Cafe Mingala
“-thousand layer bread
-mango salad
-lentil fritters
-tea leaf salad
-night market noodles
-mango beef
-ruby chicken
-banana leaf fish”
“Our order consisted of a whole fish, chicken curry w/ potatoes, some noodle dish, coconut rice, and the thousand layer bread.”
“My family is Burmese from Burma so I appreciate how authentic the flavors are.”
Cafe Mingala
Takes Reservations: Yes
Delivery: Yes
Take-out: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Bike Parking: Yes
Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
Good for Kids: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
Price range.
$$ Price range $11-30
8 reviews
Rate and write a review Cancel reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Mingala is one of my favorite restaurants in NYC. The food is consistently excellent, and the service is warm and accommodating. The decor is a little dated, but the "scenes of Myanmar" mural wall is charming anyway. The restaurant is nearly always empty, since the vast majority of their business is via delivery. My family is definitely guilty of choosing to order in most of the time rather than walk over to 2nd Ave. The food is equally good either way, and the delivery guy is every bit as sweet as the restaurant staff.
General crowdpleasers include the mango salad (warning: highly addictive), basil tofu, Burmese noodles (similar to Pad Thai), literally everything with eggplant, and the clay pot vegetable dish. I don't love the tea leaf salad, but friends and family rave about it– it has a strong, smoky, pungent taste that is totally unique.
The lunch special is 6.95 for an entree, rice, and soup/salad! Can't be beat on the UES.
This restaurant is stuck in time from the food and the decor!
FOOD: We started off the dinner with the tea leaf salad and this was one of the most tasty dishes I have ever tried. Maybe I'm not too keen on the standard level of Burmese cuisine, but the salad satisfied with its mix of tea leaves, nuts, and beans. For the entree, I ordered the Coconut Chicken Noodle Soup. It came with a side of fried onion rings, spices and herbs and hit the spot!
DRINK: Nice selection of Asian beers and I ordered a sweetened tea. I'm too sure if this item is on the menu, but my friend who is a regular here asked for this tea to be made. I've had a lot of milk teas before, but this drink was out-of-this world. It was the perfect way to end a nice supper.
AMBIANCE: The restaurant decor is a little bit dated, but I think that it adds to the charm. There are paintings of places in Burma all over the walls.
SERVICE: It seemed like the owner also served as a the waiter for this restaurant. He was a charming man and provided us with good service! I don't expect anything too fast-paced or overly attentive when I visit a family-run place.
OVERALL: Would recommend for the high quality of food.
Small hole-in-the-wall. Nothing fancy in terms of décor/ambiance, in fact a bit on the run down side. Service was friendly. Came with a few friends who specifically wanted the Khao Soi here, was good.
My brother was visiting and he wanted an ethnic spot for dinner with the parents. I've had this place bookmarked since a former coworker told me about it so I suggested we come here. Unfortunately I wasn't very impressed. The restaurant itself looked shabby and in dire need of an overhaul. And the food felt like it was a watered down version of the original dishes. There was only one dish that stood out which was the coconut chicken noodle soup. We also ordered papaya salad, ingredient soup, mo-goke pork, thousand layer pancake, and a stir fried dish with scallops and shrimp but these were all mediocre or average. Price is reasonable and the owner is very nice. I wonder if the food was much better before. Given the ethnic food options in NY I probably won't be back. But this experience does make me really want to go to Burma Superstar in San Francisco next time I'm there.
It really saddens me to write this review. But dishonest management is my pet peeve and unfortunately tars what we've experienced.
We live about 15 blocks away from this restaurant buying often, like twice a month, asked my husband to go for our min gala run. Typical order is one noodle, salad and the dessert which includes their thousand layer bread with coconut milk. We ordered ahead over the phone.
My husband returned about 45 minutes after with the order and we realized that they didn't include the coconut milk as part of the dessert. I asked him to call and as soon as he said I just picked up a take out order, the front man (we assume owner) immediately said that you order the bread only, not the dessert! It's very obvious they realize they made a mistake and immediately trying to cover. We asked, nicely at first, for them to deliver the coconut milk. And he refused because we are just two blocks outside of their delivery range. He asked that my husband comes back to pick it up.
First of all, the price we paid is the price for the dessert. Second, it's your mistake and you're trying to cover it up. Third, just for two blocks you're not willing to deliver?! You lost a regular customer, and from the look of it (empty dining room even on weekend nights), you don't have many.
Cafe Mingala holds a monopoly on Burmese cuisine in NYC by virtue of being the only Burmese restaurant in the city. I think there are a few other places that offer Burmese dishes, but for pure dedication, Mingala is it. It's not the best I've had, but with a dearth of other options, it's certainly good enough. Do get:
Tea Leaf Salad: When I shuffle off this mortal coil, I plan to have Burmese tea leaf salad as part of my last supper. If you haven't had this before, expect a vegetarian-friendly dish of seasoned/fermented tea leaves, crunchy nuts and seeds, and diced vegetables ranging from peppers to carrots. The brine that's used to ferment the tea leaves is the principal flavor of the dish, and Cafe Mingala's is quite tasty, if a bit salty.
Banana Leaf Fish: Expect fragrant, silky-soft fish in a flavorful sauce. Pair this entree with the coconut rice to truly transport yourself to another part of the world.
Dumplings in Broth: For the less adventurous palates who still want something different from the norm, this dish offers comfort food in the form of plump dumplings swimming in hot broth. It can be a bit salty, but you'll be too mellowed out from the soup to care.
Basil Duck: It's basil + duck. 'Nuff said.
Burmese Fried Rice: A good "share" plate for the entire table to enjoy.
Skip the Appetizer Plate unless you're starving and need something to take the edge off. In terms of ambience, expect basic decor–this ain't no romantic spot. Service ranges from inattentive to efficient, but that's par for the course in most Asian restaurants.
Hubbie is part Burmese and he has been craving Burmese food for awhile now. We decided to give this place a try during our trip to NYC. This is my first Burmese experience and I am writing this based on Hub's comments on the dishes we ordered. He wasn't impressed. Much of the menu offerings weren't very authentic.
Monhinga is a rice noodle and fish soup Myanmar and is a really famous dish in Burmese cuisine. The main ingredients of this dish are chickpeas flour, garlic, onions, lemongrass, fish paste, and catfish in a rice broth cooked and kept on the boil in a caldron. The mohinga here contains no fish. Very disappointing.
I love out of the way joints that have great food. When it's affordable, it's even better. New York Mag, if this place hasn't made your Cheap Eats list yet, then it should definitely be added.
I was brought here by someone who knew about it beforehand, otherwise I'd never have found it. She had been here more than a few times before and swore by it. After my initial visit I can see why. She told me that it's the only Burmese joint in New York. When you can be the only something in New York, that's noteworthy unto itself.
Decor is low key, no frills. I like that, because usually a nicer decor means they skimp on the food. This place has old school booths, also a nice touch.
We were there for lunch and thus got to order from their lunch specials which are $6.95 each. What a deal. We ordered ginger beef, night market noodles (2) and a chicken dish. It comes with pea soup and yellow rice. It's all good. The servings of meat are a wee bit small, but it's $6.95, so complaints are few and far between. I'm pretty sure the owner served us, and was friendly and brought the food out quickly. The noodles were so good which is why we got two of them.
When I move to the city I'll probably make this a regular stop. Who can say no to tasty food?