The Place Located at Tras Street, Burma Social is Singapore’s first multicultural restaurant and bar offering a unique Feast of Six Kingdoms, where traditional Burmese recipes are elevated with modern infusions of its bordering Chinese, Thai, Indian, Bangladeshi and Laotian neighbours, with Burmese cuisine at its epicentre. 

The space of Burma Social occupies a charming shophouse space, so you can expect a multi-level dining experience with different atmospheres on each floor, reflecting a different aspect of Burmese hospitality. On level one, there is a beautiful courtyard and bar space for drinks, and a small dining room.

Moving on to level two is a more spacious dining space, as well as a bar lounge. 

The Food The ala carte menu is extensive to say the least, split across Bar Bites, Starters, Soups, Salad, Rice, Mains and Desserts. The beverage menu is equally extensive for both cocktails and mocktails, taking inspiration from the six kingdoms. 

My meal started with a soup dish – Raw Coconut Milk & Broccolini with Flying Fish Roe (S$22). Expect a creamy flavour with Burmese coriander and seasonal broccolini, sprinkled with crushed Burmese nuts that is a popular local snack. 

For salad, I had the Papaya & Mango Thoke (S$22), which has a tangy and refreshing flavour. It reminds me of Thai-style salad, except that this uses Burmese papaya with mangos and poached prawns. 

Another salad I had was the Laphet Nay Wai Thoke (S$18), a vegetarian and vegan-friendly salad of fermented tea leaves with green tomato, cabbage, mixed Burmese nuts and Brussel sprouts. Be warned that this is quite spicy! 

For starters, I had the Crispy Tohu Jaw (S$20) where the tofu itself is made of grounded Indian chickpeas along with Burmese & Thai Basil leaves and Burmese black jaggery sauce. It is quite flavourful as the tohu is also drizzled with a Burmese black jaggery sauce that is concocted from Burmese gula melaka and Indian sugarcane for that added sweetness in the sauce. 

One unique starter to try is the Hnin Si’s Steam Puzon (S$32) where you get slices of fish cakes wrapped with rice paper and housemade Chilli. The way to enjoy this dish properly is to have it by cutting the rice paper into quarters and wrapping it around the fish. I like the chilli sauce here which reminds me of Chinese-style chilli. 

For mains, I had the Ohn-no Kyaukswe (S$32) which comes with gluten free rice noodles with vegetable soup along with barramundi fish cakes. Have the dry noodles first before pouring the soup over it. The dry noodles is quite bland on its own, so it is best to have it with the soup which also has sous vide prawns within. 

For dessert, I had the A-thi: Burnt mango (S$14) with black jaggery coconut sorbet, which is quite a sweet dessert for me. The Burmese mangoes are torched and served with sides of house made coconut sorbet and gula melaka sorbet for a trifactor of Southeast Asian local sweets. 

Rants The music in the main dining area on level two was quite loud but thankfully the staff managed to lower the volume for us. 

Will I Return Again? Burma Social is more of a lifestyle dining destination, which offers a glimpse of Burmese cuisine for me as I have never been to Burma myself before. The dishes are interesting in that sense with presentation of some dishes I had which I have not come across before. Bring an open mind along if you decide to head here. 

This was an invited tasting, though all opinions expressed are our own.

TheRantingPanda says:
Taste bud: 3.5/5
Hole in the pocket: 4/5
Ambience: 4/5
Overall Experience: 3.5/5

Burma Social 
34 Tras Street 
Singapore 079026 
Tel: +65 6016 9140  

Opening Hours 
Monday to Friday: 11.30am to 2.30pm; 6.00pm-12.00am (Last order food: 10.15pm) 
Saturday: 6.00pm to 12.00am (Last order food: 10.15pm) 
Closed on Sundays 

Ranted by The Ranter