Food

Cheap Eats 2009: Burma Road

Great food, low prices, lots of fun.

Why go: The cooking—from the stellar salads and soups to the rich and expressive curries—is as exciting as the setting is soothing. Burmese restaurants are gaining in number and quality here, and Charlie Sheh’s is at the head of a good class.

What to get: Pickled-tea-leaf salad and ginger salad, their flavors intricate and complex; any noodle dish, including a version drenched in chili sauce and topped with onions, cilantro, and chicken; mohinga, an aromatic fish soup that’s the national dish of Burma; PaZun hin, jumbo shrimp in onion-and-tomato curry; stir-fried pork with sour mustard greens.

Best for: Leisurely exploration of the long menu.

Insider tip: The menu is divided equally between Chinese and Burmese dishes. The former have their moments, but you’re here for the latter.

Open daily for lunch and dinner.

>> See all 2009 Cheap Eats restaurants here

Ann Limpert
Executive Food Editor/Critic

Ann Limpert joined Washingtonian in late 2003. She was previously an editorial assistant at Entertainment Weekly and a cook in New York restaurant kitchens, and she is a graduate of the Institute of Culinary Education. She lives in Petworth.