Royal Rangoon

Best Burmese in the Bay Area. Every dish I have tried here is superior to the other Burmese spots I’ve tried. The atmosphere is fantastic and they try to make your experience memorable every time. I love their samosa soup and tea leaf salad.

Authentic Burmese cuisine in a comfortable and private setting, with an extensive menu and excellent service. My only suggestion would be to better differentiate the dishes, add more variety to particular dishes, and do more to make the space fee more lively. Overall, highly recommended as a solo or group dining area option.

Overall it's pretty good, though the dessert was a slight letdown. The tea leaf salad is a favorite, always recommended. Also tried the basil chili lamb and chicken biryani. The lamb was great, the biryani was decent. Coconut rice doesn't have as pronounced of a coconut flavor as other places. For dessert we tried the sticky rice with mango, but the mango was not ripe at all: instead it was hard and slightly sour, definitely not a good complement for the rice. We mentioned this to the server but after checking with the kitchen he said they didn't have any better mangoes. We got some ice cream as well - that was ok. Would pass on both desserts next time unless they had ripe mangoes. Overall it's a decent value in terms of taste/price.

This is a great place to eat Burmese food. Usually not crowed but it is better to make a reservation. Thanks be of the owners is really friendly and smiled at our little one. Place is quiet and we’re friendly to our child. Parking was not difficult Friday around 6 pm. Recommended to small and big groups.

Fantastic service and kind owners, amazing food, and a really relaxing and nice ambiance. We ordered the salt and pepper tofu, tea leaf salad, string beans, samosas, sesame tofu, and coconut rice. Very accommodating to vegans. We were also given fiery tofu and vegetables on the house which was delicious!

Delightful food and charming service. The side of the restaurant with the booths was so serene. The acoustics create a really calm place that makes it easy to hold a conversation. Excllent vegetarian food too!

I just called the restaurant and it seems like the restaurant has been sold to new owners. I have hopes for the new restaurant but I will say that Royal Rangoon with the family that ran it was my favorite restaurant in the Bay area and I'm really sad to see that family go. Thank you so much for feeding us with kindness.

My favorite restaurant in Berkeley, maybe the entire Bay Area. The food is always so fresh, flavors balanced and unique, and the service is warm and welcoming! So many options for vegans/ vegetarians. Get the tea leaf salad, the rainbow salad, any of the yellow tofu dishes, and the garlic noodles- or branch out and be delightfully surprised. Take out is consistently good, but dining in is cozy and delicious too. Can’t say enough good things about this place!

We love this place. The food is amazing and the restaurant is warm and family-oriented. We always see the same people who work there and the couple I assume are the owners, and they're so nice. Takeout is good too! We always get the tea leaf salad and the rangoon shrimp, and then we try to branch out a bit too with other dishes. Sesame beef is amazing too. Food is also so quick - often it comes out within minutes!

This place is a certified classic in my household! We have been coming here for many years and the quality of the food and service has remained consistently great. The vibe feels upscale but still very accessible. They are family owned and every time we come in we are greeted by the same people who remember us and it always makes us feel a part of the neighborhood! When we come in we get the same things: *Tea Leaf Salad-seriously, a MUST try- the combination of flavors is absolutely delectable *Burmese Pork Curry-my housemate isn't a big meat eater but I got her to try it and now she gets it every time! *Coconut Rice-I have TRIED to recreate this at home and never have gotten it to taste as good as theirs *Palata w/Coconut Chicken Curry-fried bread and the tastiest curry? You can't go wrong *Samosas-I actually can't believe they're vegan but just an order of this and a salad will be enough food These are just my must haves but I have tried other dishes and really liked them as well! I definitely encourage you to go to their happy hour for smaller plates and try a few things! Royal Rangoon was the first Burmese restaurant I ever tried and since then I have been to others in the area but none of them compare!

Came here with my friends since they recommended it and I'm so glad I was introduced to here! I never tried Burmese food prior to this and i was not disappointed. I loved their tea leaf and rainbow salad! They also have happy hours when you can get these for a little cheaper which is great. Staff was also kind and constantly checked in with us to see if we needed anything. Their desserts I would rate a 3/5 tho

More than 11 years and a minor name change since our initial visit, and having come through the tough covid years plus a difficult recovery from water damage caused by a leak on the floor above, Mr. Tun Lin & staff continue to deliver an exquisite, lovely dining experience. If unsure of what to order, throw a few darts at the menu and your party will end up leaving with satisfied smiles. RR stands as our go-to place for most special occasions.

Came to this place yesterday on a whim. I was delighted to see that the staff were super friendly, attentive, and passionate about what they do. They were always checking on us to make sure the quality of everything was good and that we were enjoying ourselves. Our group of four enjoyed our booth which gave us a bit more privacy in this semi intimate setting. We ordered quite a few things and every dish was a hit. The dishes here are super flavorful which I LOVED. I would absolutely come back, and recommend this spot to others!

This place had so many delicious options and the flavors were on bold and on point! We weren't that hungry so we only tried 3 dishes but would come back for more! Pros: lots of variety, bold flavors Cons: a little dark during the day if you sit more inside Ambiance: 4/5 Taste: 5/5 Value: 4.5/5 Service: 4.5/5

The food served here is really good. Starting with the yellow bean tofu appetizer. Never had anything like it. Texturally more dense than soy tofu that I'm accustomed too but still silky smooth. Served with a little sweet and mildly spicy sauce and they've made a winner! The chicken curry, sesame beef and the green beans were all flavorful and cooked nicely. The chicken breast in the curry was super tender and the sauce on the green beans was really good too. Since it was my Mothers birthday they brought out a bowl of ice cream with a candle in it and we all sang her the birthday song. We ordered the Burmese cake which is made with semolina flour which made it interesting and good. The service was great but I had to ding a star because they were out of Jasmine rice and sparkling water and although the place is clean and nice their tables/booths are a bit tight.

Staff here is very friendly and know a lot about Burmese food - they will share details on some of the specialties of their country. The food is very good with many wonderful vegetarian options, and are careful to ask and modify any dish that needs it for your preferences. Don't miss anything with the fried tofu which is crispy on the outside and creamy soft on the inside. The rainbow salad is lovely and mixed table side. It is a great spot and very affordable.

The staff here are so kind they're the highlight of the visit, but the food is amazing. Highlights are tea leaf salad, rainbow salad, sesame tofu, and palata with vegetable curry. They're very accommodating of a vegan diet and I would guess the same is true for other dietary restrictions.

So glad that Royal Rangoon is finally open for inside dining after only offering take out and delivery since the pandemic started over 3 years! I would call every so often and there was no inside dining. When my friend and I arrived here today, we were welcomed with open arms and the servers was very attentive and friendly. The restaurant reopened for indoor dining in February this year so we were trying to find time to come here as we missed their tea leaf salad, the best and their vegetable samosas! So we ordered the tea leaf salad, vegetable samosas and chicken garlic noodles. The tea leaf salad was excellent, just like before as well as the vegetable samosas! The chicken garlic noodles were a little bland so we asked for some salt. Other than that, we enjoyed the meal.

Very nice service, good and authentic ambiance. We enjoyed the various salads and order three desserts! All delicious.

Mango lassi was otherworldly. Fresh, nectar flavor, with unmeltable ice. The waiter hand mixed the salad for 3 minutes. Impressed with the tofu in the appetizer and main dish. First time trying yellow bean tofu. We liked all the dishes

I would choose this over Burma superstar. The food was amazing! Very accommodating for vegans. The owner also was very friendly and gave us a dish on the house. The ambiance was cozy, nice and relaxing.

The food at Royal Rangoon is fantastic, and the staff are sweethearts. We prefer both the food and ambiance of Royal Rangoon over the other famous Burmese restaurant nearby, because it's quieter (no yelling necessary to have a conversation) and a much calmer experience. Their salads, soups and noodle dishes are our favorites!

They are back open for indoor dining!!! I've been here long long time ago (even realizing some of the yelp pics are mine from 8 years ago!) and remember their food being awesome and may be even better than the famed Burma Superstar. Came here last night to celebrate my birthday and ordered their Mohingar, Tea Leaf Salad, Basil Chili Beef, Duck Curry, and Garlic Noodles with Roast Duck. All of the dishes were delicious and especially the Moht Hingar!!! It was the BEST I've ever had and the most flavorful!! The noodles were perfectly soft and chewy too. The owner came by and said they use a special ingredient from a banana tree that makes it kinda crunchy, but I will be having this dish from this place going forward. The Tea Leaf Salad was great as usual, crunchy and fragrant from the garlic bits, and Basil Chili Beef was flavorful but not too salty. The Garlic Noodles were good and flavorful from the garlic oil. Overall one of the more satisfying meal I've had recently in the Bay. The only thing I would say is that the dishes weren't as hot as I would like, they were relatively lukewarm. Services were super nice and they checked up on us regularly. Prices are reasonable and relative to restaurant prices from 3 years ago. Family run business so definitely give your support!

I am addicted to the roselle leaf stir fry here. It's got such a unique flavor that you can't get anywhere else. Sometimes in the cooler months they will also have a special: a soup made with the leaves and bamboo shoots. (They can prepare the stir fry without meat or seafood if you don't like meat). It's so amazing, truly. The soup was the only thing I wanted to eat for a month during and after I had covid. The staff is super kind too. While I was waiting for my take home meal recently, they chatted with me about the ingredients in my favorite dishes, what kind of herbs and veggies they use, and gave me tips on where I could find the ingredients to try to prepare the soup at home since fhey don't usually offer it during summer months. As an aside, i honestly like their tea leaf salad better than burma superstar's. RR makes theirs with thinly sliced cabbage instead of romaine, so it has a lovely crunch and sweetness from the cabbage - it's still good the next day too because it doesn't get wilted. I think their tea leaf paste dressing has a more complex flavor than Burma Superstar too. I hope this place stays open forever!

It's ok. Food was bland bordering on boring. Service was friendly yet a bit helpless. The drink menu was a piece of paper that looked like it had been on the sidewalk for a few days. The room is dark, the booths tight and the seat/table ratio is off. The seats are too low or the table to high. Overall nothing really bad but then also no real reason to go either. Except- let's of parking. Many restaurants a few blocks up on Telegraph but little parking. YMMV.

It was our last full day in the Berkeley area (mid August) when we discovered Royal Rangoon. Tea leaf salad!!! I don't know how to describe tea leaf salad dressing other than to say it''s so good that I could eat it with different combinations of veggies every day if I had an endless supply. When we got to RR, we were told by the owner that they were open for to-go orders only and would would resume indoor dining on 9/1. He was very friendly and inquired if we had any food allergies (thank you for caring!). We ordered 5 tea leaf salads and 1 mango salad to-go. We told him we were headed bacK to LA and will bring our big salad order with us. We enjoyed the salads very much, and added extra veggies.

Another great dinner at Royal Rangoon. Such a lovely place! The owner and staff are warm, knowledgeable, and friendly. And the food! Fresh and delicious every time. Lots of good choices for meat eaters and vegans alike.

The Royal Rangoon was a lovely experience! The tea leaf salad gets mixed in front of you for so long that it's almost comical, but you can tell that the staff cares about the food and your experience. The food came out quickly, and they served us a small appetizer on the house just because their chef was experimenting! It's not exactly cheap, but for the occasional nice dinner, it's not bad at all, and my husband and I wish we'd known about it sooner. The lighting is gentle and the seating is back in its own room, making the experience feel comfy and intimate.

I loved this restaurant and ate here frequently when I was in college. This place rivals Burma Superstar without the long line. My partner and I had a meal here during Valentine's Day weekend and it was delicious. We ordered a tea leaf salad, zinfandel and nan gyi dok. The food came out immediately and we quickly ate everything. The nan gyi dok is very fresh and flavorful. The tea leaf salad was good and packed of crunch as usual. We were informed by the server that they had just reopened on Wednesday and we were lucky to have come in when they happened to reopen as they have been closed for two years.

This is absolutely one of the best restaurants in the entire East Bay. Amazing food, great service and perfect ambience. Can't recommend it enough.

This is the best Burmese restaurant in the Bay Area! The owner and the staff are friendly and treat you like family. This is my favorite neighborhood restaurant by far. My husband and I have been patronizing this establishment for 10 years.

We LOVED this place! Really friendly staff, absolutely fantastic food, sweet ambiance and central location. Favorites were the tea leaf salad and pumpkin and chicken stew.

We love this place! Have been eating here 5 years outstanding in restaurant outstanding takeout. Try chicken kebat, sesame beef, mango swai.

I ordered 3 items from Royal Ragoon tonight and it was the first time I tried this place. I had an awesome experience at a Burmese restaurant about an hour away from Berkeley and thought I'd try a local place. Because I recently had surgery, I ordered online delivery from Royal Ragoon (5 miles away) which they directed to ChowNow. I don't know if they are affiliated. One of the three items I ordered, garlic noodles, was excellent! I highly recommend this dish. But....the two shrimp dishes were TERRIBLE! The garlic shrimp and eggplant had sooooo much oil it was dripping from the boxed package and dripping onto the other boxes and into the bag. I would have been ok with the greasy presentation if it tasted ok, but it was awful, as well as grossly greasy! The second shrimp dish was the Bar La Chong meal and I ordered it mild. It looked good, but the shrimp were so overcooked and chewy that my son and I decided to toss the meal. I paid over $70 for the food and delivery and it was not a good experience. I hate wasting food and I don't like giving negative reviews, but after contacting the restaurant to provide feedback, I decided to share my concern - not to punish the place for completely dismissing my concerns as well as blaming delivery, but to alert others that this place is inconsistent and not customer-friendly. Go elsewhere.

A friend recommended this restaurant to me and let me just say, we were BEYOND impressed. All the food was fantastic - the palata, samosa soup, golden fried tofu, royal noodles, and the burmese pad thai! The servers were also super prompt and friendly, making sure we had everything we need in a timely manner. We will definitely be back with more people!!

My wife and I have been going to this restaurant for the last 3+ years and always ordered rice with our meal. The portions were always the same, one container for each order of rice. But this time when we ordered, the containers were only half full. We contacted them and the staff was very rude to me on the phone. I asked to speak to the manager and they told me they were in the hospital and not available. So I sent an email to the manager explaining the service we received and to give them a chance to explain why this happened, but we never received a response from them.

Reservation went smoothly. Ordering our meal and enjoying it before attending the UCBerkeley football game was DELIGHTFUL. The food is wonderful; staff attentive and we were able to enjoy our conversation with our friends. Restaurant is comfortable and a wide choice of seafood, meat, poultry and vegetarian dishes. We will be back!

Would like to come here with more people so I could try a variety of dishes. I ordered the Lemongrass Chicken with a side of Indian Burmese Rice (none included with the entrees). I was disappointed that the flavor of the sauce tasted pretty salty and rather bland- no hints of lemongrass. The chicken and veggies in it were cooked well and the best part was the basil leaves. The rice was delicious and fragrant. Friendly enough service but a bit slow even with not too many diners. We waited for someone to bring us togo boxes for awhile and watched the waiter in the corner on his phone. The dining room is large and spacious and we were seated without any reservations on a Saturday evening.

Friendly and culturally knowledgeable service. Food was tasty though inconsistent on taste impressiveness. Presentation was great. I liked the mango chicken. The salmon pumpkin stew was ok, though not flavorful -- probably because we ordered it mild. Coconut rice was ok. The Indian rice was weird -- either old or inauthentic or cooked wrong. Rice portions were too small for the dishes served, compared to other restaurants. Milk tea was boring. Tea Leaf Salad was oily and had too many peanuts and tasted less flavorful than others I've had. My friend got the pork belly and seemed to like it but didn't rave about it. The special ice cream dessert was very heavy and the flavors of mango and green tea were barely tasted, and the ice cream colors looked like tons of food coloring. The seating area is dark and smelled of cleaning chemicals. We had asked to sit by the window initially but were redirected to this area although the restaurant was empty. I think they just wanted the customers together near the kitchen. The menus seemed dirty especially the dessert menu seemed like it came from the garbage. The only reason why I'd come back here is for the servers who were super duper. Unfortunately too many other disappointments on food and ambiance. The food mediocre. Ambiance poor. Prices were average.

Samosas, coconut curry soup, and not pictured garlic shrimp. Everything was tasty. Service was amazing and it's a beautiful restaurant. Very intimate

** The following review reflects my delivery experience during the COVID-19 pandemic. ** Give me Burmese if you please. Give me Burmese if you don't please. Burmese makes Thai and Vietnamese taste so five minutes ago. OK, that's a lie. I love it all, but I do likes me a robust tea leaf salad. Burma Superstar and Burma Love aren't the only places you can get one. Here's another one, a family-run business on Telegraph in Berkeley since 2013. The $15 Tea Leaf Salad was a culinary joy, a mix of Burmese tea leaves, fried garlic, beans, peanuts, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, lettuce, tomato, jalapeño, and dried shrimp (photo: https://bit.ly/3gAoFbK). The mixing is at your discretion, and no one will judge your lack of dexterity as you can quickly wolf it down. And you will because it was crunchy delicious. I also ordered the $19 Salmon Lemongrass Fusion, which was a grilled salmon filet served with a spicy lemongrass sauce (photo: https://bit.ly/3gtK2wI). It was pretty tasty though I wished they didn't leave the lemongrass chutes as I kept inadvertently chewing on them. I'm sure I'll end up visiting Royal Rangoon at some point because it's on several "Best of Berkeley" lists. FOOD - 4 stars...if it passes the tea leaf test, it's a winner and it is AMBIANCE - n/a...don't know yet but soon hopefully SERVICE - 4 stars...it came without damage TOTAL - 4 stars...give me Burmese if you please RELATED - Hungry for Burmese? Here's a collection of places I've visited and reviewed: https://bit.ly/2WSK3Br

I got dinner tonight and the food was so tasty and well-priced. There was a happy hour menu with samosas and egg/spring rolls and a very delicious walnut shrimp entree that my friends enjoyed. The waiters were kind and checked in frequently. Will definitely go again.

The service is excellent with attentive and friendly waiters. However, the food has gone downhill. The style of cooking is indistinctive neither Burmese nor Asian. Taste was lacking in both the mixed vegetable curry and in the Burmese chicken kebat. The only dish we enjoyed was the palata with chicken curry. The palata was doughy and not like Malaysian Roti Canai where the bread is flaky and thin. Perhaps they need a revamping of the recipes or an authentic Burmese chef to give the dishes a more distinctive style?

Royal Rangoon has very good food and just about perfect service. It was a joy to be so carefully attended to and this was coupled with quite tasty entrees.

Best Burmese around. This place has been in the regular rotation for years (saying this as a local). The owner is extremely nice and gracious. Great place to have dinner as there is ample street parking and the inside is nice and always very clean. To go orders are great too and very fast if you want to do pickup like I often do since the office is nearby. Order today was Basil Chili Beef, Mango Salad, and Somosa Soup, all A+. Will be back soon.

Our favorite neighborhood Burmese spot! Our go to's, which we've had at least 9 or 10 times since moving here about 6 months ago: -tea leaf salad: did you even have Burmese if you excluded this?? -sesame beef: oh nom nom nom!!!!!!! Lately it's been the perfect amount of crisp on the meat and not overly sauced. Perfection!! We've tried a handful of other items but those 2 are the ones that can't be missed!! Thanks RR for keeping our neighborhood happy and flowing with tasty food!

The food here is always delicious and the service has always been great. It's a go-to place for our friend group when we have 6 or more because they can accommodate us, it's a nice chill vibe inside, it's quiet enough to be able to all hear each other, and everyone is always so happy with their order.

Excellent food and really, really sweet, warm, attentive service. Two very minor suggestions for the management... from the outside on the sidewalk, at lunchtime, it was almost impossible to see if they were open or not. They need to better light the inside by the doorway so that they don't lose any potential customers. The other point is that they're very concerned about patrons with hyper-sensitive palates. When my friend and I wanted to order "medium" level spice, they gave us a big disclaimer that their "medium" was pretty darn hot. Well... it wasn't. I asked for some of their homemade chili paste on the side, which made all the difference!

I ordered an egg okra curry, mild, for pickup. You can't see the egg in my photo, but there was indeed an egg split into two halves inside. It had a crispy fried exterior which I haven't usually encountered, I liked that texture. The mild spice level I picked wasn't spicy at all, which is great for anyone who can't handle much spiciness. It also stayed warm an impressive amount of time inside of the plastic takeout container. Overall, the food was hearty and flavorful.

This is one of my favorite restaurants in the area. The food is always consistently good and service is also great. Can't wait to come back for their coconut rice !

Mango salad is my favorite at Royal Rangoon. Its refreshing and delicious. Very unique. The server explains the ingredients and can mix it for you if you prefer. There were no leftovers shared by 3 adults. It can nicely be shared with 4 people as an appetizer.Delish!

A hidden gem: Best halal Burmese place in the Bay Area We went with a party of 8. In order to reserve, we called ahead of time and confirmed a 7:30 pm check in. Waiter said we were welcome to walk in. He also verbally confirmed the food was halal. Satisfied, we drove to the place at the confirmed time. Decor was pretty nice and the restaurant was quiet given there were very few diners. We ordered the following appetizers and mains:- 1- Tea leaf salad 2- Samosa 3- Mango salad 4- Basil chilli lamb 5- Basil chilli beef 6- Sesame chicken 7- Fried rice 8- Coconut rice All the items were absolutely delicious! The salad were oh so crunchy and so fresh! The combination of toasted garlic,peanuts and nuts with the tangy salad was really good! I thought the salad at Burma superstar was good, but this was much better! Fried rice was really good too and so were the other mains. All in all, highly recommend. This will be our go to place up north. P.S: For folks considering halal, note they serve pork too.

My boyfriend used to frequent this place and has been wanting to take me here for awhile. We got news they finally reopened after two years, we excitedly came to visit! We love Burmese food and I found that the ambiance, availability, and service is much better than other Burmese options in town. Wondering what to order? Lemongrass chicken! Crowd pleaser, so good. Coconut rice of course. Don't skip on dessert, mango and coconut ice cream are handmade and perfect. :)

traditional burmese spot. phenomenal tea leaf salad, friendly owner, relaxed environment. would recommend to someone in the area that is looking to try some burmese food!

I must say I am super disappointed because I have read the reviews and also it's highly rated here! I love Burmese food and I couldn't wait to expand the places I usually go to. I came across and ordered my favorite rainbow salad. Do not get me wrong, the order was huge and it was definitely getting the most of what you are paying for but there's something missing. Same goes with the samosas, it was okay. It wasn't something I would rave about. Both orders were missing flavors. All Burmese places that I have been to hits you with that powerful play of flavors in your mouth once you taste it. This place definitely lacked that umph and it made me sad.

We ate there this past weekend and have been there many times in the past. I'm so glad they made it through the pandemic. The food has always been supper good, very distinctive flavors, and service... they really touch base throughout the meal to make sure we're happy. In a town with a lot of ethnic spots, Rangoon is really special. Order the coconut rice with everything and the tea leaf salad, mango tofu, sesame chicken...

I've both eaten at and had takeout from Royal Rangoon many times. Definitely my favorite Burmese restaurant in the Bay Area. The palata with chicken, tea leaf salad, walnut shrimp are go-to items for me, but they have many other great ones too.