The owner of the newly opened Rangoon Tea House has created an haute restaurant with a touch of ‘English’ vigor that stems from his time spent in Northern England as a child. The upscale teashop sits in the commercial capital overlooking the lower block of historic Pansodan Road. The menu is committed to using locally sourced ingredients with everything made from scratch, including lahpet thoke (tealeaf salad), nan gyi thoke (a kind of spaghetti) and curry platters. The setting is quite afar from the ubiquitous teashops on most street corners where small plastic chairs prevail. Here antique taxi meters complement a minimalist black and white palette with high ceilings and warm lighting.

The teahouse maintains an atmosphere where people can gather to talk and share food – the crux of any successful teashop in Burma. In its opening weeks the Rangoon Tea House has received great reviews and is expected to become a popular hangout both for locals and travelers looking for something a little different. While the prices are much higher than the outdoor street corner teashops – it is one of the only places offering refined Burmese dishes with fresh local ingredients.