Mandalay

Mandalay had a big impact on me last summer -- I'm still thinking about the food today. I had never had Burmese food before, so I wasn't sure what to expect. I did some extensive Yelp searching while waiting for a table on a Monday night.

We started out super strong with the fish chowder. It was aromatic and fragrant, savory, warm, comforting, and so tasty. Our waitress was thoughtful and had the soup split into 2 bowls so we could easily share it. I would absolutely get this again.

The balada was amazingly flaky and buttery. The sauce was good but a bit sweet, so I preferred some of the other sauces we had later. I would get this again just because the balada was so good.

The dry pan fried green beans were very well cooked. I loved the sharply savory nuggets of flavor. It tasted similar to the green beans you would get at a Sichuan place.

The lychee prawn special had a great sauce that goes well with the balada. It came with 5 prawns which were less tender than I would like (I like my tender farm-raised shrimp).

The mango lassi was kinda weird, a bit salty.

Overall the fish chowder was supreme and the balada was also so good. Those alone were absolutely worth the wait and hype. Our waitress clearly knew her menu items and gave good recommendations. The mango chicken at a table nearby looked really good too. I'd absolutely come back.

Came here as a recommendation by a Burmese colleague. It should be good right? It was awesome! I've had Burmese food before in Washington, DC but didn't quite like it. I didn't think Burmese food could be bland considering the influence it gets from
Its neighboring countries, But it did. So, I was ready to give it another try. The outside was unassuming. The facade was painted yellow and green. As you enter they have commendations posted on the wall. I thought to myself, this looks legit. Then there was sort of a poster saying they're a James Beard awardee, made me more curious. The dining area is simple adorned with a lot of decors hanging from the ceiling. The walls were adorned with traditional articles. We were greeted warmly as we were given the menu and seated. We requested for some recommendations, since I didn't want to make the same mistake of ordering off the menu and be dissatisfied again. Let's start with the drinks, their jasmine flower art tea was pretty but nothing extraordinary, But the pink princess was refreshing. It has fresh strawberry, lemon, lychee, tonic, sweet and sour salt ring and rosemary. Then we had the Balada for appetizer. Reminds me of the Malaysian pancake, though the dipping sauce is not as thick. The tea leaf salad was interesting. A combination of peanuts, green pepper, lentil seeds, fried garlic, tomato, toasted sesame seeds, ground shrimp and fermented Burmese tea leaves, it gives you a different flavor and texture with every munch. It was different and truly enjoyable. The Mandalay chicken would be a treat for Orange chicken lovers. But if I would have to go back, I'd probably order a different chicken dish, just to make the experience unique. The vegetable dish Chin Mong Jaw with bamboo shoots, green chili and tofu, has a little sour taste but I think would be a good pair for something pan fried. Their lamb curry tastes like beef rendang and the Rangoon three ingredients tastes like the Thai mixed seafood that I love. With all these flavorful dishes plain steamed rice would have been enough. But we wanted to taste their combination fried rice with barbecue pork, shrimp, egg, carrots, that tastes like yang chow. While the cheffron rice is somewhat like the biryani. We were only 3 who dined and definitely had a lot of leftovers. Didn't mind another round of these dishes to be consumed at home. As I said, it was awesome! No wonder the James Beard commendation!

By the way, we didn't think it was a popular spot. We came in at around 12 noon with 2 only other tables occupied. But as we left close to 2 PM, all the tables were occupied and even the outside seating. That told me a lot!

After hearing some rave reviews for Mandalay, I finally gave it a try. Overall it mostly lived up to my expectations, but there was just something missing. The food was mostly great, I'd say it was slightly less flavorful than other Burmese restaurants throughout the city, and a bit on the pricey side. The pork in the pork and string beans didn't have much flavor, but the texture was great. The mandarin chicken was a bit too sweet for my liking. The coconut rice didn't have much coconut flavor, but it was still amazing. The curry was great, but I would order a spicier one next time.

The restaurant itself is pretty, and the service was good. Definitely get a reservation because the walk in waitlist situation was completely dysfunctional. I would definitely come back, but I would get all different dishes because the ones we ordered were slightly lacking.

My favorite spot for Burmese flavors. Came here for a birthday dinner with 12 people and the service was fantastic. We were excited to take the leftovers home and played roulette with who got to take which dish's leftovers. That's how you know the restaurant is good.

+ Tea leaf salad is amazing. Not a lot of "greens" in this salad. The nuts are roasted to perfection and super fragrant with the oils.
+ Mango salad is also yummy if you like spicy fruity salads.
+ Green beans were fried to perfection and came with yummy salty pork strips.
+ Chicken coconut soup was rich and flavorful. The potatoes were also cooked to a nice consistency.
+ The stir fried beef with oranges is sweet and salty. Definitely order rice if you eat here.
- Burmese iced tea is overpriced. I feel like you get a couple of sips before it's gone. See picture for how small the glass is...overall the nonalcoholic drinks we tried were just a little too sweet. Fun if you want to try the flavors, but I think I could skip next time.

Servers were super nice about checking in for food allergies and letting us know when the dishes contained one of the ingredients. They also doled out shared dishes like soups into individual bowls for us. The decor inside was interesting. It looked like they had hearts leftover from Valentines hanging from the ceiling which was honestly very charming. It was a little hectic that day because there was a film crew taking videos of the restaurant patrons which was interesting to add to the dining experience.

This place had a 74-105 min wait when we arrived around 7pm on Sat evening.

You can get on the Yelp waitlist earlier tho. We luckily got to bypass the super long wait and crowd when they opened up outdoor seating and we volunteered. So lucky!

They have a covering and heat lamps. We ordered the hot jasmine tea, IPA, rainbow salad, Mandalay special noodles, and beef curry.

It was all SO unique flavors! Like i havent tasted these flavors at any other ethic restaurant which was surprising and delightful.

The beef curry was the most flavorful. Nice chunks not too hard with curry. The rainbow salad was very unique (lots of noodles) and subtle spice. The mandalay special noodle has a nice taste and flavor more light and subtle, my bf really liked these!

Def recommend to come try.

We ordered the Singapore Style Noodles, Rainbow Salad, and Mandalay Beef. The Singapore Noodles had a nice curry-like flavor with generous amounts of stir-fried meats and evenly grilled prawns. The Rainbow Salad lives up to its name. Featuring 20 different ingredients (cucumbers, sunflower seeds, crispy garlic, etc.) it also includes 3 types of noodles. Finally, the Mandalay Beef had a nice zesty flavor with a slight crisp touch.

The Mango with Sticky Rice was a big bland and lacking in texture compared to the rest of the meal, but overall we very much enjoyed our meal here. It feels nice and authentically Burmese on the inside, and it wasn't too crowded on a Friday night. Overall worth stopping by if you're in the Richmond craving Burmese!

Always a great time when I bring friends and family to the Rich!

Obviously, get the tea leaf salad. No frills here! They don't bother with useless lettuce in the tea leaf salad so all you get is all the goodness and amazing flavors.

My other go-to's are the green beans and shrimp okra. Both dishes are pretty similar in flavor, but I just love them! The okra might be my favorite part since it's cooked so well, and dry fried green beans, well, also not the funnest to recreate at home so here we are!

If you're at a busy, small, restaurant in good company, you won't mind the service. Sure, they're a small staff and they're always trying their best. I don't mind it. I've also been here when it's not crowded and the staff is always kind.

Came to Mandalay for the first time for a weekend lunch and it was a good meal! I highly recommend reservations, as the restaurant was completely full at 1pm. Décor was nice and cozy and the ambiance was relaxed. It was probably only the third time I've ever had Burmese food, but being that one side of my family is from SEA, I was comfortable with the flavor profiles. We ordered the balada and tea leaf salad to start, and the rangoon spicy fish, Mandalay eggplant, special noodles with tofu, and lamb curry for the mains. The lady that took our order was pushy to try and get me to order their whole fried fish instead of the rangoon fish, but I held firm lol.

The tea leaf salad came out first, which was mixed at the table by the server. Nice presentation, but I can't say that I enjoyed the salad very much. It was very oily and peanut heavy with no distinguishable tea flavor. I recommend going to Inle Burmese Cuisine for a good tea leaf salad with actual tea leaf flavor. The balada is a must get - similar to roti pratha with curry dipping sauce. The balada is thicker than roti, but with the same crispy outside and chewy layers in the middle. It took a while before the entrees came but it was worth the wait.

The rangoon spicy fish and Mandalay eggplant came out first and both were delicious. The spicy fish was not spicy at all, but the flavor was good and I liked the amount of veggies it came with. The eggplant was so delicious! The batter and fry on the eggplant was unlike anything I've ever tried before - we were unsure if it was even eggplant when it first came to the table. It had a sweet and spicy sauce, more on the sweet side. Both of these dishes went really well with their coconut rice. The coconut rice was so flavorful and fluffy, the only part I didn't like about it was the $5 price tag for one serving. It is still worth it though, I really liked having the coconut rice with our dishes.

The lamb curry was okay, I liked the flavor of the curry but the lamb could have been more tender. The special noodles didn't come out until we had eaten most of the other three dishes, the timing was a little off for the entrees coming out. The noodles were good though, the thick rice noodles had a good texture and the coconut curry had a strong lemongrass flavor. The fried noodles added a great texture and the fried tofu was good too.

Overall, get the balada, coconut rice, and a dish to accompany the rice, but skip the tea leaf salad and expensive drinks. The service was a hit or miss, some of the servers were very nice but there were a couple hiccups. We never got one of the teas we ordered and they couldn't take it off the bill, so they gave it to us in a to-go cup at the end of the meal. Solid choice for Burmese food and I would come again to try out more of the menu.

Came here on a Friday night and there wasn't too much of a wait. I ordered the Burmese style noodle aka Kaw Soi Dok. The food took a while to come and when my noodles came they were lukewarm and basically cold. My friend's food did not come until 10-15 mins later so I had already had eaten a lot of my food. The noodles said they came with some sort of sauce but mine didn't look like it had much sauce. The portion was small for the price, I didn't have any leftovers. My friend got the pumpkin curry with chicken and she wished her dish had more curry since it was about 50% veggies. Overall, I wouldn't return.

The servers are really friendly, and I liked the drinks. We ordered lots of dishes, but my favorite was the mandalay noodle special. And the chicken satay.