• Burmese
Friday, June 20, 2025
No Result
View All Result
NEWSLETTER
The Irrawaddy
26 °c
Yangon
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Junta Watch
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Books
  • Donation
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Junta Watch
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Books
  • Donation
No Result
View All Result
The Irrawaddy
No Result
View All Result
Home Lifestyle

A Slice of Heritage: Dining in Yangon’s Top Heritage Restorations

The Irrawaddy by The Irrawaddy
September 15, 2018
in Lifestyle
Reading Time: 4 mins read
0 0
A A
Yadanar Hsimee, one of the remaining ancient pagodas from the royal Inwa period. / Zaw Zaw / The Irrawaddy

Yadanar Hsimee, one of the remaining ancient pagodas from the royal Inwa period. / Zaw Zaw / The Irrawaddy

8.6k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

YANGON — Visitors and residents in Myanmar’s commercial capital often find themselves enamored with the rich heritage architecture of downtown Yangon. The stately structures with grand facades, towering columns and repetitive arches give a sense of bygone years when the city was a thriving cosmopolitan hub of the east. Along wide and narrow streets and on prominent corners, extravagant homes, banks and private companies were built in styles of architecture from across the globe. After the nationalization of the economy in 1962, many of the buildings became property of the then-socialist government and were used mostly as government offices and courts until the new capital of Naypyitaw was established in 2006.

Sofaer & Co’s facade on Pansodan Street with original 1906 doors and windows. / Htet Wai

Today many of these heritage buildings remain unused or underused government buildings or private homes which can only be observed from the street, often in a state of dilapidation. Some, like Yangon Excelsior located in the former Steel Bros headquarters, have been converted into luxury hotels that cost hundreds of dollars for a night. Gladly, a select few heritage buildings have been woken from a slumber of disuse to be revived as restaurants accessible to all. The Irrawaddy has chosen three restaurants in Yangon’s top heritage restorations where you can go to experience the historical value and a handsome aesthetics of these century-old treasures while filling up on delectable Asian cuisine.

Burma Bistro on Merchant Road makes the most of the building’s historical features. / Aung Kyaw Htet

Burma Bistro, a contemporary Burmese restaurant and bar used to be an inn. Located on the second and third floor of a handsome, faded-yellow building on Merchant Road with a grand veranda edged by stately columns, the exact year of construction is not known but guessed to be at least one hundred years ago. When developers approached the owners with a plan to buy the building, demolish and replace it with a high-rise office block, one of the tenants stepped in and opposed the sale, vowing to renovate and relaunch their section of it as a restaurant in order save the building and share the piece of heritage with the public. Today, mighty high ceilings and exposed brick walls house custom-made wooden and rattan furniture, local handmade textiles and an atmosphere of a Burma of the past.

RelatedPosts

Myanmar’s NUG Fights to Shield Mandalay’s Ancient Cities From Junta Firestorm

Myanmar’s NUG Fights to Shield Mandalay’s Ancient Cities From Junta Firestorm

January 19, 2024
3.6k
AA Seizes Mrauk-U Police Station as Myanmar Junta Pounds Rakhine Heritage, Civilians

AA Seizes Mrauk-U Police Station as Myanmar Junta Pounds Rakhine Heritage, Civilians

December 28, 2023
1.3k
Myanmar Military Bombards Civilians, Heritage in Mrauk-U as AA Advances

Myanmar Military Bombards Civilians, Heritage in Mrauk-U as AA Advances

December 26, 2023
1.1k

“We picked the name of the restaurant and had to register for a restaurant license and YCDC made noise about the name itself because of ‘Burma’. They didn’t accept it because they considered it a colonial name,” said co-owner Aye Thuzar Thant in describing the restoration process.

Authentic mohinga served delta style with boiled peas at Burma Bistro. / Aung Kyaw Htet

From outside, the restaurant façade is inconspicuous among the other heritage buildings so some searching may be required, but the hustle and bustle of the street and approaching staircase are left behind once inside. Burma Bistro’s menu is a carefully thought out and offers quality, genuine regional Burmese food with “healthy tweaks.” Though higher than prices in teashops, the food is still good value and the flavors incomparable.

Gekko is a Japanese cocktail bar and restaurant on Merchant Road. / Htet Wai

Gekko is the best option for those looking for Asian sophistication in a heritage setting. After a few months of restoration, the doors were opened in 2014 with Gekko being awarded Best Adaptive Reuse by Yangon Heritage Trust (YHT) earlier this year. This Japanese cocktail bar and restaurant is located in the 1906 Sofaer Building on the corner of Pansodan and Merchant roads which was originally a classy department store selling imported luxury goods like cigars and Scottish whiskey.

“The floor tiles were covered in a thick layer of black and the walls were fitted with layers of fake walls. All the beautiful beams were covered in plaster, so basically we didn’t really know what we had until the cleaning process started,” said Nikki Barltrop, Chief Operating Officer of 57 Below, the company operating Gekko and a number of other top Yangon restaurants.

Gekko occupies a space that was once a luxury department store and later a stationery shop. / Htet Wai

Today, diners can still see the elaborate floor tiles imported from England and steel beams shipped over from Scotland in the late 1800s and early 1900s which brought a slice of European style to Rangoon. Gekko serves some of the best yakitori, sushi and sashimi in Yangon and an exciting drinks menu including classic Japanese cocktails alongside exciting locally-influenced creations like the ‘smoked thanaka old fashioned.’

Sofaer & Co is a bistro-style restaurant furnished in the mode of the early 1900s when the building was constructed. / Htet Wai

Sofaer & Co is located in the same building as Gekko but around the corner and proffers a totally different ambiance. For some years, this unit in the larger building was a general store selling dry goods but when the restauranteurs found it, it had become a neglected storage unit, hiding its historic charm from the public.

Now a bright bistro-style restaurant, it was renovated in 2016 and opened last year retaining its century-old window and door frames, wooden wall paneling and bar. Today, at a round marble-top table, in wicker-backed chairs, you can sip a coffee with friends and feel just like the Yangonites of one hundred years ago.

“A restoration project is more difficult than building everything from scratch. YHT supported us with the historical data for this place but we had to be careful not to [alter] the floors or drill into the wall. We had to add a modern kitchen and washroom without touching the structure,” said Ingyin Zaw, operating partner of Sofaer & Co.

The menu here offers Asian-fusion food and comforting favorites like bún cha alongside fun twists on classics like the ‘grilled tealeaf smoked pork neck’ and a Western-style brunch menu was recently introduced.

Rangoon Teahouse emphasizes the building’s original art deco features on the facade. / Htet Wai

As conservation of heritage buildings can take many forms— from rehabilitation to preservation to reconstruction—there are a number of other quality restaurants in beautiful old structures around Yangon that have adopted a more modernizing approach to the restoration process. Rangoon Teahouse on Pansodan Street, widely regarded as one of the best Burmese restaurants in town, sports a fantastic art deco façade while the interiors are modern and chic. Next door, Sharky’s—one of the earliest artisan delicatessen and restaurants to open in Yangon—serves international fare in a modern restaurant set in an well-preserved heritage shell of exposed red brick walls, recessed arches and exposed beams.

Your Thoughts …
Tags: DiningHeritage
The Irrawaddy

The Irrawaddy

...

Similar Picks:

Myanmar’s NUG Fights to Shield Mandalay’s Ancient Cities From Junta Firestorm
Burma

Myanmar’s NUG Fights to Shield Mandalay’s Ancient Cities From Junta Firestorm

by Brian Wei
January 19, 2024
3.6k

Parallel civilian government declares heritage status for seven sites after regime troops destroy museum and heritage in Rakhine and Sagaing.  

Read moreDetails
Col. Keiji Suzuki. / Public Domain
Stories That Shaped Us

The Man Behind the Burma Independence Army

by Aung Zaw
August 25, 2017
23.4k

Col Keiji Suzuki and Japan’s direct involvement in Myanmar’s independence movement has had far reaching consequences, writes Aung Zaw.

Read moreDetails
AA Seizes Mrauk-U Police Station as Myanmar Junta Pounds Rakhine Heritage, Civilians
Burma

AA Seizes Mrauk-U Police Station as Myanmar Junta Pounds Rakhine Heritage, Civilians

by Hein Htoo Zan
December 28, 2023
1.3k

Air and artillery strikes on prospective UNESCO heritage site condemned as a war crime. 

Read moreDetails
Myanmar Military Bombards Civilians, Heritage in Mrauk-U as AA Advances
Burma

Myanmar Military Bombards Civilians, Heritage in Mrauk-U as AA Advances

by Hein Htoo Zan
December 26, 2023
1.1k

Ancient Rakhine capital’s Archaeological Museum reportedly destroyed as 50,000 residents flee deadly air and artillery strikes.

Read moreDetails
Tourists leave the Haw after a visit. / Zaw Zaw / The Irrawaddy
Culture

The Tragedy and Hope of a Palace

by Kyaw Phyo Tha
August 18, 2017
13.1k

Locals fear for the future of a dilapidated but storied manor in northern Shan State.

Read moreDetails
The Pegu Club.
Places in History

A Strictly Segregated Watering Hole of British Rangoon

by Wei Yan Aung
July 8, 2020
24k

The Pegu Club was an exclusive British retreat in colonial Rangoon that denied entrance to all Asians, including Burmese.

Read moreDetails
Load More
Next Post
A demonstration for the release of two jailed Reuters journalists on Sunday in Yangon. / Aung Kyaw Htet / The Irrawaddy

Myanmar Youth, Journalists Demonstrate Against Jailing of Reuters Reporters

A woman runs in the rainstorm as Typhoon Mangkhut approaches, in Shenzhen, China, Sept. 16, 2018. / Reuters

Hong Kong, Southern China Mop Up After Super Typhoon

No Result
View All Result

Recommended

Myanmar Tourism Sector Mocks Junta’s Russia Tourist Drive

Myanmar Tourism Sector Mocks Junta’s Russia Tourist Drive

6 days ago
1.7k
Untested Commander Takes Charge as Myanmar Military Faces Toughest Challenge in Decades

Untested Commander Takes Charge as Myanmar Military Faces Toughest Challenge in Decades

6 days ago
1.8k

Most Read

  • On Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s Birthday, Recalling the Cake That Rattled the Junta

    On Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s Birthday, Recalling the Cake That Rattled the Junta

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Global Campaign Reaches Goal to Honor Aung San Suu Kyi on Her 80th Birthday

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Bago Resistance Claims 20 Myanmar Junta Personnel Killed

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Thai PM Faces Growing Calls to Quit in Cambodia Phone Row

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • ADB Announces Record $100m Quake Aid Package for Myanmar

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0

Newsletter

Get The Irrawaddy’s latest news, analyses and opinion pieces on Myanmar in your inbox.

Subscribe here for daily updates.

Contents

  • News
  • Politics
  • War Against the Junta
  • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
  • Conflicts In Numbers
  • Junta Crony
  • Ethnic Issues
  • Asia
  • World
  • Business
  • Economy
  • Election 2020
  • Elections in History
  • Cartoons
  • Features
  • Opinion
  • Editorial
  • Commentary
  • Guest Column
  • Analysis
  • Letters
  • In Person
  • Interview
  • Profile
  • Dateline
  • Specials
  • Myanmar Diary
  • Women & Gender
  • Places in History
  • On This Day
  • From the Archive
  • Myanmar & COVID-19
  • Intelligence
  • Myanmar-China Watch
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Food
  • Fashion & Design
  • Videos
  • Photos
  • Photo Essay
  • Donation

About The Irrawaddy

Founded in 1993 by a group of Myanmar journalists living in exile in Thailand, The Irrawaddy is a leading source of reliable news, information, and analysis on Burma/Myanmar and the Southeast Asian region. From its inception, The Irrawaddy has been an independent news media group, unaffiliated with any political party, organization or government. We believe that media must be free and independent and we strive to preserve press freedom.

  • Copyright
  • Code of Ethics
  • Privacy Policy
  • Team
  • About Us
  • Careers
  • Contact
  • Burmese

© 2023 Irrawaddy Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Business
    • Economy
    • Business Roundup
  • Books
  • Donation

© 2023 Irrawaddy Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.