Rangoon Ruby

I had dinner at the newly-opened Rangoon Ruby on Polk with another friend who missed the Forbes Island expedition. The restaurant is very elegant and dimly lit, but this time I remembered to use the flash.

We started with the Tea Leaf Salad ( A mix of Burmese tea leaves, fried garlic, yellow beans, peanuts, sesame seeds, lettuce, tomato, jalapeno peppers and dried shrimp). A vegetarian option of this salad is available, but we are omnivores. The salad was brought to the table unconstructed, so we could see  that all the ingredients were there, and then the waiter combined them before serving us.

My friend chose the Shrimp Kabat (Marinated shrimp stir fried with paprika, masala, tamarind, green chilis, mint leaves, tomatoes and cilantro). Unfortunately (for me), he likes his food very hot, so there was no more than a taste of this for me. It was very tasty, but just too hot for me to enjoy it.

I would have preferred no heat in my meal, but I just couldn't resist the Village Catfish (Bone on catfish fried and served with onion, garlic, red chili and tomatoes in village style sauce), which had to be at least mild. due to the red chili being an integral ingredient. It is also necessary to eat this very carefully, as all the bones are there. If you're worried about swallowing a bone, this dish is not for you.

After all this, we just didn't have room for any of the intriguing dessert options. They are all very rich and all involve ice cream.