Losing Our Burmese Virgini-Tea | Lahpet | Shoreditch, London

It takes four things for a restaurant to nail it for us.
1. Great food.
2. Great service.
3. Great decor.
4. Great value.

Pretty simple, right? Yet many places fail to succeed at all four, unfortunately – which is why we get incredibly excited when we find one that does. Like Lahpet in Shoreditch. Lahpet specialises in Burmese food, not a cuisine we’ve had much to do with until now, where has it been?

Like many of London’s successes, this top scoring restaurant (on the old Tapas Revolution site on Bethnal Green Road) started life as a stall at Maltby Street Market. Founders Dan Anton and head chef Zaw Mahesh have created a beauty – dusky pinks and copper with ferns, so very Instagrammable – unfortunately this is must for any restaurant these days. It may have been a little to do with it being a quiet weekday lunchtime or maybe it was those muted tones and greenery but the place oozed calm and tranquility.

I can’t remember the last time I wanted all the menu, there wasn’t a single thing on there that turned me off (even though I didn’t know what half the ingredients were). The manager was on hand to clarify anything we didn’t understand and helped point us in the direction of the must-haves.

The first of which were the fritters which did their job of getting our taste buds going. I never thought I’d be one to rave about tofu but Lahpet make theirs in-house from split peas, it’s so delicious and unlike any other tofu we’ve eaten. We almost ended up fighting after these irresistible little sticks of Shan tofu (£3). If you’re looking for something more substantial to start, then the flaky pastry filled Yellow pea paratha (£5) should hit the spot.

Lahpet means ‘tea’ in Burmese and plays a big part in the menu. The Lahpet salad (£8) is a must – texturally fascinating with what seemed like a billion different ingredients – a magical mystery tour of flavour and texture, the double fried sliced butter beans and the pickled tea were a definite hit with Ade. The Fish cake salad (£8) excited me a little more than their signature salad – again it was full of character but had more of a tangy kick from the sliced fish cake.

We weren’t done yet, oh no. Next up was Stuffed aubergine (£13) – a vegetable that seems to be everywhere at the moment. Lahpet’s was beautifully cooked, rich and robust with dried shrimp and oyster mushrooms – smokey, lightly spiced and irresistible. Wonderful with the House rice (£3) and a smidgen of a rather interesting and umami-rich Pon yay gyi relish (£2.50) made from fermented soya beans.

Next to arrive was our mutual star of the show (although it was a tough choice to be fair) – a humble bowl of Coconut noodles with chicken (£12). We haven’t eaten a bowl of noodles this good since MC & Sons.

We were back to work after our lunch so decided to ditch the booze and go natural. I experimented with the Shrb soda (£3.50) brewed locally in Walthamstow – a drink popular during the Prohibition in America and made from ingredients soaked in apple cider vinegar. Not too dissimilar to Ade’s raw fermented tea in the form of Jarr ginger kombucha (£4) – I know, so healthy, right?

Everything I hoped it would be – and then some!

Then I thought I better take a look at the cocktail menu, in the interest of the blog, of course. There I spotted they’d been kind enough to create cocktails that were perfect for the both of us. A Jaggery old fashioned (£9) for him and a Rose sour (£9) for me. I had to have that drink and I’m so glad I did as it was everything I hoped it would be (this could quite easily of backfired). Ade restrained himself and stuck to sipping on fermented tea.

Thank god there was only two desserts or we’d have been in trouble. Banana and coconut cake, ice cream and peanut crunch (£7.50) and a slightly pretentious sounding Avocado mousse with fresh fruit (£6.50). I have never had an avocado mousse before and I doubt I will again so I claimed the majority of this one – it was a tad on the sweet side but I still ate the lot regardless. Ade’s cake wasn’t as moist as he hoped but packed full of flavour and the ginger ice cream was so luxurious.

We left happy, woke up thinking about it, have told everyone to go – we’d say that’s a result.

Find out more here
58 Bethnal Green Road, London E1 6JW
Email: info@lahpet.co.uk
Telephone: 0203 883 5629

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Nearest station: Shoreditch High Street (2 mins walk)

We ate as guests of Lahpet, this does not affect our review in any way. We always write with complete honesty.