Hornbill Burmese Cuisine in El Sobrante

Tea Leaf Salad. I've only been to five Burmese restaurants in my life, but so far, every version I've had of this dish is noticeably different from all the others, and is always the best dish. The presentation was fantastic, but I didn't have a chance to take a snapshot, as the waiter began mixing it before our eyes, something that's a piece of theatre at the more upscale Burmese restaurants in the Bay Area, which this one definitely is not (even though the prices are about the same).

Still, utterly delicious and complex. Before we were about to order the waiter asked if we'd ever had Burmese cuisine or been to Hornbill before. Yes and no. From there followed a series of remarks, asides and questions that led me to reason that their clientele were likely to be the sort of people who order Sweet And Sour Chicken or General Tso's Pork, but worry about the MSG, and think that Taco Bell might be too spicy for them.

"I just wanted to make sure you knew what was in Tea Leaf Salad so you don't send it back," he remarked. Very complex version of the dish. Not sure I remember a version using Romaine lettuce. Or Iceberg, as Robin suggested.

Here was a dish that was supposed to be the Lamb Kebat, but brought to our table by mistake.

At left: Coconut Rice, which was divine perfection. At right, Burmese Vegetables Curry. Had no idea this was supposed to be a hot soup. And where was the "curry?" I tasted very little spice indeed. Quite bland. I remember at one point during ordering the waiter saying their food can be at any level of spice. But I don't remember specifying what level. I'm guessing he assumed we wanted very bland. Robin and I are already at the age of getting AARP brochures in the mail, and there was maybe one other couple younger than us in the restaurant, so my guess is he assumed we wanted bland food as is the norm with Old School Bay Area patrons. Judging from the first half dozen times I ate Thai cuisine in the Bay Area, I was convinced that spicy food did not exist here for the longest time. Guess there's still some holdouts.

OK, they finally brought us our Lamb Kebat. Today I'm wondering if the waiter assumed we wanted two orders. The mood was a little frantic, but they were trying hard. I think all the irregularities has to do with their audience. Also, I'm doubting they have a chef who is that experienced with Burmese cuisine.  The lamb was nice and tender, and the sauce was ok (again, much blander than I expected--I could not taste the masala). But looking at this dish, the way the meat is cut, the way the onions are cut, tomatoes, jalapenos--I couldn't help but think it looks like Fajitas. Pretty common for the BOH folks to hail from Central America, and I've seen that in many Asian kitchens. The bizarre Thai place we went to in Santa Cruz, remember that? Where I could hear one of the Thai hosts explaining how to cook a dish in broken Spanish while waiting for the restroom next door to the kitchen? You can see it in the way the meat and vegetables are cut, then way things are spiced. That's not to say the food's no good if not 100% authentic, but what it is saying is they are a long ways away from the rigor and panache of a Sue's Kitchen (El Sobrante), China Village (Albany), or Burma Superstar (Temescal, Oakland).