and are looking for something tasty and filling with Southeast Asian flair.

I've been many times and have yet to order something that wasn't good. One of my favorites is the nan gyi dok. That stuff is my version of pure comfort food. Minted jalapeño chicken, the soups, and the curries are also good eats. The cooks pay a fair bit of attention to presentation here and everything is visually appealing with neat plating and colorful garnishes. (I've never been to Myanmar so I can't say how similar or different the food you get at Burma 2 is to what you can get there, but I like it.)

The dining area is wide and spacious compared to many other Main Street eateries and decorated with a lot of dark colors in modern style. There's a bar, although it's more a family place and a spot for weekday lunches than a hangout for people who are going out for drinks. Still, it has that trendy atmosphere going for it.

The only real downside is that the service can be quite slow even when there are only a few tables in use. I'm not totally sure what system they have for dividing work between the tables, but it always seems to work out that there are two guys chatting in Spanish on the sidelines and one poor guy left to do everything for all the customers. It can take quite a few minutes after asking for the check for him to get around to it, and the same after that for him to take and tap the card. Still, though, the food is scrumptious.

Tl;dr: The food is great. I can't seem to stop...