Myanmar has plenty to offer in the food department.
Burmese, Kachin, Shan, Indian, not to mention a bunch of western restaurants offering everything from Mexican to Italian.
However, when it comes to fusion cuisine, precious few options exist.
Rangoon Tea House is leading the pack, having experimented with pickled tea leaf pork chops and the idea of a yet-to-be released Burmese fondue.
But a restaurant in the Inle Lake town of Nyaung Shwe has boldly upped the ante with…
TEA LEAF SALAD PIZZA.
The restaurant is Pub Asiatico, one of the newer places in the tourist town. The pizza, technically called a “Shan Fire,” was launched a few months ago.
As far as we know it is the only place selling the fusion pie (please get in touch if you know of others).
Manager Jesse Gill explains more in an email interview:
“Creating new menus it’s always important to take influences from your surroundings and so with a pizzeria in Myanmar we wanted to fuse something typically Burmese. That’s why we decided to take perhaps the nation’s most iconic dish, tea leaf salad, to create something truly unique and truly Myanmar. Our Shan Fire Pizza takes our signature dough and adds fermented Shan tea leaves, diced cabbage, fresh tomato and garlic, as well as a bit of green chili to give our Shan Fire its fire!”
To be honest, when we thought of tea leaf salad pizza we weren’t blown away, but Gill’s description and the picture he provided (see above) has us at least theoretically sold, though we haven’t been able to try it yet.
So what do customers think?
According to Gill, they are all about that Shan Fire.
“It’s been on the menu 3 months now and it’s turned out to be top seller, particularly amongst tourists who are looking for something a bit different to what they might find at their local pizzeria at home,” he said.
The cost is 7,800 kyats, or about $6. Gill informs us that the restaurant also has a happy hour from 4-7pm.
Pub Asiatico is located on Museum Road in Nyaung Shwe
