Shoreditch is home to London’s best Burmese restaurant.
It comes to us from Dan Anton and head chef Zaw Mahesh – both of Burmese heritage – who’re building on the remarkable success of both their year-long Hackney pop up & their Spitalfields Market stall.
This permanent site is a stunner: floor-to-ceiling windows framed in bamboo flood light onto the furnishings, all made from varying textures of wood. The walls are lined with jarred Burmese spices & pickles, and cutting through it all is a long cocktail bar with shades of industrial concrete.
THE FOOD
The name Lahpet literally means ‘tea’ in Burmese, and is a reference to their signature dish, tea leaf salad which is made umami-packed pickled tea leaves. Other smaller-size numbers include shan tofu fritters (the tofu is made from scratch onsite using split peas, and doesn’t taste like the tofu you’re used to), and hearty balachaung dumplings (it’s a Burmese spicy dried shrimp relish).
Going larger, you can net yourself a pork & mustard green curry; a whole fried bream with morning glory; or a hefty aubergine roasted & stuffed with oyster mushrooms plus Burmese herbs & spices.
THE COCKTAILS
The Burmese-ness keeps on rolling behind the cocktail bar, where they’ll make you drinks including a Lemongrass Mimosa with citrus liqueur, prosecco, lime, and lemongrass; a Jaggery Old Fashioned (using an Asian cane sugar); and a Lahpet Margarita which infuses tequila with betel leaves.
We see one in your future.
NOTE: Lahpet Shoreditch is open all week. You can find out more, and make a booking at their website right HERE.
Lahpet | 58 Bethnal Green Road, E1 6JW
Heading for a nightcap after? Check out the best bars in Shoreditch…