Back to Burma

By Clair Weaver
BAGAN Shop 4, 41 The Boulevarde, Strathfield Phone: 87460666 Food: Very tasty, no frills Service: Quick and honest Why go: Satisfying feed, 1980s prices

INTRIGUED by the assortment of exotic dishes on offer at this gem of a restaurant, we ask our waitress what one of the specials is, exactly.

She looks momentarily perplexed. "Pig,'' she announces, before adding with a bolt of inspiration: "Look at me.''

She points to her stomach, making crescent shapes with her hands.

The pre-dinner game of charades works: she is trying to tell us that the actual dish is pork belly. Or maybe intestines.

Bagan is a popular, unpretentious and cheerful little Burmese eatery on Strathfield's bustling Asian restaurant strip.

With a flashing specials board, a variety of Buddha statues and background murals of the ancient city of Bagan, it promises to deliver ``the authentic taste of Burma without leaving Australia''.

The menu is illustrated with gaudy pictures of each dish, which is undeniably helpful when it comes to names such as ngar mote nga yoke thee (fish) and ka zoon ywet (green vegetables).

We order greedily. After all, with most dishes priced from $5 to $10, there's no need for restraint.

Four long and crispy vegetarian spring rolls with chilli sauce ($5) are piping hot and an excellent mop for the drinks we had consumed earlier.

But the pennyworth salad ($5.30) is truly exceptional: an unusual mix of vegetable slivers, seeds and onions, well-mixed in a nutty and slightly spicy dressing.

The rest of the meal arrives in quick succession, filling almost the entire surface of our table.

My seafood dal oo ($13) is a generous bowl of stir-fried glistening prawn, squid, fish, tofu and crab sticks in a thick but not overpowering savoury sauce over a bed of bamboo shoots.

Complemented by a $1 plate of steamed, not-too-sticky long grain rice, my tastebuds are rejoicing and my belly is filled.

The dinner date - who is nostalgic from backpacking around Burma in his younger years - crunches his way happily through crispy chicken with noodle soup ($8.50), with only a few bones of evidence left on his plate by the end.

He pronounces the meat tender, the skin mouth-wateringly crackly and noodles soul-comforting.
A shared vegetable side of steam kai lan salad ($5.50) is a pile of al dente Chinese greens in soy, sprinkled with fried onion.

Unfortunately, we have no room left to try a Burmese curry, which we learn is milder than Indian versions and flavoured with garlic, ginger, turmeric, chilli, onion and shrimp paste.

A couple of wise regulars at the neighbouring table have a whole fried fish with a chilli sauce, which they pick apart.

Bagan is BYO but there is also a good selection of iced and hot teas, fruit juices, fresh coconut juice and even an avocado shake.

Next time we'll also try some of the desserts, from the quirky, upside down ice cream-filled cone, which sounds like it belongs in an Enid Blyton book, or perhaps ice-creams in flavours such as green tea, black sesame or chilli chocolate.

Bagan is open from 11am until 10pm every day apart from Mondays, making it a perfect pit stop for a quick, affordable and tasty meal.

All meals are paid for and visits are unannounced