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Inle Myanmar – Burmese Flavours

Rating:

By Veron Ang

Burmese cuisine is a largely unexplored realm in Singapore. One Burmese restaurant that I do know of is Inle Myanmar in peninsula plaza (nicknamed the Burma mall of Singapore). Now, after four years, the restaurant has opened another branch in Marina Square.

My dinner partner and I were on our way to the Lerk Thai restaurant just a few doors down when we passed by inle Myanmar. We were immediately drawn by the summery shades of cheery orange that dominate its walls. Being new to Burmese food, we were definitely game to give it a try!

The chefs and waitstaff here are Burmese, assuring diners of an authentic taste of Myanmar. In my mind, I thought Myanmar cuisine would be rather similar to Thai food or even Indonesian food. In actual fact, it is more Chinese than anything else (to me anyway).

Prawn with Chili Gravy
S$11+
Rating:

The prawn with chilli gravy, for instance, has a very familiar home-cooked taste. It reminds me of the chilli prawn dish that my Mom used to cook. (I liked it so much and so often that Mom had to stop cooking it due to its high cholesterol level.)

Anyway, this is one of the many chef’s recommendations on the menu. You get a handful of fresh, succulent prawns immersed in a robust chilli gravy with onion. Each prawn is plump and juicy. In fact, there are hardly enough prawns!

Chicken Curry

Chicken Curry
S$9.50+
Rating:

Another chef’s recommendation is the chicken curry. Despite being hyped as a must-try Burmese dish, it turned out pedestrian. The chicken is smothered in a thick curry paste with a taste similar to rendang dishes. Normally I would love it. But in this case it was overly salty, to the extent that I couldn’t really taste anything else.

Plus, the portion was a very skimpy one for the price. We got more potato and bone than anything else, really.

Shrimp paste

Those of you that need more fire in your meal can ask for the restaurant’s kang kong (water spinach) with shrimp paste. Besides shrimp paste, you can opt for soya bean or garlic in your vegetable.

We were each served a little dish of shrimp paste on the side, in addition to the one in the kang kong. A word of caution: the shrimp paste is HOT! Do not underestimate its innocent shade of pinkish brown. I’m not sure if we’re supposed to eat it with our rice, but it doesn’t matter anyway because it’s so fiery hot we had to do without it.

Fried Spring Rolls

Fried Spring Rolls
S$5+
Rating:

The restaurant offers spring rolls in both the fresh version (like Vietnamese spring rolls) and deep-fried version. Spring rolls that aren’t deep-fried just seem… Wrong. So we went for the more sinful version.

Fried Spring Rolls

The spring rolls are stuffed with chopped onion and other vegetables that give it a nice crunch. They go very well with the flavourful dip that’s both sour and spicy. (burmese sure love having spice in their food!)

Inle Myanmar

At this point if you’re wondering how the restaurant got its name, inle is actually a fishing village-turned-resort in Myanmar. This explains why you would find black and white pictures of fishing scenes adorning the orange walls of the restaurant.

What caught my attention most were the unique lanterns dangling from the ceiling. They look like they would fit right in a fishing village!

Have Your Say!

Do you know of any other Burmese restaurant in Singapore? Drop us a note in the comments!

Inle Myanmar
Website

Peninsula Plaza outlet

Peninsula Plaza
111 North Bridge Road #B1-07
Singapore 179098
Tel: +65 6333 5438

Marina Square outlet

Marina Square
6 Raffles Boulevard #02-201
Singapore 039594
Tel: +65 6338 8772
Service:

Tags: Burmese, City Hall, curry, Marina Square, Peninsula Plaza, restaurant

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About the Editor

Veron Ang is the Founder and Chief Editor of Sparklette, a Singapore restaurants guide, lifestyle and travel blog. She graduated with a bachelor's degree in computer science from the National University of Singapore and runs a web design firm at Sparklette Studio. To get in touch, head on over to the contact page or follow @Sparklette and @VeronSG on Twitter.

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Responses Leave a comment

X Wings
50 comments

Hmm, never been to Myanmar and can’t really remember watching any travel shows on Myanmar’s cuisine…but those dishes you intro-ed, seems more like Myanmar-Born-Chinese’s creation…..
But as I never been to Myanmar personally, so its just a silly guess…..
But then, most of our own Hawker food are having identity’s crisis…. who can remember pork lard-ded char kew tiao with fresh (si) “dead” “hum” from Pasir Ris (hahahahahaha…..) ?
I saw a damn weird sight the other day at Bedok Interchange !! Maybe you can go check it out ??
Imagine half a watermelon (really a big half watermelon !!), filled with canned fruits ??
You can get this from the usual ice-kacan store(s) near to the Hokkien Prawn noodles store near the goreng pisang store…
1st time I see anything like this in Singapore!!
Reply
Posted August 1, 2008 at 1:44 pm
py
183 comments

I tried the Inle Myanmar at Peninsula Plaza, and couldn’t quite get accustomed to the food served there.
Reply
Posted August 1, 2008 at 11:39 pm
Belcrivelli
1 comment

Uhm! It looks delicious! If someday I could travel abroad, I would like to eat!
Reply
Posted August 2, 2008 at 7:16 am
Veron
3438 comments

X Wings: The fact that we have so many expats living here, and that Singapore is a multi-cultural place, most of the food here are fusion food. But I don’t really mind so long as it tastes good! Hey, about that watermelon, I’ve seen similar, but in a pineapple. Haha!
py: Same here. I prefer Thai food :) But I’ve read rave reviews about Inle Myanmar, so there are in fact many people that love the place.
Belcrivelli: Hmm… I wonder what the cuisine in your country (Brazil?) tastes like! There are a few Brazilian churrasco places in Singapore. Is it all like that?
Reply
Posted August 2, 2008 at 10:34 am
TeReNcE
14 comments

Wah.. certainly scrumptious! :P
happy Sun + Day! Cheers ya! :P
Reply
Posted August 3, 2008 at 2:21 pm
r.p
15 comments

ambience looks nice to me. But, only that the price is too expensive!
4 pcs of prawns for $11! Almost $3/pcs.
And look at that shrimp paste, I can finish them up with 1 scoop of spoon.
Reply
Posted August 3, 2008 at 2:44 pm
- sai sai
  2 comments
  
  Actually The 4 pices Chilli Prawn is come with Soup Of The Day , Shrimp Paste Salad with Fresh Vegetable and a plate of Steam Rice. It Just Worth with $10 . Pls remember to flash you Student card to get 10% off at Happy Hours.
  Reply
  Posted September 2, 2009 at 11:27 pm
  - Veron
    3438 comments
    
    The $10 set sounds like a good deal. We didn’t get to enjoy any such promo when we went. It must be something new. No wonder the restaurant looks packed these days!
    Reply
    Posted September 4, 2009 at 7:34 am
    - Sai Sai
      2 comments
      
      Of course!! That’s a new Promotion. Not Only It whan you go at Weekends you will also see the weekends special menu prices are stat from $6.00 with No GST No, Sevice Charge . Basically It will be Myanmar Home cook style food at that Menu. I think You have to make a reservation If you wish to go and dine at weekends.
      Reply
      Posted September 5, 2009 at 12:26 am
wenn
11 comments

woah..looking really yummy~~
will try out one day~~
Reply
Posted August 4, 2008 at 11:25 am
dom21
1 comment

Inle is palatable for those unfamiliar with Burmese cuisine. And i agree that they do tend to put too much salt/fish sauce in their dishes.
For more authentic tastes, you should try Mya Nandar at Peninsula Plaza B1. It’s right next to the escalator & has more of a food court feel (& hence less pricey). But i definitely think it tastes way better than Inle :P
A note of warning: Avoid that place on SUNDAYS! It gets way too crowded with Burmese customers…
Reply
Posted November 25, 2008 at 11:52 am
Veron
3438 comments

I will keep that in mind. Thanks! I’ve been eating a lot of Thai food recently and it’s time to check out another Southeast Asian cuisine :)
Reply
Posted November 25, 2008 at 11:13 pm
FunFun
1 comment

Himm , to me “Mya Nandar” service is no good , they want to chase you away if you sitting there for too long , after finished your food . I like “Irrawaddy” I had tried ‘Kyay Oh” from Irrawaddy , and it is nice .
Reply
Posted February 13, 2009 at 10:38 am
Tristan
1 comment

Inle decoration is good but foods are not amazing with the price that they charge. But I loved their sour drink( can’t remember the name ) , it was really good.
And Fried Burmese Tofu with sauce was mouth watery good.
Reply
Posted February 21, 2009 at 12:21 am
Huong
2 comments

Beautiful dishes. I love the shrimp dish. I’ve never been to any Burmese restaurant, are there any in the US? Couldn’t find any around here.
Reply
Posted February 18, 2011 at 1:54 am
- Veron
  3438 comments
  
  Even in Singapore, there are few Burmese restaurants, and we’re a neighbouring country! I imagine they would be a rarity in the US.
  Reply
  Posted February 21, 2011 at 4:20 pm
@Alex_Llamas
5 comments

@mbeltranva this might interest u http://t.co/sPnGtm8Z
Reply
Posted September 15, 2011 at 7:22 pm