Burma Superstar (SF/Inner Richmond, Burmese)

Burma Superstar, (415)387-2147
309 Clement St.
(@ 4th)
San Francisco, CA
(Inner Richmond district)

Price: $-$$
Rating: 8 (Rating & price key)
Last visit: 03/06/07

Really good food, pleasant decor, and very palatable prices make this a popular place - don't expect to get in without a wait at any time of day or night! The menu is Burmese, with some Chinese and Indian items. Helpfully, the items that are Burmese are marked with an asterisk.

I've eaten here perhaps a half dozen times, and have never left unhappy, and more often than not, am pleasantly surprised. My favorite dishes so far are samusas ($6.50), which were nicely fried, and less oily than most Indian samusas I've had, a unique rainbow salad ($7.50), which boasts 22 ingredients and is tossed tableside, the Superstar Noodles ($6.50) (too similar to the the rainbow salad to order both), stewed pork with pumpkin (fantastic!). A special of mutton curry ($9.75) proved wondefully tender and florful, and a house special, Beef Kebat ($8.75, stir-fried flank steak with onions, tomatoes and mint) was similarly successful.

One downside is that some dishes are straightforward Chinese dishes with different names. Spicy beef, for example, was identical to a standard sweet and sour beef, which, beside not being my favoite Chinese fare, isn't what I am looking for when I'm at a Burmese place!.

Service can be a little hurried, as the place is always busy, but is usually helpful, and is happy to explain unfamiliar dishes. The dining room is a little on the cramped side, and isn't especially quiet, but not too objectionably-so. All told, a justifiably well-known restaurant with some unusual cuisine.