Uwishunu.com

I have been to Malaysia twice and for some reason when in Malaysia your hosts always take you to eat Indian food. There is a huge South Indian population in Malaysia and it has even evolved a signature dish, roti. Roti is a type of Indian bread, you may see it on a menu here, but it not the same as what I’ve eaten in Malaysia. Roti is this gooey-on-the-inside, crispy-on-the-outside-with-burnt-spots-on-it flat bread served with dal, my preference being yellow lentil or split pea. I’ve only eaten it in Malaysia and it haunts my appetite’s sub-conscience to this day.

Rangoon is a Burmese Restaurant located at 112 North 9th Street in Chinatown. Their thousand-layer bread is the closest thing to Malaysian roti I have ever had. The vatana bean dip is quite similar to the split-pea dal, only much thicker. The bread is pretty much exactly the same; in fact I ate two orders of it the other day. I’m losing my mind just thinking about it, too bad it’s 2:03am. I wonder, is it made from a ball of dough thrown on to a hot grill like in Malaysia? I just wish it cost a quarter like it does there (and that there were angry monkeys everywhere and giant twin corncob buildings and crested-serpent eagles flying around).

I should mention that Rangoon has Burmese dishes that are spectacular that your stomach needs to get acquainted with. Someday when Myanmar has a less oppressive government that won’t funnel my tourist dollars to fund their regime, I will visit and fall in love with local dishes that I can then go to Rangoon and eat for nostalgia.

Rangoon
112 North 9th Street, Philadelphia PA, 19107
(215) 829-8939