Pagan for Burmese

A work pal told me I had to try relative newcomer Pagan in the outer Richmond for its super scrumptious tea leaf salad (which is just as good as the one at Burma Superstar ... why? Because Pagan's owner stole BS's chef away). Having never had Burmese food before (what what? yes, I'm embarrassed about it), I decided to take her advice tout suite.


Wow. This here's the premixed salad comprising imported Burmese tea leaves, tomatoes, lettuce, dried shrimp, fried garlic, black sesame seed paste, peanuts and split yellow peas. Soooo good.


The coconut shrimp noodles were also delightful. Our happy buddha waiter was ever so kind as to toss it all together.


Not everything was a homerun. The pumpkin shrimp stew was way overcooked (a conglomeration of mushy root veg with some really tough and chewy shrimp) and the samusa soup was take it or leave it (not bad, but not great either). We did manage to end on a high note with the luscious and sweet mango-and-sticky-rice combo, something I haven't had in at least a half dozen years or more. (Yes, the dessert's Thai—Pagan's equal parts Burmese and Thai.)