Spicy, crispy zucchini… deep-fried battered zucchini with lime leaves and homemade chili jam. Photo: Wendy Johnson

Tea leaf rice with chicken… slightly smoky rice with crispy mixed nuts sprinkled on top and pickled tea leaves. Photo: Wendy Johnson

Village-style beef curry… slow cooked with flavours of lemongrass and lime leaves. Photo: Wendy Johnson

Prawn spring rolls… light and crispy, with the plump prawns cooked perfectly. Photo: Wendy Johnson

THIRTEEN kilometres north of the city, in the heart of Casey, is a new restaurant well worth the trip (if you don’t live in the area, that is).

Myanmar Corner is delightful and a true food adventure, with the menu changing every three months. 

Owners Aye and Ko, who ran Sukothai and Red Hill Tea House for many moons, have popped up in Casey with an inspiring menu celebrating the vibrant flavours, colours and textures of Indian, Thai and Chinese cuisines. 

That universal word “yum” applied to every dish we ordered on our first (but not last) visit.

Our Myanmar Corner foodie adventure began with prawn spring rolls ($9 for three, although the restaurant happily added an additional so we could have two each). They were super light and crispy on the outside and the plump prawns on the inside cooked perfectly. 

A stunner of a dish, well worth ordering, is the tea leaf rice with chicken ($20). The rice was slightly smoky and mesmerising. Textures included crispy mixed nuts sprinkled on top and the pickled tea leaves were gorgeous. Not to be outdone, the chicken was moist and super crispy. 

We adore slow-cooked goat, but Myanmar Corner was already out of that dish, which led us to order the village-style beef curry (any dish labelled “village style” is promising in our books, $23). It was deep and complex, and the lemongrass and lime leaves made their presence known. The beef was slow cooked and melted in the mouth. We soaked up the intense, thick gravy with soft pieces of fluffy roti. 

My friend is wary of what she calls “gudgy” dishes (which means mushy … think overcooked eggplant). She was attracted to the spicy crispy zucchini ($25), holding her breath that all would be good. It was a stunner of a dish, visually and on the taste scale. The deep fried battered zucchini was firm and crispy. Once again, lime leaves featured, and the homemade chili jam rocked it.

Myanmar Corner’s décor features rich royal blues and golds, with stunning photographs hung along one wall. Light wood square tables and classic Bentwood-style chairs add to the open, airy feel.

Service was superb and the staff were visibly excited about serving tasty food, including delicate soups, stimulating stir fries, other rich curries and Myanmar specialty dishes. 

The menu comes through on its promise to take diners on an “adventure to the market food stalls and bustling tea shops of Yangon, Mandalay, Mawlamyine and many other places”. 

Myanmar Corner is BYO, but there are plenty of places to buy wine nearby. The restaurant offers two levels of banquets – $40 per person or $60 per person (minimum four people).

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