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The Burma Road Restaurant was named after the famous Burma Road which is a long and winding road extending from Lashio, Burma to Kunming, China.
It was built between 1937 and 1939 to serve as a supply route to deliver war supplies to China during its war against Japan. The road served as a back door to China as the Japanese took effective control of the Chinese coasts and of Indochina. It played a defining roll in the defeat of the Japanese. The actual distance from Lashio to Kunming is approximately 360 miles “as the crow flies” but covers 700 miles due to its winding nature through thick jungles and over mountains.
This harsh terrain made building conditions very difficult for the 160,000 Burmese and Chinese laborers building the road. Later, the Japanese took control of lower Burma, and the supplies had to come by way of India and the Burma Road was extended west to Ledo, India. The eastern part of the road was also extended from Kunming to Chung King in Szechuan province.
Charlie, the restaurant owner, was born and grew up in Burma. As a young boy he listened to stories about his mom and grandma fleeing along the Burma Road to escape the Japanese invasion. He has since traveled between Kunming and Mandalay and is familiar with many of the classic Burmese and Chinese dishes particular to cities and regions along the road. Now he would like to have the privilege to share these unique flavors with you.
Enjoy your culinary journey along the Burma Road!
Thank you for coming.
Read Asian Fortune on Burma Road.
2009 Fall Dining Guide
By Tom Sietsema
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, Oct. 18, 2009
Just like the four cooks at this Gaithersburg restaurant, half of the dishes are Chinese and half are Burmese. As appealing as the kitchen's pork-filled fried dumplings and fiery kung pao shrimp are, the ginger salad and nan gyi thoke provide even better reasons to explore the menu. The first, a brassy slaw, combines finely shredded fresh ginger, cabbage and onion, tossed with lime juice and sesame oil and showered with peanuts. The latter, an entree, finds a tangle of spaghetti-like rice noodles, shredded chicken and bean sprouts punched up with chilies. Good on its own, the noodle dish blossoms with the addition of fresh lime and chopped cilantro at the table. A lot of the Burmese dishes are not for the fainthearted. Tamarind simmered with shrimp paste, for instance, looks like orange mush and smells a little funky, but the side dish does a sweet-tart tap dance on the tongue. Tamer but also tasty: beef slivers stir-fried with sour mustard greens. Mint-green walls, tinkling music and pools of space between the tables create a backdrop that's at once soothing and stylish, worthy of date night but priced for every day.
For Other Information, Please Call (301) 963-1429.