Burmese Bites Leaves the Mall for a Permanent Spot in Astoria

# What changed: a food-court favorite gets a home

# Who runs it

• Lahpet thoke: fermented tea-leaf salad made with crunchy cabbage and the tangy, funky tea leaves that define the dish.
• Baby-goat curry: a thick, dark curry with a bitter, coffee-like heat.

• Mohinga: Myanmar's national soup, a lemongrass- and pepper-forward broth enriched with catfish that dissolves into the soup base.

# Small plates and desserts worth saving room for Accessory fried items include crunchy strands of onion and squash and soft potato-filled spring rolls. The tea-leaf salad is a near-mandatory starter.

• Shwe kyi: a semolina-like cake served with coconut cream that melts on the tongue.
• Mont lat saung: pandan-and-rice-flour droplets in chilled, palm-sugar–sweetened coconut milk — a cold dessert soup with sweet, minty notes.

# Service, accessibility, and logistics

# Atmosphere and neighborhood fit The storefront sits among chain retail and martial-arts studios on 31st Avenue. Inside, the décor stays modest but cheerful, and the dining experience centers on straightforward plates shared across the table. Thway's front-of-house approach — conversational recommendations and small-service touches — helps demystify unfamiliar dishes for diners who haven't encountered Burmese cuisine before.

# Price and value Most main dishes are under $27, which positions Burmese Bites as affordable for both a full meal and a shared-plate approach. Adding a few starters and the mandatory tea-leaf salad makes for a substantial, inexpensive meal, with dessert as an optional finish.

# What's next The restaurant opened this summer and is testing dinner-only service with plans to offer all-day service. If demand continues, the team has discussed possible future spin-offs and growth, keeping the current location as a base for introducing more people to Burmese cooking.

# Bottom line Burmese Bites brings the food it proved in pop-ups and a mall stall to a storefront in Astoria. The cooking remains focused on familiar-to-regulars favorites — tea-leaf salad, curries, mohinga — presented in a casual, affordable setting run by the cook and her husband.