While I was still preparing for my trip to Myanmar, I was also consulting with a Burmese colleague of mine. Basic questions like how much things are. Where to change money and all that. Most importantly, I wanted to know what the nice food in Myanmar was, being the foodie that I am. The first thing that came to her mind was something called Mohinga and she said that it was her favorite dish, her eyes twinkling at the thought of mohinga.
Fast forward several weeks later, I am here in Myanmar at the Bright Hotel in Nyaungshwe. The staff at Bright Hotel asked me what kind of breakfast I wanted, I asked them if they have this mohinga thing and he readily said yes. I really love the breakfast here at Bright Hotel. The portions are really generous, which I guess it quite the standard here in Myanmar since it is cheap here. Anyway, the mohinga finally came and it nothing like I expected.
The noodles are plain old rice noodles. The soup is brownish fish broth. But I guess what sets it apart is the use of banana tree stem. This gives it a crunchy texture in contrast to the soft noodles and egg. The soup was slightly spicy. Though I can usually stomach anything thrown my way. Somehow the mohinga didn’t really suit my taste buds. I thought it was a little strange for my taste, but I finished it anyway. The pancake peppered with peanuts went well with the monhinga. This I guess was the Burmese breakfast since mohinga is usually had in the morning. Of course, no meal at Bright Hotel is complete without a large serving of fruit.
For a national dish, the mohinga sure tasted a bit strange. Maybe the guys at Bright Hotel didn’t make it well. Or maybe it was supposed to taste strange. Love it or hate it, this is one of the more essential things to do in Myanmar.
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Hello and gratulations for you nice blog !
PLEASE could you indicate me the contact @mail from BRIGHT HOTEL ?
I would like to make a reservation for next december for a week…
THANK YOU VERY MUCH !
excellent choice! while i do not have the email address of bright hotel. you may contact them throught their number +95 (81) 29137 or 29642.
their address is:
#53 Phaung Daw Side Road,
Win Quarter, Nyangshwe,
Southern Shan State, Myanmar
i hope this helps. thank you for visiting!
Hi Monhinga is one of my favs. The soup you ate at Mandalay just before you left is also Monhinga . It seems you liked it but Mandalay Monhinga is generally considered inferior to ones from Delta region. In fact there are “brand” Monhinga in Yangon such as Daw Cho and Tin Tin Aye both originating from Delta region. They are “chain” Monhinga shops with serveral branches in Yangon. Tin Tin Aye Monhinga is my personal fav. You are right Shan state is not the place to try Monhinga as it is not their food. Stating the obvious Shan noodles are the best there. You blog is very detailed and such a good read. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you Lin. Yes, the mohinga in Mandalay was much tastier. Now that you mentioned it, mohinga from different regions in Myanmar are very different. It is like they were two totally different dishes. They don’t even taste remotely similar. My friend did mention that mohinga was her favorite, so I needed to try it. She didn’t tell me where I should have it though. Unfortunately, I did it at the worst possible place and so I generalized thinking that all mohinga tasted like that. I didn’t even bother trying it when I got back to Yangon. In hindsight, it was good that I also got to experience what regional mohinga was like though. Thank you very much for the information you gave me. I’m sure if I were to make it back to Yangon, I would try out these places for real and good mohinga. But this time, I’ll be sure to bring sufficient cash. Since you seem to be quite knowlegable in mohinga, I hope you don’t mind if I consulted with you about these things.
Thanks for visiting!