Jasmine Market & Deli - Culver City - TravBuddy

Burma/Myanmar is another member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. So, I must visit a restaurant that serves Burmese grub.

This unassuming place is a market "slash" restaurant. The market part is pretty much just shelving along the wall selling noodles, pickled mangoes, junk food, etc. etc. The main draw really is the food. There is a patio outside for seating and some tables and chairs inside. The ambience is neither romantic nor exotic. It is a market... with cooked food.

The service was excellent. The person at the counter was very helpful with suggestions. Once they served our food, they were very attentive, making sure that we had extra plates (we were sharing everything). Customers paid after eating.

That being said, the food was fabulous.... and cheap! Already a plus in my book.

We had the following:
1. Samusa stuffed with ground chicken - the pastry was nice and crunchy and the chicken was quite flavorful.

2. Tofu salad - the tofu looked like strips of mango, but it was tofu. It was a bit salty because it included a bit of the salted shrimp paste. For pinoys, I think it had bagoong alamang. Yummy....

3. Fish soup - this was also real tasty although also salty. The fish was fried tilapia (which still had a nice crunch when you bit into it even though it had been soaking in the soup) and it came with really really soft vermicelli noodles and bits of hard boiled egg. The soup itself was thick. I really enjoyed this one.

4. Chicken Biryani - This had to be my favorite. The chicken pretty much was so tender and almost fell off the bone. The rice... where to begin? It was so fabulous. It was moist, somewhat sweet and just divine.

The servings were large but we ate them all anyway. Probably not a good idea to eat all the carbs... so sue me! We had 2 mango juices in a can. The bill came to about $20. Pretty darn good, if you ask me. Would I go back? You betcha!