Must-try Myanmar classics at Shwe Yee

Sanchaung Township is not short of ethnic and regional diners, but for a slap-up Burmese breakfast there’s none better than Shwe Yee.

The teashop has been packed every morning with locals feasting on mohingya, egg paratha, curries and salads since it opened 19 years ago opposite the Dagon Centre mall down Mahar Bawga Street.

“There wasn’t a shop that served just Myanmar snacks in Yangon and I wanted to stand out as the first one,” said the 60-year-old proprietor U Maung Maung Than.

In between announcing customers’ orders into a microphone, he emphasised that Shwe Yee’s ingredients were fresh and organic. “No monosodium glutamate (MSG), no chemical sugar, no dyes,” he said.

Coming out of the kitchen are classics including mohinga with chickpeas and boiled eggs (1,000 kyats), golden brown mote pyar ta lat pancakes (300 kyats), Myanmar’s answer to pasta nan gyi thohk (1,300 kyats), steamed banana, tea leaf salad, sticky rice and more.

Tones of garlic and ginger fill the air around lunchtime when the curries start rolling out, which the punters like washing down with sweet tea.

With another branch opened on 48th Street between Anawrahta and Maha Bandula roads, Shwe Yee is solidfying its name as the go-to place for authentic, local snacks.

Address: No.27, Maha Bawga Street, Myaynigone, Sanchaung Township, Yangon

Tel: 01 501165, 09 2521 79063

Open: 6am-6pm

Andrew Saw has been featured in Myanmar Mix, Coconuts, Fah Thai, and other publications.