"Founders Dan Anton and Zaw Mahesh serve thoroughly modern takes on Burmese cuisine in their restaurant on Bethnal Green Road, with another in Covent Garden. Head chef Mahesh, born in Kalaw in Burma, and raised in nearby Mogok, will take a traditional Burmese dessert like mont lone yay paw (similar to the Malaysian onde-onde) and stuff it with balachaung to transform it into a savoury snack. It’s intelligent and thoughtful innovation which displays the same kind of ingenuity which gave the world now-classic Burmese dishes such as samosa salad of which chef and food writer Madhur Jaffrey is a fan. Classics are also well-executed at Lahpet — its mohinga, Burma’s national dish of fish broth and rice vermicelli heaped with crispy split-pea fritters, roast chilli and coriander, is a treat, as is the signature dish of lahpet thohk which turns umami-packed tea leaves into a unique textural salad. The pone yay gyi salad is another must-order, made using a home-fermented black bean paste that could be deemed Burmese miso." - MiMi Aye
