Last Friday, Yangon Food Tours hosted a food fair centered around the theme ‘Yangon Streets Have Food’. The event was part of Myanmar’s participation in Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW), an international event led by the US-based Kauffman Foundation.
‘Although GEW has been taking place in Myanmar for five years, this is the first year to have a food fair’, said Mary, the manager of Yangon Food Tours. In previous years, ‘food entrepreneurs from the industry kept being left out.’
In order to curate a diverse selection of stalls, the company reached out to both ‘ethnic food shops’ and ‘trendy places’.
The ‘entrepreneur’ theme, however, seemed to be loosely defined. There were both brand new start-ups such as Mr. Wok, which specializes in make-your-own-noodles, and big names like Monsoon restaurant.
Attendees didn’t mind though.
‘Everything’s here and they’re not all similar. I get to see shops I didn’t know existed. Usually you have to go from one place to another to try different foods in Yangon’, said Poe, a Yangon native.
‘We love food and also we’re quite new to Myanmar and we haven’t tried much food outside of Yangon’, explained Juan, a foreigner who had moved to Yangon with his partner just a few months ago. ‘We’ve been at the Mon and Kachin stalls. There’s variety here and you can try everything.’
While Yangonites are still discovering all that the country has to offer, Myanmar food is quickly becoming a big hit with the international community.
The UK’S Evening Standard recently ran a piece titled ‘Why Burmese cuisine is set to be London’s hottest foodie trend’. (The answer is because it’s amazing, obviously.)
Here’s hoping though that foreign entrepreneurs opening up Myanmar restaurants abroad take a cue from the food fair and offer more than just bowls of mohinga.
In the meantime, we’re taking bets on how long it’ll be before Gordon Ramsay does a one-hour special featuring our beloved street stalls.
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