Home cooked quality food. well priced and the waitresses are very frindly
(4)
Emily D.
TEA LEAF SALAD. You won't regret it.
(5)
Sara S.
I've never had Burmese food, but after sampling their ginger salad at the Taste of Allston, I knew I had to go for a full meal! Susie A. and I started out with their ginger salad, which was even better than I remembered. It's super gingery and loaded with peanuts, shallots, cabbage, and sesame seeds! It's a little spicy, so if you don't like spice, I wouldn't get it. We split the "ShwePaYonTheeHin"- jumbo shrimp cooked with oriental pumpkin (orange and green!), tomatoes, ginger, lemongrass, and cilantro. We're big pumpkin fans, so this dish was right up our alley. It wasn't spicy but it was very flavorful. It was more like a broth than a curry; surprisingly quite light. We also had the KhotSweThot, which is a wheat flour noodle dish with chickpea tofu. It was like a hybrid of Chinese lo-mein, but a LOT better, and a great compliment to the shrimp. I never had chickpea tofu before, but it was delicious and tasted very chickpea-ish! The food wasn't very hot, which is why the rating is 4 stars rather than 5. It's extremely casual inside. It almost looks like a to-go restaurant. They don't have a liquor license, so booze at Deep Ellum down the street before and/or after.The service was good and they take credit cards.
(4)
Payal D.
So good! we go here probably 2-3 times a month. The tofu salad is so good, the spice and rice is also delicious, and tofu noodles. I wouldn't suggest the curry though, not into it.
(5)
Pixie G.
Just okay. Not exciting and delicious according to our party of 3, 2 of which are fans of Burmese food.
(3)
Skyler K.
Tea salad is where it's at! Everything I have ever eaten in my life combined is bland gruel in comparison. We also had pumpkin shrimp and MeeShay, which were both delicious, but had little hope of living up to their predecessor. Service was super-friendly and helpful and politely refrained from openly laughing at me when I had a minor breakdown over a slice of chili that damn near melted my tongue off. Plus, I love anywhere with a "gift shop" selling miniature paper parasols.
(4)
Sandy H.
GET THE TEA LEAF SALAD! You must get it if you come here. I enjoyed everything else I got here too. The ginger salad is very ginger-y so get it if you like ginger. It's very refreshing. The entrees are also very good. I've gotten the super pumpkin and the garlic noodles and they were great. I think I'll try the Shan noodles the next time.
(4)
Jessica T.
I was a little skeptical coming to this place at first, not knowing what to expect. But damn am I glad I let my husband talk me into it. I lived in Allston for seven years and it's a neighborhood that has always had great international cuisine. Very underrated in my opinion. This place is no exception. The food here is amazing. Friendly service and very reasonably priced. Think of it like a heartier Asian style. Lots of great unique flavors and spice. Come often and try everything. You won't be dissapointed!
(5)
Jackie S.
So well priced and delicious. Simple dishes yet lots of flavor. I had the pumpkin chicken and was very satisfied. If you are extra hungry I recommend getting an appetizer. Good service. Small place but it wasn't busy at all. It definitely deserves a chance, I promise you will be happy!
(4)
Ramzi B.
I have been in love with Burmese food ever since I tried it last year and had been looking to get my fix somewhere in Boston. After some fairly thorough research (on Yelp, of course), I happened upon YoMa - and discovered it was only a block away from my house! How could I have missed it? I got some friends together a few weeks ago to give it a try, and boy was I disappointed. It's not that MY food was bad - mine was pretty good. But my friend ordered something so horrible, so offensive, that I had to take YoMa's fourth star away. The dish I'm talking about is FRIED FODDER FISH! My friend ordered this dish for the sake of trying something new and was handed a plate of something that looked and tasted like an old sponge soaked in salt water, coated in flour and deep fried! If you're curious as to what fodderfish is (which of course we were after assaulting our digestive systems with it), please refer to this link: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fi… . On to what I liked: 1) The service: the owner served us and was very nice, talking to us about Burma (or Myanmar) and the type of food she liked. 2) I ordered a delicious Curry Shrimp dish with coconut rice. The ingredients were fresh, and the rice was rich and sweet! Very yummy! 3) The tea-leaf salad was really very good. Much better than others I've tried. Don't get me wrong, I'll give this place another shot, but I'll be sure to stay away from a few choice items and stick to the good stuff.
(3)
R. D.
This place is great. Really good food, friendly waiters, no rush. A friend and I came to try the place out on a whim. We'd made reservations earlier in the day, but when we arrived at 7:15, the place was completely empty. We weren't worried though. I ordered the Green Tea Leaf Salad. It was a little salty, but really tasty. Little shrimps and fried dal, lots of fresh and wonderful flavors. My friend ordered the Chickpea Tofu Salad. We split out salads in half so we could try each other's. She ended up liking hers better and I liked mine better. The Chickpea Tofu had a texture that reminded me of this Indian delicacy I'd had at someone's place (not my favorite thing in the world but my dad raves about it, so it's an acquired taste). So many options! What to eat for the main course? My friend got the Pumpkin Curry with Shrimp, and I ended up going with a chicken soup that had mushrooms, noodles, and other delectable goodies. Here's my biggest thing of awesomeness about YoMa: The pumpkin curry came with rice, and is mainly a tomato-based curry with chunks of pumpkin and four to six plump shrimp. (I could have used some more shrimp.) I took my first bite and literally dropped my spoon. It tasted EXACTLY like my mom's cooking at home, reminding me of a particular curry with tomato, potato, and peas (no peas in the pumpkin curry btw). I'm Indian, not Burmese. And from Gujarat, where our food is different than the typical Indian food that you get in an Indian restaurant. It's not rich and creamy, like North Indian food is. Anyway, I was completely floored. How does an Indian girl get home cooking in a Burmese restaurant?! That pumpkin curry was just....ridiculous. So so very good. The chicken soup was lovely. Savory, fragrant, and very filling. The broth too was well-seasoned, which is great, especially for clear-brothed soups. By the end we were completely stuffed. Happy and so very satisfied. I will be back soon, YoMa. Now I know that when I want real home cooking, I'll be walking past Punjab Palace or Indian Dhaba to this lovely little gem.
(4)
Rachel B.
I had never tried Burmese good, and Friday night was my first experience. Overall the food was great. I had the tofu salad, vegetable soup, and a side of steamed chickpea tofu. I had never had tofu like this -- very creamy yet didn't fall apart. Almost like a soft cheese in texture. The meal was a bit too spicy for me.... my taste-buds approved but unfortunately my tummy did not.... won't go into details on that one... You may not want to go on a Friday night, by the way, because they were so busy and it took us 45 minutes to get our food (table of four)... The ambiance of the restaurant can certainly use a little help. They definitely have the quirky-Asian-restaurant thing going on, but the lighting is pretty harsh. Some of the decor is pretty cute and they even have a little "gift shop" at the counter where they sell various Burmese kitsch. I almost got the little elephant keychain! I will probably go back here because the food tasted great, but my tummy might get pissed at me if I do...
(4)
Michael B.
Had a good meal....sat eve....by weds I looked at my bank on line statement and found out that they charged my credit card twice so that caused an overdraft of 35 dollars I went directly to the owner w copy of bank statement which clearly demonstrated this error......thus causing me the overdraft fees the owner refused to aknowledge the error and refused to remove the charge and would not reimburse me for the overdraft charges..,...bad biz decision....food is good but they will cheat you of they can
(1)
C T.
Being that this is the only burmese restaurant in boston, I can't complain too much. I get burmese food at home which is a lil heartier with endless portions so my review is very, very biased. They serve okay burmese food, but it's still tastier at home when my mom makes it. :) Sorry!
(3)
Laura F.
This place was awesome! The food is unique, must try the spice rice app!
(5)
Bernice S.
No frills decor cuz all the zest (and spice!) went into their tasty, unique "cheap eats" - go for a 'combo' with the soup featured in the photo - yum! Easily eat for under $25 for 2 people - drinks included! Friendly service but finding street parking can be a bitch. Still, definitely worth the trip - we'll be back.
(4)
PT R.
Yo Ma, you are one of my favorite local staples. If you didn't exist, I wouldn't know where to go. Your pumpkin shrimp -- yum yum yummy. Your tea leaf salad? Delicious! You are affordable, friendly and close by. I only wished you'd deliver but other than that, you are staying on my speed dial forever. And even though I've moved away, you are the only place I visit EVERY time I come back to Boston. Okay, I lied. I visit you and Oleana but shhhhh don't tell.
(4)
Jen L.
The tea leaf salad is by far one of the best things my taste buds have ever experienced. Love love love this. If only I could have this every day....
(5)
Shang S.
This was my first time having Burmese food, so I didn't know what to expect. I thought that the food here was very excellent for its value. According to the recommendations here I got the green mango salad. It was a little more stronger than I had anticipated - it had a lot of lime juice in the dressing. Another salad I'd recommend is the green tea salad. It has a lot of nuts which gives it a great texture. Two of us got the sweet pumpkin with shrimp, and one of us got curry chicken. All the dishes were well-portioned and pungent. It's not as spicy as you'd expect from other Asian cuisine, felt light on the stomach but filling. I highly recommend swapping in coconut rice into the entrees.
(4)
Kirby E.
Went here on Monday. The food was awesome. Started off with the layered bread with chicken sauce soooooo good. I recommend starting with this, you will not be disappointed. We also had the spring rools with eel. They were very refreshing and some of the best that I have had, althought I dont know how you can go wrong with spring rolls. My main entree was teh Pumpkin Chicken which was incredible. The chicken must be slow cooked, it was amazing. I loved the sauce. Added some hot sauce of my own because I love everything spicey. Definitely my favorite boston restaurant in this price range. Will eat there again and again.
(5)
John L.
Not the most classy place on earth, but its clean and the ONLY Burmese place I would eat at besides homemade. The owner is really nice. Mohingha is good, but they don't put to many noodles in there for the price. Mango salad is where its at. Overall, very unique tasty spicy food! I love it. Also, its a small place so you might have to wait sometimes.
(4)
Kassia K.
This is the first and only Burmese restaurant I've been to (so far), and ooh, it has made me a convert. The Burmese food at YoMa is unique, flavorful, and delicious. While the interior of the restaurant itself nothing special, the food is more than worth the trip to Allston. My boyfriend and I ordered the meal for two, which is a great deal for $25.99. We got a big bowl of spicy soup, a huge crock of jasmine rice, perfectly seasoned shrimp curry, a green mango/cabbage salad, and some sort of spicy dried shrimp concoction. It was the perfect amount of food for two people, and quite a deal for the portion sizes. The two Russian waitresses were adorable and super-attentive, which was nice. Whatever sugar-chunk palate-cleansing things they gave us after the meal were delicious, too. Mmm. YoMa ALMOST makes me wish I still lived in Allston... almost. Highly recommended!
(5)
Jennifer L.
I love YoMA! The staff is always very friendly and the food is amazing.You can't go wrong with the Ginger Salad, Chicken Salad and the Pumpkin Shrimp. I would agree with the rest of the yelpers that you are not going for the restaurant decor but the food makes up for it!
(5)
Maia B.
I was quite excited when I found Yoma on Yelp - a Burmese restaurant in Boston! For weeks, I tried to get my friends to come with me here instead of getting Thai or Italian food yet again, but they always argued that it was too cold, or too far away, or some other lame excuse. Finally, I decided I couldn't wait any longer, and would take a hellish hour+ ride on the T to try out this place. As I was putting on my coat to leave the dorms, one of my friends asked where I was headed. Turns out, a group of people were looking for somewhere to get dinner, so we all took off for YoMa in the minivan. We weren't disappointed. The restaurant is small, plain, and clean, the usual aesthetic of great restaurants. None of us had had Burmese food before, so it was quite the adventure ordering. I got a fantastic pumpkin curry. I think the group favorites were the spicy mango salad and the ginger salad. The ginger ice cream is a good call too. Also, extremely reasonable prices. Overall, a fun time getting something out of the ordinary - best to share this exotic food with a group :)
(4)
Magda T.
Having returned to YoMa, I continue to say this is the best Burmese restaurant on the East Coast, tried Burmese food in New York, Philadelphia, and Washington, YoMa beats them all heads and shoulders. As vegetarians we only have eaten vegetarian dishes and they are amazing, but recently we have gone to YoMa with meat eaters and the both loved their meat dishes: Super Pumpkin with pork and chicken, and pork noodles. Cannot recommend it enough. We'll be back no doubt. Thank you, YoMa for delicious food.
(5)
K M.
Wonderful! Thanks to Yelp for convincing me the trip to Allston is SO worth it for this place! We ordered the green mango salad and pumpkin shrimp curry and coconut rice. All 3 were amazingly tasty and perfectly cooked! The green mango salad is unlike anything I've ever tasted & I LOVED it! No liquor, just a couple of Nesteas, and the total was $23 (not including tip)! You cannot beat that price for this high-quality, unique, and delicious food! The staff is very friendly, not rushed, and the place is super-clean. We took a take-out menu because we will definitely be back! By the way, they will be closed on WEdnesdays starting in July because as one of the waitresses said, we need a day off with our family! Of course, everyone needs a day off - these folks clearly work hard to deliver great food & deserve it. It's WORTH the trip! GO NOW!
(5)
Andrew J.
GREAT little restaurant service delicious burmese foods. For those unfamiliar with the cuisine, it's similar to Vietnamese in many respects. Our service was very good--we tried a chicken noodle dish and one of the potato 'naan' appetizers. Will be going again in the near future--4 stars for the Reliably deliciously food and customer service.
(4)
Andrew R.
Hot damn this place is fantastic. I would have to say that Yoma is my favorite restaurant in Allston. To sum it up in one sentence: the food is authentic, unique, un-pretentious, delicious and cheap. Really cant beat that. My go-to dish is their "assorted noodles" - a big heap of 3 types of noodles with a whole bunch of tofu, fresh vegetables, and a spicy and savory sauce. While I am usually particular to any noodle + meat combination, this one is by far my favorite.
(5)
Greg C.
This place is seriously delicious (and really reasonably priced.) I've been there with groups of 4 or 5 a couple of times and everybody in the party has been delighted each time. The staff is friendly, the food comes out fast, but the food is the star. The noodle and salad dishes have complex flavor profiles that elevate what might sound like bland food (I've never before been wowed by cabbage...) into an unusual and tasty treat. As someone who eats a good deal of tofu, I can say that YoMa's ranks amongst the best I've had, and even Tofu haters can be expected to acknowledge the surprisingly savory flavor of this generally bland substance. Also, as other reviewers have said, lots of vegetarian and vegan options for those people that occupy that particular moral high ground. The only downside of YoMa is that portions are a bit small, at least for this ever hungry diner.
(5)
Alex C.
If YoMa is the tip of the iceberg for Burmese food, then I am a sold fan of it forever. Like most of the user have said, this place is small and the the decorations are not most eye pleasing. But as a food lover myself, I am all out of the food, and this place would hits the spot. I do have to say the portions are bit small, maybe because I love eating but who knows. Note: Considering that this place is the only Burmese food in Boston, I can't compare to others.
(4)
Ryan M.
I have driven past this place several times a week for the past two years. For two years I have told myself that I would try it out sometime. Well, I finally did and I knew it would be good and it was! My wife and I really enjoyed it. There service was very friendly and helpful. The menu was health-conscious. When I asked about a menu item that I had seen on the old web site, I was told it was taken off because they were trying to cut down on really fatty foods. (Me too!) I would totally recommend this place and we can't wait to go back and try some new things!
(5)
Tasha M.
Who knew you could develop an addiction to Burmese food? Not I, not 'til now. Yes, the salads are huge & the main dishes are small. So? who cares when you can have salads as amazing as these! Get a salad, a an appetizer ( something deep fried. drool..) an an entree. No worries, you will be very full +happy. Love the sweet pumpkin dish, incredibly flavorful. They adjust spiciness to taste- I recommend at least medium spicy-put some hair on your chest!
(4)
Ketan D.
The authenticity of this place will speak to you and you will love the food. They have a separate vegetarian menu which in my case was just fabulous. Food is delicious and a great environment to be in.
(4)
Matt S.
went for the first time in two years. had heard a ton about their ginger salad. tried it. wish I were eating it right now instead of typing to YOU about it.
(5)
skott d.
fantastic dining in upper allston. great food. lots of vegetarian and vegan options. customer service was fantastic.
(5)
Emily A.
Delicious vegetarian food! No complaints except for the service wasn't great. Otherwise food was great. Ask for a veggie menu.
(5)
Zizzles A.
It's hard to say the food here is mindblowing when the flavors in so many of the dishes are simple, but the lightness of the whole meal makes it the perfect place to go when you don't want something that sticks to your palette, which for me is most of the time. I'm not trying to say the food is bland, far from it, it's just simple. Lighter on the spices than south asian food, lighter on the oil and salty stuff than chinese, lighter on the sugar and sour stuff than thai. The chickpea tofu salad was still bursting with peanuty and spicy goodness, but you could actually taste the slight bitterness of the cabbage without the copious amounts of fish sauce you might find in a thai salad. The chickpea tofu is also pretty awesome. It's stiffer than plain soy tofu, with the texture of egg whites. You'd have to fry or dry plain tofu to put it in salad, lest it become part of the dressing, but the chickpea version has enough integrity to hold its own cold and plain, adding to the super clean flavor of the salad that goes well with the spiciness. I love pumpkin and I just had to eat their sweet pumpkin with shrimp, but I feared that they would add a lot of sugar to increase the already sweet pumpkin. Not so! They paired it with a simple sautee of tomatoes and onions, large chunks, and some spices, but those were definitely in the background to the pumpkin, tomatoes and onions. It was sweet and sour, my nemisis, but in a very light way, with all the acid coming from the fresh tomatoes, and the sweet coming from the pumpkin (which isn't too sweet). No added sugar or vinegar from what i could tell. The catfish noodle soup was good too, though this was much more heavily spiced, like a soupy curry noodle, which I'm fine with. Hard boiled egg, and a tiny onion cooked until it is soft and sweet, with lime, fish sauce and dried chili on the side. It's not very salty, but if you need more the fish sauce provides plenty. There definitely were no large chunks of cat fish, but it was a great and hearty noodle soup dish. The place is clean, date worthy in decor and ambiance, certainly a wee bit more expensive than say, xinh xinh, especially since most of the entrees are rice plate style. I wish they would offer family style servings without ordering from their limited combo menus. The food is oh so amazing, and the service was super attentative. Yes I went at like 4pm, but the waitress was constantly checking up on us, making sure to put hot stuff on the side for my parents, and giving my mother water right quick when she caught a little pepper and started clearing her throat, before we even had time to ask. Definitely not the kind of service you expect at restaurants of this price point. I'd pay double what they charge for most of the dishes they serve here. God that tofu salad is awesome!
(5)
William M.
I actually like this place a little bit better than Burma Superstar for the following reasons: Separate, dedicated vegetarian menu No 1 to 2 hour wait 1/2 the price of Superstar So, in conclusion, Boston is better than San Francisco.
(5)
Tom E.
An excellent addition to the pantheon of Asian cuisine in this city, and a great opportunity to try a unique cuisine - Burmese. I went with my Thai friend who grew up so close to Burma that she once cycled there, sent her self a postcard and then came back for dinner. Take it from her that this place is good. REALLY GOOD. We went together on Saturday and she loved it so much she came back alone on the Sunday night for what is in many ways the food she grew up with. The pair of us heartily recommend the beef entree, the mango salad, the noodles and the soup. Ask for everything to be spicy. It will be - but not quite in that acid Thai way. I couldn't help thinking of my Grade 1 Geography World Map during dining here. I'm overly familiar with Thai food from my last 9 months in Boston and I'm a good old friend of Bangladeshi cuisine thanks to the vast majority of London curry houses being of this ilk. Well guess what? Burmese food, like so many others, is a product of it's location. Being much like Thai & Cambodian food but with a taste of Bangladesh built in (not to mention Indian and Tibetan hints). The decor (strange ceiling with dated photos of the local panorama) and rear-end of Allston location don't quite let this place get to five stars. It was deathly quiet too with no music and there is no alcohol either. Kudos on the name though. It allowed me to use the following line... "What did I do last night? I did Yo Ma"
(4)
Silpa S.
In my search for a quirky restaurant after much search all over the web I finally saw recommendations for this place. I've never heard anything about Burmese food so I was sold on giving this place a try. I actually went for my birthday dinner there with a few friends. It's a very small place. It doesn't have the most visually pleasing ambiance. However I didn't have any issues with the services. It all went really well. My friends have never tried such "adventurous" food before and they were all really happy with there food, as was I. If you are tired of the same old food this place is a great change of pace and the flavors will not disappoint!
(4)
Lidya T.
I came here when it was first open with a few of my friends. At that time the lady/owner who was pregnant was running the whole show from serving, cooking and cashing. Because of that ,service was slow and food was mediocre. Nevertheless, I continue to patronize this place as i know deep in my heart, this place can develop to its full potential as a thriving ethic restaurant. True enough after a few more visits, i notice the improvement of the service, varieties of delicious food on the menu and also growing additions of the distinctive burmese paintings and ornaments on the wall. I will definitely keep coming here for the tasty mohingga and tofu jaw - my two top favorites.
(4)
Praful M.
Went there on Sunday afternoon after waking up late from usual Saturday business. Me and my friends walked nearby and picked this one against some other restaurant next to it. I am glad we did. Food is top notch. I had pork with bamboo shoots and my friends had chicken dishes. Everything was cooked well. Server said spicy can be really hot, so I ordered medium. That's not spicy at all. Next time I am upgrading. Kicker here, is the side dish (forgot the name) they serve with rice. It is mix of fried chillies, lentils and some other stuff. Service is decent. I just been here once and I think more I go here, stars will go up. Lentil chicken has pushed rating up by one more star.
(4)
Ken M.
I had no idea what Burmese food would be like going into this establishment, I assumed a fusion of asian and indian food, and I'm happy to say I wasn't far off. Something I enjoyed was that there was pork, which is something you won't find in most Indian/Pakistani restuarants. Andy and I both enjoyed our meals and shared samosa like things for an appetizer. The staff was a little too...all about themselves, but that was a really minor annoyance. I'm so glad I live withing walking distance of so many eateries now. My abs, however, are not so thrilled with me.
(4)
Dan B.
Burmese food is really unlike any other Asian cuisine. It's lighter than Thai, and more interesting since there are Thai restaurant all over the place..... Anyway, I had the green tea leaf salad, which comes with all the ingredients on separate parts of the plate, and you're supposed to mix it. I though that was cool, since you know exactly what you're eating. It was really crunchy and nutty, and it was overall a really unique salad that I would recommend to anyone who tries this place. I also got the coconut chicken soup. It was somewhat similar to Thai coconut milk soup, except it was less spicy. They actually give you a separate plate of the spices so you can choose how spicy you want it to be, which is great. Oh, and they have a sign that says "People love us on Yelp" which I thought was pretty funny.
(4)
stefanie n.
Went on a Sunday and the place was completely empty and utterly silence which was a little unnerving. Our server was adorable and I'm pretty sure she disappeared after we ordered to cook our food herself. Got fresh rolls for an app that weren't filled with much other than rice noodles. Also, the pumpkin in the shrimp and rice main dish tasted slightly rotten. My friend couldn't decide what to order so he got an entree that seemed to have everything; rice, noodles, pork tofu, egg etc. The dish was very underwhelming and basically had no flavor. So many people like YoMa so I'm going to assume my experience was unusual and give it another try.
(3)
Henry M.
Being Burmese, YoMa is the only place I can get a taste of home in Boston. Sad. The food isn't outstanding, the atmosphere is lacking a lot, but the bottom line is, its the ONLY place in Boston you can get Burmese food. Compared to places in New York, San Francisco, um...Burma, it just doesn't compare. But again...ONLY BURMESE FOOD IN BOSTON. Sidenote: staff there are really sweet and genuine. If anything, check out YoMa for them, and their children. And their children's children. UPDATE (8/26/2008): I just logged on and wanted to see how my lovely Burmese restaurant is doing - i'm glad to see most reviews are good, but I can't help but get a little annoyed when people try to describe it as a mix of other ethnic foods. "didn't taste if there was a difference between what they use and curry from Indian restaurants" - really? Should Burmese food really be rated based on how it tastes compared to Indian food? Is it better if it's different? Just a little mini rant is all :) It's hard to hear is all :( Imagine someone saying, "Oh, spaghetti is alright, kinda like tomato lo mein."
(4)
Michele C.
Love this place. It's one of my favorite restaurants. One of the dishes I seem to order over and over is their mango salad. I find all the ingredients to be fresh. The veggies are always crisp. The price are extremely reasonable. I go here quite a bit.
(5)
Courtney H.
I've never had Burmese food and wanted to give this place a try. It's tiny, but clean, and the food was very tasty. I had a chicken curry noodle dish that had a good balance of flavors -- a little salty, a little spicy, and a little sour. My boyfriend ordered a pumpkin and shrimp dish that was also good. The tea is really good. Very smooth. I think I drank about 5 cups of it. Fortunately, they have a bathroom and it is also clean. My noodle dish was just the right size for me for lunch, but my boyfriend's dish wasn't enough food for him. If you get a rice dish, I'd recommend getting a side dish to go with it, or you might leave hungry. I can't wait to go back and try more dishes!
(4)
Jenny N.
I was excited to try YoMa, but the menu was pretty foreign to me. It seemed somewhat similar to Thai cuisine, and of course, I could not pronounce anything! We started off with an appetizer of fried chickpea "pancakes" which were more like crackers because they were crisp and a bit chewy. They came with a sweet and sour dipping sauce that was was really good. I ordered the stewed pork with noodles (soft and white, but more like lo mein than udon). While I enjoyed the pickled sour cabbage that was mixed in, I think the flavor of this dish was a bit weak despite the spice. Also some of the pork pieces were really fatty and I didn't enjoy that. The boy had curry chicken with wheat noodles and pieces of hardboiled egg. I thought it was on the lukewarm side, and I think he would have liked it if they added more meat to the curry. The prices are OK overall, but I was a bit surprised that they charge $3-4 for a bowl of rice! The portions are not very big, but read Aye M.'s review for a great explanation on the portion sizes for Burmese cuisine. For myself, I think the size of my dish was OK. However, my boyfriend is a pretty big eater and he definitely left hungry. I think maybe next time I will try one of the recommended salads. My only other experience with Burmese cuisine was Burma Superstar in San Francisco, and I can't say that it wowed me either. So I guess Burmese cuisine just isn't for me. I would recommend it if you are adventurous and want to try something different. And I loved the super duper friendly waitresses! It seemed like they had many regular patrons on the Saturday night that we visited, so they must be finding their own niche. I was also impressed that they were featured on Chronicle--especially being so new. Maybe if I had taken time to read the reviews on the walls, I would've found a new dish to love....
(3)
Avery M.
I walked out of the vegan restaurant next door to come here, and it is a choice I am very happy with. Unfortunately it was empty when we ate there, but the atmosphere was still friendly. I think this is a family owned place; the waiter was very shy, which was cute. The food was pretty good. The spice wasn't very evenly distributed, but it was still 100% authentic and quite an exotic array of ingredients. I probably should have sprung for dessert, which looked good...
(4)
Min L.
After months of passing by this place and saying that we would try it out someday, my friend and I finally took the extra step of parking the car and walking in. The decor was cute and simple; the waitress was helpful and friendly. Neither my friend nor I had ever tried Burmese food before, so when we first sat down, we just stared at the menu for a long time, whispering to ourselves the wonderfully foreign blends of ingredients and contemplating the possible tastes they would produce together. The waitress watched as we struggled to find just 2 dishes to try (we wanted to try them all). She came over and recommended 2 dishes which we quickly agreed to go with. I had the sweet pumpkin (whose taste was slightly reminiscent of kaddo, the pumpkin dish I'm obsessed with at The Helmand in Cambridge) with shrimp and jasmine rice. YUM. My friend had the dish with all the noodles (and the longest list of ingredients on the menu) and that was pretty good too, though I was much more excited about my own dish. The portions were perfect and the prices are awesome. I'll definitely be back often this summer to try the rest of the menu. PS, thanks to the waitress for rescuing me from an almost-ruined meal! I didn't notice the super spicy chili peppers in my dish until I took my first bite and started fanning my mouth like a madwoman. Usually I pick those out. The waitress immediately brought me a glass of water and a dish of sweet Burmese candies to help get rid of the spicy - without which, I would not have been able to finish that meal.
(4)
Ellen B.
I was the only person here for lunch on a Thursday. Sketchy but I guess it was lateish. As yelpers suggest, I got the tea leaf salad, which was amazing: so unique & refreshing & tasty. I also had pumpkin curry, which was quite enjoyable. The waitress was nice & friendly & refilled my water several times (though not really enough--not that the food was spicy, I just drink a lot). I'd totally return.
(4)
Heather P.
I had been dying to try this place ever since I came across it I viewed it from my car. Finally last weekend the man and I went. We first went to Deep Ellum for a drink (a new favorite bar now) and then headed to the completely empty YoMa. I've read service was poor here when it gets busy, so we were a bit relieved. Normally an empty restaurant is not a good sign, however throughout the course of our meal it filled up a lot! We started with the spicy beef salad which was amazing! It had a lot of kick and we only ordered it medium. I would recommend getting this salad as an accompaniment to other dishes as opposed to an appetizer. I saved some for my meal and it was much better mixed in with the other food. We would have ordered a traditional appetizer, however nothing stood out to us from the selection. For our meals we shared a chicken curry dish over what looked like spaghetti noodles and a pork and squash dish. The chicken was very tasty but sparce on the meat. The pork was great, however there was a spice in it that I couldn't get past. It wasn't the taste, but more the smell. It evoked some sort of nausea in me that made it difficult to eat. I thought the restaurant as a whole was VERY unique and different from what I am used to as far as Asian cuisine. I like it a lot, didn't love it. My boyfriend on the other hand loved it! I'm sure we will be back to try out some other dishes, and the fact that it's super cheap doesn't hurt!
(4)
Maria R.
really fresh and tasty. unique to other Asian food. I recommend the plata, hot and sour soup, tea salad and curry shrimp and tofu. So good!
(5)
Sara K.
Yoma seems to sit on the "sketchy" side of the road (corner of Cambridge/Brighton, Union Sq), but we walked in to see a pleasantly bright, decorated restaurant, that was bigger than we expected, very clean, very neat. My only issue that I could not get past was the cheezy "Welcome to Yoma!" Sign. What does Yoma mean? Maybe other Yelpers can tell me? But the most important thing, is that the food was delicious. Plata (flaky bread, similar to Na'an, but more buttery. It was delicious dippied in the chili oil set at the tables. Garlic Noodles, thin, soft, luscious noodles, with bits of garlic bites, peanuts, scallions, pork (that I substituted for tofu). A well sized dish, but I added a little cabbage, because I am not a fan of dishes that come loaded with nothing but carbs! ----I would lovee a full veggie version of it! Royal Noodle, was my companion's dish, the coconut chicken sauce was delightful, and I wish that my own dish had had some sauce like that, it made that dish feel more authentic than mine (although obviously it's just different.). I still do not really understand the hard-boiled egg in it though.... All in all, the price was right, and we will definitely be back.
(4)
Amber L.
Went in to grab a quick meal to go because it's been consistently coming up in conversations with friends. I knew exactly what I was getting - a burmese dish with coconut curry and noodles (I forgot the name!) My aunt makes the same dish and it's delicious, and I was really craving it. Hung around the restaurant for a bit while they were getting my order ready. When I went to pay, I handed her an American Express, she went to the register and came back and told me they don't accept AmEx. Fine, handed her a Discover, and the same thing, she went to the register came back and told me they don't accept Discover. Luckily I had cash that I could pay with, but I just think that you should be fairly aware of which cards you do and don't take. Took my food home, it wasn't bad, but wasn't as good as my aunt's (of course). I haven't tried anything else on their menu, but I still hear great things. Food was good, but not amazing.
(3)
Mats K.
Though I completely lack the vocabulary to explain the dishes I ate here (I don't know much about Burmese food) I can attest to the fact that it was absolutely delicious. The service was quick and kind, the prices were reasonable and parking was easily available behind the restaurant. The decor was not fancy, or even particularly Burmese, using the same decorations as the previous business in the building. That being said its a brand new restaurant\, and this may change. Come here, its wonderful to support a new culture of food and make it succeed in Boston. It is also very good food at a very reasonable price.
(5)
Scott F.
I finally got around to trying YoMa last night. I really liked the dish I had. I have no idea what it was called. It was the one with pork/chicken and jalapeno. It was really good. The portions are smallish but then again they are cheap. (entrees average about $8) My only real complaint: No liquor license. In fact, it kind of seemed like the only beverage they offered was water - the waitress didn't ask what we wanted to drink, but rather asked if wanted water or not.
(3)
Daphne M.
I've traveled to Burma and eaten a few Burmese meals cooked by a native, and my almost-hometown of Philly has an excellent Burmese restaurant. So my big sorrow about Boston cuisine was that, like most east coast cities, it lacked a Burmese eatery of its own. Thank you, YoMa, for filling my void so well! In the spirit of authenticity, this place is nothing fancy - very low prices and seriously minimal decor. The latter can probably be put down to the fact that the restaurant is new and a fresh venture for the owner, but it really doesn't matter. The meals are cooked to order and brought out as they are ready, so dig right in and don't worry about offending your waiting friends, sillies - they'll understand! My chickpea tempura was crunchy on the edges, chewy in the middle, delightfully oily, and served with a zesty dipping sauce. I ordered the pan fried egg curry with potato, and lord, that flavorful tomato-y sauce transported me right back to Bagan. Meanwhile the smell of my friends' dishes of ket jee keit had my mouth watering, and I vowed that the next time I'd have them make me a vegetarian version of those noodles. All of that, and one of the best waitresses I have had - so warm and friendly, very attentive, but not pushy. It probably helped that I mentioned having spent time in Burma, but at any rate, I hope I see her (whose name spelling I won't bother to butcher here) again when I return!
(5)
Kathleen M.
I've had my eye on this place since it opened several months back, and I finally tried it last night. I wasn't put off by the lack of decor - that sort of thing doesn't bother me, as long as a restaurant is clean, and YoMa is. Service was fine, and so were the prices. I don't remember the names of what we had but I had something that amounted to shrimp lo mein, and my fiance had a dish with roast pork, nuts, and veggies on rice. I think we should have asked for suggestions or tried one of the curry type dishes ... what we had wasn't spicy or special ... I guess I just expected some cool flavors that would make this different from Chinese or other Asian food. I did like the hot, gingery cabbage side dish they gave us, and I know if I would have ordered an entree with that kind of flavor, my rating would be higher. So I'm going to go back and try something different .... I think YoMa has potential.
(3)
Francine W.
the coconut tofu is AMAZING. I also enjoy the appetizer sampler. This family-owned restaurant is so cozy and the food is amazing. It's like a cross between asian and indian but more towards asian. The service is great and the owners/workers are so cute and friendly. Yum!
(4)
Melanie R.
well priced, good food. cozy restaurant, nice staff. the menu was a bit foreign to us, but we were impressed!
(4)
Lisa Y.
YOMA is easily my most favorite restaurant in Boston. Thawdar, the owner is so sweet. True definition of mom and pop shop and she really cares about her food and the happy diner!!
(5)
Kayla S.
Had gone here once the other week. Never had been so I didn't really know what to expect. Overall it was good service. Everyone was really nice. The venue was cute but very small. It was not crowded when I went so it was fine but can't imagine if it was crowded. The cons would probably be the portions. They were tiny. I mean unreasonably small for the price. Also. My boyfriend's took a little longer so mine was sort of cold and his was incredibly hot when it came out. Both of ours were warm dishes. They should have kept mine in a hot box or something
(3)
Greg W.
Fantastic, interesting fresh Asian flavors and excellent service My brother and I went for dinner and ordered the mango chicken salad, a side of the Bala Chong (spicy and crispy mixture of chili, garlic, onion and beans) the Mandalay Plata (crispy bread with potato and chickpea sauce to dip in) to share The mango chicken salad was extremely fresh and had a nice garlicky taste from the sauce. We mixed the Bala Chong in which gave it some extra kick and crunchiness. The Mandalay Plata was also delicious, the bread had a perfect texture and heat and the sauce was rich and tasty I ordered the Pumpkin Chicken for my main at the suggestion of our waitress and it was fantastic. The pumpkin was meaty and tender and the tomato sauce was excellent. I threw in some hot chili paste to mix it all together and give it some additional heat This place is a little more expensive than some of the Asian food you'll find in Allston but I have never had flavors like that in the US before. The service was also fantastic. Our waters were filled constantly and our waitress gave us great suggestions
(5)
Cindy D.
Restaurant itself is a quaint little hideaway, run by friendly folks who are patient and can recommend a few good items to try. I liked the tea leaf salad for its texture more so than its taste (lots of crunch to each bite!) It's a bit different from the ones I've tried in California. Portions here are smaller and they use less garlic, but it's the first Burmese place I've see here, so I'm a fan! The pumpkin chicken with rice and golden chicken noodle were good, with a thin curry sauce to coat the noodles. So much flavor! Warning: parking is non-existent in this part of town. The restaurant is situated at the intersection of Scary and Scarier, especially since you're trying to find street parking and still go with the flow of traffic. It took us 20 minutes of looping around to find a spot. There's no paid private lots around the area either.
(4)
Pradeep R.
This place came very highly recommended but unfortunately I wouldn't recommend it myself. I tried the Rainbow 23 dish. It came cold, it tasted like leftovers. It hardly had any chicken in it. It was bland at best. This is not worth the $10.95. This was supposed to be "spicy" l, not even close. I also tried the Garlic Chicken Noodle. Again nothing to write home about. It was a tad better than Rainbow 23 though which was the only silver lining. This also is not worth the $10.45. I tried the Balachong "large". This thing cost me $5.50 for something that should really cost like a buck at most. It is basically fried urad dal mixture for those who know Indian snacks. The chicken dumplings were pretty good. The ambience wasn't great. It felt constricted.
(2)
Lindsay M.
Wow! I've never had Burmese food and after trying it I will definitely be coming back! What an experience! It's a mix between Thai and Indian food. So good! My friend and I got eggplant tofu and coconut pumpkin shrimp. At first, since it was take out, I didn't think it would be enough food, but I was wrong! It was light and filling, without feeling bloated or stuffed! We also had the Mandalay Plata which wish incredible! Two thumbs up!!
(5)
M N.
I can't find Burmese food as good anywhere else. Anything pumpkin of theirs is so delicious. And they have this side stuff that you sprinkle on rice that is so delicious....it's salty, garlicky. Mmmm
(5)
Kim S.
We went the family style route and ordered many dishes to share. The tea salad featured Burmese pickled tea, sesame seeds, peanuts, crispy peas, garlic, tomato and iceberg lettuce. On the Yelp photos, the salad was shown with the different ingredients portioned out on its own section of the plate to be mixed by the guests. I was a bit disappointed that our tea salad had already been mixed for us in the kitchen. The roasted chicken mango salad was very similar to a staple dish in Thai and Cambodian cuisine. The big difference is that the chicken was roasted instead of boiled or steamed which added a crispy texture to the salad. The spicy shrimp salad was not spicy at all and also reminded me a of a Thai/Cambodian dish. The only thing missing was the Thai red basil and lemon grass to make it the same. We split 3 different noodles dishes among the 7 of us. The Garlic chicken noodle was the best of the 3, we actually wanted to order another one. It was a bit heavy on the black pepper but boasted the most flavor. The dish shared the same roasted chicken from the mango salad. The other two noodles were a bit tricky. The simple chicken noodle item was described on the menu as steam wheat noodles, roasted chicken, cucumber, potato, onion, tofu, peanut, garlic, cilantro, scallion and tamarind sauce. The dish was bland and I couldn't taste any of the tamarind sauce. It reminded me of lo mein from a Chinese restaurant sans the oil and heavy soy sauce. The Rainbow 23 noodle dish on the menu looked intriguing. The dish was a combination of four types of steamed noodles, roasted chicken, mango, cucumber, onion, potato, tofu, peanut, garlic, cilantro, scallion, and tamarind sauce (aka an Asian "Kitchen sink" dish) Although I was really excited to try it, there was too much going on in my mouth and it left me overwhelmed. I do love peanuts in my noodle dishes but I prefer them crushed not whole roasted. It's a bit harder to eat and all most of the salad and noodle dishes had peanuts. The rice plates on the menu were non descriptive with the exception of what the meat, seafood or vegetables were. We had no idea how it was going to be prepared and if we were getting a curry, stew or stir fry. The "Happy Shrimp" had steamed shrimp, bamboo and potato and was like a curry dish. It was the best out of the three rice dishes. Although no one was fighting over the tofu and eggplant, the portion was really small. There were only 5 pieces of tofu and 3 chunks of eggplants. It was also like a curry stir fry dish. The chicken squash dish was like a curry chicken stew. It was alright. We ordered a delicious side of shrimp balachong. The spicy and crispy bits were reminiscent of a Cambodian/Thai "Bok Trey" rural dish made with dried fish, salt, sugar, garlic, msg and smashed with a mortar and pestle eaten with white rice. We topped off our rice dishes and noodles with the spicy shrimp balachong it added a crispy texture and bursts of flavors. We liekd it so much that we got another of it to eat at the restaurant and some of us even bought some to go to eat with plain rice or rice porridge. The total came to about $ 150.00 for: 2 Mandalay plata bread with sauce 1 plata bread 2 steamed Shrimp Dumpling 2 Shrimp BalaChong side 1 tea salad 1 spicy shrimp salad 1 chicken mango salad Garlic chicken noodle Simple Chicken noodle Rainbow 23 noodle Chicken and squash rice dish Happy Shrimp rice dish Tofu and eggplant rice dish Extra white rice To see food pics, check out mami-eggroll.com/2014/05…
(3)
Kat T.
One of the most amazing places for Asian (Burmese) food! The first time I stopped by this place, the food was just spectacular! I've never had Burmese food before, and it was just amazing! The second time, it was just as great, and it's become one of my favorite places to eat! The location is great but place is not very noticeable. The 'tea cafe' sign makes it a bit confusing but it's not only cafe, it's a regular Asian food restaurant. The ambience is comfortable and simple which is great. Food: highly recommend vegetarian samosas (blew my mind) and spiced mountain (has cut-up samosa in it with several different vegetables, lots of flavor and textures). I tried Happy Egg (contains bamboo shoots, tofu and egg), it was quite flavorful! Rainbow 23 is a great dish if you're not sure what type of noodles you like as it has a combination of several different types. This dish is also quite interesting and unique. Drinks: Ragoon tea, coconut juice all are amazing but very sweet. Highly recommend this place!
(5)
Aswin V.
Authentic Burmese restaurant. Great Rangoon Tea. And they serve free plain rice with any entree you order. I'd go back there any day. Plenty of options for both Non vegetarians and vegans.
(5)
Lily G.
I was recently introduced to this place. Right away I was drawn to their salads. I tried the spicy chicken mango salad the first time I came here and it did not disappoint me. It was spicy enough to taste but not so spicy that my mouth was on fire. It was light and the portion was just right. Their food is incredibly affordable. I found myself craving their food and here I am again. Back for more!
(5)
Mandy E.
So, one of the reasons why I joined yelp in 2012 was to rave about this hidden Allston gem. They remodeled a few months ago and as their #1 fan, I thought YoMa deserved another review. YoMa, to me, is the epitome of excellence. The dictionary defines "superlative" as: of the highest kind, quality, or order, surpassing all else (or others). I define it as dinner at YoMa. The atmosphere is incredibly relaxing. Walls are adorned with photos from Burma and there is soft music playing in the background at all times. It's a 5/5 each and every time, and I've been a regular for well over three years- I truly appreciate the consistency. My friends like to joke and say I'm YoMa's best advertisement due to my excessive raving and praising (they're not paying me I swear)! My favorite picks off the menu haven't changed, Rainbow 23 is still my go-to. I absolutely hated the tea leaf salad the first time I tried it but ended up craving it a week later, and I've been hooked ever since! The coconut chicken noodle soup is the thickest most flavorful creamy delicious comforting soup you will ever try. Portions are just right, and the prices are good under $10 for a meal. I will continue to tell everyone I meet about YoMa, it's that good. As lame as it sounds this place feels like you're home and I really love that because that feeling can't be bought. With a beautiful interior, lovely service and fantastic unique food what's not to love? To get an authentic Allston experience stop by before 9pm and after your meal head over to The Model or Deep Ellum for post dinner drinks.
(5)
Claire E.
Yoma Burmese restaurant has the most amazing tea leaf salad. It is SO good. And, its almost impossible to find this dish anywhere else. I also like their ginger salad and their plata bread. I would have given it five stars but the atmosphere is not great, so we usually get take out. They used to have more extended hours opening around 11:00 am and then staying open until late. Now, they are only open from 4:00 pm - 10:00 pm, so basically dinner only. I used to love to get the tea leaf salad on Saturdays for lunch! Otherwise though, the food is excellent and the owners are really nice. She always remembers us. Check it out if you are in Allston, but like I said, I do recommend taking the food to go. No liquor license either, fyi.
(4)
Chenkai L.
This is my first time to a burmese restaurants so not much to compare by. Let me first start by saying they have some really unique items on the menu that I have never seen in my life, the combinations of ingredients used in their dishes and unlike any asian cuisine I had. Seems like the central feature of burmese dishes is mixing of vegetable, nuts, dried beans, tea leafs to make some sort of salad. I got the tea salad (burmese pickled tea, sesame seeds, peanut, crispy peas & garlic, tomato, lettuce) because I felt it was a main burmese dishes. The ingredients were fresh and the salad was refreshing, but not being a big fan of salads, I find it hard to enjoy this dish, especially with the combination including peanuts and crispy peas, I didn't feel it was a very good mixture. I also had Dried shrimp BalaChong (Mixtures of dried shrimp, shallot, garlic, and chili), which was extremely salty and surprisingly spicy. Also, I'm not sure how much oil was in the BalaChong but the whole thing seem fried. In addition, I tried some Garlic Chicken Noodle. The broth was yellow and creamy and the noodles was standard, seems to be a nourishing dish to recover from sickness. Though I am not the biggest fan of burmese food after this experience, something tells me this restaurant is a haven for vegans and vegetarians due to their unique ingredients and dishes offered.
(3)
Sho Y.
This was my first experience with Burmese food. Ordered the coconut shrimp and they were delicious! The chicken platas appetizer was good as well. Will definitely go again.
(4)
Archana M.
We were in Boston for the weekend and the first thing I did was look up for Burmese restaurants. We love Burmese food but haven't been able to spot one in Chicago. We walked a bit from Harvard square to get to this place. The long walk was totally worth it. The place is tiny and nothing fancy. But we had an amazing vegetarian dinner. Definitely don't miss the tea salad. The simple noodles was the best noodle dish I've tasted - spicy and flavorful. Plus it's a BYOB. Must visit if you're in Boston!
(5)
Laura S.
This place is so good. It's BYOB, which is totally key if you're trying to save money on your booze bills, which you KNOW I am. I first had Burmese food out in a swanky little joint in Berkeley, CA, and where Yoma has a long way to go before it reaches that point, however Yoma manages to completely quench my cravings for Burmese. I often go after work, and I am never disappointed. If you're new to Burmese, you HAVE to get the Tea Salad. It's the best. thing. ever. I'm also pretty partial to all of the noodle dishes. Last night i tried the Tofu Curry. Actually you can't go wrong with this menu. It's so freaking good. Go here. Eat here. love it. Drink whatever you want (beer/wine!!)...no corking fee!!!!!!! just do it.
(4)
Ekta K.
Great service to begin with. Food was very refreshing. Ate Burmese food for the first time and enjoyed all the vegetarian options !! Balanchong was very flavorful a little on the hotter side. Garlic tofu noodles were full of garlic and pepper as explained in the menu. Overall the restaurant is definitely worth a try for those seeking a slightly different Asian cuisine experience.
(5)
Ayelet R.
I absolutely love this place - it may just be my favorite place to eat in the Boston area. As most of the other reviewers have mentioned, the Tea Leaf Salad is amazing. I'm not someone who usually gets excited about salads, but this is the exception - it's a crunchy, crispy, amazing blend of flavors. I also love their vegetarian menu, where they offer vegetarian alternatives to almost all of their usual dishes. I've been here many times and still haven't exhausted my options, and have loved everything I've tried so far. Vegetarians - try their chickpea tofu! Their noodle dishes are especially delicious - flavorful but not swimming in sauce, spicy enough to provide a kick but not be overpowering (although they are also more than willing to modify for those who aren't fans of spicy food), and full of fresh vegetables. Also since the renovation, they've added the Rangoon Tea, which is delicious. Just writing this review has made me ache to go back!
(5)
Leslie W.
Great place, it's BYOB which is kinda nice. Started with tea salad which deserves the raves it gets on yelp. Great mix of textures and flavors. Our group tried several entrees. My favorite was the Royal Noodle but the Happy Chicken and Rainbow 23 were all great. Our server was super nice and attentive. All in all I'm now a fan of Burmese!
(5)
Emilio S.
Yoma is a great little restaurant and very reasonably priced. As a matter of fact, this is probably the cheapest spot in the neighborhood, but the food is excellent. I don't really have a frame of reference by which to judge the quality of a Burmese meal, but I enjoy this place. During the cold months they serve a spicy chicken noodle soup that will warm a spirit battered by the cold, dark, New England winter.
(4)
Brian K.
Solid, authentic, and yummy Burmese food with a separate vegan menu which rules. The service is great and the place is intimate with cool pictures from Myanmar (Burma).
(5)
Tiffany L.
I went here on my TCO friend's recommendation...BEST DECISION I made today. I never tried Burmese food before so I was super pumped haha. I walked in around 1 pm on a Tuesday and we were the only customers. The interior is super cute, simple, and clean. The walls are baby pink! They had what I'm guessing is Burmese music playing. They also had a delivery area - I wish they could deliver to Wellesley.. Service is amazing. The waiter's English wasn't good, but she was super nice and so attentive. My water was literally refilled after every other sip. The food comes so quickly, too, which I was super thankful for (I missed breakfast cause I slept in...#collegestrugs). I got the hot Myanmar tea. I expected some herbal hot tea but what I got was a gift from the heavens...too much? It was just so good. It's like the condensed milk tea they serve at Hong Kong breakfast restaurants, but a thousand times better. It was the perfect level of sweetness and I was so sad when I finished it. The serving isn't big - half the size of a Starbucks tall beverage. Literally 10 minutes after we ordered, the dishes came TEEHEE: Bean Plata: I could smell it before it left the kitchen haha in a good way. It's similar to a scallion pancake, but it's SO much better. It's a bit crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside. It's salty but a bit sweet at the same time...it's hard to explain. The beans that came with it were good, too. They weren't super flavorful, but the pancake thingys were so soft and yummy. There were 8 pieces in the order, and the two of us finished it pretty easily. I think I might order one just for myself next time... Spicy Chicken Noodle Soup: Really good. Even for me, the bowl was pretty large. The noodles are glass noodles. It tastes similar to Tom Yum soup, but it's not as salty. The chicken soup was subtle and light, not too spicy. I finished the noodles, but couldn't finish the soup. I love the tartness of it though. Eggplant Peanut Chicken: This dish was pretty good. Portion is generous. The peanut sauce was super thick haha I feel like they literally put a spoonfuls of peanut butter into it. But I really liked it. The flavor was subtle unlike most Asian restaurants. I love eggplant and this eggplant was cooked perfectly - it was soft enough but not too soggy and gross. The chicken part was okay in comparison - it tasted really healthy and firm haha which is why I didn't like it as much. The food here is super light and refreshing - I felt like I had a salad for lunch leaving the restaurant. I actually really loved this place and would def go back a second, third, and even fourth time haha. And I really want to try their tea salad. Emily, take meeeeee. Must try desserts/shakes next time!
(5)
Katie C.
Amazing Black Tea Salad. - MUST ORDER. Great Chicken Pumpkin Curry Chick Pea appetizer is delish. Food is salty, service is AMAZING! Don't order the "ice cream salad" for dessert - it's an American ice cream sundae with raisins :)
(4)
Roy M.
Great food. I had a wonderful tamarind juice drink. Rainbow salad had fabulous flavor and crispy taste. Everything was subtle, tasty and unusual. They can adjust spice to meet your desires. Prices are reasonable. Restaurant very clean.staff is great and friendly Beautiful pictures of Myanmar that complements the food. Ginger ice cream was fabulous with tasty chunks of ginger. A very pleasant surprise. I'll be back.
(4)
Ian Y.
Let me start by giving my review some context. I enjoy eating a simple, healthy diet. For me, it's nice to eat out once in a while, but nothing beats a down-to-earth, home-cooked meal that just hits the spot. So, being in the Boston area for a conference for a few days and having all my meals catered or served at a restaurant, I was really starting to feel sick. My body was simply begging me to go home and detox from all the rich foods that I had eaten over the last couple of days. It had gotten to the point where my body was pretending that it wasn't hungry at all, even though I hadn't eaten for hours. So, the last thing I wanted to do on my final night in Boston was to eat out at another restaurant. But, boy, did this restaurant impress me. Maybe it's because the food served here resembled the food I had growing up, but there was something about the way the food was prepared that made it simultaneously simple and irresistibly delicious. I ordered the Royal Noodle dish (NanJeeThoh) -- the noodle dishes, by the way, are the way to go -- and upon taking one bite, my appetite changed from "no more, thank you" to "more, please!" The people in my dinner party also exclaimed at how good their food was, and as a result, we couldn't help but try each other's dishes. The service was both friendly and FAST on all fronts: ordering, food arriving, and paying the bill. And the restaurant owners didn't pressure us to leave upon closing time. Vegetarians will be happy to know that there is a vegetarian-specific menu made available upon request. And being full-fledged, it won't disappoint. Oh, and did I mention that the food is super cheap? Win. Some things to watch out for that could possibly cause irritation: There's only one toilet (for ALL patrons) and there is a $10 minimum to use a credit card. They will also try to limit you from using more than 2 credit cards on a single bill. All in all, though, I have to give this place credit for not only being a gem in the rough (literally, given its physical location) but for also drastically shifting my mealtime attitude. I'm not surprised it won one of Boston Globe's "Best of the New" honors, even if it was in 2008.
(4)
Jeannie D.
We never tried Burmese food before. Well, we are not really familiar with what it entails. It's not too bad yet it wasn't amazing either. They have an extensive vegetarian menu so that is a plus for people who are looking for that. The atmosphere is pretty nice with their bright colorful walls and traditional music
(4)
Katie B.
Pretty solid, but not overly memorable. This is a pretty authentic restaurant, as far as I can tell. I've never been to Myanmar/ Burma before so it's hard to say how this compares to "real" burmese food. However, I enjoyed my meal nonetheless. Try the Tea Salad if you want something different! Lot's of texture and flavor.
(4)
Jenn S.
good place for burmese food. i think i enjoyed the tea leaf salad from burma superstar in SF better, but their food was very well done, nicely spiced/ seasoned, and good portions. I would recommend the seafood dish (i think it was alled happy shrimp or something like that?), and really enjoyed their curry infused dishes.
(4)
Kiki P.
BEST and ONLY Burmese restaurant in Boston. I religiously go to Yoma at least once a week. I am definitely their most frequent customer. I always get the same two dishes...the RICE and SPICE and the burmese tofu noodles from the vegetarian menu. Yes, every time. Yes, they have a vegetarian menu...you have to request it though. My favorite is the RICR AND SPICE. It is flavorful and they use very little oil. If you ask for it spicy, they will actually make it spicy. Woohoo! The Burmese Tofu Noodles are amazing and the tofu is unique. They use this tofu made out of chickpeas which just melts on your mouth and goes so well with the egg noodles. I usually ask for it spicy and the dish is full of spices and flavor. The only reason the restaurant is four stars instead of five stars is their lack of customer service. They are not very attentive and several servers don't speak English. The owner herself is super nice and speaks fluent English though. Consistency is another story. The food is different every time, but I can assure you that I am never disappointed. It always hits the spot. Whenever I am entertaining a vegan or vegetarian guest, I always bring them here. Vegetarians seem to LOVE this restaurant. Make sure you ask for the vegetarian menu! Another note is that the restaurant is often closed around the Holidays. I tried to go the first week in December and I drove all the way into Boston. I was so annoyed when I read their sign which said "Closed for the Holidays until January." Therefore if you plan on visiting during the Holidays just call before you go...Otherwise..ENJOY!
(4)
Dhaval A.
Like many other yelpers, this was our first visit to this restaurant. Sometimes I think that restaurants located in urban areas or close to student concentrations get excessively good reviews just because. So here is our experience, we ordered a few items of the list that seemed interesting, Tea Salad, Garlic Tofu Noodle, Mandalay Plata. The tea salad was disgusting.. it seemed that they prepare all the items early in the day and keep serving the same s*** all day. We had gone at around 8 pm which is close to closing time, but you would still expect decent food if you are paying for it. The Mandalay Plata tasted like a very watered down dish, true burmese food is not this bland and tasteless, this was not burmese. The Noodles, we had ordered garlic noodles and asked them to hold off on the chicken since we had vegetarian diners, but they showed up with a dish with chicken shavings, by the time we realized there was chicken in it, most of us had helped ourselves to a serving, on asking the waiter, he said no this is not meat. We asked him to check with the kitchen who confirmed that it was indeed meat. Since we had already taken a serving each, we could no longer eat the other food that was on the plate. The waiter was willing to not charge us for the dish (how generous) but made no effort to redeem the situation. Another issue was, we had bought a cake from outside for one of the members of our group and they were charging us $2 dollars a person for cutting the cake in their restaurant. Not sure if this is a new trend or it has always been this way, but that's absolutely ridiculous, I would understand charging that much if I walk into the restaurant just to cut a cake, but why would it matter to them if I am paying for the dinner and dessert from your menu? The decor was dated, the spoons, table and floor unclean. I am not sure why this place is still in business.
(1)
R K.
Let me start off by saying I've been here countless times over the past few years and the food has always been good. My boyfriend and I are fans of this place. We don't know how authentic it is, but we don't care. The food is so tasty and that's why we keep coming back. My only gripe is with the inconsistency of their menu. I believe they made a change for the worse back in March, the last time we ate there. So disappointed. They took away a lot of goodies, especially beef and shrimp dishes. All that was left was mainly chicken and veggie dishes, which is not good since we appreciate more meat options. And the side of ba la chong that usually comes with the meal, they took that away as well. We questioned it, but was told they don't do that anymore and we'd have to pay extra for it. I don't remember what dishes we ordered since it was a while ago, but the portions were very small, the absence of the ba la chong on the plate made it look even smaller. The food was tasty enough, but it seemed they were stingy with the portions. They could've given us a bit more for our buck. The service was a horrible miss the last time we were here. When we came in, the place was empty. Two more couples came in after we were seated. Instead of taking our order, they went straight to the other tables which came in after us. I'm not sure why they skipped us, but the other tables got their food before us, even though we got there first and were seated well before the others came in. By the time our food came, one of the other tables had already finished, paid, and left. There were two waitresses and one of them appeared to be newish and/or in training. Maybe they were having an off day. Whatever the case, I can overlook the service if they had been more consistent with the menu. I didn't like that they took away so many options and made us pay extra for ba la chong, when we were able to get it free before. Since this review reflects our last visit, I'm sad to say I can only give two stars for the food being decent. I take away one star for the service, and another one for the lack of options available, and there being no more free ba la chong that comes with the meal. I would still be willing to return and give them another chance as they have been genuinely good in the past.They need to get their act together though. We like the menu the way it was before, not sure why they always feel the need to take stuff away.
(2)
Dorise G.
After *all that* (see previous reviews), Yoma is back. I'd heard word that they'd brought back the dishes, brought back the dining, brought back the full menu, and it was the best present anyone could've ever given me. Only big changes to the original YoMa that I knew and loved: ~there's a takeout counter on one side now (nbd) ~they've added ice cream drinks ~it now costs a dollar extra for the puffed chilis to come with the rice dishes, but if they want to up-charge me a dollar in exchange for having all of my favorite items at my favorite restaurant back? You won't hear me complaining.
(5)
Melissa W.
We enjoyed the samosas, the Mandalay plata and the coconut chicken noodle soup. However, I must knock off stars for the garlic noodles, which were completely INEDIBLE for me due to the massive amount of black pepper in it. My husband tried eating it but couldn't enjoy it. We told the waitress and she only responded with "oh".
(3)
Harri S.
Folks, do me a favor and DO NOT die before trying YoMa's tea leaf salad. It is a food journey you will not soon forget. I put off going here for a long time and boy do I regret it now that the Biff has left Allston and I have no real excuse to go there anymore. YoMa! I miss you baby! I promise I'll come back for you soon! [Also, try their chicken curries which are rich and coconutty, and the eggplant so so delicious].
(5)
Yao M.
I have had authentic burmese food before, and this restaurant is definitely the closest to authentic burmese food. Things to get: Meeshay - really good, but spicy and if ur dieing after it, get the coconut dessert. It will cool u down!! Coconut rice is also bomb, overall best burmese restaurant in boston area!
(5)
Ryan H.
Just went for dinner for the first time since 2012, and it's still fantastic. Burmese Chai Iced Tea was perfectly balanced. I got Chicken and potatoes in red lentils with rice, and it was just delicious. Perfectly cooked and seasoned. The service was good and the place is low-key enough to have conversation comfortably. I would highly recommend Yoma, especially since the other restaurants in the area are usually crammed full of people.
(5)
Noshii R.
Got take out for the first time...eating it as I write this. Despite the portions being way small the food tastes great. However, the issue that I have is that they overcharged us. I ordered the food based on the menu from their online link and they charged us an extra dollar per entree. As an example the tea salad is $9.50 and they charged us $5.50 for a hot-n-sour soup. This is a side soup which should not be $5.50. Its too bad that businesses pull this type fraudulent moves as I wont be returning.
(1)
Lisa W.
Burmese food in Boston! Yay!!! Mixed noodle salad and tomato salad are delicious and spicy. The beef and potato curry is pretty good.. I would've liked it with tomato in the sauce, but it is served with a side of yummy fried garlic. I wasn't a huge fan of the cream of wheat dessert, though, it seemed kind of small and dry.
(4)
Karen H.
For their tea salad -- 5 stars!!!! For everything else, 3.5. I've been here 3 times and I tried a few different dishes but always end up coming back to the tea salad. It's so unique and all the flavors come together to play a symphony in your mouth. That is all.
(4)
Molly L.
Yoma is awesome! We had the bean plata and a salad and noodles with their chickpea tofu. So delicious!! The bread especially was crispy and delicious. Very fast and curteous service.
(4)
Kendall M.
This may be an unduly harsh review, but here was my thought after eating at YoMA: "Wow, I'm really excited to try an authentic Burmese restaurant next." Why do I say that? Well, having previously lived in Hong Kong and then in the states, I feel I have a pretty solid grasp of what Americanizing Asian food tastes like, and this was rife with the symptoms: over-steamed meat and vegetables with sauce only poured over it at the last minute, overcooking in general, meager portions despite high dish prices and cheap ingredients. But I hadn't had a Burmese salad before, so that was interesting. I'd skip everything else though, including the Pumpkin curry and the Pancake/Roti/Forget what it was called but basically fried bread with a curry dipping sauce. We left hungry despite paying over $40 for two and had ice cream instead of ordering more dishes.
(2)
Alexandra S.
Unbelievably great Food. it is a bit pricey though...
(5)
Phil C.
Allston gem! Sick of eating at the same restaurants in Allston? Step outside your comfort zone. Delicious Burmese food!! Had the original tea salad, spicy chicken noodle soup, and the royal noodles. Very flavorful and similar to Thai food. Tea salad is light, crunchy, and has a lot of very rich flavors that blend very well together. I think slightly overpriced for what it is, but definitely delicious. My favorite dish of the night. Spicy chicken noodle soup - served in a big bowl and definitely spicy. The glass noodle is similar to the noodle in the Korean dish japchae. Perfect for a cold night. Royal noodles - love anything with coconut milk base. Also love udon noodles. Very rich and flavorful.
(5)
David C.
12 Word Summary: Delicious and interesting fare that you won't find anywhere else in Boston. The Super Pumpkin was a little bit of a letdown after the complexity and intrigue of the Tea Salad, but that's not to say it was a bad dish--the Tea Salad is just that good. I don't even like tea, but the balance of flavor and texture in this dish is simply masterful. Service was kind and attentive throughout, and our waitress was happy to explain a little more about the menu, which is a little vague in description. When you're trying something for the first time, don't hesitate to ask the experts!
(4)
Ella C.
I was pretty upset last year when the restaurant closed down to renovate, I thought it was going to close permanently! Although the menu shrank and many of my favorite dishes are gone, the food is still pretty good, simple, flavorful and yet not too greasy. It's just seasoned appropriately. I've never had a bad experience in this place and also they are somehow so skilled that they can make a non vegetarian person fall in love with vegetarian dishes. I think by now I must have tried pretty much every single item on the menu. I just love the food here, I wish they can add new dishes in the future, especially mohinga!
(5)
Guillermo M.
This place is so goood!! We got a variety of dishes and 100% of them where delicious. Let's start with the appetizers: the bean plata and potato plata were both excellent. The flour "tortilla" and the main ingredients were very different and tasty. Then we got 2 noodle dishes and one chicken with pumpkin and were all very good in balancing a variety of flavors without having too many spices. The yoghurt drink was sweet and refreshing, I would have that for sure. Then we closed with the semolina cake and it didn't disappoint. Great place to come back!!
(4)
Michele H.
The pickled tea and the mango salads are fantastic. Nothing feels more like summer to me than going to town on the picked tea salad, with a spring roll bursting with shrimp and cilantro. The curries are good, too, but a bit bland for me.
(4)
Champika F.
I'm so glad there is a Burmese restaurant in Boston within a reasonable distance from me. Two words: Tea Salad....I don't typically go for salads on a menu but this one is amazing. I could eat it all day. Other things I've had here that I think are pretty good: - Mixed Noodle dish - Hot n Sour Soup I don't recommend the shrimp dumplings - they were a bit bland. I've only gotten food to go here, but I plan on going back for a sit down meal.
(4)
Tanya S.
I read all these positive Yelp reviews and decided to order delivery with a friend. The portions were tiny, there weren't many special ingredients! Happy Beef was 4 pieces of beef, a hardboiled egg, 4 pieces of potato and a sauce with a small side of rice. Even rice portion was tiny! And my friend got a $13 noodle dish that was about half a normal portion at a Thai place. And none of it tasted that good! The Happy Beef sauce smelled really weird =( The $7 layered bread with coconut chicken sauce was one small round piece of flat bread and a tiny container of sauce. I don't understand what others find so good in this place... Way too expensive given the food quality.
(1)
Jeremy R.
We had a lot of trouble using the yelp based delivery service, but my review does not reflect this. We ordered the happy shrimp and the mango salad. Both were delicious, but the prices were about 25% higher than similar offerings that I have back in San Francisco, so I am docking it one star.
(4)
Julie L.
3.5 stars YoMa is lovely! I think the staff cares and really tries to deliver a home-style meal. My favorite dish that keeps me coming back: Rice n Spices - it includes rice, bean noodles, potatoes, cucumbers, and peanuts. It's so unique and what I've come to know as Burmese with the contrasting textures and sharp flavors. I've ordered it medium and it was a tad too hot. But then I've ordered mild and there was a distinct lack of flavor. I think I'll have to try and get something in between next time. It's also listed under salads. I just love the Burmese definition of salads. So much more interesting and full of flavor compared to your raw greens variety.
(3)
Shir L.
Since there were so many good reviews on yelp, why not give this place a try? Tea salad - i liked the fried chick peas however, there was something about it that i didn't like it. it was a strong savory taste, however its like nothing ive ever had. Garlic Noodles - basically its stir fryed thick, yellow wonton noodles with garlic and other sauces/spices. Someone liked it but i felt it was a quite salty, or heavy flavor since I was craving tons of water (my taste buds usually only crave water after heavy msg or salty). Ive heard that any dishes with pumpkin in it, are simply delectable, however ill probably only return when I'm craving something savory or salty. Not my cup of tea.
(3)
Caitlin C.
This place is great on every level. The waitstaff is so kind and attentive (but never pushy), and the food is so delicious and vibrant-- if you can substitute their chickpea tofu in whatever dish you're considering, DO IT!! You won't be disappointed.
(5)
Yue Z.
I love this place. Though the food quality does very from time to time. They have all the classics. I highly recommend trying the tea leaf salad or the tofu salad, Be sure to mix the salads before eating. For appetizer, I'm a fan of the fluffy plata with potato or chicken curry. For entree, try the meeshay, royal noodle and eggplant peanut chicken, Overall, I like this place because it is authentic and unpretentious. The food can be a bit slow at times, and the service lacking some warmth, but overall it's a pleasant dining experience. It's a very casual night out and a great addition if you like variety when eating out! Parking is a little difficult in the area so give it an extra 10-15 minutes.
(5)
Adeola O.
Barf.
(1)
G I.
Their "renovation" destroyed a restaurant that I once loved. They renovated away almost the entire menu, including most of the good dishes. They renovated away their plates, so that the five remaining food options are now served in plastic takeout containers on a fast food tray. They renovated away their soul. It's sad. Like an old acquaintance who sustained severe brain damage after getting hit by a car: you still call him by the same name when you speak to him, slowly, clearly and with small words; but you know it isn't really him anymore.
(1)
Michelle W.
I've lived up the street from this place for five years, and now regret not trying it sooner. Royal noodle dish? Amaze balls. Just eat at yoma one night, and you'll see what you've been missing. Tea leaf salad? Delish. Service is fast, friendly and the food is amazing. Tiny one room bathroom and $10 minimum on credit card bills deducts a star but otherwise, you must go.
(4)
Laura C.
After eating at one of the best Burmese restaurants in San Francisco, YoMa left me wanting to go back to SanFran. At YoMa we ordered: tea leaf salad (could be way better, get rid of the cabbage and lettuce) plata w/yellow beans (really good, and by far the best of the four things we ordered) eggplant chicken (made with fish oil, really oily, condiments didn't give great flavor, and didn't like it so much) Rainbow noodle (although tasty, meat was dry and only a small piece of tofu; I've had better noodle dishes) Service: fine and what you expect from a small family restaurant in terms of you having to flag them down if you need something; except for another table, the place was empty for Saturday lunch Overall: won't return, won't recommend
(2)
Kathy Y.
Well my parent's cook burmese food, so like every typical person who has it at home, obviously nothing compares to what your parents cook. Everybody always thinks their parent's are better if not the best. For a business, I guess this isn't so bad. I mean you really can't compare it to any other Burmese restaurants because this is the only one. I came here when it first opened a few years ago, and service was awful than, they spilled water ALL over me and food took forever to cook. I am guessing after they have adjusted and got the hang of things, service this time around was much better. They do have a pretty good vegetarian selection for you vegans out there. I didn't try the Mohinga this time around, it's one of the most popular dishes amongst the Burmese, but I am not a big fan of it. Maybe because I was born here, I am not as adventourous. I am a bigger fan of their Oh-Nok Kow Swe (Burmese Coconut Chicken Noodle Soup), but I thought this was only okay here because it was too much coconut taste, normally when I have it it's not overpowering with coconut milk, so it's not as heavy. If you do like this, I would suggest, Naan Jee Dok, which they call Royal Noodles. It's similar but not in a soup form. Another one of their dishes I recommend is their Tea Leaf Salad, you will not get anything like this anywhere else. I don't think they give you enough tea part, but their balance of the lettuce makes it more refreshing. Potato Plata - similar to your roti canai, not bad. it's bread you dip in a curry-like sauce pretty much. It's a okay place since not everybody can have Burmese food at home. I don't think the people who have the privelage of getting Burmese food at home should be so hard on the place, especially since this is the only Burmese restaurant in the area, it's good enough for a quick fix to supress the craving you may have.
(3)
E.N. Z.
Excellent food if you consider the price, the taste, the service. I have never been to Burma. But the food at this place (freshly cooked- everything) reminds me of the home cooked food I had in Indonesia and Thailand. When we were having our delicious food (chowing that down in no time), two other couples came in. The last couple sat down for a few minutes, studied the menu for 5 minutes, then stood up and left! They told the waitress that they were leaving because they had no idea of what Burmese food was and after reviewing the menu they didn't want to eat there! That's really too bad for these people since they are truly missing out on the good stuff! However, this does bring up one issue about this place. When we first arrived, we also didn't know what to order after reading the menu. We had to ask the waitress to recommend - which was very good choices (Burmese Samosa (this is not on the menu so I don't know how to spell it, but it is different from the Indian ones. I like the Burmese far better in this case.) , Egg curry (another very different dish from Indian and Japanese sauce mushy stuff), Pork Stew with noodles and garlic, spice) . I think they need to better describe their menu to make the food more attractive. The pork stew I ordered is really slow cooked pork chunks which is really really tasty. According to the waitress, they are printing new menus next week. I wonder if they are improving their dishes or increasing their prices... We will see., For now, I give it a 5 star.
(5)
Marietta A.
I love YoMa. Everyone there is so friendly. The food is totally yummy. I can't say that I've had Burmese food anywhere else, so I have nothing to compare it to, but the fact that my boyfriend and I drive over from West Roxbury, is a testament to how awesome we think it is. GO TO YOMA!11
(5)
Thomas G.
I love Yoma! Their food is healthy and great tasting, so you can't go wrong! My favorite is the chicken and squash curry or the beef and potato curry. Both are very filling without being too heavy. The flavors are very unique. I also recommend their salads and soups. I've tried most of them, but I recommend the tomato salad, the beef salad and their spicy noodle soup. We live near there and usually eat there a few times a week. It's been a few years now and we still aren't tired of it!
(5)
J p.
Tried this place for lunch and it was a most pleasant surprise.The food is delicious and tasty. Tried the bread special which included a salad, soup and chicken curry with their authentic bread. Food is extremely flavorful and light. Those with big appetites might find it a little lacking, but it gets an A+ from me. Give it a whirl...
(5)
Graham J.
Boston not only has a great Burmese restaurant, but one that easily outshines the very good places in Philadelphia and New York. The chickpea tofu is a unique treat, and the tea leaf salad is out of this world. If you order spicy, boy you'll get it. The opposite of meh.
(5)
James L.
I'm at Yoma as i Type this. Im eating the atfish soup. It's pretty good and I can tell that this is quite authentic. This is the 4th time I'm coming here. I've never had a bad experience and service is very good. Prices are pretty good, atmosphere has family-owned feel to it that I like, and the recipes seem to be authentic. If I had to choose from the best Indian restaurant in Boston - and I'm Indian - an this place, then it will be YoMas any time. They don't add sugar to the recipes at all or Americanize their dishes, which I hate. Why didn't I give it a 5 stars? 1. I wasn't fool after my $9 soup. 2. Although I love the atmosphere (think of a nice hotel in a very developing country in Asia), it lacks vibrancy since not too many visitors eat there. 3. It's hard to find parking in this area. 4. They could give me a little more food and/or appetizers.
(4)
Anna B.
Really liked this place! Can't say I've had Burmese food before so I have nothing to compare it to but the chicken curry was inexpensive ($9) and tasty as heck. I think the food's supposed to be salty and it was but the staff was really good about constant water refills which is really key in my book. Spring rolls were just OK. But overall this is another one of Allston's great deals - stuff yourself on yummy home-cooked tasting ethnic food for under $15! The decor's nothing special which is cool because you can go ultra-casual. And it's right off the 57 and 66 bus lines.
(4)
Andrew M.
Delicious stuff--I really liked my chicken dish, which had peanuts and scallions and I forget what else. The plain interior doesn't bother me, but the service was very slow--I guess that's to be expected with only one waitress. I'll probably be back.
(4)
Anonymous P.
I ate lunch at YoMa, a new Burmese restaurant in Allston, on its second day in operation. This was one of the better meals I've had in Boston. The food at YoMa was light, healthy, and refined, and superb for the cheap prices. Highly recommended. update (May): very much enjoyed again, similar thoughts
(5)
Carole H.
I have been to a number of Burmese restaurants in different cities, and while some dishes were good (tea leaf salad), overall this is by far the greasiest and least spiced/flavored version I have had. Good if you are in the mood for greasy chinese food cheap eats but want something a touch classier. Also had the pumpkin shrimp (ok), and the assorted noodles (pile of grease with no recognizable sauce outside of oil).
(3)
Jason M.
Best Burmese in Boston.
(5)
Kneekey T.
As a number of yelpers loved the ginger salad, I ordered it as a starter to share. It was super intense and amazing, very spicy, gingery, salty and crunchy. I am craving it right now as I write this. I then ordered the tofu noodles which were flavorful but not nearly as good as the salad. I was disappointed with the texture of the chickpea tofu although the taste of it was nice...I would try it fried next time. Also, there were no veggies in the noodles. My boyfriend had the Royal noodles which were also full of flavor but I found there was something slightly funny about the after taste.
(4)
Tyler C.
super tasty. I've only had experience w/ takeout but the salads (green tea salad, roasted chicken salad), and plates/noodles (curry noodles, and slow cooked pork noodles) were really nice. Only thing - it takes a bit to prepare so i'd call ahead about 45 mins or so for takeout.
(5)
Ben K.
You know what? This place was awesome. When you walk in and there are only a couple people there, and there's a big sign above the kitchen that says they'll be "closed on Wednesdays" beginning in a couple weeks, it makes one skeptical. But honestly, the food was fabulous. Hands down, the favorite was the chicken and green mango salad. For less than $8 you get this big plate of perfectly spiced Burmese salad with thinly sliced curry chicken and green mangoes. Even the $2.25 dessert was good! I will hands down be visiting this place at least once a week. What a find!
(5)
Jonathan L.
Service was horrible. It looked like the waiter has had no previous waiting experience. He was forgetful and seemed overwhelmed. Food quality was very good. Also, the food came out pretty fast. So fast that the waiter could not keep up with the kitchen. Food quantity was bad. We ordered an appetizer and six dishes. Our group of six left hungry. I'm giving this place a three because I believe it has potential. The waiter needs to shape up and the serving sizes need to be bumped up.
(3)
sal k.
Picture this romantic setting, two people in a cozy restaurant, checking out a new an exotic menu. Now picture this: two people order what turns out to be hot water and pepper with a dash of salt, nasty noodles and the worst part? the portions are so small. Sorry, the worst part was that there was one lady staring at us the entire time, even when she was in the kitchen. So not only was the meal bad, small and overpriced, it was uncomfortable. Am I missing something?
(1)
Sara M.
Great food, great prices. I had the Royal Noodles ($8.25), which were excellent, and my husband had the Pumpkin Shrimp (about $10), also delectable.
(5)
Gizmo G.
Good Burmese food in Boston at last! My dad is from Burma and I have family there so I've been dying to go since I read about it on Yelp. I had the stir-fried noodles with shrimp and chicken and my friend had the One Note Khat Swe. Lots of Burmese around which is a good sign. Plus, a gorgeous woman wearing a Singapore Airlines type tunic walks in, nearly driving me out of my mind. I digress. I'd say very authentic, if a bit easy on the spice -- they put some fish oil on our table and some chili flakes so a liberal dousing helped lots. My mom makes the KhatSwe a little different (doesn't everyone's) but it was still pretty good. I'll go again and review more dishes soon!!
(5)
Angie B.
This is some of the best food I have ever had in Boston. I fell in love with Burmese food after going to Burma Superstar in SF, but I think that Yo Ma might be even better!!! My husband and I went with another couple (one of whom was vegetarian), and so we focused mostly on vegetarian options (of which there were plenty). Highlights of the meal were the chickpea tofu, ginger salad, and coconut curry with potato and pumpkin. Everything was seasoned perfectly, fresh, and mouthwatering.
(5)
Michael M.
i read the reviews first before i went last night and i'm not sure what the fuss is all about. first, yes, from what i heard this is the only burmese restaurant in boston area. i give it props. second, the lone waitress was nice and smiled while we ordered. the rest was pretty average disregarding the fact it's the only burmese place around. the restaurant itself is pretty small, nothing fancy. here's a link to the menu - yomaboston.com/Site/Our_… we started with 3 apps - Green Mango Salad (T5), Burmese Samusar (A4), PaeKatJaw (A2). the salad was pretty good. has a bunch of bunch of different things in there, a little spicy too. the samusar was crispy, small pieces of curry potato. not bad. the chickpea pancake thing was decent too. crispy, crunchy. apps worth it. i had the Beef Curry with Potato (B9). all the portions were individual size. not enough to share a plate and load up on apps. the curry was OK...didn't taste if there was a difference between what they use and curry from Indian restaurants. the quality of beef wasn't great...all the pieces were kinda tough. 3 chunks of potatoes. my girlfriend got some yellow noodles while my friends friends got a yellow noodle in soup and another with noodles similar to Pad Thai (i think from the menu Y7, Y2, Y10 respectively). they all said food was alright. food came out pretty fast...there were only another couple in the restaurant on this Wednesday night. prices were reasonable. i'm a tough critic so my 3 stars might mean 4 for others. for me, I would try other places before going back.
(3)
Michael G.
This is an awesome Burmese place! Go figure: we actually ate here with a friend who had just done a year-long stint in Laos teaching female Burmese (Myanmar, whatever) refugees English, and she said it was authentic and tasty. If that's not a recommendation for going, then I don't know what is.
(4)
Lindsey H.
Everything I had was great (although pretty spicy, but they can alter it according to your taste) - the coconut rice is AMAZING!
(5)
Poe C.
Menu: yomaburmeseboston.com/mi… My wife and I have tried appetizer AaJawSone (A7), OhnNoteKhotSwe (Y2), ShanKhotSwe (Y6) and HinGar (the soup). About the appetizer, I love TofuJaw (A3), but the rest aren't as impressive as TofuJaw. Both noodle dishes don't give you the impression of "love at first sight", but it tastes better and better when you keep eating. The cuisine is mild and light yet still very tasteful. A few things you might like to know: *The dish portion is relatively small comparing to a regular Vietnamese noodle dish. But don't get me wrong, it's not small portion, but it's definitely not a large dish size. *Not many tables in the restaurant. It's relatively small... *They are only open for dinner, no lunch at all (not good for us since we don't live in town)!!! We'd definitely love to go to the restaurant again!!
(4)
Lily C.
I was really excited to try YoMa because I'd heard such great things so perhaps I had high expectations. Overall the food wasn't bad but there wasn't anything in particular that I'd crave from them and thus probably won't go back there again. I went there with 3 of my girls and we ordered the Catfish with somen noodles, 2 orders of shrimp curry, chicken curry and the roasted pork salad. The shrimp curry was pretty good - nice mixture of spices but the sauce was a lil diluted for my taste. The catfish noodles were "interesting". It kind of reminded me of the deluxe ramen noodles I've had. There wasn't a strong fishy taste which was great but the broth was overpowered by the mixture of lemon grass and cilantro. The soup broth was very thick as well but maybe that's how its supposed to be... dunno since this is the first time I've had burmese food.
(3)
Linda M.
Yo Ma is a great Burmese restaurant. My husband and I ordered the green mango salad and green tea leaf salad as appetizers. We asked for it spicy so both had a kick to it. My husband preferred the green mango salad because it was refreshing, and I preferred the green tea leaf salad for its varied texture. For the main course, we had OhnNoteKhotSwe and MeeShay. These are both noodle dishes and were not as spicy as the appetizers. That may have been a good thing because our mouths were burning by this time. We preferred the OhnNoteKhotSwe over the MeeShay in terms of flavor. The OhnNoteKhotSwe is a coconut chicken soup base. The MeeShay is noodle with pork sauce over it. Previously, we ordered the rice curries, but we think the noodle dishes are a better choice. Within walking distance to the Green B line. Only downside is that it is a little expensive. yomaboston.com/mingalabah ...
(4)
A Z.
Yelpers, why must you raise, then painfully dash, my hopes so frequently? My garlic noodles were so bland, lacking the promised garlic or spice... the meat and rice dish (chicken with squash) was more flavorful but nothing very noteworthy, and the meat quality was low. After the disappointing food, dire atmosphere (bright florescent lights) and uncomfortable post-meal stomach, I will not be returning.
(2)
Hamdan A.
Good food. Had happy beef. Tasty. This place is awesome and customer service is great. But don't expect this place to be like burma superstar in san francisco. Enjoy the only burmese food in boston
(4)
Ashley J.
One night we were tired of the same old places we tend to frequent and we decided to look on yelp and try a cuisine we knew nothing about. I came across YoMa and said hell why not. Even if it sucks at least we had a new experience. This small unassuming restaurant in the sketchy part of Allston delivered a delicious meal and an interesting flavor palate. We tried the appetizer sampler platter, a beef dish and a shrimp dish. Both were served with rice and the dried shrimp and garlic condiment. The appetizers were pretty greasy and unremarkable. The shrimp dish was amazing and perfectly cooked. We fought over it we loved it so much. The beef in these types of restaurants is always a little tough in my opinion and this was no exception. While we liked the sauce and spice combination it was just not cooked correctly. The rice with dried shrimp was a very strong flavor and we also loved that. The portions are huge so we took home the rice and ate it for breakfast. It was delicious with scrambled eggs! I think it a great place to go out and have something very unique and support a local business.
(4)
Teju P.
If you like fusion food - this is your place. It is a fusion of inidan, thai, chinese, and veitnamese. they have a special vegetarian menu. this place is not good for big groups because its small - but its excellent for a first date. the service is super friendly and very fast. i went to eat with a friend and we were done eating in 45 mins.
(4)
a r.
We found this place by coincidence fell in love with the food and went there many times since. The food is great, very interesting consistently good, great spices, and nice presentation. The drinks and the deserts are very nice too.
(5)
Courtney E.
I had no idea what to expect, but Burmese food is terrific! I ordered the Pan Fried Egg Curry with Potato, which was light, refreshing, and SPICY!! It comes with a plate of jasmine rice, which is RE-FILLABLE (FYI!!!). The most delightful waitress let me in on the fact that in Burmese restaurants, the rice is re-fillable with your entree. Everything at YoMa is made with FRESH vegetables, meaning NO CANNED products are used, and you can taste the difference! YoMa is an experience unto itself, especially if you're like me and never knew you liked Burmese food!
(4)
Dan P.
Seriously good Burmese food. Delightful people. Attentive. Our kids, not completely adventurous eaters, consumed this food. Unique and interesting flavors. We went for lunch one weekend day .. no crowds. I hear dinner is busy. A do again!!!
(5)
Paul I.
cute, small place. don't expect amazing service. but you'll get very tasty food. i got the koungpoung chicken and it came as very small pieces.. a unique and really appealing presentation. the flavor was soy & ginger; quite good! the prices are low enough you can try this place out. do it. btw- here's the menu: boston.menupages.com/res…
(4)
Amy L.
YoMa is by far my favorite restaurant in Boston. For a while, we were going about once a week. The decor isn't fancy and the location isn't ideal, but the food here is incredible. Everything we've ever had here has been fantastic. The salads are always fresh and spicy -- my favorite is the one with the tomatoes, the curries are delicious, and the soups are absolutely perfect. Everything is served by the friendliest woman I've ever met (I think she may be the owner). It almost feels like being in someone's kitchen.
(5)
C. N.
Yummy, interesting food, good service from nice people, good price. Will go out of my way to eat here again.
(4)
Allie S.
I LOVE Yo Ma! Besides the fact that the food is delicious, the owners are some of the nicest people I've ever met. They're simply lovely, and are now apparently doing catering for the school for the blind across the street. If you know Burmese food, they're always willing to make something that's not on the menu for you. The menu changed at the beginning of September and they no longer have spring rolls now, which is a bummer, but I'll be back as soon as I possibly can to check out the new fare. I always get the Burmese fried rice, which contains the best fried tofu I've ever had. Oh, and at the end of your meal, ask for palm sugar--it's delicious!
(5)
Mabel L.
I finally went to Yoma after seeing Mary Richardson rave about it on Chronice. I was pleased to see that they had a vegetarian menu separate from the regular menu, which made ordering super easy. I didn't know what to get, so I went for the dish that had two things I love, potatoes and tofu. It was nicely spiced, tenderly cooked, and perfectly flavorful. Even the plain rice was delicious. Appetizers we chose were a fried combo plate from the vegetarian menu. The portions were perfect and not overhwhelming (which is a good thing when it comes to fried anything). I hope people take a chance on YoMa. Nothing like it. I hope it sticks around for a long time! I plan to go back very soon!
(5)
Q S.
This place just opened, so when I went in, I was prepared to be forgiving if small things went wrong. But for most of the night, everything was better than I expected. The interior of the restaurant is pretty. It is nicely decorated and clean. The bathroom is clean as well. I loved the appetizers. We ordered the chickpea tempura and it was delicious. It came with a tangy spicy chili sauce that was a nice compliment to the dish. The green mustard soup was also very good. It was light in favor but was very satisfying. Plus, you can't go wrong with the price. The entrees weren't as impressive as the appetizers. I had the goat meat curry with potato and the goat meat was especially fatty. I think they didn't cut off pieces of fat that was not suppose to be there, but I'm not sure. Overall, the curry was good, but the meat was just too fatty. My partner had one of the noodle dishes. And I wasn't too impressed with that either. But again, for the price, you can't go wrong. Especially when the portions are just right. I don't really understand the portion complaints because as it is, the price is already low, so you shouldn't expect a giant mountain on your plate.
(4)
patty b.
i like yoma. they make tasty, not too complex, healthy s.e. asian food. the place is very homey, mom and pop-ish... the service is polite and friendly. my only complaint is that they never seem to have the room temperature at a comfortable point- i feel a bit like goldilocks in there, it's always too hot or too cold, never _just right_. i still give them 4 stars though- i wish them much success!
(4)
Ryan B.
Average food. Cheap.
(2)
Felix L.
Burmese food in Boston! It's certainly authentic, and if you like your burmese food very traditional, I'm sure they can adjust, just slip in a few Burmese conversations heh... If you want to try something very burmese, go for the salads, i believe salads are a staple (they are nothing like lettuce with tomato and that jive). Salads are more like a vegetarian dish, definitely go for some tea leaf salad if they have it! The fish chowder noodle soup is also very distinctive of burmese food.
(5)
Lynn W.
AS stated in numerous reviews below, this little hole in the wall will leave you feeling "just right" in regards to how full your tummy is after leaving. My sister and her veggie boyfriend were in town and he was intrigued by the Burmese title - none of us ever had Burmese before and I always like trying new things, so in we went! We were the only ones there which I thought was cool, some people would be put off by this, but not me, I like thinking that I am the only one who knows about a good restaurant lol :) Also knowing that the waitress spoke limited english seemed a good sign of the authentic cuisine to come, and I was not disappointed! We ordered off the vegetarian menu their sampler appetizer platter and it included these delightfully light deep friend pastries, a crackly corn cracker thingy and some veggie stuffed triangle dumpling. Then I ordered the asian pumpkin dish and it was amazing! Now, I appreciate subtle nuanced taste and this place gives it to you, everything is kind of... understated and I think that is what I liked the most. If you are looking for bold tastes, go somehwhere else, but if you really appreciate lighter tastes with perfect portions and a fair price, YoMa is a great place to try!
(4)
laura l.
Yum yum yum. Great service, cheap prices, and authentic Burmese food. Definitely going to be one of my new favorites.
(5)
Anthony C.
Time for some positivity. Time for some Boston love. YoMa is one of the things that makes living in Boston (part - time) delicious. It's on another level from any other Burmese restaurant I've been to. It is not hyper - professional, but that is part of its charm. And when they play that good Burmese Music record, life is complete. Best things: toasted garlic topping - incredible; tofu and coconut sauce - delicious; coconut chicken noodle soup - I dream of it; anything with pumpkin or squash. I love tea leaf salad too, but am not always in the mood for it If you're there at 9:30 PM they start vacuuming - this is not great. It is local in all the best ways.
(5)
Alissa L.
Loved the pumpkin tofu coconut dish I had. Great prices and great flavorful food.
(5)
Jim G.
It was ok. I had the tea leaf salad and it was average. Very loud with a large taking up on section. Service was slow.
(3)
Brad M.
We recently moved here from the Bay Area and went to YoMa thinking that maybe it would be something similar to the type of food we got at Burma Superstar in Oakland. A couple of the reviewers here on Yelp gave us the impression that this wasn't an entirely stupid thing to think. But no, it's really not comparable to Burma Superstar. I mean, the food is okay, but it just doesn't have that Burma Superstar wow factor. The Tea Leaf Salad, which is pretty amazing at Burma Superstar, is pretty lackluster here. The greens which come with it are also pretty low quality and I was reminded of the salad I had on American Airlines a couple weeks ago. Burma Superstar also had good alcoholic drinks and a bar. Granted, sometimes Burma Superstar's drinks are of variable quality, but their drinks are generally pretty good. I don't even remember seeing alcohol on the menu here, not even beer although I may have missed it. Our food wasn't really that great either. I had the 'Coconut Pumpkin Tofu' and my wife had something with chicken and bamboo shoots. Neither one of them had that amazing deliciousness that typically has me eating multiple servings of rice just to get it all in. What I expect with 'Coconut Pumpkin Tofu' is some sort of really coconut-milk-creamy delicious sauce filled with pumpkin flavor with some high quality tofu thrown in (and maybe a red bell pepper for good measure). What it was was some sort of yellow sauce of unknown origin, 3-4 pieces of pumpkin, and some pretty slippery-looking tofu. Really not great. The place isn't atrocious, and if you try it out you're not likely to have nightmares afterwards, but if this is what Burmese is like in Boston, I think I'll stick to Thai.
(2)
Aubrey W.
Unfortunately, I have to agree with @Winnie T. I went with my fiance, his sister, and her husband on a Friday night. A caveat with my review: they appeared to be desperately understaffed. As in, one waitress working the entire restaurant. So, as you can imagine the service was painfully slow. Once the first dish came out, we waited about 15 minutes before the next one. Then, about 10 minutes later, the last two came. Sadly, the food wasn't that great either. I had the Rainbow 23 noodles which were mostly noodles with tiny shreds of the other ingredients (chicken, mango, potato, cucumber, some other veggies I think). There wasn't a whole lot of flavor. My fiance's sister had the vegetarian version of the same thing with a similar result. Her husband had the Happy Beef, which was a rather small portion, and my fiance had the MeeShay. He enjoyed that and was pleased with how tender and spicy it was, but it was very small as well. I'm inclined to think that this was an off night for them, particularly in terms of the service, but there are a lot of other Thai fusion places around there so we probably won't be back.
(2)
Ms. S.
The tea leaf salad was great, but the rest of the food was forgettable. Overpriced for the quality.
(3)
Marie W.
We were initially hesitant to come here because of all the bad reviews that seemed to come after the renovation, but since someone posted that it went back to normal, we tried it out this past weekend and we are glad we did! We were seated quickly because we offered to sit at the side area with the stools rather than than at the tables (otherwise it was a 45 min wait). We ordered: -Tea leaf salad--definitely worth a try, and as good as people say it is! -Pumpkin tofu--came with white rice. Good flavors. Not amazing, but a good, solid dish. -Garlic chicken noodles--our favorite. Amazing flavors and good portion size. 3 dishes were enough for the two of us. The waitress also recommended the Tofu salad, which we will try next time. We also liked how the waitress gave us honest recommendations about what she liked off the menu. Will definitely come back to try a few more dishes!
(4)
Melody W.
I came here with my friend on Saturday night. I wanted to come here to try Burmese food, since I never had that kind of opportunity to eat it. But I felt a bit letdown after eating the food (especially now I just read some of the Yelpers saying that it wasn't authentic Burmese food). In all honesty, this is 3.5 stars. The half star is for the excellent waitress service. We had one who was so patient with us and had to put up with our indecisiveness and the followup on drink dissatisfaction! I thought the food was okay but not mindblowing. The Coconut Pumpkin Tofu was light and surprisingly not heavy. The MeeShay was bland and lacked flavor. I'm not sure if it's because we requested the spiciness adjusted to mild or it was just our own preference of taste. The portions are a bit small. My friend was not happy with her Limeade. She thought it tasted like soap (in her view). I thought there was a strange aftertaste in it, but soap did not come to mind for me. It was hard to tell if it was meant to be sweet or if its too syrupy? I might come back here another time to give YoMa one more chance, but honestly I was not impressed with the cooking that night. Not sure why the ratings were high.
(3)
Mansi M.
I wish i had tried this place earlier. It is my GO TO place from now on. It is a very casual place but the food is AMAZING the staff is super sweet. A friend wanted to try something different for her birthday and we went here not knowing what to expect. The staff ( 2 waitresses) took such good care of all 20 of us. They even stayed open later than they usually do for us:) Loved the below dishes: Chicken plata as an appetizer Happy chicken Limeade MUST TRY and oh it is amazing for Vegetrains (they have a separate menu)
(5)
Gina S.
We ate at Yo Ma last night, yummy. My coconut shrimp with pumpkin came with a crunchy topping. The topping is called Bala Chong a mixture of fried beans, shallot, garlic and chili. This crunchy little topping can be used on any dish, great flavor a little spicy and a little crunchy. Either comes with your dish or you can order it separately under sides.
(5)
Nikki Z.
One of my favorite places in Boston. The tea leaf salad with all the garlicky fried bits is the best dish. 5 stars for the tea leaf salad. 3 stars for the curry dishes - the meat tends to be overcooked. I've tried the beef/potato and shrimp/pumpkin. 3.5 stars - The chicken platha is their take on the Malaysian roti canai. I've had better.
(4)
Josephine L.
Who doesn't love exotic, ethnic food? Burmese, you say? Yes, please! This is a no-frills, straight-up, delicious restaurant that happens to be the only Burmese place in the city. Prices are ridiculously affordable and service always comes with a smile. If you're Asian (like me) and you're tired of the same ol' heavy-hitters of Asian cuisine (Japanese? Korean? Chiiiinese?), come to YoMa to remember why being Asian rocks. The tea leaf salad is out of this world. So many textures, from crunchy to soft, and flavors. Spicy, salty, savory. Mmmm. Also got the MohHinGar (catfish soup), which was hot and refreshing at the same time. You could tell the fish had been simmering in the broth for a long time as all the flavors just melded together perfectly. The Super Pumpkin is fantastic. I don't usually like sweet in my entree, but the sauce made everything delicious. We got the Burmese dessert, whose name escapes me, but it was delicious. Texture denser than cake, but lightly sweet. I ended up finishing it because my friend was full and could have easily eaten another even though I was full too. Definitely a go-to place for a delicious, exotic, affordable meal.
(5)
Marina W.
Ooooh my god, I love YoMA. I take everyone here: local friends, out of town friends, family, my partner, myself, everyone. I love the Tea Leaf Salad (even though I'm a little grumbly that they just raised the price, but, hey, it's worth it). The mango salad is delicious. The pumpkin anything is delicious. Everything is delicious. It is not a high-class fancy establishment - it's very casual and almost cheap feeling, but honestly, I don't care. The food is fantastic and that is why I go.
(5)
Andrew r.
I went to yoma craving some of the food I ate while I was traveling through Burma. YoMa left me still craving. While the food isn't bad it also really isn't Burmese food. The flavoring is not really close and they don't have many Burmese staples. The tea leaves were pretty on par but the salad itself did not really resemble what a tea leaf salad tastes like. I don't like sounding all negative but I was generally non-impressed with YoMa. The staff was very friendly and helpful, though they were Thai not Burmese which may explain something about the lack of authenticity. I don't think I'd go back. Sorry
(2)
Meg B.
I really liked this place! Tried the chicken and tofu with rice and the rainbow noodles. The chicken and tofu was good, although nothing special, but I really loved the rainbow noodles. Lots of texture and flavor with just enough heat to make it interesting. Would definitely come back to try more dishes, I think this is a great neighborhood staple.
(4)
Priscilla T.
Yum. Delicious and affordable. AND authentic! Tea leaf salad was the highlight, but also amazing was the chickpea tofu salad and Shan Noodles. I was just in Burma over the summer and this place is a nice reminder of all the yummy cuisine.
(4)
L R.
$24, just for me, take out. I thought I'd try 3 things to get an idea of the place. I got the catfish soup, which literally was a cup of broth. There were some indistinguishable bits of "fish" and some spicy oily blobs on the top, but for $5, I expected more than just a cup of broth (menu states catfish, lemongrass, garlic, onion). The shrimp rolls were 4 underwhelming tapered rolls that didn't fit in the thimble size dipping cup of sauce, and they needed all the sauce they could get. The tea salad was a serious bummer, I'm not sure if it doesn't work for take out, but for $8.50 it was some cheap veggies (cabbage/lettuce) and a tablespoon of pickled tea. Most expensive, least filling, meal I've had in Boston ever. I'd skip it. Slow take out service as well.
(1)
Sean M.
3.4 stars I had a simple lunch of chick pea tofu salad and pork noodle dish. The noodles came with a small portion of salad as well but sans the tofu, but still slightly redundant. The server asked how hot/spicy I wanted it to be, I asked for "almost Burmese" level. It was spicy but I had to ask for the condiments tray to kick it up some. I mixed what was left of the salad and what came with the noodles and proceeded to spice it with chilies to a perspiration generating level. This was my first time here, I have been to other Burmese places in NYC and in SF, this was decent by comparison and I will be back with friends so I can try a larger selection of the menu. * ingredients were fresh, chick pea tofu was wonderful * I love spicy and you can get that here, ask for the condiment tray. * Tough location for parking, T or cab it here.
(3)
Wen-fai F.
My friend and I came here for the first time for lunch because we were excited to try Burmese food! Good, cheap filling meal but we'll probably order different things next time. The restaurant was empty but it was 2p on a weekday so we didn't expect it to be bustling. The waitress offered us Burmese tea, free of charge! Tastes like the tea you get at dim sum. We ordered: Chickpea tofu appetizer ($7) - we'd read so much about this on Yelp that we wanted to try it! It was a bit disappointing but I can see the appeal if you've never had anything like it before. It tasted like the fried milk balls you can order at Chinese restaurants. The dish is ~10 small triangles of fried battered chickpea - fried on the outside and a very creamy taste on the inside. I couldn't taste much else beyond the oil though, I was hoping for some more depth of flavor but it was almost like eating french fries. If you're curious, you might as well try it once though! Tea leaf salad ($8) - This dish is so refreshing! It comes with raw cabbage, fried/dried shallots, diced tomatoes, pickled tea leaves mixed with garlic, and roasted peanuts. The components come separately and you mix it together on your plate. The tea leaves were naturally salty but you could choose how much you wanted. I would highly recommend this! Catfish soup entree ($7) - Apparently a Burmese staple, and very delicious! I've never tasted anything like this before. The broth was opaque but refreshing, and tasted, of course, like fish. There was also vermicelli and some veggies. A little oily but it's what we expected. Slightly reminiscent of Malaysian laksa, except without the coconutty creaminess. The meal came to $22 and was just enough food for us. I will definitely be back to try some of their other entrees as everything seems pretty cheap on the menu and the food output is quick. The food we had was solid but nothing out of this world.
(3)
Matthew D.
Like many other reviewers, apparently, I've eaten at Burma Superstar in the Richmond District of SF. And no, this place does not compare. But few things will. So I gave it another chance recently and I've decided that it does deserve some credit, and doesn't deserve being downgraded because it can't live up to a famous restaurant where people line up for hours to get a table. Last time I had one of the generic chicken bowls, which was dull. Also the Tea Leaf salad was disappointing compared to Burma Superstar. But, I was there with a person born in Burma and he seemed to be happy enough with what he ordered at YoMa. This time, I tried two of the noodle dishes, Shan and Simple Chicken. They were both quite good, and I just wish they had served more.
(4)
Casey F.
This is hands down my favorite restaurant. Ok, well actually Oleana is my favorite restaurant... but YoMa is 1/12 the cost, so I go there at least twice per week. The waiters know me and my boyfriend. I have the menu memorized. Typically, I seek out new places for my nights out... but now I consider YoMa home. Reasons YoMa is deliciously wonderful: - The food. (duh.) Burmese cuisine is a combination of Thai / Vietnamese / Chinese --- but not as sweet as Thai, as greasy as Chinese, or as lemon-grassy as Vietnamese. - The homemade tofu appetizer. Creamy and delicious. Even if you don't like tofu you'll like this. - Y4. Don't ask, just order it (as long as you eat pork). - The prices. So affordable. Leave a good tip, 'cause the service is friendly but the prices aren't high. - The location. Easy to get to via car, bike, or bus. Dinner from YoMa is what got me through a few months of 90 hour work weeks. Words cannot describe the love I feel for this place, their food, and their cute waiters and waitresses. Go there now.
(5)
chanelle d.
I was introduced to YoMa a couple of years ago by two friends who are regulars. They love it, and now, so do I. The service is usually pretty good--not always quick, but super friendly, possibly because they see my friends there often. We always end up getting the Assorted Noodles to share, a very interesting mix of tofu, veggies, and different kinds of noodles; my two friends like it extra spicy. I usually get the Chicken Bamboo, which is chicken and bamboo chutes in a delicious tamarind sauce over rice, and they give you a mixture of fried shallots and red pepper flakes to sprinkle over everything (my favorite!). The rice dishes are hard to explain, I would compare them to curry, but it doesn't feel accurate enough. I suggest you try it to get your own impression of the food!
(4)
Steph D.
In order of amazing: F**king SPICY (just how I like it). ADORABLE waitress who seemed endeared to my Burmesian ignorance rather than annoyed by it. LIMEADE - Oh, god yes. Coconut rice, milk, cake... EVERYTHING. Inexpensive cultural adventure. The odd little combination of Noodles and Potatoes. The NAMES - Yes, HAPPY SHRIMP - please.
(5)
T G.
If you've never had Burmese food before, I would classify it to be a combination of Indian and Thai food. They have a good selection of menu items for vegetarians, which is great. Their "plata," or layered bread, is basically the frozen parathas you get from the Indian grocery store. In fact, I am willing to put money on it being the EXACT same ones that you get from the Indian grocery store lol. My coconut tofu was a little bland and didn't have a lot of coconut flavor to it. There really wasn't anything that struck me as being an authentic Burmese dish on the menu; most seemed to fall under the Indian or Thai category. The restaurant is super casual. It could easily pass as a take out place. Not very many tables so I would be cautious if I was going here with a party of more than 10 people.The servers were attentive and respectful :)
(3)
Taryn H.
Loved it! Love the decor- I don't know how to describe it, there are giant babies eating noodles in the jungle and all sorts of Engrish that I just adore. The food- tasty, fresh, delicious. Every time I'm in a new city I try to find Burmese food. It is so darn hard to find (insert political Junta comment here). When I find it: first I scream, second I locate, third I enjoy. Or at least that was the order I indulged in YoMa.
(5)
Sandra C.
I would have been THRILLED to go to this restaurant last summer when I went veggie on everyone. However, I am a hardcore carnivore now, and my experience was A-OK. The fried chickpea tofu was delicious! But I'm so weaksauce, I wish the dressing that came with it was less spicy. The tea leaf salad was...INTERESTING. It's something I would just snack on during my free time, but I probably should not have had this for dinner. By the time the chicken and potato curry arrived, I was already stuffed. Don't get me wrong though, it was good. I actually think the curry was the best out of the three. When I come back, I'll just skip the appetizer/salad and dig straight into the curry entrees. The place is cozy and quiet, but I wish it were a little busier so that no one could hear my conversation with other people. No privacy man! This experience was decent, but I'm probably gonna give this restaurant another chance. I see more deliciousness in future visits.
(3)
A K.
This place is a hidden gem. Everything was delicious.
(5)
Kelly B.
Ok, I'm vegan, and love the "vegan mini-mall" that is forming in Allston too. But that doesn't mean that YoMa should be overlooked! The veggie options here are plentiful, and the chickpea tofu is uniquely delicious. You have to ask for the Vegetarian Menu when you get there, it's separate from the regular one now. The food is light and tasty, and affordable considering the portions. Expand your "ethnic food" options and try Burmese food.
(4)
Jackie K.
Tea leaf salad was very good--one of the most refreshing and best salads I've had. I had mine mild. I had the tofu chickpea for a main dish and it was good. I also tried the potato, tofu and cilantro dish which was better, very tasty. The flavors overall were new to me but reminded me of Thai food--it was amazing to see how many dishes they had with the same five ingredients and they all tasted different. I would go back. Very reasonably priced as well.
(4)
Winnie T.
I'm really disappointed with my meal after reading such great and positive reviews from fellow Yelpers. Either I caught them on a bad night or Yelp is rigged... The overall meal itself can be described as lukewarm, meager portions, and one dimensional in flavor. We ordered: - potato plata (bread with potato curry sauce): the bread was warm and buttery, and the curry was good. I wish there was more spice in it however. As an appetizer, it only came with two pieces of bread and a little side bowl of curry. Felt as though they skimped out on us - eel spring roll: very little eel in the rolls. It was decent though. - Tofu curry with potato: the tofu curry was warm at best, and it just tasted like...curry. Nothing special. Again, small portions. - Catfish noodle soup: sour and tamarind based, the flavors were there, but again, it WAS BARELY WARM. I like my noodle soups to be hot and fresh off the stove. The noodles were soggy and it didn't taste fresh... almost as if someone just threw it altogether in the microwave. - Wonton egg noodle with garlic sauce: the noodles were hard and chewy... was not served hot. Don't be surprised to find large chunks of garlic in every bite of your noodles. Though I didn't mind it, I wish there was some dimension of flavor in the dish aside from JUST garlic. - Happy Beef: Ehhh... happy beef was not very happy. There were only about 6 chunks of beef in the dish. The dish just didn't look very appetizing or welcoming to eat.... it looked... sad :( I'm not all THAT familiar with Burmese food, but regardless, YoMa did not appeal to my taste. I'm a big fan of Southeast Asian cuisine (and Asian cuisine in general) but this just left me wanting more.
(2)
Anne F.
The weekday lunch special is one of the best deals on food at any restaurant I've ever been to ever, and many of the other dishes are very reasonably priced. You can easily eat for $9-10 /person, tip included. Have you ever tried Burmese food? If not, you should totally check out this restaurant by the corner of Brighton / Cambridge. We really don't have enough experience with the cuisine to talk about it like experts. If you like Thai / Indian, however, I'm sure you'll like something on the menu. I don't know if I've ever had a potato curry in such a delectable sauce. They served it with a paratha-style bread, very tasty. My boyfriend has been trying the noodle dishes w. tofu and fried potatoes - also delicious. Our food has come out with several chili-based condiments so you can make the food as blistering-hot as you want. We saw others order soups, which also look fantastic. Wouldn't really recommend the desserts, however. The ' Snow Garden' amounted to green jello topped with shaved ice and sweetened condensed milk, and was just strange. We also tried the semolina cake, which was better. The fantastic deal on yummy lunch entrees, however, has been enough to keep us coming back! Our waitress was completely adorable and the restaurant extremely clean. The decor featured several picturesque shots of various Payas, golden-cone-topped Buddhist temples, in Burma and there were cute little statuettes lining the sides. I was going to give it only 4 stars, I have had yummier food, but this is just too awesome a deal to pass up. All 5, baby!
(5)
Heidi B.
Tea Salad! very different and awesome. Noodles were great. Lots of interesting flavors and truly tasty. Ask for the vegetarian menu if you want it.
(5)
Sally F.
I just realized I haven't reviewed this place yet, which is insane-- I'm probably at YoMa around 4-5 times a month as it's one of the few local places (within walking distance) where I can eat gluten free (this has been mentioned in others' reviews, so I'll just mention it in passing) and there are vegan menu options, so "the boy" and I can actually share dishes there without any worry. Shocking! Aside from the ease in ordering in regard to allergies/diets, the food is delicious! They combine flavors that I normally would never consider throwing into a single dish and they're balanced remarkably well. I love the tea leaf salad (though it can be VERY salty), the pumpkin curry, the potato and pork curry, and planning on trying the coconut tofu option soon. The coconut rice is simple, but outstanding. The inside of the restaurant kind of lacks in ambience, but I enjoy the humble, down-home feeling it evokes. The servers are incredibly friendly and helpful, without being pushy or bothersome while you're chatting with your friends/date/mom, etc. Definitely worth stopping in. Then...a trip to Deep Ellum to top of the night and you're golden!
(5)
Emma W.
I have been driving by this place twice a day for over a year, and tonight we finally made it our dinner destination. Great new culinary adventure. The service was excellent, the nicest most adorable servers with huge smiles- always improves an experience. We tried a little of everything, and were happily rewarded with a great meal. The tea salad was interesting both texturally and flavor-wise. and the first salad I have ever tried like it! Also, the bread with curry potatoes was excellent - great tortilla-pita-naan hybrid served with a curry sauce to dunk in with pieces of curry soaked potatoes. I am a die hard for thai coconut chicken soup (tom yung gai) and tried it here to taste the Burmese version - completely different, more subtle flavors and creamier, yet delicious.. Hot and sour soup was HOT like I like it, and Garlic pork noodle entree had the best crunchy grated garlic on top. If I could figure out how to make garlic like that, I would do so often. The menu was very simple, but provided us with all firsts as this is the only Burmese restaurant I have seen to date. Oh, and all of this, with two salty sweet must-have Limeades made from scratch, and their semolina coconut cake (pretty much obsessed with all things coconut) came to $40! Great deal and a great meal. :)
(5)
Blair H.
The first thing I noticed was the dust-free shelves. I don't know why, but this said a lot to me about the pride they have in their establishment. The food was good, though I've never been to Burma, so I can't comment on authenticity. I'd definitely go again.
(5)
Amy Z.
We went as a family for my kid brother's 21st birthday. Not where I would have chosen to celebrate, but each to their own. The food turned out to be surprisingly great. We have everything from vegetarians to hardcore carnivores in the family, so it's unusual when we all like a restaurant. Highlights: - Limeade - Pumpkin or squash tofu - MeeShay - Veggie fresh rolls - Peanut eggplant tofu - Rice n' Spice The restaurant is small and cozy. Its great family vibe makes it a great choice for all ages.
(5)
Sarah T.
I really wanted to like this place because I grew up eating Burmese food and it was super exciting to have the opportunity to try it here. I think supporting a small business like this is critical and I am all for variety and diversity in food. It's a great way to learn about aspects of another culture. Firstly, I was surprised my waitress didn't speak Burmese. Either my pronunciation of burmese dishes was way off or what. Evaluation of dishes: mohinga (fish soup with noodles) - this is a traditional core dish in Burmese culture. The best ones comes with tons of catfish, lots of garlic, ginger, and onions. And not so watery like Yoma's :( samosa - not bad. I expected more from the hot sauce though. real good burmese-style hot sauce has tamarind, cilantro, and lime in it. nan-gyi-thok (i think this is the "royal noodle salad") - wasn't like how i expected it. maybe it's a different style of making it so i can't really judge whether it's truly authentic. i've just never had it with the preserved vegetable which usually comes in shan thok, not nan-gyi-thok. tofu pumpkin curry- this was watery too. when i say that, i wish there was more punch in flavor. then agian, there was no meat in it so maybe that's an explanation hopefully they can improve on some of their dishes for a more authentic-seeking crowd like the one i'm in. otherwise, i think it's not bad. great to see burmese food offered in boston!
(3)
Amy C.
This place is awesome. Since I just recently moved to Allston/Boston, my mom and I needed a good asian place that offered the best of both worlds: meat and vegetarian options. Since I have never had Burmese food before, I looked up the menu for this place and it sounded delicious, adventurous, and interesting. Located in an area where there's many vegetarian and vegan options, this is one of few that offers gluten free, vegetarian, vegan, and meat dishes. To start, we ordered the potato plata. It comes with a piece of baked bread similar to nan and a small potato curry sauce. It was so so yummy; I had to refrain myself from devouring the whole thing without sharing with the table. I ordered the tofu curry with potato and asked for it spicy. For me, it was the perfect combination of spices; even the tofu had flavor from the curry! Needless to say, I cleaned my plate, and that has not happened in awhile. My mom opted for the peanut eggplant chicken dish. I picked off the vegetables from hers to try the taste. I will admit that I thought the peanut sauce was really over powering at first; however, as I continued to chew the eggplant, I realized what a perfect marriage the peanut sauce was with the eggplant. I'm pretty happy with this place; the only thing is the service could've been a little better, but hey, the food is well worth any bad service here! Will DEFINITELY be back :D
(4)
Chirag M.
My friend went there for the first time for lunch and brought us back to this restaurant for dinner the same day, I knew the food would be good. This is truly a hidden gem in Boston. For someone who loves spicy food, the chef made a few dishes spicy on request, and the regular dishes were perfect for those who cant handle spicy food too. Stongly recommend: Chicken Plata, and Bamboo chicken, Mango salad
(5)
jazzy l.
I've been wanting to eat Burmese food after eating at a San Francisco joint called (Burma Superstar) many years ago. I recall the food being very good so when I saw that a Burmese place opened up in Allston, I had to go try it. SERVICE - Attentive and pleasant. INTERIOR - Many photos and wall paintings of Burmese culture. They even sell Tibetan clothing, handbags, figurines at the cash register. FOOD - I thought it was okay only. We got the tea leaf salad. It had 5 or so ingredients. It had this rice bean that was crunchy, peanuts, slaw, tomatoes, and this green pasty textured green leaf that was semi tart. Long squash with pork dish - It was mild in flavor, definitely something I can re-invite at home. Chicken, Egg noodles - Mild flavored. Dessert -We tried this caky bean dessert. It was okay. Nothing really to rave about. Street Parking only. Easy access on Bus 57, 66, or get off B line and walk over.
(3)
Ellie W.
I don't know if I just don't like the taste of Burmese food or just YoMa, but the one time I tried YoMa, I just remember everything being way too salty...like, drinking ocean water kind of salty... My friend seemed to like it, though, so maybe it's just me?
(3)
Julie F.
I thought that going vegetarian would limit the number of places I could eat at. Instead, it opened my tastebuds to several different type of places. YoMa (coolest restaurant name ever!) has a separate vegetarian menu. I ordered a potato/curry type dish, and it was cooked to my spicy preference. The food was tasty, the service was friendly, and the price was great and affordable. I will be back.
(4)
Jaimie M.
When one of my friends (celiac) came into town, we headed over to YoMa to test it out. What a great restaurant! Never had Burmese food before, but everything that we got was great. Appetizer combo plate was delicious- lightly fried, but not overly oily. We enjoyed the TohuJaw and Smusa in particular. My friend that had the curry dish said that it was spicy and amazing. Didn't have any problem with the service. Got a table right away and food came decently fast. Will definitely be going back to try more!
(4)
Mike S.
This place has to be one of my favorite haunts while I was living in the area. Not only was the staff and employees extraordinary nice to me on every occasion. The place was nice and cozy to me, where I loved just sitting there on a cold winter morning after working, and enjoy some delicious noodle soup there. The catfish noodle soup was so amazing, I loved the way it was spiced and how it had plenty of nice big chunks of fish. Now they had this desert there thats name escapes me at the moment but it's this warm doughy squares with raisins in it, simply delightful. Long story short, go here. You will not regret it.
(5)
Daphna R.
Burmese food, I bet you've never tried it. Its somewhere between Indian and Thai food, if I had to categorize it... but the spices are unique. EVERYTHING on the menu is gluten free unless its called "wheat noodles with..." or "bread with...". I'll recommend the Coconut Tofu, Green Tea Salad, Pumpkin Salmon... for starters.
(5)
Bobbie R.
I seriously can not get enough of the assorted noodles. I often crave them. Every time we go there or order out, I tell myself I am going to order something different, but I just can't stay away from the assorted noodles. They are so flavorful and hit the spot every time. Fortunately my partner orders other things and lets me try them, so I can also say the coconut tofu and the pumpkin tofu are delicious, too. And we always enjoy the veggie fresh rolls. Limeade and coconut juice are also tasty.
(5)
Tony W.
Overall, very friendly staff and reasonably-priced food. Also great for sharing. I can't speak for other Burmese food, but I thought the coconut tofu I ordered was pretty boring - think Indian food without the spices. I shared some of the salad that the friend I went with ordered, and it was unfortunately much of the same. I would go back again to give the place the benefit of the doubt, but my first tasting was less than impressive.
(2)
Raymond W.
This was my first time having Burmese food so I'm only giving this a 3. While everything was decent, I didn't like it as much as any other Asian cuisine. The tofu salad was light and had good contrasting textures, but the coconut chicken noodle soup I had was a little bland and was kind of mushy with the egg noodles and the thicker soup. I think that trying some more dishes with someone who is more in the know could improve my Burmese experiences next time around.
(3)
Sasha B.
Delicious delicious food, and inexpensive! I love unique dishes that you don't normally see in restaurants, so YoMa was perfect. First off, an asian restaurant that constantly refills water (let alone gives you any at all...and in a regular sized cup) = awesome. Secondly, there were so many things on the menu I wanted to try, always a good sign. We shared the tea salad, very unique, light, and refreshing. It comes beautifully presented with separated toppings that you mix together. 5 stars Then I had the pumpkin chicken entree, super delicious! Giant chunks of pumpkin and tender chicken, served with rice. 5 stars. I can't wait to go back and try all the other fun stuff on the menu.
(5)
Ana K.
YoMa has authentic, healthy, and tasty food. I ate here for lunch and had the Vegetarian Green Tea Leaf Salad, and Coconut Rice. The salad is an excellent mixture of peanuts, toasted sesame seeds, peppers, and more. The coconut rice is phenomenal! Light jasmine rice infused with a subtly sweet coconut juice. All the items on the menu sound delicious, as I'm sure they are. Most dishes have meat or a form of seafood in them, but they have vegetarian versions of many of the items on the menu. I recommend dining at YoMa if you've never had Burmese cuisine, or if you're a fan of it. You won't regret it!
(5)
Annie L.
The service was VERY slow! Considering we were 1 of two tables here. We ordered two noodle dishes and both tasted like we could have done better.
(1)
Stacey D.
I asked a friend of mine, "so what's your favorite place to eat in Boston". "Yo-ma, wonderful hole in the wall Burmese food!" Hole in the wall ethnic restaurants were my forte, so it was with great pleasure and anticipation, that I hopped on the T., and on a dreary, went, film-noir evening trekked here with a buddy from work to try Burmese food. Sadly, I was disappointed. We started with the plata with potato curry, the plata, which is like a crispier, lighter naan bread, was delicious, but the potato curry was on the sweet side, and the sugary tasted overwhelmed all the other flavors. We barely touched it. Following this, I had the catfish soup, and I was sourly disappointed, almost angry. Past reviews have mention big chunks of catfish, but my soup was watery, and almost seemed like it was leftovers. I enjoyed the flavors, but it was more like a savory drink then a soup. There were no chunks of anything, much less catfish. For our entrees, my friend had the pumpkin special with pork, chicken and beef. I had the mango chicken salad. Once again the food was simply so so, there was not much spice nor flavor (so perhaps a good place for not so adventurous eaters), I asked for the spice rack and dumped seasonings on both the pumpkin and salad. The pumpkin special is like a curry, but I keep telling myself, I might as well have gone to an Indian restaurant if I wanted curry. The mango chicken salad is reminiscient of thai or vietnamese salads, but once again I thought the flavor was too mild and bland. As for the prices, they weren't expensive, pretty typical for this kinda of restaurant, but on the whole, I thought it was a let down.
(3)
Helen L.
I absolutely LOVE the food here. The noodles are incredible. However, you have to wait like an HOUR to get your food. The service is horrendous. The first time I went, we waited 30-40 minutes sitting IN THE RESTAURANT before we go our food. The second time, I ordered take out and I ordered like an HOUR before, and when I got there, the food was still not ready. But when you DO get the food, it's wonderful. I got the MeeShay, which is some sort of udon noodles that is spicy and delicious. I LOVE IT. I'm not even sure what Burmese food actually is, but it's sorta like a Thai and Japanese combined. The spices are fantastic, it is very flavorful and very cheap! It's about $8 for a dish, which honestly, is incredibly reasonable for a meal. Especially since anywhere you go, even a sub costs $5-10. If only they can make their food faster!!
(4)
Kim H.
I have been to Burma and tried many a burmese home cooked meals so I was happy to see a burmese restaurant opening in Boston, the first since Mandalay closed over a decade ago. It was surprisingly good and authentic. The flavors, as others have said, is unique and perhaps not for everyone. They use a lot of fishy flavors and intense mixtures of spices. The tea leaf salad and monhingar are typical Burmese dishes and I love them. The best way to order the food is to order a bunch of different dishes with different tasts - spicy, sweet, bitter, fishy, etc.. to get the real experience.
(4)
Amara M.
I had no idea what to expect from Burmese food, but Yo Ma exceeded my expectations. My sense just from this first visit is that its a like Thai + Indian + Japanese (subtlety) I tried the plata w/potato curry, the green tea leaf salad and the coconut shrimp with pumpkin. The plata was a flatbread - kind of a cross between a roti and naan. It was served with a creamy, soup-like curry. Very delicious - my only complaint was that for $4.50 we only got one plata. I had a couple bites of the tea leaf salad. Spicy, nutty and delicious. I don't know if I could do a full serving, but I will definitely be ordering this next time. My main course was very good- and a great portion, enough to finish happily, but not be grossly full. I liked the spicy accompaniment but would have liked a little spice. Overall very pleased and excited to explore the menu further.
The menu went back to normal, so I am returning this to 5 stars, but I hate the hours. Open before 4 PM please!
(5)
Alex F.
Went to Yoma on a whim looking to try something different in the Allston area. I am so glad I went. The food was great with so many different flavors and ingredients. We started with the tea leaf salad that had like 10 different ingredients, definitely worth tasting for the flavor adventure. Next we had for our main course the coconut shrimp with pumpkin in curry. Was phenomenal, not to spicy but still had a kick at the same time. The cooked pumpkin was something I have never had, and was worth taking the risk. We also had an extremely delicious noodle dish i think called Meeshay. It was quite spicy but had flavors of pork, cilantro, lemongrass...great combos of flavors. Overall yoma was great, and very bang for your buck. Food comes fast and is really good. Check it out when wanting to try something different.
(4)
Jesse H.
This place used to be amazing before they revamped their menu. Now they do not have the spicy chicken noodle soup, which was the best item on the menu (one of the best soups I've ever had). It's a sad day. I hae no idea what their strategy is but it's not brilliant.
(2)
aaron t.
Really fresh food. Cute small environment. Run by a family . Great service since there are only 7-8 tables. I came here with 2 others(3 total) ordered the tea salad (Awesome!!!! crunchy, tea like taste, and super fresh) Then we had a mixed appetizer dish w/fried tofu triangle, a samosa like ball, and a very crispy waffer with some kind of nut. all good, very light, not heavy at all. We also shared the pumpkin dish, super mix noodle dish, and a curry chicken dish. All very tasty and warming. I think the tea salad impressed us th most for uniqueness. The main dishes were very good, just not as different as the salad. A couple came in later and ordered just the tea salad, so I'm guessing it might be a favorite. I'd come here again to try the variety of food. The menu is rather large and it'll take some time to figure out what you want since everything is so new. The nice thing is that they take their time to cook everything fresh and hot. Nothing seems pre-made or frozen. so, it might take a few mins for your dish to come out...its not liek those fast food chinesee restaurants popping stuff out 2 mins after you order. Come here for a fresh taste of burmeses food, though I'm not sure how authentic it is. It's good, but has me a bit locked between vietmenese and indian food. The pices are awesome...$4-9 for all dishes.
(4)
Zachary W.
Having dabbled in lots of different facets of ethnomusicology, the first thing that struck me was the cacophony that is Burmese music playing over the speakers. Perhaps if I knew a bit more about it, it would be easier to stomach. However, the food I can say was very easy to stomach. Burmese food is made up of a smattering of curries--often with a meat and potato mixture. The rice is served with a bowl of dried shrimp bits that you are to mix in yourself. Pretty awesome. Do not, however, order the ice cream salad. It consisted of canned fruit, ice cream, jello...string? and cashews. BLEH
(3)
moosh k.
Food is absolutely delicious and authentic. I'm South East Asian and the food here reminds me of home. Love everything but especially love the MeeShay, Catfish soup and the various Plata. Price is very reasonable. $9 for a plate of Meeshay, chock full of pork- it's the best you can get! Service is fast and the staff are always smily and polite.
(5)
Ross L.
One of my top 3 favorite restaurants in Boston. Yoma offers cuisine unlike any other local eatery. The wide spectrum of flavor is a refreshing change of pace from the local Thai and Indian restaurants. Great vegetarian menu! Extremely friendly staff and excellent service.
(5)
Tiffany Z.
I've only ordered delivery from YoMa but have been very impressed with what I've ordered. I'd highly recommend the Super Pumpkin (a fragrant pumpkin, chicken, and pork dish), Beef and Potato with Curry, and Plata (flaky bread). Note that there's a $5 delivery charge to Cambridge through Foodler, but if you're only interested in the food aspect, it's definitely worth the time saved on commuting :) And, thus far (I've ordered from them 3 times), the delivery has always arrived on time with the food piping hot.
(4)
Amy Y.
A friend and I really wanted to try authentic Burmese food, and word on the street was that YoMa was the place to hit up. I have to say that it was an interesting experience. I was really looking forward to the chickpea tofu appetizer and the tea leaf salad. The fried chickpea tofu didn't disappoint, but 12 pieces of fried tofu were definitely too much for the two of us. Light and fluffy, and went well with the spicy sauce. The tea leaf salad was slightly underwhelming. The leaves were also extremely salty, which detracted from the aromatic tea flavor. My friend and I shared the potato curry dish. The chicken was tender and flavorful, but was not bathed in enough curry sauce! Couldn't finish the rice with the dish because we didn't have enough thick, soupy curry goodness to soak it up. Also, the actual curry sauce was more of an oil than a sauce. Burmese food here comes packed with flavor (mostly... salt... ) and lots of spice.
(3)
Sean G.
I loved the food here. I got the shrimp with pumpkin sauce and jasmine rice, along with the tea leaf salad and loved both. Highly recommended and distinctly unique, even for Boston!
(5)
Mimi X.
I never knew Burmese food (kind of like Indian +Thai) was so awesome! Prices are cheap, and food is tasty! Plus, you can entertain yourself by looking at all the scenic pictures of Burma decorating the walls. Not a place that impresses with atmosphere, but if you love food, it will be forgiven. Try the tea salad (really spicy), plata with chicken dipping sauce, or the chicken mango salad. PS-They are closed on Wednesdays.
(4)
Jeannie H.
Unfortunately, it's impossible for me to comment on the food. This was the first time in dining history I have walked out of a place mid-meal and I've eaten at hundreds of restaurants. We were seated at 6PM and there were two other tables of diners. We ordered the LaPhetThot (Tea Leaf Salad) and received the dish at 6:35PM. We waited and waited and waited for our main courses. At 7:20PM, we saw that our fellow diners who had preceded our arrival were still dinner-less, gave up, paid for our appetizer and left. The table next to us followed suit. Why the LaPhetThot took so long is a mystery in itself....it's a bloody salad. The thing that made me so irritated is that the waitress never addressed our questions regarding what was going on in the kitchen. She was dismissive and avoidant. Perhaps this was an unusual off day but an apology and some attention would have gone a long way.
(1)
Joan B.
This is possibly as good as it gets in Allston. (Sorry Punjab Palace - I still love you). So, if you don't eat gluten, or dairy, or even meat, I bet you eat chickpeas. Get down to YoMa and order some deep fried chickpea tofu and you will not be missing a thing in the creamy crispy deep friend culinary world. Despite ocaisional difficulties from me not speaking Burmese, this is a great place to go to eat gluten free, meat free, milk-free. And the food is SPECTACULAR, which I do not say lightly. Affordable, unique, amazing. Layers upon layers of flavor and off-the-beaten track combinations. Egg potato is my personal favorite, but I've tried five different dishes and they were all wonderful, especially when they were served with fried shallot garnish.
(5)
Nas D.
I love the tea leaf salad and I've always had a great experience here with the various dishes I've tried. Sometimes the waiters are not the most fluent with English so it makes ordering hard and the place is a bit small. But it is super well run and I always appreciate my time here. The limeade is also fantastic!
(4)
Hana C.
Yes. I am a fan of YoMa. There are really just three things to get from here. 1. Jarzanhingar: spiced chicken soup in clear noodle with black mushrooms, bean thread, lily flower, black pepper, scallion & cilantro. The soup is very spicy but refreshing and comes with vermeceilli. excellent. 2. Chicken curry- comes with potatos. absolute deslih dish. 3. Barlachong grounded dried shrimp stir fried with fish sauce, shrimp paste, shallot, garlic, and spicy red chili flake. This is a side dish that you eat with rice. It is spicy, very spicy but even with the lil tears and runny nose, all the parts and parcels of eating super spicy food, you will love it. Just order these three. Will not be dissapointed.
(4)
Greg Y.
Good food, was fun trying out Burmese food for the first time. Had the coconut tofu - it's been a while since I had properly made tofu with just the right firmness. Just note that entree plates are not massive. Should be just right if you had a big meal earlier in the day or something. If you come in starving, though, be prepared to order twice.
(4)
Lucy Z.
Solid Burmese restaurant. Although not as good as the ones in San Francisco, it is certainly decent for Boston. The decor was simple and casual. The menu was not very big, but had the staple items such as tea salad and catfish noodle soup.
(4)
Anastasia R.
When you go you HAVE to try the ThaYetTheeThot (green mango salad). I've eaten at plenty of funky Asian restaurants, but this salad brings together flavors in a way that I never would have believed possible. It was different from anything I've ever eaten and I Loved it! I have never had Burmese food. This humble little shop only had one other couple in it when we went. The service was amazing and the food was out of control good. They have a ton of gluten free dishes and none of them skimp on flavor.
(5)
Sarah B.
I've never had Burmese food before, but I enjoyed my first visit to YoMa. We were there on a Sunday at lunchtime, and it wasn't crowded, so the service was attentive and prompt. Since none of us had tried Burmese food, we got a variety of things, including drinks, soups, appetizers, and noodle dishes. I recommend the yogurt drink and the lime drink. And the potato plata was delicious! The soups that we tried (lentil and hot and sour) were okay, but not great. We all ordered different noodle dishes and shared, and they were all delicious. I especially liked the homemade tofu. All in all, a unique and pleasant dining experience!
(4)
Alex H.
I'm always confused that this place isn't totally packed. Without a doubt, it's on my list of top 5 restaurants in Boston. The tea leaf salad is great. I can also highly recommend the pork-potato curry, and catfish noodle soup. And to top it off, very reasonably priced. I really wish I didn't live so far away from this place now.
(5)
Anna T.
This restaurant have been on my to try list for the longest time and we finally tried it!!! Background: I never had Burmese food before. I grew up with a chef dad who is not afraid to use salt & spice so I really prefer bold flavors. This place is not afraid to use spices which I appreciate mucho. We had the Tea Leaf Salad, Super Pumpkin, Catfish Soup with noodles and Plata (flaky bread) split among us two girls. The tea leaf salad is indeed very interesting. Crunchy, salty, soft. It tasted like a lil side dish of peanuts my dad makes though. So it wasn't a new flavor to me. I did like the flavor of the pickled tea leaves even though there weren't much tea flavor at all. It bought the dish together but it wasn't enough for every bite so I think that was what was missing. Overall this dish is good, different and refreshing but felt like I needed beer with it. The Super Pumpkin was not as sweet as I thought it would be. The chicken & pork were tender especially the pork. The pumpkin was eh I had way better. But overall this dish was good. We kept dipping our platas in the sauce. The catfish soup w/ noodles. Warning: this soup is fishy lolz what a surprise. I didn't mind the fishiness at all but the noodles bothered me a whole lot. It was really overcooked, not sure if that was intentional or what. The soup itself was different. My friend said it kept tasting like Bun Rieu's soup base to her even though it's different bases. I didn't taste that but then again she eats the homemade Bun Rieu whereas I eat the restaurant kind. There was a very very slight burnt taste that bothered me the whole time so I added hots to get rid of it. Not enough toppings! I'll forgive that since they did have eggs hahaha Overall, a different dish for me. Platas were hmmm platas I guess nothing special about it. I only got them to soak up all the sauces. The service was good for an Asian establishment. Place is not pretentious at all and staff is not snobby. Felt very comfortable there and didn't feel rushed. Tables were too small hahaha we hardly had room to fit all of our dishes.
(4)
Matt L.
Yeah, this place is Sofa King good. The location is straight up Allston and the building isn't the nicest, but it was seriously some of the best food I've had in Boston for under $40/plate. I was blown away by the flavoring of the food--spot on with balance of sweet/spicy and hints of floral. When going to new restaurants, I tend to be kind of annoying with all my questions about the cuisine, but the waitress was wicked patient and explained the dishes. Definitely looking forward to going back and trying more!
(5)
Rachel Leah B.
I regret not visiting more of Allston's amazing cheap ethnic restaurants when I was living in Brighton for two years. Now that I'm in Somerville, it's kind of a pain to get back out there, but I had to go to a birthday party at Common Ground recently, so I decided to take advantage of the trip and hit up YoMa, which I'd eyed so many times before. It was really delightful and very unique, although with some recognizable hints of other Asian cuisine, particularly Thai and Indian. We started with the Tea Leaf Salad based on other reviewers' mentions of it here, and we were impressed/intrigued. Definitely worth a try. Everything else was great as well, and the decor - though bordering on tacky - was welcoming and fun. Full review: forkitoverboston.blogspo…
(4)
Aye M.
This is the first Burmese restaurant opened in Boston within the last 20 years or so. So I tried it out as soon as I could. Logistics : We had 5 people and ordered an appetizer and 6 dishes. We were all pretty stuffed by the end of dinner. It came out to $12 per person including tip. I recommend strongly for a medium sized group (5-8) people sharing a bunch of dishes. Service and Decor : Pretty substandard since it's the owner's first restaurant. They don't exactly know what they are doing yet. Not a place you take your date to unless your date is a low-key culinarily (is that even a word?) adventurous person. Service was not horrible but not that great either. but what do you expect from a $7 an entree restaurant? Food : The taste was excellent. There was only one dish I wouldn't order again out of all 7. Everyone enjoyed almost all the dishes. The names are hard to remember for non burmese speakers. The standout was Chicken Curry and Nan-gyi-thoke( not sure if that's the real name) was great. Authenticity: I would say it's about 75-80% authentic. It has all the traditional Burmese ingredients. They take it easy on oil, fish sauce and spiciness. But not americanzied to the extent that it lost the uniqueness of Burmese food. Everyone agreed the food is distinctly different from Thai, Indian etc.. Full disclosure : I grew up in Burma. I am not associated with the owners in any way. Edit : I'm quite happy to see Yoma's been getting a lot of good reviews. Being a regular and not having any other easily accessible source of Burmese food, I've been hoping this place will succeed and was worried it might not when they closed for lunch. I figure I wanted to jump in and give a bit of a commentary on the portion size and why it might seem small to most people here. People eat much more frequently in Burma. I used to have about 4-5 meals a day when I was growing up (and no, my weight doesn't hit 3 digit on the scale). All the noodle dishes and salads Yoma is serving is more of a breakfast, mid-day or late night snack. For dinner, most families eat together and they don't serve individual servings of curries, veggie dishes. Everyone gets a plate of rice and the rest is all shared. A typical Burmese dinner/lunch includes one or two meat dishes, a veggie side, some sort of salad, a big bowl of soup - all set out for everyone to share. So keep that in mind, when you go to Yoma next time. To recreate an authentic Burmese meal, you may want to order a bunch of different dishes (combination of salad, curry, soup, noodle) and share with your friends and family. If you ask the lady, she might be able to pair them up for you. You will have more fun trying out a bunch of things! My suggestion to keep things sanitary would be put a spoon or folk in every dish and use only those as serving utensils. ( I have enough germaphobic friends to anticipate this concern.) ;) Hope this helps for people who feel cheated regarding the portion size to enjoy Burmese food.
(5)
Patti C.
First time for Burmese food. DELICIOUS! I'm here for the food, You don't go to Allston for the decor, so no rating for that here. Bonus that the wait staff is so nice. As my dining partner said: "Someone here knows how to cook." Burmese food is an impt addition to the Allston strip. Take the adventure. Each dish we ordered was excellent: mini pumpkin shrimp, fermented tea salad (yes, salad with "tea" in the ingredients), and egg noodles with pork. The fried garlic/chiles/etc garnishes are mind-blowing.
(5)
Moe N.
Warning!!! If you are Burmese please consider not eating here, and give me a ring and come to my house to eat. You will be disappointed here. We order, Thai tea, beef curry, happy shrimp, garlic noodle, catfish soup, spring roll. The Thai tea was terrible, they use those package Thai tea from chinese grocery store and put water in and give it to you. Beef curry, beef are over cook, the curry taste is no good. I expected so much better, my home cook curry taste so much better than that. Next is happy shrimp, the shrimp is over cook again. Catfish soup was super disappointment, it is suppose to be mote hin kar but, it was white color spicy soup with fish and lemon grass pieces throw in. Spring roll is OK, I have eaten better in Vietnam restaurant. Garlic noodle is just no good, taste nothing like Burmese garlic noodle. The food there are design for none Burmese people. The food are super expansive and super small portion, u can't do sharing style when u order cause all the dishes come with rice. Super super disappointment and will never ever go eat there again.
(1)
Jamie A.
Since I'm a complete sucker for food I have never heard of or know how to pronounce, YoMa completely satisfied that side of my foodie personality. It's not a particularly interesting spot, but the prices and the service were just right. Our waitress was incredibly kind and even bumped up the spice on the dish I ordered. We had an appetizer of fried tofu, which was greasy and delicious, but it was our meals that were really great. I wish I could remember the name of my dish, but it was a spicy chicken and rice noodles dish with crushed peanuts and vegetables. My friend ordered a spicy "fruits of the sea" type dish and it was incredibly fresh and wonderfully spicy as well. I certainly recommend this place if you're up for something delicious & different!
(4)
dedalus w.
My heaven on earth Lunch (for 2): La Phet Thot (tea leaf salad) Jinn Thot (ginger salad) Bar La Chong Coconut Rice If there is a 3rd person, add one or two of the following: Tohu Thot (chickpea tofu salad) green mango salad pumpkin coconut curry and have some coconut juice! Now, some background: I grew up in boston, my parents took e to Mandalay many times, when I was a young teen. I loved that restaurant . So, two years ago, when keeping my eye open for new food adventures, I saw YOMA's sign, I got EXCITED. I took some friends once, again and again. from the start I thought it was pretty good. But with time, it has blossomed into an absolute favorite. The two first salads mentioned above are unique experiences in my foodie life. Fresh, vibrant and complex mouthfuls that light up your mouth. Combine them with the coconut rice and a liberal sprinkle of Bar La Chong and you are in for fantastic conversations of spicy, crunchy, salty, sweet, nutty and fresh flavors. Some other dishes I have tried were too mild and not things to fall in love with. but there are plenty worth a try. The menu does take some exploring. Go with friends, order and eat family style. YOMA YOMA YOMA!!!!!
(5)
Eric C.
I decided to give this place a shot after reading about it here on Yelp. Just like the rest of the comments here, the food is unique, authentic and delicious. Its basically everyday homemade Burmese food - and prices were reasonable. And I too agree with some of the comments as they're still a relatively new shop (probably run by a single family ) and hence yet to overcome the hurdle of being efficient with service. Took a while for the waitress to take our orders, give us our drinks and also noticed some of the other frustrated customers. Given time, they'll do well. If you want something South East Asian that you've probably never tried before and don't expect much from service - I would definitely recommend this place! Give it a shot.
(4)
Shivani G.
My husband and I visited YoMa based on the rave reviews for the restaurant on Yelp! We were not impressed and, in fact, we actually left our dishes unfinished. We had the curry chicken with udon and the tofu entree and it was much so fishy for our taste. Our appetizer was a friend long green squash which was tasty because 1) it was fried 2) it had no spices except a very tasty dipping sauce. I would like to write one qualification my review-- we're not big meat eaters and we don't eat red meat. Perhaps if we were more accustomed to pungent tastes, we would have enjoyed our meal. So veggies or veggie-friendlies, beware, there may not be a lot of options for you. For others, I am glad that you have found a Burmese haven. P.S. The service was slow.
(2)
Victoria W.
I had been eyeing this new Burmese restaurant in my neighborhood for about a month, and finally went for lunch this past weekend. It's a relatively small place, with a minimal decor. The menu is quite extensive for such a small operation. I ended up ordering a lunch special, which includes your choice of appetizer, soup, and rice. I got crab rangoon for my app - which was delicious and not like most crab rangoon at other restaurants with 95% cream cheese. These 4 dumplings were very crabby and very delicious! They didn't have my first choice of soup that day, so I went with a tofu, chicken, and veggie soup, which was very fresh and light and tasty! I also chose the coconut rice, which was excellent. My boyfriend ordered a curry noodle dish with meat, and he enjoyed it very much, but it could have been spicier. The portion sizes are also very good for the price. My only qualm was that we had to wait quite a while for our dishes even though it wasn't terribly busy (2-3 other tables occupied), but it is nice to know that your meal is being served to order. Friendly staff, nice atmosphere, and fantastic prices (I think our bill came to $14 for two!) - we will most definitely be returning!!!
(4)
Renee M.
I've been to Yoma before and thought it was ok (I think because I didn't particularly like a certain spice in the dish I ordered) but I went back last night and truly enjoyed it. I ordered the "Super Pumpkin" which was pumpkin with beef and chicken in some kind of sauce over rice, and it was delicious! The pumpkin tasted fresh and the meat was very tender. We also ordered the sampler appetizer which came with a very yummy spicy sauce. Not only was everything delicious, but it was so cheap! My dish was just under $11 and a lot of the items on the menu are under $10. I will definitely be back (especially since it is literally a 2 minute walk from my apartment- lucky me!)
(4)
aaron t.
Really fresh food. Cute small environment. Run by a family . Great service since there are only 7-8 tables. I came here with 2 others(3 total) ordered the tea salad (Awesome!!!! crunchy, tea like taste, and super fresh) Then we had a mixed appetizer dish w/fried tofu triangle, a samosa like ball, and a very crispy waffer with some kind of nut. all good, very light, not heavy at all. We also shared the pumpkin dish, super mix noodle dish, and a curry chicken dish. All very tasty and warming. I think the tea salad impressed us th most for uniqueness. The main dishes were very good, just not as different as the salad. A couple came in later and ordered just the tea salad, so I'm guessing it might be a favorite. I'd come here again to try the variety of food. The menu is rather large and it'll take some time to figure out what you want since everything is so new. The nice thing is that they take their time to cook everything fresh and hot. Nothing seems pre-made or frozen. so, it might take a few mins for your dish to come out...its not liek those fast food chinesee restaurants popping stuff out 2 mins after you order. Come here for a fresh taste of burmeses food, though I'm not sure how authentic it is. It's good, but has me a bit locked between vietmenese and indian food. The pices are awesome...$4-9 for all dishes.
(4)
Zachary W.
Having dabbled in lots of different facets of ethnomusicology, the first thing that struck me was the cacophony that is Burmese music playing over the speakers. Perhaps if I knew a bit more about it, it would be easier to stomach. However, the food I can say was very easy to stomach. Burmese food is made up of a smattering of curries--often with a meat and potato mixture. The rice is served with a bowl of dried shrimp bits that you are to mix in yourself. Pretty awesome. Do not, however, order the ice cream salad. It consisted of canned fruit, ice cream, jello...string? and cashews. BLEH
(3)
moosh k.
Food is absolutely delicious and authentic. I'm South East Asian and the food here reminds me of home. Love everything but especially love the MeeShay, Catfish soup and the various Plata. Price is very reasonable. $9 for a plate of Meeshay, chock full of pork- it's the best you can get! Service is fast and the staff are always smily and polite.
(5)
Amy Y.
A friend and I really wanted to try authentic Burmese food, and word on the street was that YoMa was the place to hit up. I have to say that it was an interesting experience. I was really looking forward to the chickpea tofu appetizer and the tea leaf salad. The fried chickpea tofu didn't disappoint, but 12 pieces of fried tofu were definitely too much for the two of us. Light and fluffy, and went well with the spicy sauce. The tea leaf salad was slightly underwhelming. The leaves were also extremely salty, which detracted from the aromatic tea flavor. My friend and I shared the potato curry dish. The chicken was tender and flavorful, but was not bathed in enough curry sauce! Couldn't finish the rice with the dish because we didn't have enough thick, soupy curry goodness to soak it up. Also, the actual curry sauce was more of an oil than a sauce. Burmese food here comes packed with flavor (mostly... salt... ) and lots of spice.
(3)
Sean G.
I loved the food here. I got the shrimp with pumpkin sauce and jasmine rice, along with the tea leaf salad and loved both. Highly recommended and distinctly unique, even for Boston!
(5)
Jeannie H.
Unfortunately, it's impossible for me to comment on the food. This was the first time in dining history I have walked out of a place mid-meal and I've eaten at hundreds of restaurants. We were seated at 6PM and there were two other tables of diners. We ordered the LaPhetThot (Tea Leaf Salad) and received the dish at 6:35PM. We waited and waited and waited for our main courses. At 7:20PM, we saw that our fellow diners who had preceded our arrival were still dinner-less, gave up, paid for our appetizer and left. The table next to us followed suit. Why the LaPhetThot took so long is a mystery in itself....it's a bloody salad. The thing that made me so irritated is that the waitress never addressed our questions regarding what was going on in the kitchen. She was dismissive and avoidant. Perhaps this was an unusual off day but an apology and some attention would have gone a long way.
(1)
Joan B.
This is possibly as good as it gets in Allston. (Sorry Punjab Palace - I still love you). So, if you don't eat gluten, or dairy, or even meat, I bet you eat chickpeas. Get down to YoMa and order some deep fried chickpea tofu and you will not be missing a thing in the creamy crispy deep friend culinary world. Despite ocaisional difficulties from me not speaking Burmese, this is a great place to go to eat gluten free, meat free, milk-free. And the food is SPECTACULAR, which I do not say lightly. Affordable, unique, amazing. Layers upon layers of flavor and off-the-beaten track combinations. Egg potato is my personal favorite, but I've tried five different dishes and they were all wonderful, especially when they were served with fried shallot garnish.
(5)
Ross L.
One of my top 3 favorite restaurants in Boston. Yoma offers cuisine unlike any other local eatery. The wide spectrum of flavor is a refreshing change of pace from the local Thai and Indian restaurants. Great vegetarian menu! Extremely friendly staff and excellent service.
(5)
Tiffany Z.
I've only ordered delivery from YoMa but have been very impressed with what I've ordered. I'd highly recommend the Super Pumpkin (a fragrant pumpkin, chicken, and pork dish), Beef and Potato with Curry, and Plata (flaky bread). Note that there's a $5 delivery charge to Cambridge through Foodler, but if you're only interested in the food aspect, it's definitely worth the time saved on commuting :) And, thus far (I've ordered from them 3 times), the delivery has always arrived on time with the food piping hot.
(4)
Nas D.
I love the tea leaf salad and I've always had a great experience here with the various dishes I've tried. Sometimes the waiters are not the most fluent with English so it makes ordering hard and the place is a bit small. But it is super well run and I always appreciate my time here. The limeade is also fantastic!
(4)
Hana C.
Yes. I am a fan of YoMa. There are really just three things to get from here. 1. Jarzanhingar: spiced chicken soup in clear noodle with black mushrooms, bean thread, lily flower, black pepper, scallion & cilantro. The soup is very spicy but refreshing and comes with vermeceilli. excellent. 2. Chicken curry- comes with potatos. absolute deslih dish. 3. Barlachong grounded dried shrimp stir fried with fish sauce, shrimp paste, shallot, garlic, and spicy red chili flake. This is a side dish that you eat with rice. It is spicy, very spicy but even with the lil tears and runny nose, all the parts and parcels of eating super spicy food, you will love it. Just order these three. Will not be dissapointed.
(4)
Greg Y.
Good food, was fun trying out Burmese food for the first time. Had the coconut tofu - it's been a while since I had properly made tofu with just the right firmness. Just note that entree plates are not massive. Should be just right if you had a big meal earlier in the day or something. If you come in starving, though, be prepared to order twice.
(4)
Lucy Z.
Solid Burmese restaurant. Although not as good as the ones in San Francisco, it is certainly decent for Boston. The decor was simple and casual. The menu was not very big, but had the staple items such as tea salad and catfish noodle soup.
(4)
Anna T.
This restaurant have been on my to try list for the longest time and we finally tried it!!! Background: I never had Burmese food before. I grew up with a chef dad who is not afraid to use salt & spice so I really prefer bold flavors. This place is not afraid to use spices which I appreciate mucho. We had the Tea Leaf Salad, Super Pumpkin, Catfish Soup with noodles and Plata (flaky bread) split among us two girls. The tea leaf salad is indeed very interesting. Crunchy, salty, soft. It tasted like a lil side dish of peanuts my dad makes though. So it wasn't a new flavor to me. I did like the flavor of the pickled tea leaves even though there weren't much tea flavor at all. It bought the dish together but it wasn't enough for every bite so I think that was what was missing. Overall this dish is good, different and refreshing but felt like I needed beer with it. The Super Pumpkin was not as sweet as I thought it would be. The chicken & pork were tender especially the pork. The pumpkin was eh I had way better. But overall this dish was good. We kept dipping our platas in the sauce. The catfish soup w/ noodles. Warning: this soup is fishy lolz what a surprise. I didn't mind the fishiness at all but the noodles bothered me a whole lot. It was really overcooked, not sure if that was intentional or what. The soup itself was different. My friend said it kept tasting like Bun Rieu's soup base to her even though it's different bases. I didn't taste that but then again she eats the homemade Bun Rieu whereas I eat the restaurant kind. There was a very very slight burnt taste that bothered me the whole time so I added hots to get rid of it. Not enough toppings! I'll forgive that since they did have eggs hahaha Overall, a different dish for me. Platas were hmmm platas I guess nothing special about it. I only got them to soak up all the sauces. The service was good for an Asian establishment. Place is not pretentious at all and staff is not snobby. Felt very comfortable there and didn't feel rushed. Tables were too small hahaha we hardly had room to fit all of our dishes.
(4)
Rachel Leah B.
I regret not visiting more of Allston's amazing cheap ethnic restaurants when I was living in Brighton for two years. Now that I'm in Somerville, it's kind of a pain to get back out there, but I had to go to a birthday party at Common Ground recently, so I decided to take advantage of the trip and hit up YoMa, which I'd eyed so many times before. It was really delightful and very unique, although with some recognizable hints of other Asian cuisine, particularly Thai and Indian. We started with the Tea Leaf Salad based on other reviewers' mentions of it here, and we were impressed/intrigued. Definitely worth a try. Everything else was great as well, and the decor - though bordering on tacky - was welcoming and fun. Full review: forkitoverboston.blogspo…
(4)
Sara S.
I've never had Burmese food, but after sampling their ginger salad at the Taste of Allston, I knew I had to go for a full meal! Susie A. and I started out with their ginger salad, which was even better than I remembered. It's super gingery and loaded with peanuts, shallots, cabbage, and sesame seeds! It's a little spicy, so if you don't like spice, I wouldn't get it. We split the "ShwePaYonTheeHin"- jumbo shrimp cooked with oriental pumpkin (orange and green!), tomatoes, ginger, lemongrass, and cilantro. We're big pumpkin fans, so this dish was right up our alley. It wasn't spicy but it was very flavorful. It was more like a broth than a curry; surprisingly quite light. We also had the KhotSweThot, which is a wheat flour noodle dish with chickpea tofu. It was like a hybrid of Chinese lo-mein, but a LOT better, and a great compliment to the shrimp. I never had chickpea tofu before, but it was delicious and tasted very chickpea-ish! The food wasn't very hot, which is why the rating is 4 stars rather than 5. It's extremely casual inside. It almost looks like a to-go restaurant. They don't have a liquor license, so booze at Deep Ellum down the street before and/or after.The service was good and they take credit cards.
(4)
Payal D.
So good! we go here probably 2-3 times a month. The tofu salad is so good, the spice and rice is also delicious, and tofu noodles. I wouldn't suggest the curry though, not into it.
(5)
Pixie G.
Just okay. Not exciting and delicious according to our party of 3, 2 of which are fans of Burmese food.
(3)
Skyler K.
Tea salad is where it's at! Everything I have ever eaten in my life combined is bland gruel in comparison. We also had pumpkin shrimp and MeeShay, which were both delicious, but had little hope of living up to their predecessor. Service was super-friendly and helpful and politely refrained from openly laughing at me when I had a minor breakdown over a slice of chili that damn near melted my tongue off. Plus, I love anywhere with a "gift shop" selling miniature paper parasols.
(4)
Sandy H.
GET THE TEA LEAF SALAD! You must get it if you come here. I enjoyed everything else I got here too. The ginger salad is very ginger-y so get it if you like ginger. It's very refreshing. The entrees are also very good. I've gotten the super pumpkin and the garlic noodles and they were great. I think I'll try the Shan noodles the next time.
(4)
Ramzi B.
I have been in love with Burmese food ever since I tried it last year and had been looking to get my fix somewhere in Boston. After some fairly thorough research (on Yelp, of course), I happened upon YoMa - and discovered it was only a block away from my house! How could I have missed it? I got some friends together a few weeks ago to give it a try, and boy was I disappointed. It's not that MY food was bad - mine was pretty good. But my friend ordered something so horrible, so offensive, that I had to take YoMa's fourth star away. The dish I'm talking about is FRIED FODDER FISH! My friend ordered this dish for the sake of trying something new and was handed a plate of something that looked and tasted like an old sponge soaked in salt water, coated in flour and deep fried! If you're curious as to what fodderfish is (which of course we were after assaulting our digestive systems with it), please refer to this link: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fi… . On to what I liked: 1) The service: the owner served us and was very nice, talking to us about Burma (or Myanmar) and the type of food she liked. 2) I ordered a delicious Curry Shrimp dish with coconut rice. The ingredients were fresh, and the rice was rich and sweet! Very yummy! 3) The tea-leaf salad was really very good. Much better than others I've tried. Don't get me wrong, I'll give this place another shot, but I'll be sure to stay away from a few choice items and stick to the good stuff.
(3)
R. D.
This place is great. Really good food, friendly waiters, no rush. A friend and I came to try the place out on a whim. We'd made reservations earlier in the day, but when we arrived at 7:15, the place was completely empty. We weren't worried though. I ordered the Green Tea Leaf Salad. It was a little salty, but really tasty. Little shrimps and fried dal, lots of fresh and wonderful flavors. My friend ordered the Chickpea Tofu Salad. We split out salads in half so we could try each other's. She ended up liking hers better and I liked mine better. The Chickpea Tofu had a texture that reminded me of this Indian delicacy I'd had at someone's place (not my favorite thing in the world but my dad raves about it, so it's an acquired taste). So many options! What to eat for the main course? My friend got the Pumpkin Curry with Shrimp, and I ended up going with a chicken soup that had mushrooms, noodles, and other delectable goodies. Here's my biggest thing of awesomeness about YoMa: The pumpkin curry came with rice, and is mainly a tomato-based curry with chunks of pumpkin and four to six plump shrimp. (I could have used some more shrimp.) I took my first bite and literally dropped my spoon. It tasted EXACTLY like my mom's cooking at home, reminding me of a particular curry with tomato, potato, and peas (no peas in the pumpkin curry btw). I'm Indian, not Burmese. And from Gujarat, where our food is different than the typical Indian food that you get in an Indian restaurant. It's not rich and creamy, like North Indian food is. Anyway, I was completely floored. How does an Indian girl get home cooking in a Burmese restaurant?! That pumpkin curry was just....ridiculous. So so very good. The chicken soup was lovely. Savory, fragrant, and very filling. The broth too was well-seasoned, which is great, especially for clear-brothed soups. By the end we were completely stuffed. Happy and so very satisfied. I will be back soon, YoMa. Now I know that when I want real home cooking, I'll be walking past Punjab Palace or Indian Dhaba to this lovely little gem.
(4)
Rachel B.
I had never tried Burmese good, and Friday night was my first experience. Overall the food was great. I had the tofu salad, vegetable soup, and a side of steamed chickpea tofu. I had never had tofu like this -- very creamy yet didn't fall apart. Almost like a soft cheese in texture. The meal was a bit too spicy for me.... my taste-buds approved but unfortunately my tummy did not.... won't go into details on that one... You may not want to go on a Friday night, by the way, because they were so busy and it took us 45 minutes to get our food (table of four)... The ambiance of the restaurant can certainly use a little help. They definitely have the quirky-Asian-restaurant thing going on, but the lighting is pretty harsh. Some of the decor is pretty cute and they even have a little "gift shop" at the counter where they sell various Burmese kitsch. I almost got the little elephant keychain! I will probably go back here because the food tasted great, but my tummy might get pissed at me if I do...
(4)
Michael B.
Had a good meal....sat eve....by weds I looked at my bank on line statement and found out that they charged my credit card twice so that caused an overdraft of 35 dollars I went directly to the owner w copy of bank statement which clearly demonstrated this error......thus causing me the overdraft fees the owner refused to aknowledge the error and refused to remove the charge and would not reimburse me for the overdraft charges..,...bad biz decision....food is good but they will cheat you of they can
(1)
C T.
Being that this is the only burmese restaurant in boston, I can't complain too much. I get burmese food at home which is a lil heartier with endless portions so my review is very, very biased. They serve okay burmese food, but it's still tastier at home when my mom makes it. :) Sorry!
(3)
Laura F.
This place was awesome! The food is unique, must try the spice rice app!
(5)
Bernice S.
No frills decor cuz all the zest (and spice!) went into their tasty, unique "cheap eats" - go for a 'combo' with the soup featured in the photo - yum! Easily eat for under $25 for 2 people - drinks included! Friendly service but finding street parking can be a bitch. Still, definitely worth the trip - we'll be back.
(4)
PT R.
Yo Ma, you are one of my favorite local staples. If you didn't exist, I wouldn't know where to go. Your pumpkin shrimp -- yum yum yummy. Your tea leaf salad? Delicious! You are affordable, friendly and close by. I only wished you'd deliver but other than that, you are staying on my speed dial forever. And even though I've moved away, you are the only place I visit EVERY time I come back to Boston. Okay, I lied. I visit you and Oleana but shhhhh don't tell.
(4)
Jen L.
The tea leaf salad is by far one of the best things my taste buds have ever experienced. Love love love this. If only I could have this every day....
(5)
Anastasia R.
When you go you HAVE to try the ThaYetTheeThot (green mango salad). I've eaten at plenty of funky Asian restaurants, but this salad brings together flavors in a way that I never would have believed possible. It was different from anything I've ever eaten and I Loved it! I have never had Burmese food. This humble little shop only had one other couple in it when we went. The service was amazing and the food was out of control good. They have a ton of gluten free dishes and none of them skimp on flavor.
(5)
Sarah B.
I've never had Burmese food before, but I enjoyed my first visit to YoMa. We were there on a Sunday at lunchtime, and it wasn't crowded, so the service was attentive and prompt. Since none of us had tried Burmese food, we got a variety of things, including drinks, soups, appetizers, and noodle dishes. I recommend the yogurt drink and the lime drink. And the potato plata was delicious! The soups that we tried (lentil and hot and sour) were okay, but not great. We all ordered different noodle dishes and shared, and they were all delicious. I especially liked the homemade tofu. All in all, a unique and pleasant dining experience!
(4)
Alex H.
I'm always confused that this place isn't totally packed. Without a doubt, it's on my list of top 5 restaurants in Boston. The tea leaf salad is great. I can also highly recommend the pork-potato curry, and catfish noodle soup. And to top it off, very reasonably priced. I really wish I didn't live so far away from this place now.
(5)
Justin O.
Home cooked quality food. well priced and the waitresses are very frindly
(4)
Emily D.
TEA LEAF SALAD. You won't regret it.
(5)
Jessica T.
I was a little skeptical coming to this place at first, not knowing what to expect. But damn am I glad I let my husband talk me into it. I lived in Allston for seven years and it's a neighborhood that has always had great international cuisine. Very underrated in my opinion. This place is no exception. The food here is amazing. Friendly service and very reasonably priced. Think of it like a heartier Asian style. Lots of great unique flavors and spice. Come often and try everything. You won't be dissapointed!
(5)
Jackie S.
So well priced and delicious. Simple dishes yet lots of flavor. I had the pumpkin chicken and was very satisfied. If you are extra hungry I recommend getting an appetizer. Good service. Small place but it wasn't busy at all. It definitely deserves a chance, I promise you will be happy!
(4)
Shang S.
This was my first time having Burmese food, so I didn't know what to expect. I thought that the food here was very excellent for its value. According to the recommendations here I got the green mango salad. It was a little more stronger than I had anticipated - it had a lot of lime juice in the dressing. Another salad I'd recommend is the green tea salad. It has a lot of nuts which gives it a great texture. Two of us got the sweet pumpkin with shrimp, and one of us got curry chicken. All the dishes were well-portioned and pungent. It's not as spicy as you'd expect from other Asian cuisine, felt light on the stomach but filling. I highly recommend swapping in coconut rice into the entrees.
(4)
Kirby E.
Went here on Monday. The food was awesome. Started off with the layered bread with chicken sauce soooooo good. I recommend starting with this, you will not be disappointed. We also had the spring rools with eel. They were very refreshing and some of the best that I have had, althought I dont know how you can go wrong with spring rolls. My main entree was teh Pumpkin Chicken which was incredible. The chicken must be slow cooked, it was amazing. I loved the sauce. Added some hot sauce of my own because I love everything spicey. Definitely my favorite boston restaurant in this price range. Will eat there again and again.
(5)
John L.
Not the most classy place on earth, but its clean and the ONLY Burmese place I would eat at besides homemade. The owner is really nice. Mohingha is good, but they don't put to many noodles in there for the price. Mango salad is where its at. Overall, very unique tasty spicy food! I love it. Also, its a small place so you might have to wait sometimes.
(4)
Kassia K.
This is the first and only Burmese restaurant I've been to (so far), and ooh, it has made me a convert. The Burmese food at YoMa is unique, flavorful, and delicious. While the interior of the restaurant itself nothing special, the food is more than worth the trip to Allston. My boyfriend and I ordered the meal for two, which is a great deal for $25.99. We got a big bowl of spicy soup, a huge crock of jasmine rice, perfectly seasoned shrimp curry, a green mango/cabbage salad, and some sort of spicy dried shrimp concoction. It was the perfect amount of food for two people, and quite a deal for the portion sizes. The two Russian waitresses were adorable and super-attentive, which was nice. Whatever sugar-chunk palate-cleansing things they gave us after the meal were delicious, too. Mmm. YoMa ALMOST makes me wish I still lived in Allston... almost. Highly recommended!
(5)
Maia B.
I was quite excited when I found Yoma on Yelp - a Burmese restaurant in Boston! For weeks, I tried to get my friends to come with me here instead of getting Thai or Italian food yet again, but they always argued that it was too cold, or too far away, or some other lame excuse. Finally, I decided I couldn't wait any longer, and would take a hellish hour+ ride on the T to try out this place. As I was putting on my coat to leave the dorms, one of my friends asked where I was headed. Turns out, a group of people were looking for somewhere to get dinner, so we all took off for YoMa in the minivan. We weren't disappointed. The restaurant is small, plain, and clean, the usual aesthetic of great restaurants. None of us had had Burmese food before, so it was quite the adventure ordering. I got a fantastic pumpkin curry. I think the group favorites were the spicy mango salad and the ginger salad. The ginger ice cream is a good call too. Also, extremely reasonable prices. Overall, a fun time getting something out of the ordinary - best to share this exotic food with a group :)
(4)
Magda T.
Having returned to YoMa, I continue to say this is the best Burmese restaurant on the East Coast, tried Burmese food in New York, Philadelphia, and Washington, YoMa beats them all heads and shoulders. As vegetarians we only have eaten vegetarian dishes and they are amazing, but recently we have gone to YoMa with meat eaters and the both loved their meat dishes: Super Pumpkin with pork and chicken, and pork noodles. Cannot recommend it enough. We'll be back no doubt. Thank you, YoMa for delicious food.
(5)
K M.
Wonderful! Thanks to Yelp for convincing me the trip to Allston is SO worth it for this place! We ordered the green mango salad and pumpkin shrimp curry and coconut rice. All 3 were amazingly tasty and perfectly cooked! The green mango salad is unlike anything I've ever tasted & I LOVED it! No liquor, just a couple of Nesteas, and the total was $23 (not including tip)! You cannot beat that price for this high-quality, unique, and delicious food! The staff is very friendly, not rushed, and the place is super-clean. We took a take-out menu because we will definitely be back! By the way, they will be closed on WEdnesdays starting in July because as one of the waitresses said, we need a day off with our family! Of course, everyone needs a day off - these folks clearly work hard to deliver great food & deserve it. It's WORTH the trip! GO NOW!
(5)
Andrew J.
GREAT little restaurant service delicious burmese foods. For those unfamiliar with the cuisine, it's similar to Vietnamese in many respects. Our service was very good--we tried a chicken noodle dish and one of the potato 'naan' appetizers. Will be going again in the near future--4 stars for the Reliably deliciously food and customer service.
(4)
Andrew R.
Hot damn this place is fantastic. I would have to say that Yoma is my favorite restaurant in Allston. To sum it up in one sentence: the food is authentic, unique, un-pretentious, delicious and cheap. Really cant beat that. My go-to dish is their "assorted noodles" - a big heap of 3 types of noodles with a whole bunch of tofu, fresh vegetables, and a spicy and savory sauce. While I am usually particular to any noodle + meat combination, this one is by far my favorite.
(5)
Greg C.
This place is seriously delicious (and really reasonably priced.) I've been there with groups of 4 or 5 a couple of times and everybody in the party has been delighted each time. The staff is friendly, the food comes out fast, but the food is the star. The noodle and salad dishes have complex flavor profiles that elevate what might sound like bland food (I've never before been wowed by cabbage...) into an unusual and tasty treat. As someone who eats a good deal of tofu, I can say that YoMa's ranks amongst the best I've had, and even Tofu haters can be expected to acknowledge the surprisingly savory flavor of this generally bland substance. Also, as other reviewers have said, lots of vegetarian and vegan options for those people that occupy that particular moral high ground. The only downside of YoMa is that portions are a bit small, at least for this ever hungry diner.
(5)
Alex C.
If YoMa is the tip of the iceberg for Burmese food, then I am a sold fan of it forever. Like most of the user have said, this place is small and the the decorations are not most eye pleasing. But as a food lover myself, I am all out of the food, and this place would hits the spot. I do have to say the portions are bit small, maybe because I love eating but who knows. Note: Considering that this place is the only Burmese food in Boston, I can't compare to others.
(4)
Ryan M.
I have driven past this place several times a week for the past two years. For two years I have told myself that I would try it out sometime. Well, I finally did and I knew it would be good and it was! My wife and I really enjoyed it. There service was very friendly and helpful. The menu was health-conscious. When I asked about a menu item that I had seen on the old web site, I was told it was taken off because they were trying to cut down on really fatty foods. (Me too!) I would totally recommend this place and we can't wait to go back and try some new things!
(5)
Tasha M.
Who knew you could develop an addiction to Burmese food? Not I, not 'til now. Yes, the salads are huge & the main dishes are small. So? who cares when you can have salads as amazing as these! Get a salad, a an appetizer ( something deep fried. drool..) an an entree. No worries, you will be very full +happy. Love the sweet pumpkin dish, incredibly flavorful. They adjust spiciness to taste- I recommend at least medium spicy-put some hair on your chest!
(4)
Ketan D.
The authenticity of this place will speak to you and you will love the food. They have a separate vegetarian menu which in my case was just fabulous. Food is delicious and a great environment to be in.
(4)
Matt S.
went for the first time in two years. had heard a ton about their ginger salad. tried it. wish I were eating it right now instead of typing to YOU about it.
(5)
skott d.
fantastic dining in upper allston. great food. lots of vegetarian and vegan options. customer service was fantastic.
(5)
Emily A.
Delicious vegetarian food! No complaints except for the service wasn't great. Otherwise food was great. Ask for a veggie menu.
(5)
Jennifer L.
I love YoMA! The staff is always very friendly and the food is amazing.You can't go wrong with the Ginger Salad, Chicken Salad and the Pumpkin Shrimp. I would agree with the rest of the yelpers that you are not going for the restaurant decor but the food makes up for it!
(5)
Ken M.
I had no idea what Burmese food would be like going into this establishment, I assumed a fusion of asian and indian food, and I'm happy to say I wasn't far off. Something I enjoyed was that there was pork, which is something you won't find in most Indian/Pakistani restuarants. Andy and I both enjoyed our meals and shared samosa like things for an appetizer. The staff was a little too...all about themselves, but that was a really minor annoyance. I'm so glad I live withing walking distance of so many eateries now. My abs, however, are not so thrilled with me.
(4)
Zizzles A.
It's hard to say the food here is mindblowing when the flavors in so many of the dishes are simple, but the lightness of the whole meal makes it the perfect place to go when you don't want something that sticks to your palette, which for me is most of the time. I'm not trying to say the food is bland, far from it, it's just simple. Lighter on the spices than south asian food, lighter on the oil and salty stuff than chinese, lighter on the sugar and sour stuff than thai. The chickpea tofu salad was still bursting with peanuty and spicy goodness, but you could actually taste the slight bitterness of the cabbage without the copious amounts of fish sauce you might find in a thai salad. The chickpea tofu is also pretty awesome. It's stiffer than plain soy tofu, with the texture of egg whites. You'd have to fry or dry plain tofu to put it in salad, lest it become part of the dressing, but the chickpea version has enough integrity to hold its own cold and plain, adding to the super clean flavor of the salad that goes well with the spiciness. I love pumpkin and I just had to eat their sweet pumpkin with shrimp, but I feared that they would add a lot of sugar to increase the already sweet pumpkin. Not so! They paired it with a simple sautee of tomatoes and onions, large chunks, and some spices, but those were definitely in the background to the pumpkin, tomatoes and onions. It was sweet and sour, my nemisis, but in a very light way, with all the acid coming from the fresh tomatoes, and the sweet coming from the pumpkin (which isn't too sweet). No added sugar or vinegar from what i could tell. The catfish noodle soup was good too, though this was much more heavily spiced, like a soupy curry noodle, which I'm fine with. Hard boiled egg, and a tiny onion cooked until it is soft and sweet, with lime, fish sauce and dried chili on the side. It's not very salty, but if you need more the fish sauce provides plenty. There definitely were no large chunks of cat fish, but it was a great and hearty noodle soup dish. The place is clean, date worthy in decor and ambiance, certainly a wee bit more expensive than say, xinh xinh, especially since most of the entrees are rice plate style. I wish they would offer family style servings without ordering from their limited combo menus. The food is oh so amazing, and the service was super attentative. Yes I went at like 4pm, but the waitress was constantly checking up on us, making sure to put hot stuff on the side for my parents, and giving my mother water right quick when she caught a little pepper and started clearing her throat, before we even had time to ask. Definitely not the kind of service you expect at restaurants of this price point. I'd pay double what they charge for most of the dishes they serve here. God that tofu salad is awesome!
(5)
William M.
I actually like this place a little bit better than Burma Superstar for the following reasons: Separate, dedicated vegetarian menu No 1 to 2 hour wait 1/2 the price of Superstar So, in conclusion, Boston is better than San Francisco.
(5)
Tom E.
An excellent addition to the pantheon of Asian cuisine in this city, and a great opportunity to try a unique cuisine - Burmese. I went with my Thai friend who grew up so close to Burma that she once cycled there, sent her self a postcard and then came back for dinner. Take it from her that this place is good. REALLY GOOD. We went together on Saturday and she loved it so much she came back alone on the Sunday night for what is in many ways the food she grew up with. The pair of us heartily recommend the beef entree, the mango salad, the noodles and the soup. Ask for everything to be spicy. It will be - but not quite in that acid Thai way. I couldn't help thinking of my Grade 1 Geography World Map during dining here. I'm overly familiar with Thai food from my last 9 months in Boston and I'm a good old friend of Bangladeshi cuisine thanks to the vast majority of London curry houses being of this ilk. Well guess what? Burmese food, like so many others, is a product of it's location. Being much like Thai & Cambodian food but with a taste of Bangladesh built in (not to mention Indian and Tibetan hints). The decor (strange ceiling with dated photos of the local panorama) and rear-end of Allston location don't quite let this place get to five stars. It was deathly quiet too with no music and there is no alcohol either. Kudos on the name though. It allowed me to use the following line... "What did I do last night? I did Yo Ma"
(4)
Silpa S.
In my search for a quirky restaurant after much search all over the web I finally saw recommendations for this place. I've never heard anything about Burmese food so I was sold on giving this place a try. I actually went for my birthday dinner there with a few friends. It's a very small place. It doesn't have the most visually pleasing ambiance. However I didn't have any issues with the services. It all went really well. My friends have never tried such "adventurous" food before and they were all really happy with there food, as was I. If you are tired of the same old food this place is a great change of pace and the flavors will not disappoint!
(4)
Lidya T.
I came here when it was first open with a few of my friends. At that time the lady/owner who was pregnant was running the whole show from serving, cooking and cashing. Because of that ,service was slow and food was mediocre. Nevertheless, I continue to patronize this place as i know deep in my heart, this place can develop to its full potential as a thriving ethic restaurant. True enough after a few more visits, i notice the improvement of the service, varieties of delicious food on the menu and also growing additions of the distinctive burmese paintings and ornaments on the wall. I will definitely keep coming here for the tasty mohingga and tofu jaw - my two top favorites.
(4)
Praful M.
Went there on Sunday afternoon after waking up late from usual Saturday business. Me and my friends walked nearby and picked this one against some other restaurant next to it. I am glad we did. Food is top notch. I had pork with bamboo shoots and my friends had chicken dishes. Everything was cooked well. Server said spicy can be really hot, so I ordered medium. That's not spicy at all. Next time I am upgrading. Kicker here, is the side dish (forgot the name) they serve with rice. It is mix of fried chillies, lentils and some other stuff. Service is decent. I just been here once and I think more I go here, stars will go up. Lentil chicken has pushed rating up by one more star.
(4)
Dan B.
Burmese food is really unlike any other Asian cuisine. It's lighter than Thai, and more interesting since there are Thai restaurant all over the place..... Anyway, I had the green tea leaf salad, which comes with all the ingredients on separate parts of the plate, and you're supposed to mix it. I though that was cool, since you know exactly what you're eating. It was really crunchy and nutty, and it was overall a really unique salad that I would recommend to anyone who tries this place. I also got the coconut chicken soup. It was somewhat similar to Thai coconut milk soup, except it was less spicy. They actually give you a separate plate of the spices so you can choose how spicy you want it to be, which is great. Oh, and they have a sign that says "People love us on Yelp" which I thought was pretty funny.
(4)
stefanie n.
Went on a Sunday and the place was completely empty and utterly silence which was a little unnerving. Our server was adorable and I'm pretty sure she disappeared after we ordered to cook our food herself. Got fresh rolls for an app that weren't filled with much other than rice noodles. Also, the pumpkin in the shrimp and rice main dish tasted slightly rotten. My friend couldn't decide what to order so he got an entree that seemed to have everything; rice, noodles, pork tofu, egg etc. The dish was very underwhelming and basically had no flavor. So many people like YoMa so I'm going to assume my experience was unusual and give it another try.
(3)
Henry M.
Being Burmese, YoMa is the only place I can get a taste of home in Boston. Sad. The food isn't outstanding, the atmosphere is lacking a lot, but the bottom line is, its the ONLY place in Boston you can get Burmese food. Compared to places in New York, San Francisco, um...Burma, it just doesn't compare. But again...ONLY BURMESE FOOD IN BOSTON. Sidenote: staff there are really sweet and genuine. If anything, check out YoMa for them, and their children. And their children's children. UPDATE (8/26/2008): I just logged on and wanted to see how my lovely Burmese restaurant is doing - i'm glad to see most reviews are good, but I can't help but get a little annoyed when people try to describe it as a mix of other ethnic foods. "didn't taste if there was a difference between what they use and curry from Indian restaurants" - really? Should Burmese food really be rated based on how it tastes compared to Indian food? Is it better if it's different? Just a little mini rant is all :) It's hard to hear is all :( Imagine someone saying, "Oh, spaghetti is alright, kinda like tomato lo mein."
(4)
Michele C.
Love this place. It's one of my favorite restaurants. One of the dishes I seem to order over and over is their mango salad. I find all the ingredients to be fresh. The veggies are always crisp. The price are extremely reasonable. I go here quite a bit.
(5)
Courtney H.
I've never had Burmese food and wanted to give this place a try. It's tiny, but clean, and the food was very tasty. I had a chicken curry noodle dish that had a good balance of flavors -- a little salty, a little spicy, and a little sour. My boyfriend ordered a pumpkin and shrimp dish that was also good. The tea is really good. Very smooth. I think I drank about 5 cups of it. Fortunately, they have a bathroom and it is also clean. My noodle dish was just the right size for me for lunch, but my boyfriend's dish wasn't enough food for him. If you get a rice dish, I'd recommend getting a side dish to go with it, or you might leave hungry. I can't wait to go back and try more dishes!
(4)
Jenny N.
I was excited to try YoMa, but the menu was pretty foreign to me. It seemed somewhat similar to Thai cuisine, and of course, I could not pronounce anything! We started off with an appetizer of fried chickpea "pancakes" which were more like crackers because they were crisp and a bit chewy. They came with a sweet and sour dipping sauce that was was really good. I ordered the stewed pork with noodles (soft and white, but more like lo mein than udon). While I enjoyed the pickled sour cabbage that was mixed in, I think the flavor of this dish was a bit weak despite the spice. Also some of the pork pieces were really fatty and I didn't enjoy that. The boy had curry chicken with wheat noodles and pieces of hardboiled egg. I thought it was on the lukewarm side, and I think he would have liked it if they added more meat to the curry. The prices are OK overall, but I was a bit surprised that they charge $3-4 for a bowl of rice! The portions are not very big, but read Aye M.'s review for a great explanation on the portion sizes for Burmese cuisine. For myself, I think the size of my dish was OK. However, my boyfriend is a pretty big eater and he definitely left hungry. I think maybe next time I will try one of the recommended salads. My only other experience with Burmese cuisine was Burma Superstar in San Francisco, and I can't say that it wowed me either. So I guess Burmese cuisine just isn't for me. I would recommend it if you are adventurous and want to try something different. And I loved the super duper friendly waitresses! It seemed like they had many regular patrons on the Saturday night that we visited, so they must be finding their own niche. I was also impressed that they were featured on Chronicle--especially being so new. Maybe if I had taken time to read the reviews on the walls, I would've found a new dish to love....
(3)
Avery M.
I walked out of the vegan restaurant next door to come here, and it is a choice I am very happy with. Unfortunately it was empty when we ate there, but the atmosphere was still friendly. I think this is a family owned place; the waiter was very shy, which was cute. The food was pretty good. The spice wasn't very evenly distributed, but it was still 100% authentic and quite an exotic array of ingredients. I probably should have sprung for dessert, which looked good...
(4)
Min L.
After months of passing by this place and saying that we would try it out someday, my friend and I finally took the extra step of parking the car and walking in. The decor was cute and simple; the waitress was helpful and friendly. Neither my friend nor I had ever tried Burmese food before, so when we first sat down, we just stared at the menu for a long time, whispering to ourselves the wonderfully foreign blends of ingredients and contemplating the possible tastes they would produce together. The waitress watched as we struggled to find just 2 dishes to try (we wanted to try them all). She came over and recommended 2 dishes which we quickly agreed to go with. I had the sweet pumpkin (whose taste was slightly reminiscent of kaddo, the pumpkin dish I'm obsessed with at The Helmand in Cambridge) with shrimp and jasmine rice. YUM. My friend had the dish with all the noodles (and the longest list of ingredients on the menu) and that was pretty good too, though I was much more excited about my own dish. The portions were perfect and the prices are awesome. I'll definitely be back often this summer to try the rest of the menu. PS, thanks to the waitress for rescuing me from an almost-ruined meal! I didn't notice the super spicy chili peppers in my dish until I took my first bite and started fanning my mouth like a madwoman. Usually I pick those out. The waitress immediately brought me a glass of water and a dish of sweet Burmese candies to help get rid of the spicy - without which, I would not have been able to finish that meal.
(4)
Ellen B.
I was the only person here for lunch on a Thursday. Sketchy but I guess it was lateish. As yelpers suggest, I got the tea leaf salad, which was amazing: so unique & refreshing & tasty. I also had pumpkin curry, which was quite enjoyable. The waitress was nice & friendly & refilled my water several times (though not really enough--not that the food was spicy, I just drink a lot). I'd totally return.
(4)
Heather P.
I had been dying to try this place ever since I came across it I viewed it from my car. Finally last weekend the man and I went. We first went to Deep Ellum for a drink (a new favorite bar now) and then headed to the completely empty YoMa. I've read service was poor here when it gets busy, so we were a bit relieved. Normally an empty restaurant is not a good sign, however throughout the course of our meal it filled up a lot! We started with the spicy beef salad which was amazing! It had a lot of kick and we only ordered it medium. I would recommend getting this salad as an accompaniment to other dishes as opposed to an appetizer. I saved some for my meal and it was much better mixed in with the other food. We would have ordered a traditional appetizer, however nothing stood out to us from the selection. For our meals we shared a chicken curry dish over what looked like spaghetti noodles and a pork and squash dish. The chicken was very tasty but sparce on the meat. The pork was great, however there was a spice in it that I couldn't get past. It wasn't the taste, but more the smell. It evoked some sort of nausea in me that made it difficult to eat. I thought the restaurant as a whole was VERY unique and different from what I am used to as far as Asian cuisine. I like it a lot, didn't love it. My boyfriend on the other hand loved it! I'm sure we will be back to try out some other dishes, and the fact that it's super cheap doesn't hurt!
(4)
Maria R.
really fresh and tasty. unique to other Asian food. I recommend the plata, hot and sour soup, tea salad and curry shrimp and tofu. So good!
(5)
Sara K.
Yoma seems to sit on the "sketchy" side of the road (corner of Cambridge/Brighton, Union Sq), but we walked in to see a pleasantly bright, decorated restaurant, that was bigger than we expected, very clean, very neat. My only issue that I could not get past was the cheezy "Welcome to Yoma!" Sign. What does Yoma mean? Maybe other Yelpers can tell me? But the most important thing, is that the food was delicious. Plata (flaky bread, similar to Na'an, but more buttery. It was delicious dippied in the chili oil set at the tables. Garlic Noodles, thin, soft, luscious noodles, with bits of garlic bites, peanuts, scallions, pork (that I substituted for tofu). A well sized dish, but I added a little cabbage, because I am not a fan of dishes that come loaded with nothing but carbs! ----I would lovee a full veggie version of it! Royal Noodle, was my companion's dish, the coconut chicken sauce was delightful, and I wish that my own dish had had some sauce like that, it made that dish feel more authentic than mine (although obviously it's just different.). I still do not really understand the hard-boiled egg in it though.... All in all, the price was right, and we will definitely be back.
(4)
Amber L.
Went in to grab a quick meal to go because it's been consistently coming up in conversations with friends. I knew exactly what I was getting - a burmese dish with coconut curry and noodles (I forgot the name!) My aunt makes the same dish and it's delicious, and I was really craving it. Hung around the restaurant for a bit while they were getting my order ready. When I went to pay, I handed her an American Express, she went to the register and came back and told me they don't accept AmEx. Fine, handed her a Discover, and the same thing, she went to the register came back and told me they don't accept Discover. Luckily I had cash that I could pay with, but I just think that you should be fairly aware of which cards you do and don't take. Took my food home, it wasn't bad, but wasn't as good as my aunt's (of course). I haven't tried anything else on their menu, but I still hear great things. Food was good, but not amazing.
(3)
Mats K.
Though I completely lack the vocabulary to explain the dishes I ate here (I don't know much about Burmese food) I can attest to the fact that it was absolutely delicious. The service was quick and kind, the prices were reasonable and parking was easily available behind the restaurant. The decor was not fancy, or even particularly Burmese, using the same decorations as the previous business in the building. That being said its a brand new restaurant\, and this may change. Come here, its wonderful to support a new culture of food and make it succeed in Boston. It is also very good food at a very reasonable price.
(5)
Patti C.
First time for Burmese food. DELICIOUS! I'm here for the food, You don't go to Allston for the decor, so no rating for that here. Bonus that the wait staff is so nice. As my dining partner said: "Someone here knows how to cook." Burmese food is an impt addition to the Allston strip. Take the adventure. Each dish we ordered was excellent: mini pumpkin shrimp, fermented tea salad (yes, salad with "tea" in the ingredients), and egg noodles with pork. The fried garlic/chiles/etc garnishes are mind-blowing.
(5)
Daphne M.
I've traveled to Burma and eaten a few Burmese meals cooked by a native, and my almost-hometown of Philly has an excellent Burmese restaurant. So my big sorrow about Boston cuisine was that, like most east coast cities, it lacked a Burmese eatery of its own. Thank you, YoMa, for filling my void so well! In the spirit of authenticity, this place is nothing fancy - very low prices and seriously minimal decor. The latter can probably be put down to the fact that the restaurant is new and a fresh venture for the owner, but it really doesn't matter. The meals are cooked to order and brought out as they are ready, so dig right in and don't worry about offending your waiting friends, sillies - they'll understand! My chickpea tempura was crunchy on the edges, chewy in the middle, delightfully oily, and served with a zesty dipping sauce. I ordered the pan fried egg curry with potato, and lord, that flavorful tomato-y sauce transported me right back to Bagan. Meanwhile the smell of my friends' dishes of ket jee keit had my mouth watering, and I vowed that the next time I'd have them make me a vegetarian version of those noodles. All of that, and one of the best waitresses I have had - so warm and friendly, very attentive, but not pushy. It probably helped that I mentioned having spent time in Burma, but at any rate, I hope I see her (whose name spelling I won't bother to butcher here) again when I return!
(5)
Kathleen M.
I've had my eye on this place since it opened several months back, and I finally tried it last night. I wasn't put off by the lack of decor - that sort of thing doesn't bother me, as long as a restaurant is clean, and YoMa is. Service was fine, and so were the prices. I don't remember the names of what we had but I had something that amounted to shrimp lo mein, and my fiance had a dish with roast pork, nuts, and veggies on rice. I think we should have asked for suggestions or tried one of the curry type dishes ... what we had wasn't spicy or special ... I guess I just expected some cool flavors that would make this different from Chinese or other Asian food. I did like the hot, gingery cabbage side dish they gave us, and I know if I would have ordered an entree with that kind of flavor, my rating would be higher. So I'm going to go back and try something different .... I think YoMa has potential.
(3)
Francine W.
the coconut tofu is AMAZING. I also enjoy the appetizer sampler. This family-owned restaurant is so cozy and the food is amazing. It's like a cross between asian and indian but more towards asian. The service is great and the owners/workers are so cute and friendly. Yum!
(4)
Scott F.
I finally got around to trying YoMa last night. I really liked the dish I had. I have no idea what it was called. It was the one with pork/chicken and jalapeno. It was really good. The portions are smallish but then again they are cheap. (entrees average about $8) My only real complaint: No liquor license. In fact, it kind of seemed like the only beverage they offered was water - the waitress didn't ask what we wanted to drink, but rather asked if wanted water or not.
(3)
Aye M.
This is the first Burmese restaurant opened in Boston within the last 20 years or so. So I tried it out as soon as I could. Logistics : We had 5 people and ordered an appetizer and 6 dishes. We were all pretty stuffed by the end of dinner. It came out to $12 per person including tip. I recommend strongly for a medium sized group (5-8) people sharing a bunch of dishes. Service and Decor : Pretty substandard since it's the owner's first restaurant. They don't exactly know what they are doing yet. Not a place you take your date to unless your date is a low-key culinarily (is that even a word?) adventurous person. Service was not horrible but not that great either. but what do you expect from a $7 an entree restaurant? Food : The taste was excellent. There was only one dish I wouldn't order again out of all 7. Everyone enjoyed almost all the dishes. The names are hard to remember for non burmese speakers. The standout was Chicken Curry and Nan-gyi-thoke( not sure if that's the real name) was great. Authenticity: I would say it's about 75-80% authentic. It has all the traditional Burmese ingredients. They take it easy on oil, fish sauce and spiciness. But not americanzied to the extent that it lost the uniqueness of Burmese food. Everyone agreed the food is distinctly different from Thai, Indian etc.. Full disclosure : I grew up in Burma. I am not associated with the owners in any way. Edit : I'm quite happy to see Yoma's been getting a lot of good reviews. Being a regular and not having any other easily accessible source of Burmese food, I've been hoping this place will succeed and was worried it might not when they closed for lunch. I figure I wanted to jump in and give a bit of a commentary on the portion size and why it might seem small to most people here. People eat much more frequently in Burma. I used to have about 4-5 meals a day when I was growing up (and no, my weight doesn't hit 3 digit on the scale). All the noodle dishes and salads Yoma is serving is more of a breakfast, mid-day or late night snack. For dinner, most families eat together and they don't serve individual servings of curries, veggie dishes. Everyone gets a plate of rice and the rest is all shared. A typical Burmese dinner/lunch includes one or two meat dishes, a veggie side, some sort of salad, a big bowl of soup - all set out for everyone to share. So keep that in mind, when you go to Yoma next time. To recreate an authentic Burmese meal, you may want to order a bunch of different dishes (combination of salad, curry, soup, noodle) and share with your friends and family. If you ask the lady, she might be able to pair them up for you. You will have more fun trying out a bunch of things! My suggestion to keep things sanitary would be put a spoon or folk in every dish and use only those as serving utensils. ( I have enough germaphobic friends to anticipate this concern.) ;) Hope this helps for people who feel cheated regarding the portion size to enjoy Burmese food.
(5)
Melanie R.
well priced, good food. cozy restaurant, nice staff. the menu was a bit foreign to us, but we were impressed!
(4)
Lisa Y.
YOMA is easily my most favorite restaurant in Boston. Thawdar, the owner is so sweet. True definition of mom and pop shop and she really cares about her food and the happy diner!!
(5)
Moe N.
Warning!!! If you are Burmese please consider not eating here, and give me a ring and come to my house to eat. You will be disappointed here. We order, Thai tea, beef curry, happy shrimp, garlic noodle, catfish soup, spring roll. The Thai tea was terrible, they use those package Thai tea from chinese grocery store and put water in and give it to you. Beef curry, beef are over cook, the curry taste is no good. I expected so much better, my home cook curry taste so much better than that. Next is happy shrimp, the shrimp is over cook again. Catfish soup was super disappointment, it is suppose to be mote hin kar but, it was white color spicy soup with fish and lemon grass pieces throw in. Spring roll is OK, I have eaten better in Vietnam restaurant. Garlic noodle is just no good, taste nothing like Burmese garlic noodle. The food there are design for none Burmese people. The food are super expansive and super small portion, u can't do sharing style when u order cause all the dishes come with rice. Super super disappointment and will never ever go eat there again.
(1)
Jamie A.
Since I'm a complete sucker for food I have never heard of or know how to pronounce, YoMa completely satisfied that side of my foodie personality. It's not a particularly interesting spot, but the prices and the service were just right. Our waitress was incredibly kind and even bumped up the spice on the dish I ordered. We had an appetizer of fried tofu, which was greasy and delicious, but it was our meals that were really great. I wish I could remember the name of my dish, but it was a spicy chicken and rice noodles dish with crushed peanuts and vegetables. My friend ordered a spicy "fruits of the sea" type dish and it was incredibly fresh and wonderfully spicy as well. I certainly recommend this place if you're up for something delicious & different!
(4)
dedalus w.
My heaven on earth Lunch (for 2): La Phet Thot (tea leaf salad) Jinn Thot (ginger salad) Bar La Chong Coconut Rice If there is a 3rd person, add one or two of the following: Tohu Thot (chickpea tofu salad) green mango salad pumpkin coconut curry and have some coconut juice! Now, some background: I grew up in boston, my parents took e to Mandalay many times, when I was a young teen. I loved that restaurant . So, two years ago, when keeping my eye open for new food adventures, I saw YOMA's sign, I got EXCITED. I took some friends once, again and again. from the start I thought it was pretty good. But with time, it has blossomed into an absolute favorite. The two first salads mentioned above are unique experiences in my foodie life. Fresh, vibrant and complex mouthfuls that light up your mouth. Combine them with the coconut rice and a liberal sprinkle of Bar La Chong and you are in for fantastic conversations of spicy, crunchy, salty, sweet, nutty and fresh flavors. Some other dishes I have tried were too mild and not things to fall in love with. but there are plenty worth a try. The menu does take some exploring. Go with friends, order and eat family style. YOMA YOMA YOMA!!!!!
(5)
Eric C.
I decided to give this place a shot after reading about it here on Yelp. Just like the rest of the comments here, the food is unique, authentic and delicious. Its basically everyday homemade Burmese food - and prices were reasonable. And I too agree with some of the comments as they're still a relatively new shop (probably run by a single family ) and hence yet to overcome the hurdle of being efficient with service. Took a while for the waitress to take our orders, give us our drinks and also noticed some of the other frustrated customers. Given time, they'll do well. If you want something South East Asian that you've probably never tried before and don't expect much from service - I would definitely recommend this place! Give it a shot.
(4)
Shivani G.
My husband and I visited YoMa based on the rave reviews for the restaurant on Yelp! We were not impressed and, in fact, we actually left our dishes unfinished. We had the curry chicken with udon and the tofu entree and it was much so fishy for our taste. Our appetizer was a friend long green squash which was tasty because 1) it was fried 2) it had no spices except a very tasty dipping sauce. I would like to write one qualification my review-- we're not big meat eaters and we don't eat red meat. Perhaps if we were more accustomed to pungent tastes, we would have enjoyed our meal. So veggies or veggie-friendlies, beware, there may not be a lot of options for you. For others, I am glad that you have found a Burmese haven. P.S. The service was slow.
(2)
Victoria W.
I had been eyeing this new Burmese restaurant in my neighborhood for about a month, and finally went for lunch this past weekend. It's a relatively small place, with a minimal decor. The menu is quite extensive for such a small operation. I ended up ordering a lunch special, which includes your choice of appetizer, soup, and rice. I got crab rangoon for my app - which was delicious and not like most crab rangoon at other restaurants with 95% cream cheese. These 4 dumplings were very crabby and very delicious! They didn't have my first choice of soup that day, so I went with a tofu, chicken, and veggie soup, which was very fresh and light and tasty! I also chose the coconut rice, which was excellent. My boyfriend ordered a curry noodle dish with meat, and he enjoyed it very much, but it could have been spicier. The portion sizes are also very good for the price. My only qualm was that we had to wait quite a while for our dishes even though it wasn't terribly busy (2-3 other tables occupied), but it is nice to know that your meal is being served to order. Friendly staff, nice atmosphere, and fantastic prices (I think our bill came to $14 for two!) - we will most definitely be returning!!!
(4)
Renee M.
I've been to Yoma before and thought it was ok (I think because I didn't particularly like a certain spice in the dish I ordered) but I went back last night and truly enjoyed it. I ordered the "Super Pumpkin" which was pumpkin with beef and chicken in some kind of sauce over rice, and it was delicious! The pumpkin tasted fresh and the meat was very tender. We also ordered the sampler appetizer which came with a very yummy spicy sauce. Not only was everything delicious, but it was so cheap! My dish was just under $11 and a lot of the items on the menu are under $10. I will definitely be back (especially since it is literally a 2 minute walk from my apartment- lucky me!)
(4)
E.N. Z.
Excellent food if you consider the price, the taste, the service. I have never been to Burma. But the food at this place (freshly cooked- everything) reminds me of the home cooked food I had in Indonesia and Thailand. When we were having our delicious food (chowing that down in no time), two other couples came in. The last couple sat down for a few minutes, studied the menu for 5 minutes, then stood up and left! They told the waitress that they were leaving because they had no idea of what Burmese food was and after reviewing the menu they didn't want to eat there! That's really too bad for these people since they are truly missing out on the good stuff! However, this does bring up one issue about this place. When we first arrived, we also didn't know what to order after reading the menu. We had to ask the waitress to recommend - which was very good choices (Burmese Samosa (this is not on the menu so I don't know how to spell it, but it is different from the Indian ones. I like the Burmese far better in this case.) , Egg curry (another very different dish from Indian and Japanese sauce mushy stuff), Pork Stew with noodles and garlic, spice) . I think they need to better describe their menu to make the food more attractive. The pork stew I ordered is really slow cooked pork chunks which is really really tasty. According to the waitress, they are printing new menus next week. I wonder if they are improving their dishes or increasing their prices... We will see., For now, I give it a 5 star.
(5)
Marietta A.
I love YoMa. Everyone there is so friendly. The food is totally yummy. I can't say that I've had Burmese food anywhere else, so I have nothing to compare it to, but the fact that my boyfriend and I drive over from West Roxbury, is a testament to how awesome we think it is. GO TO YOMA!11
(5)
Thomas G.
I love Yoma! Their food is healthy and great tasting, so you can't go wrong! My favorite is the chicken and squash curry or the beef and potato curry. Both are very filling without being too heavy. The flavors are very unique. I also recommend their salads and soups. I've tried most of them, but I recommend the tomato salad, the beef salad and their spicy noodle soup. We live near there and usually eat there a few times a week. It's been a few years now and we still aren't tired of it!
(5)
J p.
Tried this place for lunch and it was a most pleasant surprise.The food is delicious and tasty. Tried the bread special which included a salad, soup and chicken curry with their authentic bread. Food is extremely flavorful and light. Those with big appetites might find it a little lacking, but it gets an A+ from me. Give it a whirl...
(5)
Graham J.
Boston not only has a great Burmese restaurant, but one that easily outshines the very good places in Philadelphia and New York. The chickpea tofu is a unique treat, and the tea leaf salad is out of this world. If you order spicy, boy you'll get it. The opposite of meh.
(5)
James L.
I'm at Yoma as i Type this. Im eating the atfish soup. It's pretty good and I can tell that this is quite authentic. This is the 4th time I'm coming here. I've never had a bad experience and service is very good. Prices are pretty good, atmosphere has family-owned feel to it that I like, and the recipes seem to be authentic. If I had to choose from the best Indian restaurant in Boston - and I'm Indian - an this place, then it will be YoMas any time. They don't add sugar to the recipes at all or Americanize their dishes, which I hate. Why didn't I give it a 5 stars? 1. I wasn't fool after my $9 soup. 2. Although I love the atmosphere (think of a nice hotel in a very developing country in Asia), it lacks vibrancy since not too many visitors eat there. 3. It's hard to find parking in this area. 4. They could give me a little more food and/or appetizers.
(4)
Anna B.
Really liked this place! Can't say I've had Burmese food before so I have nothing to compare it to but the chicken curry was inexpensive ($9) and tasty as heck. I think the food's supposed to be salty and it was but the staff was really good about constant water refills which is really key in my book. Spring rolls were just OK. But overall this is another one of Allston's great deals - stuff yourself on yummy home-cooked tasting ethnic food for under $15! The decor's nothing special which is cool because you can go ultra-casual. And it's right off the 57 and 66 bus lines.
(4)
Andrew M.
Delicious stuff--I really liked my chicken dish, which had peanuts and scallions and I forget what else. The plain interior doesn't bother me, but the service was very slow--I guess that's to be expected with only one waitress. I'll probably be back.
(4)
Anonymous P.
I ate lunch at YoMa, a new Burmese restaurant in Allston, on its second day in operation. This was one of the better meals I've had in Boston. The food at YoMa was light, healthy, and refined, and superb for the cheap prices. Highly recommended. update (May): very much enjoyed again, similar thoughts
(5)
Carole H.
I have been to a number of Burmese restaurants in different cities, and while some dishes were good (tea leaf salad), overall this is by far the greasiest and least spiced/flavored version I have had. Good if you are in the mood for greasy chinese food cheap eats but want something a touch classier. Also had the pumpkin shrimp (ok), and the assorted noodles (pile of grease with no recognizable sauce outside of oil).
(3)
Jason M.
Best Burmese in Boston.
(5)
Kneekey T.
As a number of yelpers loved the ginger salad, I ordered it as a starter to share. It was super intense and amazing, very spicy, gingery, salty and crunchy. I am craving it right now as I write this. I then ordered the tofu noodles which were flavorful but not nearly as good as the salad. I was disappointed with the texture of the chickpea tofu although the taste of it was nice...I would try it fried next time. Also, there were no veggies in the noodles. My boyfriend had the Royal noodles which were also full of flavor but I found there was something slightly funny about the after taste.
(4)
Tyler C.
super tasty. I've only had experience w/ takeout but the salads (green tea salad, roasted chicken salad), and plates/noodles (curry noodles, and slow cooked pork noodles) were really nice. Only thing - it takes a bit to prepare so i'd call ahead about 45 mins or so for takeout.
(5)
Ben K.
You know what? This place was awesome. When you walk in and there are only a couple people there, and there's a big sign above the kitchen that says they'll be "closed on Wednesdays" beginning in a couple weeks, it makes one skeptical. But honestly, the food was fabulous. Hands down, the favorite was the chicken and green mango salad. For less than $8 you get this big plate of perfectly spiced Burmese salad with thinly sliced curry chicken and green mangoes. Even the $2.25 dessert was good! I will hands down be visiting this place at least once a week. What a find!
(5)
Jonathan L.
Service was horrible. It looked like the waiter has had no previous waiting experience. He was forgetful and seemed overwhelmed. Food quality was very good. Also, the food came out pretty fast. So fast that the waiter could not keep up with the kitchen. Food quantity was bad. We ordered an appetizer and six dishes. Our group of six left hungry. I'm giving this place a three because I believe it has potential. The waiter needs to shape up and the serving sizes need to be bumped up.
(3)
sal k.
Picture this romantic setting, two people in a cozy restaurant, checking out a new an exotic menu. Now picture this: two people order what turns out to be hot water and pepper with a dash of salt, nasty noodles and the worst part? the portions are so small. Sorry, the worst part was that there was one lady staring at us the entire time, even when she was in the kitchen. So not only was the meal bad, small and overpriced, it was uncomfortable. Am I missing something?
(1)
Sara M.
Great food, great prices. I had the Royal Noodles ($8.25), which were excellent, and my husband had the Pumpkin Shrimp (about $10), also delectable.
(5)
Gizmo G.
Good Burmese food in Boston at last! My dad is from Burma and I have family there so I've been dying to go since I read about it on Yelp. I had the stir-fried noodles with shrimp and chicken and my friend had the One Note Khat Swe. Lots of Burmese around which is a good sign. Plus, a gorgeous woman wearing a Singapore Airlines type tunic walks in, nearly driving me out of my mind. I digress. I'd say very authentic, if a bit easy on the spice -- they put some fish oil on our table and some chili flakes so a liberal dousing helped lots. My mom makes the KhatSwe a little different (doesn't everyone's) but it was still pretty good. I'll go again and review more dishes soon!!
(5)
Angie B.
This is some of the best food I have ever had in Boston. I fell in love with Burmese food after going to Burma Superstar in SF, but I think that Yo Ma might be even better!!! My husband and I went with another couple (one of whom was vegetarian), and so we focused mostly on vegetarian options (of which there were plenty). Highlights of the meal were the chickpea tofu, ginger salad, and coconut curry with potato and pumpkin. Everything was seasoned perfectly, fresh, and mouthwatering.
(5)
Michael M.
i read the reviews first before i went last night and i'm not sure what the fuss is all about. first, yes, from what i heard this is the only burmese restaurant in boston area. i give it props. second, the lone waitress was nice and smiled while we ordered. the rest was pretty average disregarding the fact it's the only burmese place around. the restaurant itself is pretty small, nothing fancy. here's a link to the menu - yomaboston.com/Site/Our_… we started with 3 apps - Green Mango Salad (T5), Burmese Samusar (A4), PaeKatJaw (A2). the salad was pretty good. has a bunch of bunch of different things in there, a little spicy too. the samusar was crispy, small pieces of curry potato. not bad. the chickpea pancake thing was decent too. crispy, crunchy. apps worth it. i had the Beef Curry with Potato (B9). all the portions were individual size. not enough to share a plate and load up on apps. the curry was OK...didn't taste if there was a difference between what they use and curry from Indian restaurants. the quality of beef wasn't great...all the pieces were kinda tough. 3 chunks of potatoes. my girlfriend got some yellow noodles while my friends friends got a yellow noodle in soup and another with noodles similar to Pad Thai (i think from the menu Y7, Y2, Y10 respectively). they all said food was alright. food came out pretty fast...there were only another couple in the restaurant on this Wednesday night. prices were reasonable. i'm a tough critic so my 3 stars might mean 4 for others. for me, I would try other places before going back.
(3)
Michael G.
This is an awesome Burmese place! Go figure: we actually ate here with a friend who had just done a year-long stint in Laos teaching female Burmese (Myanmar, whatever) refugees English, and she said it was authentic and tasty. If that's not a recommendation for going, then I don't know what is.
(4)
Lindsey H.
Everything I had was great (although pretty spicy, but they can alter it according to your taste) - the coconut rice is AMAZING!
(5)
Poe C.
Menu: yomaburmeseboston.com/mi… My wife and I have tried appetizer AaJawSone (A7), OhnNoteKhotSwe (Y2), ShanKhotSwe (Y6) and HinGar (the soup). About the appetizer, I love TofuJaw (A3), but the rest aren't as impressive as TofuJaw. Both noodle dishes don't give you the impression of "love at first sight", but it tastes better and better when you keep eating. The cuisine is mild and light yet still very tasteful. A few things you might like to know: *The dish portion is relatively small comparing to a regular Vietnamese noodle dish. But don't get me wrong, it's not small portion, but it's definitely not a large dish size. *Not many tables in the restaurant. It's relatively small... *They are only open for dinner, no lunch at all (not good for us since we don't live in town)!!! We'd definitely love to go to the restaurant again!!
(4)
Lily C.
I was really excited to try YoMa because I'd heard such great things so perhaps I had high expectations. Overall the food wasn't bad but there wasn't anything in particular that I'd crave from them and thus probably won't go back there again. I went there with 3 of my girls and we ordered the Catfish with somen noodles, 2 orders of shrimp curry, chicken curry and the roasted pork salad. The shrimp curry was pretty good - nice mixture of spices but the sauce was a lil diluted for my taste. The catfish noodles were "interesting". It kind of reminded me of the deluxe ramen noodles I've had. There wasn't a strong fishy taste which was great but the broth was overpowered by the mixture of lemon grass and cilantro. The soup broth was very thick as well but maybe that's how its supposed to be... dunno since this is the first time I've had burmese food.
(3)
Linda M.
Yo Ma is a great Burmese restaurant. My husband and I ordered the green mango salad and green tea leaf salad as appetizers. We asked for it spicy so both had a kick to it. My husband preferred the green mango salad because it was refreshing, and I preferred the green tea leaf salad for its varied texture. For the main course, we had OhnNoteKhotSwe and MeeShay. These are both noodle dishes and were not as spicy as the appetizers. That may have been a good thing because our mouths were burning by this time. We preferred the OhnNoteKhotSwe over the MeeShay in terms of flavor. The OhnNoteKhotSwe is a coconut chicken soup base. The MeeShay is noodle with pork sauce over it. Previously, we ordered the rice curries, but we think the noodle dishes are a better choice. Within walking distance to the Green B line. Only downside is that it is a little expensive. yomaboston.com/mingalabah ...
(4)
A Z.
Yelpers, why must you raise, then painfully dash, my hopes so frequently? My garlic noodles were so bland, lacking the promised garlic or spice... the meat and rice dish (chicken with squash) was more flavorful but nothing very noteworthy, and the meat quality was low. After the disappointing food, dire atmosphere (bright florescent lights) and uncomfortable post-meal stomach, I will not be returning.
(2)
Hamdan A.
Good food. Had happy beef. Tasty. This place is awesome and customer service is great. But don't expect this place to be like burma superstar in san francisco. Enjoy the only burmese food in boston
(4)
Ashley J.
One night we were tired of the same old places we tend to frequent and we decided to look on yelp and try a cuisine we knew nothing about. I came across YoMa and said hell why not. Even if it sucks at least we had a new experience. This small unassuming restaurant in the sketchy part of Allston delivered a delicious meal and an interesting flavor palate. We tried the appetizer sampler platter, a beef dish and a shrimp dish. Both were served with rice and the dried shrimp and garlic condiment. The appetizers were pretty greasy and unremarkable. The shrimp dish was amazing and perfectly cooked. We fought over it we loved it so much. The beef in these types of restaurants is always a little tough in my opinion and this was no exception. While we liked the sauce and spice combination it was just not cooked correctly. The rice with dried shrimp was a very strong flavor and we also loved that. The portions are huge so we took home the rice and ate it for breakfast. It was delicious with scrambled eggs! I think it a great place to go out and have something very unique and support a local business.
(4)
Teju P.
If you like fusion food - this is your place. It is a fusion of inidan, thai, chinese, and veitnamese. they have a special vegetarian menu. this place is not good for big groups because its small - but its excellent for a first date. the service is super friendly and very fast. i went to eat with a friend and we were done eating in 45 mins.
(4)
a r.
We found this place by coincidence fell in love with the food and went there many times since. The food is great, very interesting consistently good, great spices, and nice presentation. The drinks and the deserts are very nice too.
(5)
Courtney E.
I had no idea what to expect, but Burmese food is terrific! I ordered the Pan Fried Egg Curry with Potato, which was light, refreshing, and SPICY!! It comes with a plate of jasmine rice, which is RE-FILLABLE (FYI!!!). The most delightful waitress let me in on the fact that in Burmese restaurants, the rice is re-fillable with your entree. Everything at YoMa is made with FRESH vegetables, meaning NO CANNED products are used, and you can taste the difference! YoMa is an experience unto itself, especially if you're like me and never knew you liked Burmese food!
(4)
Dan P.
Seriously good Burmese food. Delightful people. Attentive. Our kids, not completely adventurous eaters, consumed this food. Unique and interesting flavors. We went for lunch one weekend day .. no crowds. I hear dinner is busy. A do again!!!
(5)
Paul I.
cute, small place. don't expect amazing service. but you'll get very tasty food. i got the koungpoung chicken and it came as very small pieces.. a unique and really appealing presentation. the flavor was soy & ginger; quite good! the prices are low enough you can try this place out. do it. btw- here's the menu: boston.menupages.com/res…
(4)
Amy L.
YoMa is by far my favorite restaurant in Boston. For a while, we were going about once a week. The decor isn't fancy and the location isn't ideal, but the food here is incredible. Everything we've ever had here has been fantastic. The salads are always fresh and spicy -- my favorite is the one with the tomatoes, the curries are delicious, and the soups are absolutely perfect. Everything is served by the friendliest woman I've ever met (I think she may be the owner). It almost feels like being in someone's kitchen.
(5)
C. N.
Yummy, interesting food, good service from nice people, good price. Will go out of my way to eat here again.
(4)
Allie S.
I LOVE Yo Ma! Besides the fact that the food is delicious, the owners are some of the nicest people I've ever met. They're simply lovely, and are now apparently doing catering for the school for the blind across the street. If you know Burmese food, they're always willing to make something that's not on the menu for you. The menu changed at the beginning of September and they no longer have spring rolls now, which is a bummer, but I'll be back as soon as I possibly can to check out the new fare. I always get the Burmese fried rice, which contains the best fried tofu I've ever had. Oh, and at the end of your meal, ask for palm sugar--it's delicious!
(5)
Mabel L.
I finally went to Yoma after seeing Mary Richardson rave about it on Chronice. I was pleased to see that they had a vegetarian menu separate from the regular menu, which made ordering super easy. I didn't know what to get, so I went for the dish that had two things I love, potatoes and tofu. It was nicely spiced, tenderly cooked, and perfectly flavorful. Even the plain rice was delicious. Appetizers we chose were a fried combo plate from the vegetarian menu. The portions were perfect and not overhwhelming (which is a good thing when it comes to fried anything). I hope people take a chance on YoMa. Nothing like it. I hope it sticks around for a long time! I plan to go back very soon!
(5)
Q S.
This place just opened, so when I went in, I was prepared to be forgiving if small things went wrong. But for most of the night, everything was better than I expected. The interior of the restaurant is pretty. It is nicely decorated and clean. The bathroom is clean as well. I loved the appetizers. We ordered the chickpea tempura and it was delicious. It came with a tangy spicy chili sauce that was a nice compliment to the dish. The green mustard soup was also very good. It was light in favor but was very satisfying. Plus, you can't go wrong with the price. The entrees weren't as impressive as the appetizers. I had the goat meat curry with potato and the goat meat was especially fatty. I think they didn't cut off pieces of fat that was not suppose to be there, but I'm not sure. Overall, the curry was good, but the meat was just too fatty. My partner had one of the noodle dishes. And I wasn't too impressed with that either. But again, for the price, you can't go wrong. Especially when the portions are just right. I don't really understand the portion complaints because as it is, the price is already low, so you shouldn't expect a giant mountain on your plate.
(4)
patty b.
i like yoma. they make tasty, not too complex, healthy s.e. asian food. the place is very homey, mom and pop-ish... the service is polite and friendly. my only complaint is that they never seem to have the room temperature at a comfortable point- i feel a bit like goldilocks in there, it's always too hot or too cold, never _just right_. i still give them 4 stars though- i wish them much success!
(4)
Ryan B.
Average food. Cheap.
(2)
Felix L.
Burmese food in Boston! It's certainly authentic, and if you like your burmese food very traditional, I'm sure they can adjust, just slip in a few Burmese conversations heh... If you want to try something very burmese, go for the salads, i believe salads are a staple (they are nothing like lettuce with tomato and that jive). Salads are more like a vegetarian dish, definitely go for some tea leaf salad if they have it! The fish chowder noodle soup is also very distinctive of burmese food.
(5)
Lynn W.
AS stated in numerous reviews below, this little hole in the wall will leave you feeling "just right" in regards to how full your tummy is after leaving. My sister and her veggie boyfriend were in town and he was intrigued by the Burmese title - none of us ever had Burmese before and I always like trying new things, so in we went! We were the only ones there which I thought was cool, some people would be put off by this, but not me, I like thinking that I am the only one who knows about a good restaurant lol :) Also knowing that the waitress spoke limited english seemed a good sign of the authentic cuisine to come, and I was not disappointed! We ordered off the vegetarian menu their sampler appetizer platter and it included these delightfully light deep friend pastries, a crackly corn cracker thingy and some veggie stuffed triangle dumpling. Then I ordered the asian pumpkin dish and it was amazing! Now, I appreciate subtle nuanced taste and this place gives it to you, everything is kind of... understated and I think that is what I liked the most. If you are looking for bold tastes, go somehwhere else, but if you really appreciate lighter tastes with perfect portions and a fair price, YoMa is a great place to try!
(4)
laura l.
Yum yum yum. Great service, cheap prices, and authentic Burmese food. Definitely going to be one of my new favorites.
(5)
Kim H.
I have been to Burma and tried many a burmese home cooked meals so I was happy to see a burmese restaurant opening in Boston, the first since Mandalay closed over a decade ago. It was surprisingly good and authentic. The flavors, as others have said, is unique and perhaps not for everyone. They use a lot of fishy flavors and intense mixtures of spices. The tea leaf salad and monhingar are typical Burmese dishes and I love them. The best way to order the food is to order a bunch of different dishes with different tasts - spicy, sweet, bitter, fishy, etc.. to get the real experience.
(4)
Ana K.
YoMa has authentic, healthy, and tasty food. I ate here for lunch and had the Vegetarian Green Tea Leaf Salad, and Coconut Rice. The salad is an excellent mixture of peanuts, toasted sesame seeds, peppers, and more. The coconut rice is phenomenal! Light jasmine rice infused with a subtly sweet coconut juice. All the items on the menu sound delicious, as I'm sure they are. Most dishes have meat or a form of seafood in them, but they have vegetarian versions of many of the items on the menu. I recommend dining at YoMa if you've never had Burmese cuisine, or if you're a fan of it. You won't regret it!
(5)
Greg W.
Fantastic, interesting fresh Asian flavors and excellent service My brother and I went for dinner and ordered the mango chicken salad, a side of the Bala Chong (spicy and crispy mixture of chili, garlic, onion and beans) the Mandalay Plata (crispy bread with potato and chickpea sauce to dip in) to share The mango chicken salad was extremely fresh and had a nice garlicky taste from the sauce. We mixed the Bala Chong in which gave it some extra kick and crunchiness. The Mandalay Plata was also delicious, the bread had a perfect texture and heat and the sauce was rich and tasty I ordered the Pumpkin Chicken for my main at the suggestion of our waitress and it was fantastic. The pumpkin was meaty and tender and the tomato sauce was excellent. I threw in some hot chili paste to mix it all together and give it some additional heat This place is a little more expensive than some of the Asian food you'll find in Allston but I have never had flavors like that in the US before. The service was also fantastic. Our waters were filled constantly and our waitress gave us great suggestions
(5)
Harri S.
Folks, do me a favor and DO NOT die before trying YoMa's tea leaf salad. It is a food journey you will not soon forget. I put off going here for a long time and boy do I regret it now that the Biff has left Allston and I have no real excuse to go there anymore. YoMa! I miss you baby! I promise I'll come back for you soon! [Also, try their chicken curries which are rich and coconutty, and the eggplant so so delicious].
(5)
Cindy D.
Restaurant itself is a quaint little hideaway, run by friendly folks who are patient and can recommend a few good items to try. I liked the tea leaf salad for its texture more so than its taste (lots of crunch to each bite!) It's a bit different from the ones I've tried in California. Portions here are smaller and they use less garlic, but it's the first Burmese place I've see here, so I'm a fan! The pumpkin chicken with rice and golden chicken noodle were good, with a thin curry sauce to coat the noodles. So much flavor! Warning: parking is non-existent in this part of town. The restaurant is situated at the intersection of Scary and Scarier, especially since you're trying to find street parking and still go with the flow of traffic. It took us 20 minutes of looping around to find a spot. There's no paid private lots around the area either.
(4)
Pradeep R.
This place came very highly recommended but unfortunately I wouldn't recommend it myself. I tried the Rainbow 23 dish. It came cold, it tasted like leftovers. It hardly had any chicken in it. It was bland at best. This is not worth the $10.95. This was supposed to be "spicy" l, not even close. I also tried the Garlic Chicken Noodle. Again nothing to write home about. It was a tad better than Rainbow 23 though which was the only silver lining. This also is not worth the $10.45. I tried the Balachong "large". This thing cost me $5.50 for something that should really cost like a buck at most. It is basically fried urad dal mixture for those who know Indian snacks. The chicken dumplings were pretty good. The ambience wasn't great. It felt constricted.
(2)
Lindsay M.
Wow! I've never had Burmese food and after trying it I will definitely be coming back! What an experience! It's a mix between Thai and Indian food. So good! My friend and I got eggplant tofu and coconut pumpkin shrimp. At first, since it was take out, I didn't think it would be enough food, but I was wrong! It was light and filling, without feeling bloated or stuffed! We also had the Mandalay Plata which wish incredible! Two thumbs up!!
(5)
M N.
I can't find Burmese food as good anywhere else. Anything pumpkin of theirs is so delicious. And they have this side stuff that you sprinkle on rice that is so delicious....it's salty, garlicky. Mmmm
(5)
Kayla S.
Had gone here once the other week. Never had been so I didn't really know what to expect. Overall it was good service. Everyone was really nice. The venue was cute but very small. It was not crowded when I went so it was fine but can't imagine if it was crowded. The cons would probably be the portions. They were tiny. I mean unreasonably small for the price. Also. My boyfriend's took a little longer so mine was sort of cold and his was incredibly hot when it came out. Both of ours were warm dishes. They should have kept mine in a hot box or something
(3)
Kim S.
We went the family style route and ordered many dishes to share. The tea salad featured Burmese pickled tea, sesame seeds, peanuts, crispy peas, garlic, tomato and iceberg lettuce. On the Yelp photos, the salad was shown with the different ingredients portioned out on its own section of the plate to be mixed by the guests. I was a bit disappointed that our tea salad had already been mixed for us in the kitchen. The roasted chicken mango salad was very similar to a staple dish in Thai and Cambodian cuisine. The big difference is that the chicken was roasted instead of boiled or steamed which added a crispy texture to the salad. The spicy shrimp salad was not spicy at all and also reminded me a of a Thai/Cambodian dish. The only thing missing was the Thai red basil and lemon grass to make it the same. We split 3 different noodles dishes among the 7 of us. The Garlic chicken noodle was the best of the 3, we actually wanted to order another one. It was a bit heavy on the black pepper but boasted the most flavor. The dish shared the same roasted chicken from the mango salad. The other two noodles were a bit tricky. The simple chicken noodle item was described on the menu as steam wheat noodles, roasted chicken, cucumber, potato, onion, tofu, peanut, garlic, cilantro, scallion and tamarind sauce. The dish was bland and I couldn't taste any of the tamarind sauce. It reminded me of lo mein from a Chinese restaurant sans the oil and heavy soy sauce. The Rainbow 23 noodle dish on the menu looked intriguing. The dish was a combination of four types of steamed noodles, roasted chicken, mango, cucumber, onion, potato, tofu, peanut, garlic, cilantro, scallion, and tamarind sauce (aka an Asian "Kitchen sink" dish) Although I was really excited to try it, there was too much going on in my mouth and it left me overwhelmed. I do love peanuts in my noodle dishes but I prefer them crushed not whole roasted. It's a bit harder to eat and all most of the salad and noodle dishes had peanuts. The rice plates on the menu were non descriptive with the exception of what the meat, seafood or vegetables were. We had no idea how it was going to be prepared and if we were getting a curry, stew or stir fry. The "Happy Shrimp" had steamed shrimp, bamboo and potato and was like a curry dish. It was the best out of the three rice dishes. Although no one was fighting over the tofu and eggplant, the portion was really small. There were only 5 pieces of tofu and 3 chunks of eggplants. It was also like a curry stir fry dish. The chicken squash dish was like a curry chicken stew. It was alright. We ordered a delicious side of shrimp balachong. The spicy and crispy bits were reminiscent of a Cambodian/Thai "Bok Trey" rural dish made with dried fish, salt, sugar, garlic, msg and smashed with a mortar and pestle eaten with white rice. We topped off our rice dishes and noodles with the spicy shrimp balachong it added a crispy texture and bursts of flavors. We liekd it so much that we got another of it to eat at the restaurant and some of us even bought some to go to eat with plain rice or rice porridge. The total came to about $ 150.00 for: 2 Mandalay plata bread with sauce 1 plata bread 2 steamed Shrimp Dumpling 2 Shrimp BalaChong side 1 tea salad 1 spicy shrimp salad 1 chicken mango salad Garlic chicken noodle Simple Chicken noodle Rainbow 23 noodle Chicken and squash rice dish Happy Shrimp rice dish Tofu and eggplant rice dish Extra white rice To see food pics, check out mami-eggroll.com/2014/05…
(3)
Kat T.
One of the most amazing places for Asian (Burmese) food! The first time I stopped by this place, the food was just spectacular! I've never had Burmese food before, and it was just amazing! The second time, it was just as great, and it's become one of my favorite places to eat! The location is great but place is not very noticeable. The 'tea cafe' sign makes it a bit confusing but it's not only cafe, it's a regular Asian food restaurant. The ambience is comfortable and simple which is great. Food: highly recommend vegetarian samosas (blew my mind) and spiced mountain (has cut-up samosa in it with several different vegetables, lots of flavor and textures). I tried Happy Egg (contains bamboo shoots, tofu and egg), it was quite flavorful! Rainbow 23 is a great dish if you're not sure what type of noodles you like as it has a combination of several different types. This dish is also quite interesting and unique. Drinks: Ragoon tea, coconut juice all are amazing but very sweet. Highly recommend this place!
(5)
Aswin V.
Authentic Burmese restaurant. Great Rangoon Tea. And they serve free plain rice with any entree you order. I'd go back there any day. Plenty of options for both Non vegetarians and vegans.
(5)
Lily G.
I was recently introduced to this place. Right away I was drawn to their salads. I tried the spicy chicken mango salad the first time I came here and it did not disappoint me. It was spicy enough to taste but not so spicy that my mouth was on fire. It was light and the portion was just right. Their food is incredibly affordable. I found myself craving their food and here I am again. Back for more!
(5)
Mandy E.
So, one of the reasons why I joined yelp in 2012 was to rave about this hidden Allston gem. They remodeled a few months ago and as their #1 fan, I thought YoMa deserved another review. YoMa, to me, is the epitome of excellence. The dictionary defines "superlative" as: of the highest kind, quality, or order, surpassing all else (or others). I define it as dinner at YoMa. The atmosphere is incredibly relaxing. Walls are adorned with photos from Burma and there is soft music playing in the background at all times. It's a 5/5 each and every time, and I've been a regular for well over three years- I truly appreciate the consistency. My friends like to joke and say I'm YoMa's best advertisement due to my excessive raving and praising (they're not paying me I swear)! My favorite picks off the menu haven't changed, Rainbow 23 is still my go-to. I absolutely hated the tea leaf salad the first time I tried it but ended up craving it a week later, and I've been hooked ever since! The coconut chicken noodle soup is the thickest most flavorful creamy delicious comforting soup you will ever try. Portions are just right, and the prices are good under $10 for a meal. I will continue to tell everyone I meet about YoMa, it's that good. As lame as it sounds this place feels like you're home and I really love that because that feeling can't be bought. With a beautiful interior, lovely service and fantastic unique food what's not to love? To get an authentic Allston experience stop by before 9pm and after your meal head over to The Model or Deep Ellum for post dinner drinks.
(5)
Claire E.
Yoma Burmese restaurant has the most amazing tea leaf salad. It is SO good. And, its almost impossible to find this dish anywhere else. I also like their ginger salad and their plata bread. I would have given it five stars but the atmosphere is not great, so we usually get take out. They used to have more extended hours opening around 11:00 am and then staying open until late. Now, they are only open from 4:00 pm - 10:00 pm, so basically dinner only. I used to love to get the tea leaf salad on Saturdays for lunch! Otherwise though, the food is excellent and the owners are really nice. She always remembers us. Check it out if you are in Allston, but like I said, I do recommend taking the food to go. No liquor license either, fyi.
(4)
Chenkai L.
This is my first time to a burmese restaurants so not much to compare by. Let me first start by saying they have some really unique items on the menu that I have never seen in my life, the combinations of ingredients used in their dishes and unlike any asian cuisine I had. Seems like the central feature of burmese dishes is mixing of vegetable, nuts, dried beans, tea leafs to make some sort of salad. I got the tea salad (burmese pickled tea, sesame seeds, peanut, crispy peas & garlic, tomato, lettuce) because I felt it was a main burmese dishes. The ingredients were fresh and the salad was refreshing, but not being a big fan of salads, I find it hard to enjoy this dish, especially with the combination including peanuts and crispy peas, I didn't feel it was a very good mixture. I also had Dried shrimp BalaChong (Mixtures of dried shrimp, shallot, garlic, and chili), which was extremely salty and surprisingly spicy. Also, I'm not sure how much oil was in the BalaChong but the whole thing seem fried. In addition, I tried some Garlic Chicken Noodle. The broth was yellow and creamy and the noodles was standard, seems to be a nourishing dish to recover from sickness. Though I am not the biggest fan of burmese food after this experience, something tells me this restaurant is a haven for vegans and vegetarians due to their unique ingredients and dishes offered.
(3)
Sho Y.
This was my first experience with Burmese food. Ordered the coconut shrimp and they were delicious! The chicken platas appetizer was good as well. Will definitely go again.
(4)
Archana M.
We were in Boston for the weekend and the first thing I did was look up for Burmese restaurants. We love Burmese food but haven't been able to spot one in Chicago. We walked a bit from Harvard square to get to this place. The long walk was totally worth it. The place is tiny and nothing fancy. But we had an amazing vegetarian dinner. Definitely don't miss the tea salad. The simple noodles was the best noodle dish I've tasted - spicy and flavorful. Plus it's a BYOB. Must visit if you're in Boston!
(5)
Laura S.
This place is so good. It's BYOB, which is totally key if you're trying to save money on your booze bills, which you KNOW I am. I first had Burmese food out in a swanky little joint in Berkeley, CA, and where Yoma has a long way to go before it reaches that point, however Yoma manages to completely quench my cravings for Burmese. I often go after work, and I am never disappointed. If you're new to Burmese, you HAVE to get the Tea Salad. It's the best. thing. ever. I'm also pretty partial to all of the noodle dishes. Last night i tried the Tofu Curry. Actually you can't go wrong with this menu. It's so freaking good. Go here. Eat here. love it. Drink whatever you want (beer/wine!!)...no corking fee!!!!!!! just do it.
(4)
Ekta K.
Great service to begin with. Food was very refreshing. Ate Burmese food for the first time and enjoyed all the vegetarian options !! Balanchong was very flavorful a little on the hotter side. Garlic tofu noodles were full of garlic and pepper as explained in the menu. Overall the restaurant is definitely worth a try for those seeking a slightly different Asian cuisine experience.
(5)
Ayelet R.
I absolutely love this place - it may just be my favorite place to eat in the Boston area. As most of the other reviewers have mentioned, the Tea Leaf Salad is amazing. I'm not someone who usually gets excited about salads, but this is the exception - it's a crunchy, crispy, amazing blend of flavors. I also love their vegetarian menu, where they offer vegetarian alternatives to almost all of their usual dishes. I've been here many times and still haven't exhausted my options, and have loved everything I've tried so far. Vegetarians - try their chickpea tofu! Their noodle dishes are especially delicious - flavorful but not swimming in sauce, spicy enough to provide a kick but not be overpowering (although they are also more than willing to modify for those who aren't fans of spicy food), and full of fresh vegetables. Also since the renovation, they've added the Rangoon Tea, which is delicious. Just writing this review has made me ache to go back!
(5)
Leslie W.
Great place, it's BYOB which is kinda nice. Started with tea salad which deserves the raves it gets on yelp. Great mix of textures and flavors. Our group tried several entrees. My favorite was the Royal Noodle but the Happy Chicken and Rainbow 23 were all great. Our server was super nice and attentive. All in all I'm now a fan of Burmese!
(5)
Emilio S.
Yoma is a great little restaurant and very reasonably priced. As a matter of fact, this is probably the cheapest spot in the neighborhood, but the food is excellent. I don't really have a frame of reference by which to judge the quality of a Burmese meal, but I enjoy this place. During the cold months they serve a spicy chicken noodle soup that will warm a spirit battered by the cold, dark, New England winter.
(4)
Brian K.
Solid, authentic, and yummy Burmese food with a separate vegan menu which rules. The service is great and the place is intimate with cool pictures from Myanmar (Burma).
(5)
Tiffany L.
I went here on my TCO friend's recommendation...BEST DECISION I made today. I never tried Burmese food before so I was super pumped haha. I walked in around 1 pm on a Tuesday and we were the only customers. The interior is super cute, simple, and clean. The walls are baby pink! They had what I'm guessing is Burmese music playing. They also had a delivery area - I wish they could deliver to Wellesley.. Service is amazing. The waiter's English wasn't good, but she was super nice and so attentive. My water was literally refilled after every other sip. The food comes so quickly, too, which I was super thankful for (I missed breakfast cause I slept in...#collegestrugs). I got the hot Myanmar tea. I expected some herbal hot tea but what I got was a gift from the heavens...too much? It was just so good. It's like the condensed milk tea they serve at Hong Kong breakfast restaurants, but a thousand times better. It was the perfect level of sweetness and I was so sad when I finished it. The serving isn't big - half the size of a Starbucks tall beverage. Literally 10 minutes after we ordered, the dishes came TEEHEE: Bean Plata: I could smell it before it left the kitchen haha in a good way. It's similar to a scallion pancake, but it's SO much better. It's a bit crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside. It's salty but a bit sweet at the same time...it's hard to explain. The beans that came with it were good, too. They weren't super flavorful, but the pancake thingys were so soft and yummy. There were 8 pieces in the order, and the two of us finished it pretty easily. I think I might order one just for myself next time... Spicy Chicken Noodle Soup: Really good. Even for me, the bowl was pretty large. The noodles are glass noodles. It tastes similar to Tom Yum soup, but it's not as salty. The chicken soup was subtle and light, not too spicy. I finished the noodles, but couldn't finish the soup. I love the tartness of it though. Eggplant Peanut Chicken: This dish was pretty good. Portion is generous. The peanut sauce was super thick haha I feel like they literally put a spoonfuls of peanut butter into it. But I really liked it. The flavor was subtle unlike most Asian restaurants. I love eggplant and this eggplant was cooked perfectly - it was soft enough but not too soggy and gross. The chicken part was okay in comparison - it tasted really healthy and firm haha which is why I didn't like it as much. The food here is super light and refreshing - I felt like I had a salad for lunch leaving the restaurant. I actually really loved this place and would def go back a second, third, and even fourth time haha. And I really want to try their tea salad. Emily, take meeeeee. Must try desserts/shakes next time!
(5)
Katie C.
Amazing Black Tea Salad. - MUST ORDER. Great Chicken Pumpkin Curry Chick Pea appetizer is delish. Food is salty, service is AMAZING! Don't order the "ice cream salad" for dessert - it's an American ice cream sundae with raisins :)
(4)
Jenn S.
good place for burmese food. i think i enjoyed the tea leaf salad from burma superstar in SF better, but their food was very well done, nicely spiced/ seasoned, and good portions. I would recommend the seafood dish (i think it was alled happy shrimp or something like that?), and really enjoyed their curry infused dishes.
(4)
Adeola O.
Barf.
(1)
Ian Y.
Let me start by giving my review some context. I enjoy eating a simple, healthy diet. For me, it's nice to eat out once in a while, but nothing beats a down-to-earth, home-cooked meal that just hits the spot. So, being in the Boston area for a conference for a few days and having all my meals catered or served at a restaurant, I was really starting to feel sick. My body was simply begging me to go home and detox from all the rich foods that I had eaten over the last couple of days. It had gotten to the point where my body was pretending that it wasn't hungry at all, even though I hadn't eaten for hours. So, the last thing I wanted to do on my final night in Boston was to eat out at another restaurant. But, boy, did this restaurant impress me. Maybe it's because the food served here resembled the food I had growing up, but there was something about the way the food was prepared that made it simultaneously simple and irresistibly delicious. I ordered the Royal Noodle dish (NanJeeThoh) -- the noodle dishes, by the way, are the way to go -- and upon taking one bite, my appetite changed from "no more, thank you" to "more, please!" The people in my dinner party also exclaimed at how good their food was, and as a result, we couldn't help but try each other's dishes. The service was both friendly and FAST on all fronts: ordering, food arriving, and paying the bill. And the restaurant owners didn't pressure us to leave upon closing time. Vegetarians will be happy to know that there is a vegetarian-specific menu made available upon request. And being full-fledged, it won't disappoint. Oh, and did I mention that the food is super cheap? Win. Some things to watch out for that could possibly cause irritation: There's only one toilet (for ALL patrons) and there is a $10 minimum to use a credit card. They will also try to limit you from using more than 2 credit cards on a single bill. All in all, though, I have to give this place credit for not only being a gem in the rough (literally, given its physical location) but for also drastically shifting my mealtime attitude. I'm not surprised it won one of Boston Globe's "Best of the New" honors, even if it was in 2008.
(4)
Jeannie D.
We never tried Burmese food before. Well, we are not really familiar with what it entails. It's not too bad yet it wasn't amazing either. They have an extensive vegetarian menu so that is a plus for people who are looking for that. The atmosphere is pretty nice with their bright colorful walls and traditional music
(4)
Katie B.
Pretty solid, but not overly memorable. This is a pretty authentic restaurant, as far as I can tell. I've never been to Myanmar/ Burma before so it's hard to say how this compares to "real" burmese food. However, I enjoyed my meal nonetheless. Try the Tea Salad if you want something different! Lot's of texture and flavor.
(4)
Roy M.
Great food. I had a wonderful tamarind juice drink. Rainbow salad had fabulous flavor and crispy taste. Everything was subtle, tasty and unusual. They can adjust spice to meet your desires. Prices are reasonable. Restaurant very clean.staff is great and friendly Beautiful pictures of Myanmar that complements the food. Ginger ice cream was fabulous with tasty chunks of ginger. A very pleasant surprise. I'll be back.
(4)
Kiki P.
BEST and ONLY Burmese restaurant in Boston. I religiously go to Yoma at least once a week. I am definitely their most frequent customer. I always get the same two dishes...the RICE and SPICE and the burmese tofu noodles from the vegetarian menu. Yes, every time. Yes, they have a vegetarian menu...you have to request it though. My favorite is the RICR AND SPICE. It is flavorful and they use very little oil. If you ask for it spicy, they will actually make it spicy. Woohoo! The Burmese Tofu Noodles are amazing and the tofu is unique. They use this tofu made out of chickpeas which just melts on your mouth and goes so well with the egg noodles. I usually ask for it spicy and the dish is full of spices and flavor. The only reason the restaurant is four stars instead of five stars is their lack of customer service. They are not very attentive and several servers don't speak English. The owner herself is super nice and speaks fluent English though. Consistency is another story. The food is different every time, but I can assure you that I am never disappointed. It always hits the spot. Whenever I am entertaining a vegan or vegetarian guest, I always bring them here. Vegetarians seem to LOVE this restaurant. Make sure you ask for the vegetarian menu! Another note is that the restaurant is often closed around the Holidays. I tried to go the first week in December and I drove all the way into Boston. I was so annoyed when I read their sign which said "Closed for the Holidays until January." Therefore if you plan on visiting during the Holidays just call before you go...Otherwise..ENJOY!
(4)
Dhaval A.
Like many other yelpers, this was our first visit to this restaurant. Sometimes I think that restaurants located in urban areas or close to student concentrations get excessively good reviews just because. So here is our experience, we ordered a few items of the list that seemed interesting, Tea Salad, Garlic Tofu Noodle, Mandalay Plata. The tea salad was disgusting.. it seemed that they prepare all the items early in the day and keep serving the same s*** all day. We had gone at around 8 pm which is close to closing time, but you would still expect decent food if you are paying for it. The Mandalay Plata tasted like a very watered down dish, true burmese food is not this bland and tasteless, this was not burmese. The Noodles, we had ordered garlic noodles and asked them to hold off on the chicken since we had vegetarian diners, but they showed up with a dish with chicken shavings, by the time we realized there was chicken in it, most of us had helped ourselves to a serving, on asking the waiter, he said no this is not meat. We asked him to check with the kitchen who confirmed that it was indeed meat. Since we had already taken a serving each, we could no longer eat the other food that was on the plate. The waiter was willing to not charge us for the dish (how generous) but made no effort to redeem the situation. Another issue was, we had bought a cake from outside for one of the members of our group and they were charging us $2 dollars a person for cutting the cake in their restaurant. Not sure if this is a new trend or it has always been this way, but that's absolutely ridiculous, I would understand charging that much if I walk into the restaurant just to cut a cake, but why would it matter to them if I am paying for the dinner and dessert from your menu? The decor was dated, the spoons, table and floor unclean. I am not sure why this place is still in business.
(1)
R K.
Let me start off by saying I've been here countless times over the past few years and the food has always been good. My boyfriend and I are fans of this place. We don't know how authentic it is, but we don't care. The food is so tasty and that's why we keep coming back. My only gripe is with the inconsistency of their menu. I believe they made a change for the worse back in March, the last time we ate there. So disappointed. They took away a lot of goodies, especially beef and shrimp dishes. All that was left was mainly chicken and veggie dishes, which is not good since we appreciate more meat options. And the side of ba la chong that usually comes with the meal, they took that away as well. We questioned it, but was told they don't do that anymore and we'd have to pay extra for it. I don't remember what dishes we ordered since it was a while ago, but the portions were very small, the absence of the ba la chong on the plate made it look even smaller. The food was tasty enough, but it seemed they were stingy with the portions. They could've given us a bit more for our buck. The service was a horrible miss the last time we were here. When we came in, the place was empty. Two more couples came in after we were seated. Instead of taking our order, they went straight to the other tables which came in after us. I'm not sure why they skipped us, but the other tables got their food before us, even though we got there first and were seated well before the others came in. By the time our food came, one of the other tables had already finished, paid, and left. There were two waitresses and one of them appeared to be newish and/or in training. Maybe they were having an off day. Whatever the case, I can overlook the service if they had been more consistent with the menu. I didn't like that they took away so many options and made us pay extra for ba la chong, when we were able to get it free before. Since this review reflects our last visit, I'm sad to say I can only give two stars for the food being decent. I take away one star for the service, and another one for the lack of options available, and there being no more free ba la chong that comes with the meal. I would still be willing to return and give them another chance as they have been genuinely good in the past.They need to get their act together though. We like the menu the way it was before, not sure why they always feel the need to take stuff away.
(2)
Dorise G.
After *all that* (see previous reviews), Yoma is back. I'd heard word that they'd brought back the dishes, brought back the dining, brought back the full menu, and it was the best present anyone could've ever given me. Only big changes to the original YoMa that I knew and loved: ~there's a takeout counter on one side now (nbd) ~they've added ice cream drinks ~it now costs a dollar extra for the puffed chilis to come with the rice dishes, but if they want to up-charge me a dollar in exchange for having all of my favorite items at my favorite restaurant back? You won't hear me complaining.
(5)
Melissa W.
We enjoyed the samosas, the Mandalay plata and the coconut chicken noodle soup. However, I must knock off stars for the garlic noodles, which were completely INEDIBLE for me due to the massive amount of black pepper in it. My husband tried eating it but couldn't enjoy it. We told the waitress and she only responded with "oh".
(3)
Yao M.
I have had authentic burmese food before, and this restaurant is definitely the closest to authentic burmese food. Things to get: Meeshay - really good, but spicy and if ur dieing after it, get the coconut dessert. It will cool u down!! Coconut rice is also bomb, overall best burmese restaurant in boston area!
(5)
Ryan H.
Just went for dinner for the first time since 2012, and it's still fantastic. Burmese Chai Iced Tea was perfectly balanced. I got Chicken and potatoes in red lentils with rice, and it was just delicious. Perfectly cooked and seasoned. The service was good and the place is low-key enough to have conversation comfortably. I would highly recommend Yoma, especially since the other restaurants in the area are usually crammed full of people.
(5)
Noshii R.
Got take out for the first time...eating it as I write this. Despite the portions being way small the food tastes great. However, the issue that I have is that they overcharged us. I ordered the food based on the menu from their online link and they charged us an extra dollar per entree. As an example the tea salad is $9.50 and they charged us $5.50 for a hot-n-sour soup. This is a side soup which should not be $5.50. Its too bad that businesses pull this type fraudulent moves as I wont be returning.
(1)
Lisa W.
Burmese food in Boston! Yay!!! Mixed noodle salad and tomato salad are delicious and spicy. The beef and potato curry is pretty good.. I would've liked it with tomato in the sauce, but it is served with a side of yummy fried garlic. I wasn't a huge fan of the cream of wheat dessert, though, it seemed kind of small and dry.
(4)
Karen H.
For their tea salad -- 5 stars!!!! For everything else, 3.5. I've been here 3 times and I tried a few different dishes but always end up coming back to the tea salad. It's so unique and all the flavors come together to play a symphony in your mouth. That is all.
(4)
Molly L.
Yoma is awesome! We had the bean plata and a salad and noodles with their chickpea tofu. So delicious!! The bread especially was crispy and delicious. Very fast and curteous service.
(4)
Kendall M.
This may be an unduly harsh review, but here was my thought after eating at YoMA: "Wow, I'm really excited to try an authentic Burmese restaurant next." Why do I say that? Well, having previously lived in Hong Kong and then in the states, I feel I have a pretty solid grasp of what Americanizing Asian food tastes like, and this was rife with the symptoms: over-steamed meat and vegetables with sauce only poured over it at the last minute, overcooking in general, meager portions despite high dish prices and cheap ingredients. But I hadn't had a Burmese salad before, so that was interesting. I'd skip everything else though, including the Pumpkin curry and the Pancake/Roti/Forget what it was called but basically fried bread with a curry dipping sauce. We left hungry despite paying over $40 for two and had ice cream instead of ordering more dishes.
(2)
Alexandra S.
Unbelievably great Food. it is a bit pricey though...
(5)
Phil C.
Allston gem! Sick of eating at the same restaurants in Allston? Step outside your comfort zone. Delicious Burmese food!! Had the original tea salad, spicy chicken noodle soup, and the royal noodles. Very flavorful and similar to Thai food. Tea salad is light, crunchy, and has a lot of very rich flavors that blend very well together. I think slightly overpriced for what it is, but definitely delicious. My favorite dish of the night. Spicy chicken noodle soup - served in a big bowl and definitely spicy. The glass noodle is similar to the noodle in the Korean dish japchae. Perfect for a cold night. Royal noodles - love anything with coconut milk base. Also love udon noodles. Very rich and flavorful.
(5)
David C.
12 Word Summary: Delicious and interesting fare that you won't find anywhere else in Boston. The Super Pumpkin was a little bit of a letdown after the complexity and intrigue of the Tea Salad, but that's not to say it was a bad dish--the Tea Salad is just that good. I don't even like tea, but the balance of flavor and texture in this dish is simply masterful. Service was kind and attentive throughout, and our waitress was happy to explain a little more about the menu, which is a little vague in description. When you're trying something for the first time, don't hesitate to ask the experts!
(4)
Ella C.
I was pretty upset last year when the restaurant closed down to renovate, I thought it was going to close permanently! Although the menu shrank and many of my favorite dishes are gone, the food is still pretty good, simple, flavorful and yet not too greasy. It's just seasoned appropriately. I've never had a bad experience in this place and also they are somehow so skilled that they can make a non vegetarian person fall in love with vegetarian dishes. I think by now I must have tried pretty much every single item on the menu. I just love the food here, I wish they can add new dishes in the future, especially mohinga!
(5)
Guillermo M.
This place is so goood!! We got a variety of dishes and 100% of them where delicious. Let's start with the appetizers: the bean plata and potato plata were both excellent. The flour "tortilla" and the main ingredients were very different and tasty. Then we got 2 noodle dishes and one chicken with pumpkin and were all very good in balancing a variety of flavors without having too many spices. The yoghurt drink was sweet and refreshing, I would have that for sure. Then we closed with the semolina cake and it didn't disappoint. Great place to come back!!
(4)
Michele H.
The pickled tea and the mango salads are fantastic. Nothing feels more like summer to me than going to town on the picked tea salad, with a spring roll bursting with shrimp and cilantro. The curries are good, too, but a bit bland for me.
(4)
Champika F.
I'm so glad there is a Burmese restaurant in Boston within a reasonable distance from me. Two words: Tea Salad....I don't typically go for salads on a menu but this one is amazing. I could eat it all day. Other things I've had here that I think are pretty good: - Mixed Noodle dish - Hot n Sour Soup I don't recommend the shrimp dumplings - they were a bit bland. I've only gotten food to go here, but I plan on going back for a sit down meal.
(4)
Tanya S.
I read all these positive Yelp reviews and decided to order delivery with a friend. The portions were tiny, there weren't many special ingredients! Happy Beef was 4 pieces of beef, a hardboiled egg, 4 pieces of potato and a sauce with a small side of rice. Even rice portion was tiny! And my friend got a $13 noodle dish that was about half a normal portion at a Thai place. And none of it tasted that good! The Happy Beef sauce smelled really weird =( The $7 layered bread with coconut chicken sauce was one small round piece of flat bread and a tiny container of sauce. I don't understand what others find so good in this place... Way too expensive given the food quality.
(1)
Jeremy R.
We had a lot of trouble using the yelp based delivery service, but my review does not reflect this. We ordered the happy shrimp and the mango salad. Both were delicious, but the prices were about 25% higher than similar offerings that I have back in San Francisco, so I am docking it one star.
(4)
Julie L.
3.5 stars YoMa is lovely! I think the staff cares and really tries to deliver a home-style meal. My favorite dish that keeps me coming back: Rice n Spices - it includes rice, bean noodles, potatoes, cucumbers, and peanuts. It's so unique and what I've come to know as Burmese with the contrasting textures and sharp flavors. I've ordered it medium and it was a tad too hot. But then I've ordered mild and there was a distinct lack of flavor. I think I'll have to try and get something in between next time. It's also listed under salads. I just love the Burmese definition of salads. So much more interesting and full of flavor compared to your raw greens variety.
(3)
Shir L.
Since there were so many good reviews on yelp, why not give this place a try? Tea salad - i liked the fried chick peas however, there was something about it that i didn't like it. it was a strong savory taste, however its like nothing ive ever had. Garlic Noodles - basically its stir fryed thick, yellow wonton noodles with garlic and other sauces/spices. Someone liked it but i felt it was a quite salty, or heavy flavor since I was craving tons of water (my taste buds usually only crave water after heavy msg or salty). Ive heard that any dishes with pumpkin in it, are simply delectable, however ill probably only return when I'm craving something savory or salty. Not my cup of tea.
(3)
Caitlin C.
This place is great on every level. The waitstaff is so kind and attentive (but never pushy), and the food is so delicious and vibrant-- if you can substitute their chickpea tofu in whatever dish you're considering, DO IT!! You won't be disappointed.
(5)
Yue Z.
I love this place. Though the food quality does very from time to time. They have all the classics. I highly recommend trying the tea leaf salad or the tofu salad, Be sure to mix the salads before eating. For appetizer, I'm a fan of the fluffy plata with potato or chicken curry. For entree, try the meeshay, royal noodle and eggplant peanut chicken, Overall, I like this place because it is authentic and unpretentious. The food can be a bit slow at times, and the service lacking some warmth, but overall it's a pleasant dining experience. It's a very casual night out and a great addition if you like variety when eating out! Parking is a little difficult in the area so give it an extra 10-15 minutes.
(5)
G I.
Their "renovation" destroyed a restaurant that I once loved. They renovated away almost the entire menu, including most of the good dishes. They renovated away their plates, so that the five remaining food options are now served in plastic takeout containers on a fast food tray. They renovated away their soul. It's sad. Like an old acquaintance who sustained severe brain damage after getting hit by a car: you still call him by the same name when you speak to him, slowly, clearly and with small words; but you know it isn't really him anymore.
(1)
Michelle W.
I've lived up the street from this place for five years, and now regret not trying it sooner. Royal noodle dish? Amaze balls. Just eat at yoma one night, and you'll see what you've been missing. Tea leaf salad? Delish. Service is fast, friendly and the food is amazing. Tiny one room bathroom and $10 minimum on credit card bills deducts a star but otherwise, you must go.
(4)
Laura C.
After eating at one of the best Burmese restaurants in San Francisco, YoMa left me wanting to go back to SanFran. At YoMa we ordered: tea leaf salad (could be way better, get rid of the cabbage and lettuce) plata w/yellow beans (really good, and by far the best of the four things we ordered) eggplant chicken (made with fish oil, really oily, condiments didn't give great flavor, and didn't like it so much) Rainbow noodle (although tasty, meat was dry and only a small piece of tofu; I've had better noodle dishes) Service: fine and what you expect from a small family restaurant in terms of you having to flag them down if you need something; except for another table, the place was empty for Saturday lunch Overall: won't return, won't recommend
(2)
Kathy Y.
Well my parent's cook burmese food, so like every typical person who has it at home, obviously nothing compares to what your parents cook. Everybody always thinks their parent's are better if not the best. For a business, I guess this isn't so bad. I mean you really can't compare it to any other Burmese restaurants because this is the only one. I came here when it first opened a few years ago, and service was awful than, they spilled water ALL over me and food took forever to cook. I am guessing after they have adjusted and got the hang of things, service this time around was much better. They do have a pretty good vegetarian selection for you vegans out there. I didn't try the Mohinga this time around, it's one of the most popular dishes amongst the Burmese, but I am not a big fan of it. Maybe because I was born here, I am not as adventourous. I am a bigger fan of their Oh-Nok Kow Swe (Burmese Coconut Chicken Noodle Soup), but I thought this was only okay here because it was too much coconut taste, normally when I have it it's not overpowering with coconut milk, so it's not as heavy. If you do like this, I would suggest, Naan Jee Dok, which they call Royal Noodles. It's similar but not in a soup form. Another one of their dishes I recommend is their Tea Leaf Salad, you will not get anything like this anywhere else. I don't think they give you enough tea part, but their balance of the lettuce makes it more refreshing. Potato Plata - similar to your roti canai, not bad. it's bread you dip in a curry-like sauce pretty much. It's a okay place since not everybody can have Burmese food at home. I don't think the people who have the privelage of getting Burmese food at home should be so hard on the place, especially since this is the only Burmese restaurant in the area, it's good enough for a quick fix to supress the craving you may have.
(3)
Brad M.
We recently moved here from the Bay Area and went to YoMa thinking that maybe it would be something similar to the type of food we got at Burma Superstar in Oakland. A couple of the reviewers here on Yelp gave us the impression that this wasn't an entirely stupid thing to think. But no, it's really not comparable to Burma Superstar. I mean, the food is okay, but it just doesn't have that Burma Superstar wow factor. The Tea Leaf Salad, which is pretty amazing at Burma Superstar, is pretty lackluster here. The greens which come with it are also pretty low quality and I was reminded of the salad I had on American Airlines a couple weeks ago. Burma Superstar also had good alcoholic drinks and a bar. Granted, sometimes Burma Superstar's drinks are of variable quality, but their drinks are generally pretty good. I don't even remember seeing alcohol on the menu here, not even beer although I may have missed it. Our food wasn't really that great either. I had the 'Coconut Pumpkin Tofu' and my wife had something with chicken and bamboo shoots. Neither one of them had that amazing deliciousness that typically has me eating multiple servings of rice just to get it all in. What I expect with 'Coconut Pumpkin Tofu' is some sort of really coconut-milk-creamy delicious sauce filled with pumpkin flavor with some high quality tofu thrown in (and maybe a red bell pepper for good measure). What it was was some sort of yellow sauce of unknown origin, 3-4 pieces of pumpkin, and some pretty slippery-looking tofu. Really not great. The place isn't atrocious, and if you try it out you're not likely to have nightmares afterwards, but if this is what Burmese is like in Boston, I think I'll stick to Thai.
(2)
Aubrey W.
Unfortunately, I have to agree with @Winnie T. I went with my fiance, his sister, and her husband on a Friday night. A caveat with my review: they appeared to be desperately understaffed. As in, one waitress working the entire restaurant. So, as you can imagine the service was painfully slow. Once the first dish came out, we waited about 15 minutes before the next one. Then, about 10 minutes later, the last two came. Sadly, the food wasn't that great either. I had the Rainbow 23 noodles which were mostly noodles with tiny shreds of the other ingredients (chicken, mango, potato, cucumber, some other veggies I think). There wasn't a whole lot of flavor. My fiance's sister had the vegetarian version of the same thing with a similar result. Her husband had the Happy Beef, which was a rather small portion, and my fiance had the MeeShay. He enjoyed that and was pleased with how tender and spicy it was, but it was very small as well. I'm inclined to think that this was an off night for them, particularly in terms of the service, but there are a lot of other Thai fusion places around there so we probably won't be back.
(2)
Anthony C.
Time for some positivity. Time for some Boston love. YoMa is one of the things that makes living in Boston (part - time) delicious. It's on another level from any other Burmese restaurant I've been to. It is not hyper - professional, but that is part of its charm. And when they play that good Burmese Music record, life is complete. Best things: toasted garlic topping - incredible; tofu and coconut sauce - delicious; coconut chicken noodle soup - I dream of it; anything with pumpkin or squash. I love tea leaf salad too, but am not always in the mood for it If you're there at 9:30 PM they start vacuuming - this is not great. It is local in all the best ways.
(5)
Alissa L.
Loved the pumpkin tofu coconut dish I had. Great prices and great flavorful food.
(5)
Marie W.
We were initially hesitant to come here because of all the bad reviews that seemed to come after the renovation, but since someone posted that it went back to normal, we tried it out this past weekend and we are glad we did! We were seated quickly because we offered to sit at the side area with the stools rather than than at the tables (otherwise it was a 45 min wait). We ordered: -Tea leaf salad--definitely worth a try, and as good as people say it is! -Pumpkin tofu--came with white rice. Good flavors. Not amazing, but a good, solid dish. -Garlic chicken noodles--our favorite. Amazing flavors and good portion size. 3 dishes were enough for the two of us. The waitress also recommended the Tofu salad, which we will try next time. We also liked how the waitress gave us honest recommendations about what she liked off the menu. Will definitely come back to try a few more dishes!
(4)
Melody W.
I came here with my friend on Saturday night. I wanted to come here to try Burmese food, since I never had that kind of opportunity to eat it. But I felt a bit letdown after eating the food (especially now I just read some of the Yelpers saying that it wasn't authentic Burmese food). In all honesty, this is 3.5 stars. The half star is for the excellent waitress service. We had one who was so patient with us and had to put up with our indecisiveness and the followup on drink dissatisfaction! I thought the food was okay but not mindblowing. The Coconut Pumpkin Tofu was light and surprisingly not heavy. The MeeShay was bland and lacked flavor. I'm not sure if it's because we requested the spiciness adjusted to mild or it was just our own preference of taste. The portions are a bit small. My friend was not happy with her Limeade. She thought it tasted like soap (in her view). I thought there was a strange aftertaste in it, but soap did not come to mind for me. It was hard to tell if it was meant to be sweet or if its too syrupy? I might come back here another time to give YoMa one more chance, but honestly I was not impressed with the cooking that night. Not sure why the ratings were high.
(3)
Mansi M.
I wish i had tried this place earlier. It is my GO TO place from now on. It is a very casual place but the food is AMAZING the staff is super sweet. A friend wanted to try something different for her birthday and we went here not knowing what to expect. The staff ( 2 waitresses) took such good care of all 20 of us. They even stayed open later than they usually do for us:) Loved the below dishes: Chicken plata as an appetizer Happy chicken Limeade MUST TRY and oh it is amazing for Vegetrains (they have a separate menu)
(5)
Jim G.
It was ok. I had the tea leaf salad and it was average. Very loud with a large taking up on section. Service was slow.
(3)
Ms. S.
The tea leaf salad was great, but the rest of the food was forgettable. Overpriced for the quality.
(3)
Josephine L.
Who doesn't love exotic, ethnic food? Burmese, you say? Yes, please! This is a no-frills, straight-up, delicious restaurant that happens to be the only Burmese place in the city. Prices are ridiculously affordable and service always comes with a smile. If you're Asian (like me) and you're tired of the same ol' heavy-hitters of Asian cuisine (Japanese? Korean? Chiiiinese?), come to YoMa to remember why being Asian rocks. The tea leaf salad is out of this world. So many textures, from crunchy to soft, and flavors. Spicy, salty, savory. Mmmm. Also got the MohHinGar (catfish soup), which was hot and refreshing at the same time. You could tell the fish had been simmering in the broth for a long time as all the flavors just melded together perfectly. The Super Pumpkin is fantastic. I don't usually like sweet in my entree, but the sauce made everything delicious. We got the Burmese dessert, whose name escapes me, but it was delicious. Texture denser than cake, but lightly sweet. I ended up finishing it because my friend was full and could have easily eaten another even though I was full too. Definitely a go-to place for a delicious, exotic, affordable meal.
(5)
Marina W.
Ooooh my god, I love YoMA. I take everyone here: local friends, out of town friends, family, my partner, myself, everyone. I love the Tea Leaf Salad (even though I'm a little grumbly that they just raised the price, but, hey, it's worth it). The mango salad is delicious. The pumpkin anything is delicious. Everything is delicious. It is not a high-class fancy establishment - it's very casual and almost cheap feeling, but honestly, I don't care. The food is fantastic and that is why I go.
(5)
Andrew r.
I went to yoma craving some of the food I ate while I was traveling through Burma. YoMa left me still craving. While the food isn't bad it also really isn't Burmese food. The flavoring is not really close and they don't have many Burmese staples. The tea leaves were pretty on par but the salad itself did not really resemble what a tea leaf salad tastes like. I don't like sounding all negative but I was generally non-impressed with YoMa. The staff was very friendly and helpful, though they were Thai not Burmese which may explain something about the lack of authenticity. I don't think I'd go back. Sorry
(2)
Meg B.
I really liked this place! Tried the chicken and tofu with rice and the rainbow noodles. The chicken and tofu was good, although nothing special, but I really loved the rainbow noodles. Lots of texture and flavor with just enough heat to make it interesting. Would definitely come back to try more dishes, I think this is a great neighborhood staple.
(4)
Priscilla T.
Yum. Delicious and affordable. AND authentic! Tea leaf salad was the highlight, but also amazing was the chickpea tofu salad and Shan Noodles. I was just in Burma over the summer and this place is a nice reminder of all the yummy cuisine.
(4)
L R.
$24, just for me, take out. I thought I'd try 3 things to get an idea of the place. I got the catfish soup, which literally was a cup of broth. There were some indistinguishable bits of "fish" and some spicy oily blobs on the top, but for $5, I expected more than just a cup of broth (menu states catfish, lemongrass, garlic, onion). The shrimp rolls were 4 underwhelming tapered rolls that didn't fit in the thimble size dipping cup of sauce, and they needed all the sauce they could get. The tea salad was a serious bummer, I'm not sure if it doesn't work for take out, but for $8.50 it was some cheap veggies (cabbage/lettuce) and a tablespoon of pickled tea. Most expensive, least filling, meal I've had in Boston ever. I'd skip it. Slow take out service as well.
(1)
Sean M.
3.4 stars I had a simple lunch of chick pea tofu salad and pork noodle dish. The noodles came with a small portion of salad as well but sans the tofu, but still slightly redundant. The server asked how hot/spicy I wanted it to be, I asked for "almost Burmese" level. It was spicy but I had to ask for the condiments tray to kick it up some. I mixed what was left of the salad and what came with the noodles and proceeded to spice it with chilies to a perspiration generating level. This was my first time here, I have been to other Burmese places in NYC and in SF, this was decent by comparison and I will be back with friends so I can try a larger selection of the menu. * ingredients were fresh, chick pea tofu was wonderful * I love spicy and you can get that here, ask for the condiment tray. * Tough location for parking, T or cab it here.
(3)
Wen-fai F.
My friend and I came here for the first time for lunch because we were excited to try Burmese food! Good, cheap filling meal but we'll probably order different things next time. The restaurant was empty but it was 2p on a weekday so we didn't expect it to be bustling. The waitress offered us Burmese tea, free of charge! Tastes like the tea you get at dim sum. We ordered: Chickpea tofu appetizer ($7) - we'd read so much about this on Yelp that we wanted to try it! It was a bit disappointing but I can see the appeal if you've never had anything like it before. It tasted like the fried milk balls you can order at Chinese restaurants. The dish is ~10 small triangles of fried battered chickpea - fried on the outside and a very creamy taste on the inside. I couldn't taste much else beyond the oil though, I was hoping for some more depth of flavor but it was almost like eating french fries. If you're curious, you might as well try it once though! Tea leaf salad ($8) - This dish is so refreshing! It comes with raw cabbage, fried/dried shallots, diced tomatoes, pickled tea leaves mixed with garlic, and roasted peanuts. The components come separately and you mix it together on your plate. The tea leaves were naturally salty but you could choose how much you wanted. I would highly recommend this! Catfish soup entree ($7) - Apparently a Burmese staple, and very delicious! I've never tasted anything like this before. The broth was opaque but refreshing, and tasted, of course, like fish. There was also vermicelli and some veggies. A little oily but it's what we expected. Slightly reminiscent of Malaysian laksa, except without the coconutty creaminess. The meal came to $22 and was just enough food for us. I will definitely be back to try some of their other entrees as everything seems pretty cheap on the menu and the food output is quick. The food we had was solid but nothing out of this world.
(3)
Gina S.
We ate at Yo Ma last night, yummy. My coconut shrimp with pumpkin came with a crunchy topping. The topping is called Bala Chong a mixture of fried beans, shallot, garlic and chili. This crunchy little topping can be used on any dish, great flavor a little spicy and a little crunchy. Either comes with your dish or you can order it separately under sides.
(5)
Nikki Z.
One of my favorite places in Boston. The tea leaf salad with all the garlicky fried bits is the best dish. 5 stars for the tea leaf salad. 3 stars for the curry dishes - the meat tends to be overcooked. I've tried the beef/potato and shrimp/pumpkin. 3.5 stars - The chicken platha is their take on the Malaysian roti canai. I've had better.
(4)
Matthew D.
Like many other reviewers, apparently, I've eaten at Burma Superstar in the Richmond District of SF. And no, this place does not compare. But few things will. So I gave it another chance recently and I've decided that it does deserve some credit, and doesn't deserve being downgraded because it can't live up to a famous restaurant where people line up for hours to get a table. Last time I had one of the generic chicken bowls, which was dull. Also the Tea Leaf salad was disappointing compared to Burma Superstar. But, I was there with a person born in Burma and he seemed to be happy enough with what he ordered at YoMa. This time, I tried two of the noodle dishes, Shan and Simple Chicken. They were both quite good, and I just wish they had served more.
(4)
Casey F.
This is hands down my favorite restaurant. Ok, well actually Oleana is my favorite restaurant... but YoMa is 1/12 the cost, so I go there at least twice per week. The waiters know me and my boyfriend. I have the menu memorized. Typically, I seek out new places for my nights out... but now I consider YoMa home. Reasons YoMa is deliciously wonderful: - The food. (duh.) Burmese cuisine is a combination of Thai / Vietnamese / Chinese --- but not as sweet as Thai, as greasy as Chinese, or as lemon-grassy as Vietnamese. - The homemade tofu appetizer. Creamy and delicious. Even if you don't like tofu you'll like this. - Y4. Don't ask, just order it (as long as you eat pork). - The prices. So affordable. Leave a good tip, 'cause the service is friendly but the prices aren't high. - The location. Easy to get to via car, bike, or bus. Dinner from YoMa is what got me through a few months of 90 hour work weeks. Words cannot describe the love I feel for this place, their food, and their cute waiters and waitresses. Go there now.
(5)
chanelle d.
I was introduced to YoMa a couple of years ago by two friends who are regulars. They love it, and now, so do I. The service is usually pretty good--not always quick, but super friendly, possibly because they see my friends there often. We always end up getting the Assorted Noodles to share, a very interesting mix of tofu, veggies, and different kinds of noodles; my two friends like it extra spicy. I usually get the Chicken Bamboo, which is chicken and bamboo chutes in a delicious tamarind sauce over rice, and they give you a mixture of fried shallots and red pepper flakes to sprinkle over everything (my favorite!). The rice dishes are hard to explain, I would compare them to curry, but it doesn't feel accurate enough. I suggest you try it to get your own impression of the food!
(4)
Steph D.
In order of amazing: F**king SPICY (just how I like it). ADORABLE waitress who seemed endeared to my Burmesian ignorance rather than annoyed by it. LIMEADE - Oh, god yes. Coconut rice, milk, cake... EVERYTHING. Inexpensive cultural adventure. The odd little combination of Noodles and Potatoes. The NAMES - Yes, HAPPY SHRIMP - please.
(5)
T G.
If you've never had Burmese food before, I would classify it to be a combination of Indian and Thai food. They have a good selection of menu items for vegetarians, which is great. Their "plata," or layered bread, is basically the frozen parathas you get from the Indian grocery store. In fact, I am willing to put money on it being the EXACT same ones that you get from the Indian grocery store lol. My coconut tofu was a little bland and didn't have a lot of coconut flavor to it. There really wasn't anything that struck me as being an authentic Burmese dish on the menu; most seemed to fall under the Indian or Thai category. The restaurant is super casual. It could easily pass as a take out place. Not very many tables so I would be cautious if I was going here with a party of more than 10 people.The servers were attentive and respectful :)
(3)
Taryn H.
Loved it! Love the decor- I don't know how to describe it, there are giant babies eating noodles in the jungle and all sorts of Engrish that I just adore. The food- tasty, fresh, delicious. Every time I'm in a new city I try to find Burmese food. It is so darn hard to find (insert political Junta comment here). When I find it: first I scream, second I locate, third I enjoy. Or at least that was the order I indulged in YoMa.
(5)
Sandra C.
I would have been THRILLED to go to this restaurant last summer when I went veggie on everyone. However, I am a hardcore carnivore now, and my experience was A-OK. The fried chickpea tofu was delicious! But I'm so weaksauce, I wish the dressing that came with it was less spicy. The tea leaf salad was...INTERESTING. It's something I would just snack on during my free time, but I probably should not have had this for dinner. By the time the chicken and potato curry arrived, I was already stuffed. Don't get me wrong though, it was good. I actually think the curry was the best out of the three. When I come back, I'll just skip the appetizer/salad and dig straight into the curry entrees. The place is cozy and quiet, but I wish it were a little busier so that no one could hear my conversation with other people. No privacy man! This experience was decent, but I'm probably gonna give this restaurant another chance. I see more deliciousness in future visits.
(3)
A K.
This place is a hidden gem. Everything was delicious.
(5)
Kelly B.
Ok, I'm vegan, and love the "vegan mini-mall" that is forming in Allston too. But that doesn't mean that YoMa should be overlooked! The veggie options here are plentiful, and the chickpea tofu is uniquely delicious. You have to ask for the Vegetarian Menu when you get there, it's separate from the regular one now. The food is light and tasty, and affordable considering the portions. Expand your "ethnic food" options and try Burmese food.
(4)
Winnie T.
I'm really disappointed with my meal after reading such great and positive reviews from fellow Yelpers. Either I caught them on a bad night or Yelp is rigged... The overall meal itself can be described as lukewarm, meager portions, and one dimensional in flavor. We ordered: - potato plata (bread with potato curry sauce): the bread was warm and buttery, and the curry was good. I wish there was more spice in it however. As an appetizer, it only came with two pieces of bread and a little side bowl of curry. Felt as though they skimped out on us - eel spring roll: very little eel in the rolls. It was decent though. - Tofu curry with potato: the tofu curry was warm at best, and it just tasted like...curry. Nothing special. Again, small portions. - Catfish noodle soup: sour and tamarind based, the flavors were there, but again, it WAS BARELY WARM. I like my noodle soups to be hot and fresh off the stove. The noodles were soggy and it didn't taste fresh... almost as if someone just threw it altogether in the microwave. - Wonton egg noodle with garlic sauce: the noodles were hard and chewy... was not served hot. Don't be surprised to find large chunks of garlic in every bite of your noodles. Though I didn't mind it, I wish there was some dimension of flavor in the dish aside from JUST garlic. - Happy Beef: Ehhh... happy beef was not very happy. There were only about 6 chunks of beef in the dish. The dish just didn't look very appetizing or welcoming to eat.... it looked... sad :( I'm not all THAT familiar with Burmese food, but regardless, YoMa did not appeal to my taste. I'm a big fan of Southeast Asian cuisine (and Asian cuisine in general) but this just left me wanting more.
(2)
Anne F.
The weekday lunch special is one of the best deals on food at any restaurant I've ever been to ever, and many of the other dishes are very reasonably priced. You can easily eat for $9-10 /person, tip included. Have you ever tried Burmese food? If not, you should totally check out this restaurant by the corner of Brighton / Cambridge. We really don't have enough experience with the cuisine to talk about it like experts. If you like Thai / Indian, however, I'm sure you'll like something on the menu. I don't know if I've ever had a potato curry in such a delectable sauce. They served it with a paratha-style bread, very tasty. My boyfriend has been trying the noodle dishes w. tofu and fried potatoes - also delicious. Our food has come out with several chili-based condiments so you can make the food as blistering-hot as you want. We saw others order soups, which also look fantastic. Wouldn't really recommend the desserts, however. The ' Snow Garden' amounted to green jello topped with shaved ice and sweetened condensed milk, and was just strange. We also tried the semolina cake, which was better. The fantastic deal on yummy lunch entrees, however, has been enough to keep us coming back! Our waitress was completely adorable and the restaurant extremely clean. The decor featured several picturesque shots of various Payas, golden-cone-topped Buddhist temples, in Burma and there were cute little statuettes lining the sides. I was going to give it only 4 stars, I have had yummier food, but this is just too awesome a deal to pass up. All 5, baby!
(5)
Heidi B.
Tea Salad! very different and awesome. Noodles were great. Lots of interesting flavors and truly tasty. Ask for the vegetarian menu if you want it.
(5)
Sally F.
I just realized I haven't reviewed this place yet, which is insane-- I'm probably at YoMa around 4-5 times a month as it's one of the few local places (within walking distance) where I can eat gluten free (this has been mentioned in others' reviews, so I'll just mention it in passing) and there are vegan menu options, so "the boy" and I can actually share dishes there without any worry. Shocking! Aside from the ease in ordering in regard to allergies/diets, the food is delicious! They combine flavors that I normally would never consider throwing into a single dish and they're balanced remarkably well. I love the tea leaf salad (though it can be VERY salty), the pumpkin curry, the potato and pork curry, and planning on trying the coconut tofu option soon. The coconut rice is simple, but outstanding. The inside of the restaurant kind of lacks in ambience, but I enjoy the humble, down-home feeling it evokes. The servers are incredibly friendly and helpful, without being pushy or bothersome while you're chatting with your friends/date/mom, etc. Definitely worth stopping in. Then...a trip to Deep Ellum to top of the night and you're golden!
(5)
Emma W.
I have been driving by this place twice a day for over a year, and tonight we finally made it our dinner destination. Great new culinary adventure. The service was excellent, the nicest most adorable servers with huge smiles- always improves an experience. We tried a little of everything, and were happily rewarded with a great meal. The tea salad was interesting both texturally and flavor-wise. and the first salad I have ever tried like it! Also, the bread with curry potatoes was excellent - great tortilla-pita-naan hybrid served with a curry sauce to dunk in with pieces of curry soaked potatoes. I am a die hard for thai coconut chicken soup (tom yung gai) and tried it here to taste the Burmese version - completely different, more subtle flavors and creamier, yet delicious.. Hot and sour soup was HOT like I like it, and Garlic pork noodle entree had the best crunchy grated garlic on top. If I could figure out how to make garlic like that, I would do so often. The menu was very simple, but provided us with all firsts as this is the only Burmese restaurant I have seen to date. Oh, and all of this, with two salty sweet must-have Limeades made from scratch, and their semolina coconut cake (pretty much obsessed with all things coconut) came to $40! Great deal and a great meal. :)
(5)
Blair H.
The first thing I noticed was the dust-free shelves. I don't know why, but this said a lot to me about the pride they have in their establishment. The food was good, though I've never been to Burma, so I can't comment on authenticity. I'd definitely go again.
(5)
Amy Z.
We went as a family for my kid brother's 21st birthday. Not where I would have chosen to celebrate, but each to their own. The food turned out to be surprisingly great. We have everything from vegetarians to hardcore carnivores in the family, so it's unusual when we all like a restaurant. Highlights: - Limeade - Pumpkin or squash tofu - MeeShay - Veggie fresh rolls - Peanut eggplant tofu - Rice n' Spice The restaurant is small and cozy. Its great family vibe makes it a great choice for all ages.
(5)
Jackie K.
Tea leaf salad was very good--one of the most refreshing and best salads I've had. I had mine mild. I had the tofu chickpea for a main dish and it was good. I also tried the potato, tofu and cilantro dish which was better, very tasty. The flavors overall were new to me but reminded me of Thai food--it was amazing to see how many dishes they had with the same five ingredients and they all tasted different. I would go back. Very reasonably priced as well.
(4)
Sarah T.
I really wanted to like this place because I grew up eating Burmese food and it was super exciting to have the opportunity to try it here. I think supporting a small business like this is critical and I am all for variety and diversity in food. It's a great way to learn about aspects of another culture. Firstly, I was surprised my waitress didn't speak Burmese. Either my pronunciation of burmese dishes was way off or what. Evaluation of dishes: mohinga (fish soup with noodles) - this is a traditional core dish in Burmese culture. The best ones comes with tons of catfish, lots of garlic, ginger, and onions. And not so watery like Yoma's :( samosa - not bad. I expected more from the hot sauce though. real good burmese-style hot sauce has tamarind, cilantro, and lime in it. nan-gyi-thok (i think this is the "royal noodle salad") - wasn't like how i expected it. maybe it's a different style of making it so i can't really judge whether it's truly authentic. i've just never had it with the preserved vegetable which usually comes in shan thok, not nan-gyi-thok. tofu pumpkin curry- this was watery too. when i say that, i wish there was more punch in flavor. then agian, there was no meat in it so maybe that's an explanation hopefully they can improve on some of their dishes for a more authentic-seeking crowd like the one i'm in. otherwise, i think it's not bad. great to see burmese food offered in boston!
(3)
Amy C.
This place is awesome. Since I just recently moved to Allston/Boston, my mom and I needed a good asian place that offered the best of both worlds: meat and vegetarian options. Since I have never had Burmese food before, I looked up the menu for this place and it sounded delicious, adventurous, and interesting. Located in an area where there's many vegetarian and vegan options, this is one of few that offers gluten free, vegetarian, vegan, and meat dishes. To start, we ordered the potato plata. It comes with a piece of baked bread similar to nan and a small potato curry sauce. It was so so yummy; I had to refrain myself from devouring the whole thing without sharing with the table. I ordered the tofu curry with potato and asked for it spicy. For me, it was the perfect combination of spices; even the tofu had flavor from the curry! Needless to say, I cleaned my plate, and that has not happened in awhile. My mom opted for the peanut eggplant chicken dish. I picked off the vegetables from hers to try the taste. I will admit that I thought the peanut sauce was really over powering at first; however, as I continued to chew the eggplant, I realized what a perfect marriage the peanut sauce was with the eggplant. I'm pretty happy with this place; the only thing is the service could've been a little better, but hey, the food is well worth any bad service here! Will DEFINITELY be back :D
(4)
jazzy l.
I've been wanting to eat Burmese food after eating at a San Francisco joint called (Burma Superstar) many years ago. I recall the food being very good so when I saw that a Burmese place opened up in Allston, I had to go try it. SERVICE - Attentive and pleasant. INTERIOR - Many photos and wall paintings of Burmese culture. They even sell Tibetan clothing, handbags, figurines at the cash register. FOOD - I thought it was okay only. We got the tea leaf salad. It had 5 or so ingredients. It had this rice bean that was crunchy, peanuts, slaw, tomatoes, and this green pasty textured green leaf that was semi tart. Long squash with pork dish - It was mild in flavor, definitely something I can re-invite at home. Chicken, Egg noodles - Mild flavored. Dessert -We tried this caky bean dessert. It was okay. Nothing really to rave about. Street Parking only. Easy access on Bus 57, 66, or get off B line and walk over.
(3)
Ellie W.
I don't know if I just don't like the taste of Burmese food or just YoMa, but the one time I tried YoMa, I just remember everything being way too salty...like, drinking ocean water kind of salty... My friend seemed to like it, though, so maybe it's just me?
(3)
Julie F.
I thought that going vegetarian would limit the number of places I could eat at. Instead, it opened my tastebuds to several different type of places. YoMa (coolest restaurant name ever!) has a separate vegetarian menu. I ordered a potato/curry type dish, and it was cooked to my spicy preference. The food was tasty, the service was friendly, and the price was great and affordable. I will be back.
(4)
Jaimie M.
When one of my friends (celiac) came into town, we headed over to YoMa to test it out. What a great restaurant! Never had Burmese food before, but everything that we got was great. Appetizer combo plate was delicious- lightly fried, but not overly oily. We enjoyed the TohuJaw and Smusa in particular. My friend that had the curry dish said that it was spicy and amazing. Didn't have any problem with the service. Got a table right away and food came decently fast. Will definitely be going back to try more!
(4)
Mike S.
This place has to be one of my favorite haunts while I was living in the area. Not only was the staff and employees extraordinary nice to me on every occasion. The place was nice and cozy to me, where I loved just sitting there on a cold winter morning after working, and enjoy some delicious noodle soup there. The catfish noodle soup was so amazing, I loved the way it was spiced and how it had plenty of nice big chunks of fish. Now they had this desert there thats name escapes me at the moment but it's this warm doughy squares with raisins in it, simply delightful. Long story short, go here. You will not regret it.
(5)
Daphna R.
Burmese food, I bet you've never tried it. Its somewhere between Indian and Thai food, if I had to categorize it... but the spices are unique. EVERYTHING on the menu is gluten free unless its called "wheat noodles with..." or "bread with...". I'll recommend the Coconut Tofu, Green Tea Salad, Pumpkin Salmon... for starters.
(5)
Chirag M.
My friend went there for the first time for lunch and brought us back to this restaurant for dinner the same day, I knew the food would be good. This is truly a hidden gem in Boston. For someone who loves spicy food, the chef made a few dishes spicy on request, and the regular dishes were perfect for those who cant handle spicy food too. Stongly recommend: Chicken Plata, and Bamboo chicken, Mango salad
(5)
Bobbie R.
I seriously can not get enough of the assorted noodles. I often crave them. Every time we go there or order out, I tell myself I am going to order something different, but I just can't stay away from the assorted noodles. They are so flavorful and hit the spot every time. Fortunately my partner orders other things and lets me try them, so I can also say the coconut tofu and the pumpkin tofu are delicious, too. And we always enjoy the veggie fresh rolls. Limeade and coconut juice are also tasty.
(5)
Tony W.
Overall, very friendly staff and reasonably-priced food. Also great for sharing. I can't speak for other Burmese food, but I thought the coconut tofu I ordered was pretty boring - think Indian food without the spices. I shared some of the salad that the friend I went with ordered, and it was unfortunately much of the same. I would go back again to give the place the benefit of the doubt, but my first tasting was less than impressive.
(2)
Raymond W.
This was my first time having Burmese food so I'm only giving this a 3. While everything was decent, I didn't like it as much as any other Asian cuisine. The tofu salad was light and had good contrasting textures, but the coconut chicken noodle soup I had was a little bland and was kind of mushy with the egg noodles and the thicker soup. I think that trying some more dishes with someone who is more in the know could improve my Burmese experiences next time around.
(3)
Sasha B.
Delicious delicious food, and inexpensive! I love unique dishes that you don't normally see in restaurants, so YoMa was perfect. First off, an asian restaurant that constantly refills water (let alone gives you any at all...and in a regular sized cup) = awesome. Secondly, there were so many things on the menu I wanted to try, always a good sign. We shared the tea salad, very unique, light, and refreshing. It comes beautifully presented with separated toppings that you mix together. 5 stars Then I had the pumpkin chicken entree, super delicious! Giant chunks of pumpkin and tender chicken, served with rice. 5 stars. I can't wait to go back and try all the other fun stuff on the menu.
(5)
Matt L.
Yeah, this place is Sofa King good. The location is straight up Allston and the building isn't the nicest, but it was seriously some of the best food I've had in Boston for under $40/plate. I was blown away by the flavoring of the food--spot on with balance of sweet/spicy and hints of floral. When going to new restaurants, I tend to be kind of annoying with all my questions about the cuisine, but the waitress was wicked patient and explained the dishes. Definitely looking forward to going back and trying more!
(5)
Stacey D.
I asked a friend of mine, "so what's your favorite place to eat in Boston". "Yo-ma, wonderful hole in the wall Burmese food!" Hole in the wall ethnic restaurants were my forte, so it was with great pleasure and anticipation, that I hopped on the T., and on a dreary, went, film-noir evening trekked here with a buddy from work to try Burmese food. Sadly, I was disappointed. We started with the plata with potato curry, the plata, which is like a crispier, lighter naan bread, was delicious, but the potato curry was on the sweet side, and the sugary tasted overwhelmed all the other flavors. We barely touched it. Following this, I had the catfish soup, and I was sourly disappointed, almost angry. Past reviews have mention big chunks of catfish, but my soup was watery, and almost seemed like it was leftovers. I enjoyed the flavors, but it was more like a savory drink then a soup. There were no chunks of anything, much less catfish. For our entrees, my friend had the pumpkin special with pork, chicken and beef. I had the mango chicken salad. Once again the food was simply so so, there was not much spice nor flavor (so perhaps a good place for not so adventurous eaters), I asked for the spice rack and dumped seasonings on both the pumpkin and salad. The pumpkin special is like a curry, but I keep telling myself, I might as well have gone to an Indian restaurant if I wanted curry. The mango chicken salad is reminiscient of thai or vietnamese salads, but once again I thought the flavor was too mild and bland. As for the prices, they weren't expensive, pretty typical for this kinda of restaurant, but on the whole, I thought it was a let down.
(3)
Helen L.
I absolutely LOVE the food here. The noodles are incredible. However, you have to wait like an HOUR to get your food. The service is horrendous. The first time I went, we waited 30-40 minutes sitting IN THE RESTAURANT before we go our food. The second time, I ordered take out and I ordered like an HOUR before, and when I got there, the food was still not ready. But when you DO get the food, it's wonderful. I got the MeeShay, which is some sort of udon noodles that is spicy and delicious. I LOVE IT. I'm not even sure what Burmese food actually is, but it's sorta like a Thai and Japanese combined. The spices are fantastic, it is very flavorful and very cheap! It's about $8 for a dish, which honestly, is incredibly reasonable for a meal. Especially since anywhere you go, even a sub costs $5-10. If only they can make their food faster!!
(4)
Annie L.
The service was VERY slow! Considering we were 1 of two tables here. We ordered two noodle dishes and both tasted like we could have done better.
(1)
Amara M.
I had no idea what to expect from Burmese food, but Yo Ma exceeded my expectations. My sense just from this first visit is that its a like Thai + Indian + Japanese (subtlety) I tried the plata w/potato curry, the green tea leaf salad and the coconut shrimp with pumpkin. The plata was a flatbread - kind of a cross between a roti and naan. It was served with a creamy, soup-like curry. Very delicious - my only complaint was that for $4.50 we only got one plata. I had a couple bites of the tea leaf salad. Spicy, nutty and delicious. I don't know if I could do a full serving, but I will definitely be ordering this next time. My main course was very good- and a great portion, enough to finish happily, but not be grossly full. I liked the spicy accompaniment but would have liked a little spice. Overall very pleased and excited to explore the menu further.
The menu went back to normal, so I am returning this to 5 stars, but I hate the hours. Open before 4 PM please!
(5)
Alex F.
Went to Yoma on a whim looking to try something different in the Allston area. I am so glad I went. The food was great with so many different flavors and ingredients. We started with the tea leaf salad that had like 10 different ingredients, definitely worth tasting for the flavor adventure. Next we had for our main course the coconut shrimp with pumpkin in curry. Was phenomenal, not to spicy but still had a kick at the same time. The cooked pumpkin was something I have never had, and was worth taking the risk. We also had an extremely delicious noodle dish i think called Meeshay. It was quite spicy but had flavors of pork, cilantro, lemongrass...great combos of flavors. Overall yoma was great, and very bang for your buck. Food comes fast and is really good. Check it out when wanting to try something different.
(4)
Jesse H.
This place used to be amazing before they revamped their menu. Now they do not have the spicy chicken noodle soup, which was the best item on the menu (one of the best soups I've ever had). It's a sad day. I hae no idea what their strategy is but it's not brilliant.
(2)
Mimi X.
I never knew Burmese food (kind of like Indian +Thai) was so awesome! Prices are cheap, and food is tasty! Plus, you can entertain yourself by looking at all the scenic pictures of Burma decorating the walls. Not a place that impresses with atmosphere, but if you love food, it will be forgiven. Try the tea salad (really spicy), plata with chicken dipping sauce, or the chicken mango salad. PS-They are closed on Wednesdays.
Takes Reservations : Yes Delivery : Yes Take-out : Yes Accepts Credit Cards : Yes Good For : Dinner Parking : Street Bike Parking : Yes Wheelchair Accessible : Yes Good for Kids : Yes Good for Groups : Yes Attire : Casual Ambience : Casual Noise Level : Quiet Alcohol : No Outdoor Seating : No Wi-Fi : No Has TV : No Waiter Service : Yes Caters : No
Justin O.
Home cooked quality food. well priced and the waitresses are very frindly
(4)Emily D.
TEA LEAF SALAD. You won't regret it.
(5)Sara S.
I've never had Burmese food, but after sampling their ginger salad at the Taste of Allston, I knew I had to go for a full meal! Susie A. and I started out with their ginger salad, which was even better than I remembered. It's super gingery and loaded with peanuts, shallots, cabbage, and sesame seeds! It's a little spicy, so if you don't like spice, I wouldn't get it. We split the "ShwePaYonTheeHin"- jumbo shrimp cooked with oriental pumpkin (orange and green!), tomatoes, ginger, lemongrass, and cilantro. We're big pumpkin fans, so this dish was right up our alley. It wasn't spicy but it was very flavorful. It was more like a broth than a curry; surprisingly quite light. We also had the KhotSweThot, which is a wheat flour noodle dish with chickpea tofu. It was like a hybrid of Chinese lo-mein, but a LOT better, and a great compliment to the shrimp. I never had chickpea tofu before, but it was delicious and tasted very chickpea-ish! The food wasn't very hot, which is why the rating is 4 stars rather than 5. It's extremely casual inside. It almost looks like a to-go restaurant. They don't have a liquor license, so booze at Deep Ellum down the street before and/or after.The service was good and they take credit cards.
(4)Payal D.
So good! we go here probably 2-3 times a month. The tofu salad is so good, the spice and rice is also delicious, and tofu noodles. I wouldn't suggest the curry though, not into it.
(5)Pixie G.
Just okay. Not exciting and delicious according to our party of 3, 2 of which are fans of Burmese food.
(3)Skyler K.
Tea salad is where it's at! Everything I have ever eaten in my life combined is bland gruel in comparison. We also had pumpkin shrimp and MeeShay, which were both delicious, but had little hope of living up to their predecessor. Service was super-friendly and helpful and politely refrained from openly laughing at me when I had a minor breakdown over a slice of chili that damn near melted my tongue off. Plus, I love anywhere with a "gift shop" selling miniature paper parasols.
(4)Sandy H.
GET THE TEA LEAF SALAD! You must get it if you come here. I enjoyed everything else I got here too. The ginger salad is very ginger-y so get it if you like ginger. It's very refreshing. The entrees are also very good. I've gotten the super pumpkin and the garlic noodles and they were great. I think I'll try the Shan noodles the next time.
(4)Jessica T.
I was a little skeptical coming to this place at first, not knowing what to expect. But damn am I glad I let my husband talk me into it. I lived in Allston for seven years and it's a neighborhood that has always had great international cuisine. Very underrated in my opinion. This place is no exception. The food here is amazing. Friendly service and very reasonably priced. Think of it like a heartier Asian style. Lots of great unique flavors and spice. Come often and try everything. You won't be dissapointed!
(5)Jackie S.
So well priced and delicious. Simple dishes yet lots of flavor. I had the pumpkin chicken and was very satisfied. If you are extra hungry I recommend getting an appetizer. Good service. Small place but it wasn't busy at all. It definitely deserves a chance, I promise you will be happy!
(4)Ramzi B.
I have been in love with Burmese food ever since I tried it last year and had been looking to get my fix somewhere in Boston. After some fairly thorough research (on Yelp, of course), I happened upon YoMa - and discovered it was only a block away from my house! How could I have missed it? I got some friends together a few weeks ago to give it a try, and boy was I disappointed. It's not that MY food was bad - mine was pretty good. But my friend ordered something so horrible, so offensive, that I had to take YoMa's fourth star away. The dish I'm talking about is FRIED FODDER FISH! My friend ordered this dish for the sake of trying something new and was handed a plate of something that looked and tasted like an old sponge soaked in salt water, coated in flour and deep fried! If you're curious as to what fodderfish is (which of course we were after assaulting our digestive systems with it), please refer to this link: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fi… . On to what I liked: 1) The service: the owner served us and was very nice, talking to us about Burma (or Myanmar) and the type of food she liked. 2) I ordered a delicious Curry Shrimp dish with coconut rice. The ingredients were fresh, and the rice was rich and sweet! Very yummy! 3) The tea-leaf salad was really very good. Much better than others I've tried. Don't get me wrong, I'll give this place another shot, but I'll be sure to stay away from a few choice items and stick to the good stuff.
(3)R. D.
This place is great. Really good food, friendly waiters, no rush. A friend and I came to try the place out on a whim. We'd made reservations earlier in the day, but when we arrived at 7:15, the place was completely empty. We weren't worried though. I ordered the Green Tea Leaf Salad. It was a little salty, but really tasty. Little shrimps and fried dal, lots of fresh and wonderful flavors. My friend ordered the Chickpea Tofu Salad. We split out salads in half so we could try each other's. She ended up liking hers better and I liked mine better. The Chickpea Tofu had a texture that reminded me of this Indian delicacy I'd had at someone's place (not my favorite thing in the world but my dad raves about it, so it's an acquired taste). So many options! What to eat for the main course? My friend got the Pumpkin Curry with Shrimp, and I ended up going with a chicken soup that had mushrooms, noodles, and other delectable goodies. Here's my biggest thing of awesomeness about YoMa: The pumpkin curry came with rice, and is mainly a tomato-based curry with chunks of pumpkin and four to six plump shrimp. (I could have used some more shrimp.) I took my first bite and literally dropped my spoon. It tasted EXACTLY like my mom's cooking at home, reminding me of a particular curry with tomato, potato, and peas (no peas in the pumpkin curry btw). I'm Indian, not Burmese. And from Gujarat, where our food is different than the typical Indian food that you get in an Indian restaurant. It's not rich and creamy, like North Indian food is. Anyway, I was completely floored. How does an Indian girl get home cooking in a Burmese restaurant?! That pumpkin curry was just....ridiculous. So so very good. The chicken soup was lovely. Savory, fragrant, and very filling. The broth too was well-seasoned, which is great, especially for clear-brothed soups. By the end we were completely stuffed. Happy and so very satisfied. I will be back soon, YoMa. Now I know that when I want real home cooking, I'll be walking past Punjab Palace or Indian Dhaba to this lovely little gem.
(4)Rachel B.
I had never tried Burmese good, and Friday night was my first experience. Overall the food was great. I had the tofu salad, vegetable soup, and a side of steamed chickpea tofu. I had never had tofu like this -- very creamy yet didn't fall apart. Almost like a soft cheese in texture. The meal was a bit too spicy for me.... my taste-buds approved but unfortunately my tummy did not.... won't go into details on that one... You may not want to go on a Friday night, by the way, because they were so busy and it took us 45 minutes to get our food (table of four)... The ambiance of the restaurant can certainly use a little help. They definitely have the quirky-Asian-restaurant thing going on, but the lighting is pretty harsh. Some of the decor is pretty cute and they even have a little "gift shop" at the counter where they sell various Burmese kitsch. I almost got the little elephant keychain! I will probably go back here because the food tasted great, but my tummy might get pissed at me if I do...
(4)Michael B.
Had a good meal....sat eve....by weds I looked at my bank on line statement and found out that they charged my credit card twice so that caused an overdraft of 35 dollars I went directly to the owner w copy of bank statement which clearly demonstrated this error......thus causing me the overdraft fees the owner refused to aknowledge the error and refused to remove the charge and would not reimburse me for the overdraft charges..,...bad biz decision....food is good but they will cheat you of they can
(1)C T.
Being that this is the only burmese restaurant in boston, I can't complain too much. I get burmese food at home which is a lil heartier with endless portions so my review is very, very biased. They serve okay burmese food, but it's still tastier at home when my mom makes it. :) Sorry!
(3)Laura F.
This place was awesome! The food is unique, must try the spice rice app!
(5)Bernice S.
No frills decor cuz all the zest (and spice!) went into their tasty, unique "cheap eats" - go for a 'combo' with the soup featured in the photo - yum! Easily eat for under $25 for 2 people - drinks included! Friendly service but finding street parking can be a bitch. Still, definitely worth the trip - we'll be back.
(4)PT R.
Yo Ma, you are one of my favorite local staples. If you didn't exist, I wouldn't know where to go. Your pumpkin shrimp -- yum yum yummy. Your tea leaf salad? Delicious! You are affordable, friendly and close by. I only wished you'd deliver but other than that, you are staying on my speed dial forever. And even though I've moved away, you are the only place I visit EVERY time I come back to Boston. Okay, I lied. I visit you and Oleana but shhhhh don't tell.
(4)Jen L.
The tea leaf salad is by far one of the best things my taste buds have ever experienced. Love love love this. If only I could have this every day....
(5)Shang S.
This was my first time having Burmese food, so I didn't know what to expect. I thought that the food here was very excellent for its value. According to the recommendations here I got the green mango salad. It was a little more stronger than I had anticipated - it had a lot of lime juice in the dressing. Another salad I'd recommend is the green tea salad. It has a lot of nuts which gives it a great texture. Two of us got the sweet pumpkin with shrimp, and one of us got curry chicken. All the dishes were well-portioned and pungent. It's not as spicy as you'd expect from other Asian cuisine, felt light on the stomach but filling. I highly recommend swapping in coconut rice into the entrees.
(4)Kirby E.
Went here on Monday. The food was awesome. Started off with the layered bread with chicken sauce soooooo good. I recommend starting with this, you will not be disappointed. We also had the spring rools with eel. They were very refreshing and some of the best that I have had, althought I dont know how you can go wrong with spring rolls. My main entree was teh Pumpkin Chicken which was incredible. The chicken must be slow cooked, it was amazing. I loved the sauce. Added some hot sauce of my own because I love everything spicey. Definitely my favorite boston restaurant in this price range. Will eat there again and again.
(5)John L.
Not the most classy place on earth, but its clean and the ONLY Burmese place I would eat at besides homemade. The owner is really nice. Mohingha is good, but they don't put to many noodles in there for the price. Mango salad is where its at. Overall, very unique tasty spicy food! I love it. Also, its a small place so you might have to wait sometimes.
(4)Kassia K.
This is the first and only Burmese restaurant I've been to (so far), and ooh, it has made me a convert. The Burmese food at YoMa is unique, flavorful, and delicious. While the interior of the restaurant itself nothing special, the food is more than worth the trip to Allston. My boyfriend and I ordered the meal for two, which is a great deal for $25.99. We got a big bowl of spicy soup, a huge crock of jasmine rice, perfectly seasoned shrimp curry, a green mango/cabbage salad, and some sort of spicy dried shrimp concoction. It was the perfect amount of food for two people, and quite a deal for the portion sizes. The two Russian waitresses were adorable and super-attentive, which was nice. Whatever sugar-chunk palate-cleansing things they gave us after the meal were delicious, too. Mmm. YoMa ALMOST makes me wish I still lived in Allston... almost. Highly recommended!
(5)Jennifer L.
I love YoMA! The staff is always very friendly and the food is amazing.You can't go wrong with the Ginger Salad, Chicken Salad and the Pumpkin Shrimp. I would agree with the rest of the yelpers that you are not going for the restaurant decor but the food makes up for it!
(5)Maia B.
I was quite excited when I found Yoma on Yelp - a Burmese restaurant in Boston! For weeks, I tried to get my friends to come with me here instead of getting Thai or Italian food yet again, but they always argued that it was too cold, or too far away, or some other lame excuse. Finally, I decided I couldn't wait any longer, and would take a hellish hour+ ride on the T to try out this place. As I was putting on my coat to leave the dorms, one of my friends asked where I was headed. Turns out, a group of people were looking for somewhere to get dinner, so we all took off for YoMa in the minivan. We weren't disappointed. The restaurant is small, plain, and clean, the usual aesthetic of great restaurants. None of us had had Burmese food before, so it was quite the adventure ordering. I got a fantastic pumpkin curry. I think the group favorites were the spicy mango salad and the ginger salad. The ginger ice cream is a good call too. Also, extremely reasonable prices. Overall, a fun time getting something out of the ordinary - best to share this exotic food with a group :)
(4)Magda T.
Having returned to YoMa, I continue to say this is the best Burmese restaurant on the East Coast, tried Burmese food in New York, Philadelphia, and Washington, YoMa beats them all heads and shoulders. As vegetarians we only have eaten vegetarian dishes and they are amazing, but recently we have gone to YoMa with meat eaters and the both loved their meat dishes: Super Pumpkin with pork and chicken, and pork noodles. Cannot recommend it enough. We'll be back no doubt. Thank you, YoMa for delicious food.
(5)K M.
Wonderful! Thanks to Yelp for convincing me the trip to Allston is SO worth it for this place! We ordered the green mango salad and pumpkin shrimp curry and coconut rice. All 3 were amazingly tasty and perfectly cooked! The green mango salad is unlike anything I've ever tasted & I LOVED it! No liquor, just a couple of Nesteas, and the total was $23 (not including tip)! You cannot beat that price for this high-quality, unique, and delicious food! The staff is very friendly, not rushed, and the place is super-clean. We took a take-out menu because we will definitely be back! By the way, they will be closed on WEdnesdays starting in July because as one of the waitresses said, we need a day off with our family! Of course, everyone needs a day off - these folks clearly work hard to deliver great food & deserve it. It's WORTH the trip! GO NOW!
(5)Andrew J.
GREAT little restaurant service delicious burmese foods. For those unfamiliar with the cuisine, it's similar to Vietnamese in many respects. Our service was very good--we tried a chicken noodle dish and one of the potato 'naan' appetizers. Will be going again in the near future--4 stars for the Reliably deliciously food and customer service.
(4)Andrew R.
Hot damn this place is fantastic. I would have to say that Yoma is my favorite restaurant in Allston. To sum it up in one sentence: the food is authentic, unique, un-pretentious, delicious and cheap. Really cant beat that. My go-to dish is their "assorted noodles" - a big heap of 3 types of noodles with a whole bunch of tofu, fresh vegetables, and a spicy and savory sauce. While I am usually particular to any noodle + meat combination, this one is by far my favorite.
(5)Greg C.
This place is seriously delicious (and really reasonably priced.) I've been there with groups of 4 or 5 a couple of times and everybody in the party has been delighted each time. The staff is friendly, the food comes out fast, but the food is the star. The noodle and salad dishes have complex flavor profiles that elevate what might sound like bland food (I've never before been wowed by cabbage...) into an unusual and tasty treat. As someone who eats a good deal of tofu, I can say that YoMa's ranks amongst the best I've had, and even Tofu haters can be expected to acknowledge the surprisingly savory flavor of this generally bland substance. Also, as other reviewers have said, lots of vegetarian and vegan options for those people that occupy that particular moral high ground. The only downside of YoMa is that portions are a bit small, at least for this ever hungry diner.
(5)Alex C.
If YoMa is the tip of the iceberg for Burmese food, then I am a sold fan of it forever. Like most of the user have said, this place is small and the the decorations are not most eye pleasing. But as a food lover myself, I am all out of the food, and this place would hits the spot. I do have to say the portions are bit small, maybe because I love eating but who knows. Note: Considering that this place is the only Burmese food in Boston, I can't compare to others.
(4)Ryan M.
I have driven past this place several times a week for the past two years. For two years I have told myself that I would try it out sometime. Well, I finally did and I knew it would be good and it was! My wife and I really enjoyed it. There service was very friendly and helpful. The menu was health-conscious. When I asked about a menu item that I had seen on the old web site, I was told it was taken off because they were trying to cut down on really fatty foods. (Me too!) I would totally recommend this place and we can't wait to go back and try some new things!
(5)Tasha M.
Who knew you could develop an addiction to Burmese food? Not I, not 'til now. Yes, the salads are huge & the main dishes are small. So? who cares when you can have salads as amazing as these! Get a salad, a an appetizer ( something deep fried. drool..) an an entree. No worries, you will be very full +happy. Love the sweet pumpkin dish, incredibly flavorful. They adjust spiciness to taste- I recommend at least medium spicy-put some hair on your chest!
(4)Ketan D.
The authenticity of this place will speak to you and you will love the food. They have a separate vegetarian menu which in my case was just fabulous. Food is delicious and a great environment to be in.
(4)Matt S.
went for the first time in two years. had heard a ton about their ginger salad. tried it. wish I were eating it right now instead of typing to YOU about it.
(5)skott d.
fantastic dining in upper allston. great food. lots of vegetarian and vegan options. customer service was fantastic.
(5)Emily A.
Delicious vegetarian food! No complaints except for the service wasn't great. Otherwise food was great. Ask for a veggie menu.
(5)Zizzles A.
It's hard to say the food here is mindblowing when the flavors in so many of the dishes are simple, but the lightness of the whole meal makes it the perfect place to go when you don't want something that sticks to your palette, which for me is most of the time. I'm not trying to say the food is bland, far from it, it's just simple. Lighter on the spices than south asian food, lighter on the oil and salty stuff than chinese, lighter on the sugar and sour stuff than thai. The chickpea tofu salad was still bursting with peanuty and spicy goodness, but you could actually taste the slight bitterness of the cabbage without the copious amounts of fish sauce you might find in a thai salad. The chickpea tofu is also pretty awesome. It's stiffer than plain soy tofu, with the texture of egg whites. You'd have to fry or dry plain tofu to put it in salad, lest it become part of the dressing, but the chickpea version has enough integrity to hold its own cold and plain, adding to the super clean flavor of the salad that goes well with the spiciness. I love pumpkin and I just had to eat their sweet pumpkin with shrimp, but I feared that they would add a lot of sugar to increase the already sweet pumpkin. Not so! They paired it with a simple sautee of tomatoes and onions, large chunks, and some spices, but those were definitely in the background to the pumpkin, tomatoes and onions. It was sweet and sour, my nemisis, but in a very light way, with all the acid coming from the fresh tomatoes, and the sweet coming from the pumpkin (which isn't too sweet). No added sugar or vinegar from what i could tell. The catfish noodle soup was good too, though this was much more heavily spiced, like a soupy curry noodle, which I'm fine with. Hard boiled egg, and a tiny onion cooked until it is soft and sweet, with lime, fish sauce and dried chili on the side. It's not very salty, but if you need more the fish sauce provides plenty. There definitely were no large chunks of cat fish, but it was a great and hearty noodle soup dish. The place is clean, date worthy in decor and ambiance, certainly a wee bit more expensive than say, xinh xinh, especially since most of the entrees are rice plate style. I wish they would offer family style servings without ordering from their limited combo menus. The food is oh so amazing, and the service was super attentative. Yes I went at like 4pm, but the waitress was constantly checking up on us, making sure to put hot stuff on the side for my parents, and giving my mother water right quick when she caught a little pepper and started clearing her throat, before we even had time to ask. Definitely not the kind of service you expect at restaurants of this price point. I'd pay double what they charge for most of the dishes they serve here. God that tofu salad is awesome!
(5)William M.
I actually like this place a little bit better than Burma Superstar for the following reasons: Separate, dedicated vegetarian menu No 1 to 2 hour wait 1/2 the price of Superstar So, in conclusion, Boston is better than San Francisco.
(5)Tom E.
An excellent addition to the pantheon of Asian cuisine in this city, and a great opportunity to try a unique cuisine - Burmese. I went with my Thai friend who grew up so close to Burma that she once cycled there, sent her self a postcard and then came back for dinner. Take it from her that this place is good. REALLY GOOD. We went together on Saturday and she loved it so much she came back alone on the Sunday night for what is in many ways the food she grew up with. The pair of us heartily recommend the beef entree, the mango salad, the noodles and the soup. Ask for everything to be spicy. It will be - but not quite in that acid Thai way. I couldn't help thinking of my Grade 1 Geography World Map during dining here. I'm overly familiar with Thai food from my last 9 months in Boston and I'm a good old friend of Bangladeshi cuisine thanks to the vast majority of London curry houses being of this ilk. Well guess what? Burmese food, like so many others, is a product of it's location. Being much like Thai & Cambodian food but with a taste of Bangladesh built in (not to mention Indian and Tibetan hints). The decor (strange ceiling with dated photos of the local panorama) and rear-end of Allston location don't quite let this place get to five stars. It was deathly quiet too with no music and there is no alcohol either. Kudos on the name though. It allowed me to use the following line... "What did I do last night? I did Yo Ma"
(4)Silpa S.
In my search for a quirky restaurant after much search all over the web I finally saw recommendations for this place. I've never heard anything about Burmese food so I was sold on giving this place a try. I actually went for my birthday dinner there with a few friends. It's a very small place. It doesn't have the most visually pleasing ambiance. However I didn't have any issues with the services. It all went really well. My friends have never tried such "adventurous" food before and they were all really happy with there food, as was I. If you are tired of the same old food this place is a great change of pace and the flavors will not disappoint!
(4)Lidya T.
I came here when it was first open with a few of my friends. At that time the lady/owner who was pregnant was running the whole show from serving, cooking and cashing. Because of that ,service was slow and food was mediocre. Nevertheless, I continue to patronize this place as i know deep in my heart, this place can develop to its full potential as a thriving ethic restaurant. True enough after a few more visits, i notice the improvement of the service, varieties of delicious food on the menu and also growing additions of the distinctive burmese paintings and ornaments on the wall. I will definitely keep coming here for the tasty mohingga and tofu jaw - my two top favorites.
(4)Praful M.
Went there on Sunday afternoon after waking up late from usual Saturday business. Me and my friends walked nearby and picked this one against some other restaurant next to it. I am glad we did. Food is top notch. I had pork with bamboo shoots and my friends had chicken dishes. Everything was cooked well. Server said spicy can be really hot, so I ordered medium. That's not spicy at all. Next time I am upgrading. Kicker here, is the side dish (forgot the name) they serve with rice. It is mix of fried chillies, lentils and some other stuff. Service is decent. I just been here once and I think more I go here, stars will go up. Lentil chicken has pushed rating up by one more star.
(4)Ken M.
I had no idea what Burmese food would be like going into this establishment, I assumed a fusion of asian and indian food, and I'm happy to say I wasn't far off. Something I enjoyed was that there was pork, which is something you won't find in most Indian/Pakistani restuarants. Andy and I both enjoyed our meals and shared samosa like things for an appetizer. The staff was a little too...all about themselves, but that was a really minor annoyance. I'm so glad I live withing walking distance of so many eateries now. My abs, however, are not so thrilled with me.
(4)Dan B.
Burmese food is really unlike any other Asian cuisine. It's lighter than Thai, and more interesting since there are Thai restaurant all over the place..... Anyway, I had the green tea leaf salad, which comes with all the ingredients on separate parts of the plate, and you're supposed to mix it. I though that was cool, since you know exactly what you're eating. It was really crunchy and nutty, and it was overall a really unique salad that I would recommend to anyone who tries this place. I also got the coconut chicken soup. It was somewhat similar to Thai coconut milk soup, except it was less spicy. They actually give you a separate plate of the spices so you can choose how spicy you want it to be, which is great. Oh, and they have a sign that says "People love us on Yelp" which I thought was pretty funny.
(4)stefanie n.
Went on a Sunday and the place was completely empty and utterly silence which was a little unnerving. Our server was adorable and I'm pretty sure she disappeared after we ordered to cook our food herself. Got fresh rolls for an app that weren't filled with much other than rice noodles. Also, the pumpkin in the shrimp and rice main dish tasted slightly rotten. My friend couldn't decide what to order so he got an entree that seemed to have everything; rice, noodles, pork tofu, egg etc. The dish was very underwhelming and basically had no flavor. So many people like YoMa so I'm going to assume my experience was unusual and give it another try.
(3)Henry M.
Being Burmese, YoMa is the only place I can get a taste of home in Boston. Sad. The food isn't outstanding, the atmosphere is lacking a lot, but the bottom line is, its the ONLY place in Boston you can get Burmese food. Compared to places in New York, San Francisco, um...Burma, it just doesn't compare. But again...ONLY BURMESE FOOD IN BOSTON. Sidenote: staff there are really sweet and genuine. If anything, check out YoMa for them, and their children. And their children's children. UPDATE (8/26/2008): I just logged on and wanted to see how my lovely Burmese restaurant is doing - i'm glad to see most reviews are good, but I can't help but get a little annoyed when people try to describe it as a mix of other ethnic foods. "didn't taste if there was a difference between what they use and curry from Indian restaurants" - really? Should Burmese food really be rated based on how it tastes compared to Indian food? Is it better if it's different? Just a little mini rant is all :) It's hard to hear is all :( Imagine someone saying, "Oh, spaghetti is alright, kinda like tomato lo mein."
(4)Michele C.
Love this place. It's one of my favorite restaurants. One of the dishes I seem to order over and over is their mango salad. I find all the ingredients to be fresh. The veggies are always crisp. The price are extremely reasonable. I go here quite a bit.
(5)Courtney H.
I've never had Burmese food and wanted to give this place a try. It's tiny, but clean, and the food was very tasty. I had a chicken curry noodle dish that had a good balance of flavors -- a little salty, a little spicy, and a little sour. My boyfriend ordered a pumpkin and shrimp dish that was also good. The tea is really good. Very smooth. I think I drank about 5 cups of it. Fortunately, they have a bathroom and it is also clean. My noodle dish was just the right size for me for lunch, but my boyfriend's dish wasn't enough food for him. If you get a rice dish, I'd recommend getting a side dish to go with it, or you might leave hungry. I can't wait to go back and try more dishes!
(4)Jenny N.
I was excited to try YoMa, but the menu was pretty foreign to me. It seemed somewhat similar to Thai cuisine, and of course, I could not pronounce anything! We started off with an appetizer of fried chickpea "pancakes" which were more like crackers because they were crisp and a bit chewy. They came with a sweet and sour dipping sauce that was was really good. I ordered the stewed pork with noodles (soft and white, but more like lo mein than udon). While I enjoyed the pickled sour cabbage that was mixed in, I think the flavor of this dish was a bit weak despite the spice. Also some of the pork pieces were really fatty and I didn't enjoy that. The boy had curry chicken with wheat noodles and pieces of hardboiled egg. I thought it was on the lukewarm side, and I think he would have liked it if they added more meat to the curry. The prices are OK overall, but I was a bit surprised that they charge $3-4 for a bowl of rice! The portions are not very big, but read Aye M.'s review for a great explanation on the portion sizes for Burmese cuisine. For myself, I think the size of my dish was OK. However, my boyfriend is a pretty big eater and he definitely left hungry. I think maybe next time I will try one of the recommended salads. My only other experience with Burmese cuisine was Burma Superstar in San Francisco, and I can't say that it wowed me either. So I guess Burmese cuisine just isn't for me. I would recommend it if you are adventurous and want to try something different. And I loved the super duper friendly waitresses! It seemed like they had many regular patrons on the Saturday night that we visited, so they must be finding their own niche. I was also impressed that they were featured on Chronicle--especially being so new. Maybe if I had taken time to read the reviews on the walls, I would've found a new dish to love....
(3)Avery M.
I walked out of the vegan restaurant next door to come here, and it is a choice I am very happy with. Unfortunately it was empty when we ate there, but the atmosphere was still friendly. I think this is a family owned place; the waiter was very shy, which was cute. The food was pretty good. The spice wasn't very evenly distributed, but it was still 100% authentic and quite an exotic array of ingredients. I probably should have sprung for dessert, which looked good...
(4)Min L.
After months of passing by this place and saying that we would try it out someday, my friend and I finally took the extra step of parking the car and walking in. The decor was cute and simple; the waitress was helpful and friendly. Neither my friend nor I had ever tried Burmese food before, so when we first sat down, we just stared at the menu for a long time, whispering to ourselves the wonderfully foreign blends of ingredients and contemplating the possible tastes they would produce together. The waitress watched as we struggled to find just 2 dishes to try (we wanted to try them all). She came over and recommended 2 dishes which we quickly agreed to go with. I had the sweet pumpkin (whose taste was slightly reminiscent of kaddo, the pumpkin dish I'm obsessed with at The Helmand in Cambridge) with shrimp and jasmine rice. YUM. My friend had the dish with all the noodles (and the longest list of ingredients on the menu) and that was pretty good too, though I was much more excited about my own dish. The portions were perfect and the prices are awesome. I'll definitely be back often this summer to try the rest of the menu. PS, thanks to the waitress for rescuing me from an almost-ruined meal! I didn't notice the super spicy chili peppers in my dish until I took my first bite and started fanning my mouth like a madwoman. Usually I pick those out. The waitress immediately brought me a glass of water and a dish of sweet Burmese candies to help get rid of the spicy - without which, I would not have been able to finish that meal.
(4)Ellen B.
I was the only person here for lunch on a Thursday. Sketchy but I guess it was lateish. As yelpers suggest, I got the tea leaf salad, which was amazing: so unique & refreshing & tasty. I also had pumpkin curry, which was quite enjoyable. The waitress was nice & friendly & refilled my water several times (though not really enough--not that the food was spicy, I just drink a lot). I'd totally return.
(4)Heather P.
I had been dying to try this place ever since I came across it I viewed it from my car. Finally last weekend the man and I went. We first went to Deep Ellum for a drink (a new favorite bar now) and then headed to the completely empty YoMa. I've read service was poor here when it gets busy, so we were a bit relieved. Normally an empty restaurant is not a good sign, however throughout the course of our meal it filled up a lot! We started with the spicy beef salad which was amazing! It had a lot of kick and we only ordered it medium. I would recommend getting this salad as an accompaniment to other dishes as opposed to an appetizer. I saved some for my meal and it was much better mixed in with the other food. We would have ordered a traditional appetizer, however nothing stood out to us from the selection. For our meals we shared a chicken curry dish over what looked like spaghetti noodles and a pork and squash dish. The chicken was very tasty but sparce on the meat. The pork was great, however there was a spice in it that I couldn't get past. It wasn't the taste, but more the smell. It evoked some sort of nausea in me that made it difficult to eat. I thought the restaurant as a whole was VERY unique and different from what I am used to as far as Asian cuisine. I like it a lot, didn't love it. My boyfriend on the other hand loved it! I'm sure we will be back to try out some other dishes, and the fact that it's super cheap doesn't hurt!
(4)Maria R.
really fresh and tasty. unique to other Asian food. I recommend the plata, hot and sour soup, tea salad and curry shrimp and tofu. So good!
(5)Sara K.
Yoma seems to sit on the "sketchy" side of the road (corner of Cambridge/Brighton, Union Sq), but we walked in to see a pleasantly bright, decorated restaurant, that was bigger than we expected, very clean, very neat. My only issue that I could not get past was the cheezy "Welcome to Yoma!" Sign. What does Yoma mean? Maybe other Yelpers can tell me? But the most important thing, is that the food was delicious. Plata (flaky bread, similar to Na'an, but more buttery. It was delicious dippied in the chili oil set at the tables. Garlic Noodles, thin, soft, luscious noodles, with bits of garlic bites, peanuts, scallions, pork (that I substituted for tofu). A well sized dish, but I added a little cabbage, because I am not a fan of dishes that come loaded with nothing but carbs! ----I would lovee a full veggie version of it! Royal Noodle, was my companion's dish, the coconut chicken sauce was delightful, and I wish that my own dish had had some sauce like that, it made that dish feel more authentic than mine (although obviously it's just different.). I still do not really understand the hard-boiled egg in it though.... All in all, the price was right, and we will definitely be back.
(4)Amber L.
Went in to grab a quick meal to go because it's been consistently coming up in conversations with friends. I knew exactly what I was getting - a burmese dish with coconut curry and noodles (I forgot the name!) My aunt makes the same dish and it's delicious, and I was really craving it. Hung around the restaurant for a bit while they were getting my order ready. When I went to pay, I handed her an American Express, she went to the register and came back and told me they don't accept AmEx. Fine, handed her a Discover, and the same thing, she went to the register came back and told me they don't accept Discover. Luckily I had cash that I could pay with, but I just think that you should be fairly aware of which cards you do and don't take. Took my food home, it wasn't bad, but wasn't as good as my aunt's (of course). I haven't tried anything else on their menu, but I still hear great things. Food was good, but not amazing.
(3)Mats K.
Though I completely lack the vocabulary to explain the dishes I ate here (I don't know much about Burmese food) I can attest to the fact that it was absolutely delicious. The service was quick and kind, the prices were reasonable and parking was easily available behind the restaurant. The decor was not fancy, or even particularly Burmese, using the same decorations as the previous business in the building. That being said its a brand new restaurant\, and this may change. Come here, its wonderful to support a new culture of food and make it succeed in Boston. It is also very good food at a very reasonable price.
(5)Scott F.
I finally got around to trying YoMa last night. I really liked the dish I had. I have no idea what it was called. It was the one with pork/chicken and jalapeno. It was really good. The portions are smallish but then again they are cheap. (entrees average about $8) My only real complaint: No liquor license. In fact, it kind of seemed like the only beverage they offered was water - the waitress didn't ask what we wanted to drink, but rather asked if wanted water or not.
(3)Daphne M.
I've traveled to Burma and eaten a few Burmese meals cooked by a native, and my almost-hometown of Philly has an excellent Burmese restaurant. So my big sorrow about Boston cuisine was that, like most east coast cities, it lacked a Burmese eatery of its own. Thank you, YoMa, for filling my void so well! In the spirit of authenticity, this place is nothing fancy - very low prices and seriously minimal decor. The latter can probably be put down to the fact that the restaurant is new and a fresh venture for the owner, but it really doesn't matter. The meals are cooked to order and brought out as they are ready, so dig right in and don't worry about offending your waiting friends, sillies - they'll understand! My chickpea tempura was crunchy on the edges, chewy in the middle, delightfully oily, and served with a zesty dipping sauce. I ordered the pan fried egg curry with potato, and lord, that flavorful tomato-y sauce transported me right back to Bagan. Meanwhile the smell of my friends' dishes of ket jee keit had my mouth watering, and I vowed that the next time I'd have them make me a vegetarian version of those noodles. All of that, and one of the best waitresses I have had - so warm and friendly, very attentive, but not pushy. It probably helped that I mentioned having spent time in Burma, but at any rate, I hope I see her (whose name spelling I won't bother to butcher here) again when I return!
(5)Kathleen M.
I've had my eye on this place since it opened several months back, and I finally tried it last night. I wasn't put off by the lack of decor - that sort of thing doesn't bother me, as long as a restaurant is clean, and YoMa is. Service was fine, and so were the prices. I don't remember the names of what we had but I had something that amounted to shrimp lo mein, and my fiance had a dish with roast pork, nuts, and veggies on rice. I think we should have asked for suggestions or tried one of the curry type dishes ... what we had wasn't spicy or special ... I guess I just expected some cool flavors that would make this different from Chinese or other Asian food. I did like the hot, gingery cabbage side dish they gave us, and I know if I would have ordered an entree with that kind of flavor, my rating would be higher. So I'm going to go back and try something different .... I think YoMa has potential.
(3)Francine W.
the coconut tofu is AMAZING. I also enjoy the appetizer sampler. This family-owned restaurant is so cozy and the food is amazing. It's like a cross between asian and indian but more towards asian. The service is great and the owners/workers are so cute and friendly. Yum!
(4)Melanie R.
well priced, good food. cozy restaurant, nice staff. the menu was a bit foreign to us, but we were impressed!
(4)Lisa Y.
YOMA is easily my most favorite restaurant in Boston. Thawdar, the owner is so sweet. True definition of mom and pop shop and she really cares about her food and the happy diner!!
(5)Kayla S.
Had gone here once the other week. Never had been so I didn't really know what to expect. Overall it was good service. Everyone was really nice. The venue was cute but very small. It was not crowded when I went so it was fine but can't imagine if it was crowded. The cons would probably be the portions. They were tiny. I mean unreasonably small for the price. Also. My boyfriend's took a little longer so mine was sort of cold and his was incredibly hot when it came out. Both of ours were warm dishes. They should have kept mine in a hot box or something
(3)Greg W.
Fantastic, interesting fresh Asian flavors and excellent service My brother and I went for dinner and ordered the mango chicken salad, a side of the Bala Chong (spicy and crispy mixture of chili, garlic, onion and beans) the Mandalay Plata (crispy bread with potato and chickpea sauce to dip in) to share The mango chicken salad was extremely fresh and had a nice garlicky taste from the sauce. We mixed the Bala Chong in which gave it some extra kick and crunchiness. The Mandalay Plata was also delicious, the bread had a perfect texture and heat and the sauce was rich and tasty I ordered the Pumpkin Chicken for my main at the suggestion of our waitress and it was fantastic. The pumpkin was meaty and tender and the tomato sauce was excellent. I threw in some hot chili paste to mix it all together and give it some additional heat This place is a little more expensive than some of the Asian food you'll find in Allston but I have never had flavors like that in the US before. The service was also fantastic. Our waters were filled constantly and our waitress gave us great suggestions
(5)Cindy D.
Restaurant itself is a quaint little hideaway, run by friendly folks who are patient and can recommend a few good items to try. I liked the tea leaf salad for its texture more so than its taste (lots of crunch to each bite!) It's a bit different from the ones I've tried in California. Portions here are smaller and they use less garlic, but it's the first Burmese place I've see here, so I'm a fan! The pumpkin chicken with rice and golden chicken noodle were good, with a thin curry sauce to coat the noodles. So much flavor! Warning: parking is non-existent in this part of town. The restaurant is situated at the intersection of Scary and Scarier, especially since you're trying to find street parking and still go with the flow of traffic. It took us 20 minutes of looping around to find a spot. There's no paid private lots around the area either.
(4)Pradeep R.
This place came very highly recommended but unfortunately I wouldn't recommend it myself. I tried the Rainbow 23 dish. It came cold, it tasted like leftovers. It hardly had any chicken in it. It was bland at best. This is not worth the $10.95. This was supposed to be "spicy" l, not even close. I also tried the Garlic Chicken Noodle. Again nothing to write home about. It was a tad better than Rainbow 23 though which was the only silver lining. This also is not worth the $10.45. I tried the Balachong "large". This thing cost me $5.50 for something that should really cost like a buck at most. It is basically fried urad dal mixture for those who know Indian snacks. The chicken dumplings were pretty good. The ambience wasn't great. It felt constricted.
(2)Lindsay M.
Wow! I've never had Burmese food and after trying it I will definitely be coming back! What an experience! It's a mix between Thai and Indian food. So good! My friend and I got eggplant tofu and coconut pumpkin shrimp. At first, since it was take out, I didn't think it would be enough food, but I was wrong! It was light and filling, without feeling bloated or stuffed! We also had the Mandalay Plata which wish incredible! Two thumbs up!!
(5)M N.
I can't find Burmese food as good anywhere else. Anything pumpkin of theirs is so delicious. And they have this side stuff that you sprinkle on rice that is so delicious....it's salty, garlicky. Mmmm
(5)Kim S.
We went the family style route and ordered many dishes to share. The tea salad featured Burmese pickled tea, sesame seeds, peanuts, crispy peas, garlic, tomato and iceberg lettuce. On the Yelp photos, the salad was shown with the different ingredients portioned out on its own section of the plate to be mixed by the guests. I was a bit disappointed that our tea salad had already been mixed for us in the kitchen. The roasted chicken mango salad was very similar to a staple dish in Thai and Cambodian cuisine. The big difference is that the chicken was roasted instead of boiled or steamed which added a crispy texture to the salad. The spicy shrimp salad was not spicy at all and also reminded me a of a Thai/Cambodian dish. The only thing missing was the Thai red basil and lemon grass to make it the same. We split 3 different noodles dishes among the 7 of us. The Garlic chicken noodle was the best of the 3, we actually wanted to order another one. It was a bit heavy on the black pepper but boasted the most flavor. The dish shared the same roasted chicken from the mango salad. The other two noodles were a bit tricky. The simple chicken noodle item was described on the menu as steam wheat noodles, roasted chicken, cucumber, potato, onion, tofu, peanut, garlic, cilantro, scallion and tamarind sauce. The dish was bland and I couldn't taste any of the tamarind sauce. It reminded me of lo mein from a Chinese restaurant sans the oil and heavy soy sauce. The Rainbow 23 noodle dish on the menu looked intriguing. The dish was a combination of four types of steamed noodles, roasted chicken, mango, cucumber, onion, potato, tofu, peanut, garlic, cilantro, scallion, and tamarind sauce (aka an Asian "Kitchen sink" dish) Although I was really excited to try it, there was too much going on in my mouth and it left me overwhelmed. I do love peanuts in my noodle dishes but I prefer them crushed not whole roasted. It's a bit harder to eat and all most of the salad and noodle dishes had peanuts. The rice plates on the menu were non descriptive with the exception of what the meat, seafood or vegetables were. We had no idea how it was going to be prepared and if we were getting a curry, stew or stir fry. The "Happy Shrimp" had steamed shrimp, bamboo and potato and was like a curry dish. It was the best out of the three rice dishes. Although no one was fighting over the tofu and eggplant, the portion was really small. There were only 5 pieces of tofu and 3 chunks of eggplants. It was also like a curry stir fry dish. The chicken squash dish was like a curry chicken stew. It was alright. We ordered a delicious side of shrimp balachong. The spicy and crispy bits were reminiscent of a Cambodian/Thai "Bok Trey" rural dish made with dried fish, salt, sugar, garlic, msg and smashed with a mortar and pestle eaten with white rice. We topped off our rice dishes and noodles with the spicy shrimp balachong it added a crispy texture and bursts of flavors. We liekd it so much that we got another of it to eat at the restaurant and some of us even bought some to go to eat with plain rice or rice porridge. The total came to about $ 150.00 for: 2 Mandalay plata bread with sauce 1 plata bread 2 steamed Shrimp Dumpling 2 Shrimp BalaChong side 1 tea salad 1 spicy shrimp salad 1 chicken mango salad Garlic chicken noodle Simple Chicken noodle Rainbow 23 noodle Chicken and squash rice dish Happy Shrimp rice dish Tofu and eggplant rice dish Extra white rice To see food pics, check out mami-eggroll.com/2014/05…
(3)Kat T.
One of the most amazing places for Asian (Burmese) food! The first time I stopped by this place, the food was just spectacular! I've never had Burmese food before, and it was just amazing! The second time, it was just as great, and it's become one of my favorite places to eat! The location is great but place is not very noticeable. The 'tea cafe' sign makes it a bit confusing but it's not only cafe, it's a regular Asian food restaurant. The ambience is comfortable and simple which is great. Food: highly recommend vegetarian samosas (blew my mind) and spiced mountain (has cut-up samosa in it with several different vegetables, lots of flavor and textures). I tried Happy Egg (contains bamboo shoots, tofu and egg), it was quite flavorful! Rainbow 23 is a great dish if you're not sure what type of noodles you like as it has a combination of several different types. This dish is also quite interesting and unique. Drinks: Ragoon tea, coconut juice all are amazing but very sweet. Highly recommend this place!
(5)Aswin V.
Authentic Burmese restaurant. Great Rangoon Tea. And they serve free plain rice with any entree you order. I'd go back there any day. Plenty of options for both Non vegetarians and vegans.
(5)Lily G.
I was recently introduced to this place. Right away I was drawn to their salads. I tried the spicy chicken mango salad the first time I came here and it did not disappoint me. It was spicy enough to taste but not so spicy that my mouth was on fire. It was light and the portion was just right. Their food is incredibly affordable. I found myself craving their food and here I am again. Back for more!
(5)Mandy E.
So, one of the reasons why I joined yelp in 2012 was to rave about this hidden Allston gem. They remodeled a few months ago and as their #1 fan, I thought YoMa deserved another review. YoMa, to me, is the epitome of excellence. The dictionary defines "superlative" as: of the highest kind, quality, or order, surpassing all else (or others). I define it as dinner at YoMa. The atmosphere is incredibly relaxing. Walls are adorned with photos from Burma and there is soft music playing in the background at all times. It's a 5/5 each and every time, and I've been a regular for well over three years- I truly appreciate the consistency. My friends like to joke and say I'm YoMa's best advertisement due to my excessive raving and praising (they're not paying me I swear)! My favorite picks off the menu haven't changed, Rainbow 23 is still my go-to. I absolutely hated the tea leaf salad the first time I tried it but ended up craving it a week later, and I've been hooked ever since! The coconut chicken noodle soup is the thickest most flavorful creamy delicious comforting soup you will ever try. Portions are just right, and the prices are good under $10 for a meal. I will continue to tell everyone I meet about YoMa, it's that good. As lame as it sounds this place feels like you're home and I really love that because that feeling can't be bought. With a beautiful interior, lovely service and fantastic unique food what's not to love? To get an authentic Allston experience stop by before 9pm and after your meal head over to The Model or Deep Ellum for post dinner drinks.
(5)Claire E.
Yoma Burmese restaurant has the most amazing tea leaf salad. It is SO good. And, its almost impossible to find this dish anywhere else. I also like their ginger salad and their plata bread. I would have given it five stars but the atmosphere is not great, so we usually get take out. They used to have more extended hours opening around 11:00 am and then staying open until late. Now, they are only open from 4:00 pm - 10:00 pm, so basically dinner only. I used to love to get the tea leaf salad on Saturdays for lunch! Otherwise though, the food is excellent and the owners are really nice. She always remembers us. Check it out if you are in Allston, but like I said, I do recommend taking the food to go. No liquor license either, fyi.
(4)Chenkai L.
This is my first time to a burmese restaurants so not much to compare by. Let me first start by saying they have some really unique items on the menu that I have never seen in my life, the combinations of ingredients used in their dishes and unlike any asian cuisine I had. Seems like the central feature of burmese dishes is mixing of vegetable, nuts, dried beans, tea leafs to make some sort of salad. I got the tea salad (burmese pickled tea, sesame seeds, peanut, crispy peas & garlic, tomato, lettuce) because I felt it was a main burmese dishes. The ingredients were fresh and the salad was refreshing, but not being a big fan of salads, I find it hard to enjoy this dish, especially with the combination including peanuts and crispy peas, I didn't feel it was a very good mixture. I also had Dried shrimp BalaChong (Mixtures of dried shrimp, shallot, garlic, and chili), which was extremely salty and surprisingly spicy. Also, I'm not sure how much oil was in the BalaChong but the whole thing seem fried. In addition, I tried some Garlic Chicken Noodle. The broth was yellow and creamy and the noodles was standard, seems to be a nourishing dish to recover from sickness. Though I am not the biggest fan of burmese food after this experience, something tells me this restaurant is a haven for vegans and vegetarians due to their unique ingredients and dishes offered.
(3)Sho Y.
This was my first experience with Burmese food. Ordered the coconut shrimp and they were delicious! The chicken platas appetizer was good as well. Will definitely go again.
(4)Archana M.
We were in Boston for the weekend and the first thing I did was look up for Burmese restaurants. We love Burmese food but haven't been able to spot one in Chicago. We walked a bit from Harvard square to get to this place. The long walk was totally worth it. The place is tiny and nothing fancy. But we had an amazing vegetarian dinner. Definitely don't miss the tea salad. The simple noodles was the best noodle dish I've tasted - spicy and flavorful. Plus it's a BYOB. Must visit if you're in Boston!
(5)Laura S.
This place is so good. It's BYOB, which is totally key if you're trying to save money on your booze bills, which you KNOW I am. I first had Burmese food out in a swanky little joint in Berkeley, CA, and where Yoma has a long way to go before it reaches that point, however Yoma manages to completely quench my cravings for Burmese. I often go after work, and I am never disappointed. If you're new to Burmese, you HAVE to get the Tea Salad. It's the best. thing. ever. I'm also pretty partial to all of the noodle dishes. Last night i tried the Tofu Curry. Actually you can't go wrong with this menu. It's so freaking good. Go here. Eat here. love it. Drink whatever you want (beer/wine!!)...no corking fee!!!!!!! just do it.
(4)Ekta K.
Great service to begin with. Food was very refreshing. Ate Burmese food for the first time and enjoyed all the vegetarian options !! Balanchong was very flavorful a little on the hotter side. Garlic tofu noodles were full of garlic and pepper as explained in the menu. Overall the restaurant is definitely worth a try for those seeking a slightly different Asian cuisine experience.
(5)Ayelet R.
I absolutely love this place - it may just be my favorite place to eat in the Boston area. As most of the other reviewers have mentioned, the Tea Leaf Salad is amazing. I'm not someone who usually gets excited about salads, but this is the exception - it's a crunchy, crispy, amazing blend of flavors. I also love their vegetarian menu, where they offer vegetarian alternatives to almost all of their usual dishes. I've been here many times and still haven't exhausted my options, and have loved everything I've tried so far. Vegetarians - try their chickpea tofu! Their noodle dishes are especially delicious - flavorful but not swimming in sauce, spicy enough to provide a kick but not be overpowering (although they are also more than willing to modify for those who aren't fans of spicy food), and full of fresh vegetables. Also since the renovation, they've added the Rangoon Tea, which is delicious. Just writing this review has made me ache to go back!
(5)Leslie W.
Great place, it's BYOB which is kinda nice. Started with tea salad which deserves the raves it gets on yelp. Great mix of textures and flavors. Our group tried several entrees. My favorite was the Royal Noodle but the Happy Chicken and Rainbow 23 were all great. Our server was super nice and attentive. All in all I'm now a fan of Burmese!
(5)Emilio S.
Yoma is a great little restaurant and very reasonably priced. As a matter of fact, this is probably the cheapest spot in the neighborhood, but the food is excellent. I don't really have a frame of reference by which to judge the quality of a Burmese meal, but I enjoy this place. During the cold months they serve a spicy chicken noodle soup that will warm a spirit battered by the cold, dark, New England winter.
(4)Brian K.
Solid, authentic, and yummy Burmese food with a separate vegan menu which rules. The service is great and the place is intimate with cool pictures from Myanmar (Burma).
(5)Tiffany L.
I went here on my TCO friend's recommendation...BEST DECISION I made today. I never tried Burmese food before so I was super pumped haha. I walked in around 1 pm on a Tuesday and we were the only customers. The interior is super cute, simple, and clean. The walls are baby pink! They had what I'm guessing is Burmese music playing. They also had a delivery area - I wish they could deliver to Wellesley.. Service is amazing. The waiter's English wasn't good, but she was super nice and so attentive. My water was literally refilled after every other sip. The food comes so quickly, too, which I was super thankful for (I missed breakfast cause I slept in...#collegestrugs). I got the hot Myanmar tea. I expected some herbal hot tea but what I got was a gift from the heavens...too much? It was just so good. It's like the condensed milk tea they serve at Hong Kong breakfast restaurants, but a thousand times better. It was the perfect level of sweetness and I was so sad when I finished it. The serving isn't big - half the size of a Starbucks tall beverage. Literally 10 minutes after we ordered, the dishes came TEEHEE: Bean Plata: I could smell it before it left the kitchen haha in a good way. It's similar to a scallion pancake, but it's SO much better. It's a bit crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside. It's salty but a bit sweet at the same time...it's hard to explain. The beans that came with it were good, too. They weren't super flavorful, but the pancake thingys were so soft and yummy. There were 8 pieces in the order, and the two of us finished it pretty easily. I think I might order one just for myself next time... Spicy Chicken Noodle Soup: Really good. Even for me, the bowl was pretty large. The noodles are glass noodles. It tastes similar to Tom Yum soup, but it's not as salty. The chicken soup was subtle and light, not too spicy. I finished the noodles, but couldn't finish the soup. I love the tartness of it though. Eggplant Peanut Chicken: This dish was pretty good. Portion is generous. The peanut sauce was super thick haha I feel like they literally put a spoonfuls of peanut butter into it. But I really liked it. The flavor was subtle unlike most Asian restaurants. I love eggplant and this eggplant was cooked perfectly - it was soft enough but not too soggy and gross. The chicken part was okay in comparison - it tasted really healthy and firm haha which is why I didn't like it as much. The food here is super light and refreshing - I felt like I had a salad for lunch leaving the restaurant. I actually really loved this place and would def go back a second, third, and even fourth time haha. And I really want to try their tea salad. Emily, take meeeeee. Must try desserts/shakes next time!
(5)Katie C.
Amazing Black Tea Salad. - MUST ORDER. Great Chicken Pumpkin Curry Chick Pea appetizer is delish. Food is salty, service is AMAZING! Don't order the "ice cream salad" for dessert - it's an American ice cream sundae with raisins :)
(4)Roy M.
Great food. I had a wonderful tamarind juice drink. Rainbow salad had fabulous flavor and crispy taste. Everything was subtle, tasty and unusual. They can adjust spice to meet your desires. Prices are reasonable. Restaurant very clean.staff is great and friendly Beautiful pictures of Myanmar that complements the food. Ginger ice cream was fabulous with tasty chunks of ginger. A very pleasant surprise. I'll be back.
(4)Ian Y.
Let me start by giving my review some context. I enjoy eating a simple, healthy diet. For me, it's nice to eat out once in a while, but nothing beats a down-to-earth, home-cooked meal that just hits the spot. So, being in the Boston area for a conference for a few days and having all my meals catered or served at a restaurant, I was really starting to feel sick. My body was simply begging me to go home and detox from all the rich foods that I had eaten over the last couple of days. It had gotten to the point where my body was pretending that it wasn't hungry at all, even though I hadn't eaten for hours. So, the last thing I wanted to do on my final night in Boston was to eat out at another restaurant. But, boy, did this restaurant impress me. Maybe it's because the food served here resembled the food I had growing up, but there was something about the way the food was prepared that made it simultaneously simple and irresistibly delicious. I ordered the Royal Noodle dish (NanJeeThoh) -- the noodle dishes, by the way, are the way to go -- and upon taking one bite, my appetite changed from "no more, thank you" to "more, please!" The people in my dinner party also exclaimed at how good their food was, and as a result, we couldn't help but try each other's dishes. The service was both friendly and FAST on all fronts: ordering, food arriving, and paying the bill. And the restaurant owners didn't pressure us to leave upon closing time. Vegetarians will be happy to know that there is a vegetarian-specific menu made available upon request. And being full-fledged, it won't disappoint. Oh, and did I mention that the food is super cheap? Win. Some things to watch out for that could possibly cause irritation: There's only one toilet (for ALL patrons) and there is a $10 minimum to use a credit card. They will also try to limit you from using more than 2 credit cards on a single bill. All in all, though, I have to give this place credit for not only being a gem in the rough (literally, given its physical location) but for also drastically shifting my mealtime attitude. I'm not surprised it won one of Boston Globe's "Best of the New" honors, even if it was in 2008.
(4)Jeannie D.
We never tried Burmese food before. Well, we are not really familiar with what it entails. It's not too bad yet it wasn't amazing either. They have an extensive vegetarian menu so that is a plus for people who are looking for that. The atmosphere is pretty nice with their bright colorful walls and traditional music
(4)Katie B.
Pretty solid, but not overly memorable. This is a pretty authentic restaurant, as far as I can tell. I've never been to Myanmar/ Burma before so it's hard to say how this compares to "real" burmese food. However, I enjoyed my meal nonetheless. Try the Tea Salad if you want something different! Lot's of texture and flavor.
(4)Jenn S.
good place for burmese food. i think i enjoyed the tea leaf salad from burma superstar in SF better, but their food was very well done, nicely spiced/ seasoned, and good portions. I would recommend the seafood dish (i think it was alled happy shrimp or something like that?), and really enjoyed their curry infused dishes.
(4)Kiki P.
BEST and ONLY Burmese restaurant in Boston. I religiously go to Yoma at least once a week. I am definitely their most frequent customer. I always get the same two dishes...the RICE and SPICE and the burmese tofu noodles from the vegetarian menu. Yes, every time. Yes, they have a vegetarian menu...you have to request it though. My favorite is the RICR AND SPICE. It is flavorful and they use very little oil. If you ask for it spicy, they will actually make it spicy. Woohoo! The Burmese Tofu Noodles are amazing and the tofu is unique. They use this tofu made out of chickpeas which just melts on your mouth and goes so well with the egg noodles. I usually ask for it spicy and the dish is full of spices and flavor. The only reason the restaurant is four stars instead of five stars is their lack of customer service. They are not very attentive and several servers don't speak English. The owner herself is super nice and speaks fluent English though. Consistency is another story. The food is different every time, but I can assure you that I am never disappointed. It always hits the spot. Whenever I am entertaining a vegan or vegetarian guest, I always bring them here. Vegetarians seem to LOVE this restaurant. Make sure you ask for the vegetarian menu! Another note is that the restaurant is often closed around the Holidays. I tried to go the first week in December and I drove all the way into Boston. I was so annoyed when I read their sign which said "Closed for the Holidays until January." Therefore if you plan on visiting during the Holidays just call before you go...Otherwise..ENJOY!
(4)Dhaval A.
Like many other yelpers, this was our first visit to this restaurant. Sometimes I think that restaurants located in urban areas or close to student concentrations get excessively good reviews just because. So here is our experience, we ordered a few items of the list that seemed interesting, Tea Salad, Garlic Tofu Noodle, Mandalay Plata. The tea salad was disgusting.. it seemed that they prepare all the items early in the day and keep serving the same s*** all day. We had gone at around 8 pm which is close to closing time, but you would still expect decent food if you are paying for it. The Mandalay Plata tasted like a very watered down dish, true burmese food is not this bland and tasteless, this was not burmese. The Noodles, we had ordered garlic noodles and asked them to hold off on the chicken since we had vegetarian diners, but they showed up with a dish with chicken shavings, by the time we realized there was chicken in it, most of us had helped ourselves to a serving, on asking the waiter, he said no this is not meat. We asked him to check with the kitchen who confirmed that it was indeed meat. Since we had already taken a serving each, we could no longer eat the other food that was on the plate. The waiter was willing to not charge us for the dish (how generous) but made no effort to redeem the situation. Another issue was, we had bought a cake from outside for one of the members of our group and they were charging us $2 dollars a person for cutting the cake in their restaurant. Not sure if this is a new trend or it has always been this way, but that's absolutely ridiculous, I would understand charging that much if I walk into the restaurant just to cut a cake, but why would it matter to them if I am paying for the dinner and dessert from your menu? The decor was dated, the spoons, table and floor unclean. I am not sure why this place is still in business.
(1)R K.
Let me start off by saying I've been here countless times over the past few years and the food has always been good. My boyfriend and I are fans of this place. We don't know how authentic it is, but we don't care. The food is so tasty and that's why we keep coming back. My only gripe is with the inconsistency of their menu. I believe they made a change for the worse back in March, the last time we ate there. So disappointed. They took away a lot of goodies, especially beef and shrimp dishes. All that was left was mainly chicken and veggie dishes, which is not good since we appreciate more meat options. And the side of ba la chong that usually comes with the meal, they took that away as well. We questioned it, but was told they don't do that anymore and we'd have to pay extra for it. I don't remember what dishes we ordered since it was a while ago, but the portions were very small, the absence of the ba la chong on the plate made it look even smaller. The food was tasty enough, but it seemed they were stingy with the portions. They could've given us a bit more for our buck. The service was a horrible miss the last time we were here. When we came in, the place was empty. Two more couples came in after we were seated. Instead of taking our order, they went straight to the other tables which came in after us. I'm not sure why they skipped us, but the other tables got their food before us, even though we got there first and were seated well before the others came in. By the time our food came, one of the other tables had already finished, paid, and left. There were two waitresses and one of them appeared to be newish and/or in training. Maybe they were having an off day. Whatever the case, I can overlook the service if they had been more consistent with the menu. I didn't like that they took away so many options and made us pay extra for ba la chong, when we were able to get it free before. Since this review reflects our last visit, I'm sad to say I can only give two stars for the food being decent. I take away one star for the service, and another one for the lack of options available, and there being no more free ba la chong that comes with the meal. I would still be willing to return and give them another chance as they have been genuinely good in the past.They need to get their act together though. We like the menu the way it was before, not sure why they always feel the need to take stuff away.
(2)Dorise G.
After *all that* (see previous reviews), Yoma is back. I'd heard word that they'd brought back the dishes, brought back the dining, brought back the full menu, and it was the best present anyone could've ever given me. Only big changes to the original YoMa that I knew and loved: ~there's a takeout counter on one side now (nbd) ~they've added ice cream drinks ~it now costs a dollar extra for the puffed chilis to come with the rice dishes, but if they want to up-charge me a dollar in exchange for having all of my favorite items at my favorite restaurant back? You won't hear me complaining.
(5)Melissa W.
We enjoyed the samosas, the Mandalay plata and the coconut chicken noodle soup. However, I must knock off stars for the garlic noodles, which were completely INEDIBLE for me due to the massive amount of black pepper in it. My husband tried eating it but couldn't enjoy it. We told the waitress and she only responded with "oh".
(3)Harri S.
Folks, do me a favor and DO NOT die before trying YoMa's tea leaf salad. It is a food journey you will not soon forget. I put off going here for a long time and boy do I regret it now that the Biff has left Allston and I have no real excuse to go there anymore. YoMa! I miss you baby! I promise I'll come back for you soon! [Also, try their chicken curries which are rich and coconutty, and the eggplant so so delicious].
(5)Yao M.
I have had authentic burmese food before, and this restaurant is definitely the closest to authentic burmese food. Things to get: Meeshay - really good, but spicy and if ur dieing after it, get the coconut dessert. It will cool u down!! Coconut rice is also bomb, overall best burmese restaurant in boston area!
(5)Ryan H.
Just went for dinner for the first time since 2012, and it's still fantastic. Burmese Chai Iced Tea was perfectly balanced. I got Chicken and potatoes in red lentils with rice, and it was just delicious. Perfectly cooked and seasoned. The service was good and the place is low-key enough to have conversation comfortably. I would highly recommend Yoma, especially since the other restaurants in the area are usually crammed full of people.
(5)Noshii R.
Got take out for the first time...eating it as I write this. Despite the portions being way small the food tastes great. However, the issue that I have is that they overcharged us. I ordered the food based on the menu from their online link and they charged us an extra dollar per entree. As an example the tea salad is $9.50 and they charged us $5.50 for a hot-n-sour soup. This is a side soup which should not be $5.50. Its too bad that businesses pull this type fraudulent moves as I wont be returning.
(1)Lisa W.
Burmese food in Boston! Yay!!! Mixed noodle salad and tomato salad are delicious and spicy. The beef and potato curry is pretty good.. I would've liked it with tomato in the sauce, but it is served with a side of yummy fried garlic. I wasn't a huge fan of the cream of wheat dessert, though, it seemed kind of small and dry.
(4)Karen H.
For their tea salad -- 5 stars!!!! For everything else, 3.5. I've been here 3 times and I tried a few different dishes but always end up coming back to the tea salad. It's so unique and all the flavors come together to play a symphony in your mouth. That is all.
(4)Molly L.
Yoma is awesome! We had the bean plata and a salad and noodles with their chickpea tofu. So delicious!! The bread especially was crispy and delicious. Very fast and curteous service.
(4)Kendall M.
This may be an unduly harsh review, but here was my thought after eating at YoMA: "Wow, I'm really excited to try an authentic Burmese restaurant next." Why do I say that? Well, having previously lived in Hong Kong and then in the states, I feel I have a pretty solid grasp of what Americanizing Asian food tastes like, and this was rife with the symptoms: over-steamed meat and vegetables with sauce only poured over it at the last minute, overcooking in general, meager portions despite high dish prices and cheap ingredients. But I hadn't had a Burmese salad before, so that was interesting. I'd skip everything else though, including the Pumpkin curry and the Pancake/Roti/Forget what it was called but basically fried bread with a curry dipping sauce. We left hungry despite paying over $40 for two and had ice cream instead of ordering more dishes.
(2)Alexandra S.
Unbelievably great Food. it is a bit pricey though...
(5)Phil C.
Allston gem! Sick of eating at the same restaurants in Allston? Step outside your comfort zone. Delicious Burmese food!! Had the original tea salad, spicy chicken noodle soup, and the royal noodles. Very flavorful and similar to Thai food. Tea salad is light, crunchy, and has a lot of very rich flavors that blend very well together. I think slightly overpriced for what it is, but definitely delicious. My favorite dish of the night. Spicy chicken noodle soup - served in a big bowl and definitely spicy. The glass noodle is similar to the noodle in the Korean dish japchae. Perfect for a cold night. Royal noodles - love anything with coconut milk base. Also love udon noodles. Very rich and flavorful.
(5)David C.
12 Word Summary: Delicious and interesting fare that you won't find anywhere else in Boston. The Super Pumpkin was a little bit of a letdown after the complexity and intrigue of the Tea Salad, but that's not to say it was a bad dish--the Tea Salad is just that good. I don't even like tea, but the balance of flavor and texture in this dish is simply masterful. Service was kind and attentive throughout, and our waitress was happy to explain a little more about the menu, which is a little vague in description. When you're trying something for the first time, don't hesitate to ask the experts!
(4)Ella C.
I was pretty upset last year when the restaurant closed down to renovate, I thought it was going to close permanently! Although the menu shrank and many of my favorite dishes are gone, the food is still pretty good, simple, flavorful and yet not too greasy. It's just seasoned appropriately. I've never had a bad experience in this place and also they are somehow so skilled that they can make a non vegetarian person fall in love with vegetarian dishes. I think by now I must have tried pretty much every single item on the menu. I just love the food here, I wish they can add new dishes in the future, especially mohinga!
(5)Guillermo M.
This place is so goood!! We got a variety of dishes and 100% of them where delicious. Let's start with the appetizers: the bean plata and potato plata were both excellent. The flour "tortilla" and the main ingredients were very different and tasty. Then we got 2 noodle dishes and one chicken with pumpkin and were all very good in balancing a variety of flavors without having too many spices. The yoghurt drink was sweet and refreshing, I would have that for sure. Then we closed with the semolina cake and it didn't disappoint. Great place to come back!!
(4)Michele H.
The pickled tea and the mango salads are fantastic. Nothing feels more like summer to me than going to town on the picked tea salad, with a spring roll bursting with shrimp and cilantro. The curries are good, too, but a bit bland for me.
(4)Champika F.
I'm so glad there is a Burmese restaurant in Boston within a reasonable distance from me. Two words: Tea Salad....I don't typically go for salads on a menu but this one is amazing. I could eat it all day. Other things I've had here that I think are pretty good: - Mixed Noodle dish - Hot n Sour Soup I don't recommend the shrimp dumplings - they were a bit bland. I've only gotten food to go here, but I plan on going back for a sit down meal.
(4)Tanya S.
I read all these positive Yelp reviews and decided to order delivery with a friend. The portions were tiny, there weren't many special ingredients! Happy Beef was 4 pieces of beef, a hardboiled egg, 4 pieces of potato and a sauce with a small side of rice. Even rice portion was tiny! And my friend got a $13 noodle dish that was about half a normal portion at a Thai place. And none of it tasted that good! The Happy Beef sauce smelled really weird =( The $7 layered bread with coconut chicken sauce was one small round piece of flat bread and a tiny container of sauce. I don't understand what others find so good in this place... Way too expensive given the food quality.
(1)Jeremy R.
We had a lot of trouble using the yelp based delivery service, but my review does not reflect this. We ordered the happy shrimp and the mango salad. Both were delicious, but the prices were about 25% higher than similar offerings that I have back in San Francisco, so I am docking it one star.
(4)Julie L.
3.5 stars YoMa is lovely! I think the staff cares and really tries to deliver a home-style meal. My favorite dish that keeps me coming back: Rice n Spices - it includes rice, bean noodles, potatoes, cucumbers, and peanuts. It's so unique and what I've come to know as Burmese with the contrasting textures and sharp flavors. I've ordered it medium and it was a tad too hot. But then I've ordered mild and there was a distinct lack of flavor. I think I'll have to try and get something in between next time. It's also listed under salads. I just love the Burmese definition of salads. So much more interesting and full of flavor compared to your raw greens variety.
(3)Shir L.
Since there were so many good reviews on yelp, why not give this place a try? Tea salad - i liked the fried chick peas however, there was something about it that i didn't like it. it was a strong savory taste, however its like nothing ive ever had. Garlic Noodles - basically its stir fryed thick, yellow wonton noodles with garlic and other sauces/spices. Someone liked it but i felt it was a quite salty, or heavy flavor since I was craving tons of water (my taste buds usually only crave water after heavy msg or salty). Ive heard that any dishes with pumpkin in it, are simply delectable, however ill probably only return when I'm craving something savory or salty. Not my cup of tea.
(3)Caitlin C.
This place is great on every level. The waitstaff is so kind and attentive (but never pushy), and the food is so delicious and vibrant-- if you can substitute their chickpea tofu in whatever dish you're considering, DO IT!! You won't be disappointed.
(5)Yue Z.
I love this place. Though the food quality does very from time to time. They have all the classics. I highly recommend trying the tea leaf salad or the tofu salad, Be sure to mix the salads before eating. For appetizer, I'm a fan of the fluffy plata with potato or chicken curry. For entree, try the meeshay, royal noodle and eggplant peanut chicken, Overall, I like this place because it is authentic and unpretentious. The food can be a bit slow at times, and the service lacking some warmth, but overall it's a pleasant dining experience. It's a very casual night out and a great addition if you like variety when eating out! Parking is a little difficult in the area so give it an extra 10-15 minutes.
(5)Adeola O.
Barf.
(1)G I.
Their "renovation" destroyed a restaurant that I once loved. They renovated away almost the entire menu, including most of the good dishes. They renovated away their plates, so that the five remaining food options are now served in plastic takeout containers on a fast food tray. They renovated away their soul. It's sad. Like an old acquaintance who sustained severe brain damage after getting hit by a car: you still call him by the same name when you speak to him, slowly, clearly and with small words; but you know it isn't really him anymore.
(1)Michelle W.
I've lived up the street from this place for five years, and now regret not trying it sooner. Royal noodle dish? Amaze balls. Just eat at yoma one night, and you'll see what you've been missing. Tea leaf salad? Delish. Service is fast, friendly and the food is amazing. Tiny one room bathroom and $10 minimum on credit card bills deducts a star but otherwise, you must go.
(4)Laura C.
After eating at one of the best Burmese restaurants in San Francisco, YoMa left me wanting to go back to SanFran. At YoMa we ordered: tea leaf salad (could be way better, get rid of the cabbage and lettuce) plata w/yellow beans (really good, and by far the best of the four things we ordered) eggplant chicken (made with fish oil, really oily, condiments didn't give great flavor, and didn't like it so much) Rainbow noodle (although tasty, meat was dry and only a small piece of tofu; I've had better noodle dishes) Service: fine and what you expect from a small family restaurant in terms of you having to flag them down if you need something; except for another table, the place was empty for Saturday lunch Overall: won't return, won't recommend
(2)Kathy Y.
Well my parent's cook burmese food, so like every typical person who has it at home, obviously nothing compares to what your parents cook. Everybody always thinks their parent's are better if not the best. For a business, I guess this isn't so bad. I mean you really can't compare it to any other Burmese restaurants because this is the only one. I came here when it first opened a few years ago, and service was awful than, they spilled water ALL over me and food took forever to cook. I am guessing after they have adjusted and got the hang of things, service this time around was much better. They do have a pretty good vegetarian selection for you vegans out there. I didn't try the Mohinga this time around, it's one of the most popular dishes amongst the Burmese, but I am not a big fan of it. Maybe because I was born here, I am not as adventourous. I am a bigger fan of their Oh-Nok Kow Swe (Burmese Coconut Chicken Noodle Soup), but I thought this was only okay here because it was too much coconut taste, normally when I have it it's not overpowering with coconut milk, so it's not as heavy. If you do like this, I would suggest, Naan Jee Dok, which they call Royal Noodles. It's similar but not in a soup form. Another one of their dishes I recommend is their Tea Leaf Salad, you will not get anything like this anywhere else. I don't think they give you enough tea part, but their balance of the lettuce makes it more refreshing. Potato Plata - similar to your roti canai, not bad. it's bread you dip in a curry-like sauce pretty much. It's a okay place since not everybody can have Burmese food at home. I don't think the people who have the privelage of getting Burmese food at home should be so hard on the place, especially since this is the only Burmese restaurant in the area, it's good enough for a quick fix to supress the craving you may have.
(3)E.N. Z.
Excellent food if you consider the price, the taste, the service. I have never been to Burma. But the food at this place (freshly cooked- everything) reminds me of the home cooked food I had in Indonesia and Thailand. When we were having our delicious food (chowing that down in no time), two other couples came in. The last couple sat down for a few minutes, studied the menu for 5 minutes, then stood up and left! They told the waitress that they were leaving because they had no idea of what Burmese food was and after reviewing the menu they didn't want to eat there! That's really too bad for these people since they are truly missing out on the good stuff! However, this does bring up one issue about this place. When we first arrived, we also didn't know what to order after reading the menu. We had to ask the waitress to recommend - which was very good choices (Burmese Samosa (this is not on the menu so I don't know how to spell it, but it is different from the Indian ones. I like the Burmese far better in this case.) , Egg curry (another very different dish from Indian and Japanese sauce mushy stuff), Pork Stew with noodles and garlic, spice) . I think they need to better describe their menu to make the food more attractive. The pork stew I ordered is really slow cooked pork chunks which is really really tasty. According to the waitress, they are printing new menus next week. I wonder if they are improving their dishes or increasing their prices... We will see., For now, I give it a 5 star.
(5)Marietta A.
I love YoMa. Everyone there is so friendly. The food is totally yummy. I can't say that I've had Burmese food anywhere else, so I have nothing to compare it to, but the fact that my boyfriend and I drive over from West Roxbury, is a testament to how awesome we think it is. GO TO YOMA!11
(5)Thomas G.
I love Yoma! Their food is healthy and great tasting, so you can't go wrong! My favorite is the chicken and squash curry or the beef and potato curry. Both are very filling without being too heavy. The flavors are very unique. I also recommend their salads and soups. I've tried most of them, but I recommend the tomato salad, the beef salad and their spicy noodle soup. We live near there and usually eat there a few times a week. It's been a few years now and we still aren't tired of it!
(5)J p.
Tried this place for lunch and it was a most pleasant surprise.The food is delicious and tasty. Tried the bread special which included a salad, soup and chicken curry with their authentic bread. Food is extremely flavorful and light. Those with big appetites might find it a little lacking, but it gets an A+ from me. Give it a whirl...
(5)Graham J.
Boston not only has a great Burmese restaurant, but one that easily outshines the very good places in Philadelphia and New York. The chickpea tofu is a unique treat, and the tea leaf salad is out of this world. If you order spicy, boy you'll get it. The opposite of meh.
(5)James L.
I'm at Yoma as i Type this. Im eating the atfish soup. It's pretty good and I can tell that this is quite authentic. This is the 4th time I'm coming here. I've never had a bad experience and service is very good. Prices are pretty good, atmosphere has family-owned feel to it that I like, and the recipes seem to be authentic. If I had to choose from the best Indian restaurant in Boston - and I'm Indian - an this place, then it will be YoMas any time. They don't add sugar to the recipes at all or Americanize their dishes, which I hate. Why didn't I give it a 5 stars? 1. I wasn't fool after my $9 soup. 2. Although I love the atmosphere (think of a nice hotel in a very developing country in Asia), it lacks vibrancy since not too many visitors eat there. 3. It's hard to find parking in this area. 4. They could give me a little more food and/or appetizers.
(4)Anna B.
Really liked this place! Can't say I've had Burmese food before so I have nothing to compare it to but the chicken curry was inexpensive ($9) and tasty as heck. I think the food's supposed to be salty and it was but the staff was really good about constant water refills which is really key in my book. Spring rolls were just OK. But overall this is another one of Allston's great deals - stuff yourself on yummy home-cooked tasting ethnic food for under $15! The decor's nothing special which is cool because you can go ultra-casual. And it's right off the 57 and 66 bus lines.
(4)Andrew M.
Delicious stuff--I really liked my chicken dish, which had peanuts and scallions and I forget what else. The plain interior doesn't bother me, but the service was very slow--I guess that's to be expected with only one waitress. I'll probably be back.
(4)Anonymous P.
I ate lunch at YoMa, a new Burmese restaurant in Allston, on its second day in operation. This was one of the better meals I've had in Boston. The food at YoMa was light, healthy, and refined, and superb for the cheap prices. Highly recommended. update (May): very much enjoyed again, similar thoughts
(5)Carole H.
I have been to a number of Burmese restaurants in different cities, and while some dishes were good (tea leaf salad), overall this is by far the greasiest and least spiced/flavored version I have had. Good if you are in the mood for greasy chinese food cheap eats but want something a touch classier. Also had the pumpkin shrimp (ok), and the assorted noodles (pile of grease with no recognizable sauce outside of oil).
(3)Jason M.
Best Burmese in Boston.
(5)Kneekey T.
As a number of yelpers loved the ginger salad, I ordered it as a starter to share. It was super intense and amazing, very spicy, gingery, salty and crunchy. I am craving it right now as I write this. I then ordered the tofu noodles which were flavorful but not nearly as good as the salad. I was disappointed with the texture of the chickpea tofu although the taste of it was nice...I would try it fried next time. Also, there were no veggies in the noodles. My boyfriend had the Royal noodles which were also full of flavor but I found there was something slightly funny about the after taste.
(4)Tyler C.
super tasty. I've only had experience w/ takeout but the salads (green tea salad, roasted chicken salad), and plates/noodles (curry noodles, and slow cooked pork noodles) were really nice. Only thing - it takes a bit to prepare so i'd call ahead about 45 mins or so for takeout.
(5)Ben K.
You know what? This place was awesome. When you walk in and there are only a couple people there, and there's a big sign above the kitchen that says they'll be "closed on Wednesdays" beginning in a couple weeks, it makes one skeptical. But honestly, the food was fabulous. Hands down, the favorite was the chicken and green mango salad. For less than $8 you get this big plate of perfectly spiced Burmese salad with thinly sliced curry chicken and green mangoes. Even the $2.25 dessert was good! I will hands down be visiting this place at least once a week. What a find!
(5)Jonathan L.
Service was horrible. It looked like the waiter has had no previous waiting experience. He was forgetful and seemed overwhelmed. Food quality was very good. Also, the food came out pretty fast. So fast that the waiter could not keep up with the kitchen. Food quantity was bad. We ordered an appetizer and six dishes. Our group of six left hungry. I'm giving this place a three because I believe it has potential. The waiter needs to shape up and the serving sizes need to be bumped up.
(3)sal k.
Picture this romantic setting, two people in a cozy restaurant, checking out a new an exotic menu. Now picture this: two people order what turns out to be hot water and pepper with a dash of salt, nasty noodles and the worst part? the portions are so small. Sorry, the worst part was that there was one lady staring at us the entire time, even when she was in the kitchen. So not only was the meal bad, small and overpriced, it was uncomfortable. Am I missing something?
(1)Sara M.
Great food, great prices. I had the Royal Noodles ($8.25), which were excellent, and my husband had the Pumpkin Shrimp (about $10), also delectable.
(5)Gizmo G.
Good Burmese food in Boston at last! My dad is from Burma and I have family there so I've been dying to go since I read about it on Yelp. I had the stir-fried noodles with shrimp and chicken and my friend had the One Note Khat Swe. Lots of Burmese around which is a good sign. Plus, a gorgeous woman wearing a Singapore Airlines type tunic walks in, nearly driving me out of my mind. I digress. I'd say very authentic, if a bit easy on the spice -- they put some fish oil on our table and some chili flakes so a liberal dousing helped lots. My mom makes the KhatSwe a little different (doesn't everyone's) but it was still pretty good. I'll go again and review more dishes soon!!
(5)Angie B.
This is some of the best food I have ever had in Boston. I fell in love with Burmese food after going to Burma Superstar in SF, but I think that Yo Ma might be even better!!! My husband and I went with another couple (one of whom was vegetarian), and so we focused mostly on vegetarian options (of which there were plenty). Highlights of the meal were the chickpea tofu, ginger salad, and coconut curry with potato and pumpkin. Everything was seasoned perfectly, fresh, and mouthwatering.
(5)Michael M.
i read the reviews first before i went last night and i'm not sure what the fuss is all about. first, yes, from what i heard this is the only burmese restaurant in boston area. i give it props. second, the lone waitress was nice and smiled while we ordered. the rest was pretty average disregarding the fact it's the only burmese place around. the restaurant itself is pretty small, nothing fancy. here's a link to the menu - yomaboston.com/Site/Our_… we started with 3 apps - Green Mango Salad (T5), Burmese Samusar (A4), PaeKatJaw (A2). the salad was pretty good. has a bunch of bunch of different things in there, a little spicy too. the samusar was crispy, small pieces of curry potato. not bad. the chickpea pancake thing was decent too. crispy, crunchy. apps worth it. i had the Beef Curry with Potato (B9). all the portions were individual size. not enough to share a plate and load up on apps. the curry was OK...didn't taste if there was a difference between what they use and curry from Indian restaurants. the quality of beef wasn't great...all the pieces were kinda tough. 3 chunks of potatoes. my girlfriend got some yellow noodles while my friends friends got a yellow noodle in soup and another with noodles similar to Pad Thai (i think from the menu Y7, Y2, Y10 respectively). they all said food was alright. food came out pretty fast...there were only another couple in the restaurant on this Wednesday night. prices were reasonable. i'm a tough critic so my 3 stars might mean 4 for others. for me, I would try other places before going back.
(3)Michael G.
This is an awesome Burmese place! Go figure: we actually ate here with a friend who had just done a year-long stint in Laos teaching female Burmese (Myanmar, whatever) refugees English, and she said it was authentic and tasty. If that's not a recommendation for going, then I don't know what is.
(4)Lindsey H.
Everything I had was great (although pretty spicy, but they can alter it according to your taste) - the coconut rice is AMAZING!
(5)Poe C.
Menu: yomaburmeseboston.com/mi… My wife and I have tried appetizer AaJawSone (A7), OhnNoteKhotSwe (Y2), ShanKhotSwe (Y6) and HinGar (the soup). About the appetizer, I love TofuJaw (A3), but the rest aren't as impressive as TofuJaw. Both noodle dishes don't give you the impression of "love at first sight", but it tastes better and better when you keep eating. The cuisine is mild and light yet still very tasteful. A few things you might like to know: *The dish portion is relatively small comparing to a regular Vietnamese noodle dish. But don't get me wrong, it's not small portion, but it's definitely not a large dish size. *Not many tables in the restaurant. It's relatively small... *They are only open for dinner, no lunch at all (not good for us since we don't live in town)!!! We'd definitely love to go to the restaurant again!!
(4)Lily C.
I was really excited to try YoMa because I'd heard such great things so perhaps I had high expectations. Overall the food wasn't bad but there wasn't anything in particular that I'd crave from them and thus probably won't go back there again. I went there with 3 of my girls and we ordered the Catfish with somen noodles, 2 orders of shrimp curry, chicken curry and the roasted pork salad. The shrimp curry was pretty good - nice mixture of spices but the sauce was a lil diluted for my taste. The catfish noodles were "interesting". It kind of reminded me of the deluxe ramen noodles I've had. There wasn't a strong fishy taste which was great but the broth was overpowered by the mixture of lemon grass and cilantro. The soup broth was very thick as well but maybe that's how its supposed to be... dunno since this is the first time I've had burmese food.
(3)Linda M.
Yo Ma is a great Burmese restaurant. My husband and I ordered the green mango salad and green tea leaf salad as appetizers. We asked for it spicy so both had a kick to it. My husband preferred the green mango salad because it was refreshing, and I preferred the green tea leaf salad for its varied texture. For the main course, we had OhnNoteKhotSwe and MeeShay. These are both noodle dishes and were not as spicy as the appetizers. That may have been a good thing because our mouths were burning by this time. We preferred the OhnNoteKhotSwe over the MeeShay in terms of flavor. The OhnNoteKhotSwe is a coconut chicken soup base. The MeeShay is noodle with pork sauce over it. Previously, we ordered the rice curries, but we think the noodle dishes are a better choice. Within walking distance to the Green B line. Only downside is that it is a little expensive. yomaboston.com/mingalabah ...
(4)A Z.
Yelpers, why must you raise, then painfully dash, my hopes so frequently? My garlic noodles were so bland, lacking the promised garlic or spice... the meat and rice dish (chicken with squash) was more flavorful but nothing very noteworthy, and the meat quality was low. After the disappointing food, dire atmosphere (bright florescent lights) and uncomfortable post-meal stomach, I will not be returning.
(2)Hamdan A.
Good food. Had happy beef. Tasty. This place is awesome and customer service is great. But don't expect this place to be like burma superstar in san francisco. Enjoy the only burmese food in boston
(4)Ashley J.
One night we were tired of the same old places we tend to frequent and we decided to look on yelp and try a cuisine we knew nothing about. I came across YoMa and said hell why not. Even if it sucks at least we had a new experience. This small unassuming restaurant in the sketchy part of Allston delivered a delicious meal and an interesting flavor palate. We tried the appetizer sampler platter, a beef dish and a shrimp dish. Both were served with rice and the dried shrimp and garlic condiment. The appetizers were pretty greasy and unremarkable. The shrimp dish was amazing and perfectly cooked. We fought over it we loved it so much. The beef in these types of restaurants is always a little tough in my opinion and this was no exception. While we liked the sauce and spice combination it was just not cooked correctly. The rice with dried shrimp was a very strong flavor and we also loved that. The portions are huge so we took home the rice and ate it for breakfast. It was delicious with scrambled eggs! I think it a great place to go out and have something very unique and support a local business.
(4)Teju P.
If you like fusion food - this is your place. It is a fusion of inidan, thai, chinese, and veitnamese. they have a special vegetarian menu. this place is not good for big groups because its small - but its excellent for a first date. the service is super friendly and very fast. i went to eat with a friend and we were done eating in 45 mins.
(4)a r.
We found this place by coincidence fell in love with the food and went there many times since. The food is great, very interesting consistently good, great spices, and nice presentation. The drinks and the deserts are very nice too.
(5)Courtney E.
I had no idea what to expect, but Burmese food is terrific! I ordered the Pan Fried Egg Curry with Potato, which was light, refreshing, and SPICY!! It comes with a plate of jasmine rice, which is RE-FILLABLE (FYI!!!). The most delightful waitress let me in on the fact that in Burmese restaurants, the rice is re-fillable with your entree. Everything at YoMa is made with FRESH vegetables, meaning NO CANNED products are used, and you can taste the difference! YoMa is an experience unto itself, especially if you're like me and never knew you liked Burmese food!
(4)Dan P.
Seriously good Burmese food. Delightful people. Attentive. Our kids, not completely adventurous eaters, consumed this food. Unique and interesting flavors. We went for lunch one weekend day .. no crowds. I hear dinner is busy. A do again!!!
(5)Paul I.
cute, small place. don't expect amazing service. but you'll get very tasty food. i got the koungpoung chicken and it came as very small pieces.. a unique and really appealing presentation. the flavor was soy & ginger; quite good! the prices are low enough you can try this place out. do it. btw- here's the menu: boston.menupages.com/res…
(4)Amy L.
YoMa is by far my favorite restaurant in Boston. For a while, we were going about once a week. The decor isn't fancy and the location isn't ideal, but the food here is incredible. Everything we've ever had here has been fantastic. The salads are always fresh and spicy -- my favorite is the one with the tomatoes, the curries are delicious, and the soups are absolutely perfect. Everything is served by the friendliest woman I've ever met (I think she may be the owner). It almost feels like being in someone's kitchen.
(5)C. N.
Yummy, interesting food, good service from nice people, good price. Will go out of my way to eat here again.
(4)Allie S.
I LOVE Yo Ma! Besides the fact that the food is delicious, the owners are some of the nicest people I've ever met. They're simply lovely, and are now apparently doing catering for the school for the blind across the street. If you know Burmese food, they're always willing to make something that's not on the menu for you. The menu changed at the beginning of September and they no longer have spring rolls now, which is a bummer, but I'll be back as soon as I possibly can to check out the new fare. I always get the Burmese fried rice, which contains the best fried tofu I've ever had. Oh, and at the end of your meal, ask for palm sugar--it's delicious!
(5)Mabel L.
I finally went to Yoma after seeing Mary Richardson rave about it on Chronice. I was pleased to see that they had a vegetarian menu separate from the regular menu, which made ordering super easy. I didn't know what to get, so I went for the dish that had two things I love, potatoes and tofu. It was nicely spiced, tenderly cooked, and perfectly flavorful. Even the plain rice was delicious. Appetizers we chose were a fried combo plate from the vegetarian menu. The portions were perfect and not overhwhelming (which is a good thing when it comes to fried anything). I hope people take a chance on YoMa. Nothing like it. I hope it sticks around for a long time! I plan to go back very soon!
(5)Q S.
This place just opened, so when I went in, I was prepared to be forgiving if small things went wrong. But for most of the night, everything was better than I expected. The interior of the restaurant is pretty. It is nicely decorated and clean. The bathroom is clean as well. I loved the appetizers. We ordered the chickpea tempura and it was delicious. It came with a tangy spicy chili sauce that was a nice compliment to the dish. The green mustard soup was also very good. It was light in favor but was very satisfying. Plus, you can't go wrong with the price. The entrees weren't as impressive as the appetizers. I had the goat meat curry with potato and the goat meat was especially fatty. I think they didn't cut off pieces of fat that was not suppose to be there, but I'm not sure. Overall, the curry was good, but the meat was just too fatty. My partner had one of the noodle dishes. And I wasn't too impressed with that either. But again, for the price, you can't go wrong. Especially when the portions are just right. I don't really understand the portion complaints because as it is, the price is already low, so you shouldn't expect a giant mountain on your plate.
(4)patty b.
i like yoma. they make tasty, not too complex, healthy s.e. asian food. the place is very homey, mom and pop-ish... the service is polite and friendly. my only complaint is that they never seem to have the room temperature at a comfortable point- i feel a bit like goldilocks in there, it's always too hot or too cold, never _just right_. i still give them 4 stars though- i wish them much success!
(4)Ryan B.
Average food. Cheap.
(2)Felix L.
Burmese food in Boston! It's certainly authentic, and if you like your burmese food very traditional, I'm sure they can adjust, just slip in a few Burmese conversations heh... If you want to try something very burmese, go for the salads, i believe salads are a staple (they are nothing like lettuce with tomato and that jive). Salads are more like a vegetarian dish, definitely go for some tea leaf salad if they have it! The fish chowder noodle soup is also very distinctive of burmese food.
(5)Lynn W.
AS stated in numerous reviews below, this little hole in the wall will leave you feeling "just right" in regards to how full your tummy is after leaving. My sister and her veggie boyfriend were in town and he was intrigued by the Burmese title - none of us ever had Burmese before and I always like trying new things, so in we went! We were the only ones there which I thought was cool, some people would be put off by this, but not me, I like thinking that I am the only one who knows about a good restaurant lol :) Also knowing that the waitress spoke limited english seemed a good sign of the authentic cuisine to come, and I was not disappointed! We ordered off the vegetarian menu their sampler appetizer platter and it included these delightfully light deep friend pastries, a crackly corn cracker thingy and some veggie stuffed triangle dumpling. Then I ordered the asian pumpkin dish and it was amazing! Now, I appreciate subtle nuanced taste and this place gives it to you, everything is kind of... understated and I think that is what I liked the most. If you are looking for bold tastes, go somehwhere else, but if you really appreciate lighter tastes with perfect portions and a fair price, YoMa is a great place to try!
(4)laura l.
Yum yum yum. Great service, cheap prices, and authentic Burmese food. Definitely going to be one of my new favorites.
(5)Anthony C.
Time for some positivity. Time for some Boston love. YoMa is one of the things that makes living in Boston (part - time) delicious. It's on another level from any other Burmese restaurant I've been to. It is not hyper - professional, but that is part of its charm. And when they play that good Burmese Music record, life is complete. Best things: toasted garlic topping - incredible; tofu and coconut sauce - delicious; coconut chicken noodle soup - I dream of it; anything with pumpkin or squash. I love tea leaf salad too, but am not always in the mood for it If you're there at 9:30 PM they start vacuuming - this is not great. It is local in all the best ways.
(5)Alissa L.
Loved the pumpkin tofu coconut dish I had. Great prices and great flavorful food.
(5)Jim G.
It was ok. I had the tea leaf salad and it was average. Very loud with a large taking up on section. Service was slow.
(3)Brad M.
We recently moved here from the Bay Area and went to YoMa thinking that maybe it would be something similar to the type of food we got at Burma Superstar in Oakland. A couple of the reviewers here on Yelp gave us the impression that this wasn't an entirely stupid thing to think. But no, it's really not comparable to Burma Superstar. I mean, the food is okay, but it just doesn't have that Burma Superstar wow factor. The Tea Leaf Salad, which is pretty amazing at Burma Superstar, is pretty lackluster here. The greens which come with it are also pretty low quality and I was reminded of the salad I had on American Airlines a couple weeks ago. Burma Superstar also had good alcoholic drinks and a bar. Granted, sometimes Burma Superstar's drinks are of variable quality, but their drinks are generally pretty good. I don't even remember seeing alcohol on the menu here, not even beer although I may have missed it. Our food wasn't really that great either. I had the 'Coconut Pumpkin Tofu' and my wife had something with chicken and bamboo shoots. Neither one of them had that amazing deliciousness that typically has me eating multiple servings of rice just to get it all in. What I expect with 'Coconut Pumpkin Tofu' is some sort of really coconut-milk-creamy delicious sauce filled with pumpkin flavor with some high quality tofu thrown in (and maybe a red bell pepper for good measure). What it was was some sort of yellow sauce of unknown origin, 3-4 pieces of pumpkin, and some pretty slippery-looking tofu. Really not great. The place isn't atrocious, and if you try it out you're not likely to have nightmares afterwards, but if this is what Burmese is like in Boston, I think I'll stick to Thai.
(2)Aubrey W.
Unfortunately, I have to agree with @Winnie T. I went with my fiance, his sister, and her husband on a Friday night. A caveat with my review: they appeared to be desperately understaffed. As in, one waitress working the entire restaurant. So, as you can imagine the service was painfully slow. Once the first dish came out, we waited about 15 minutes before the next one. Then, about 10 minutes later, the last two came. Sadly, the food wasn't that great either. I had the Rainbow 23 noodles which were mostly noodles with tiny shreds of the other ingredients (chicken, mango, potato, cucumber, some other veggies I think). There wasn't a whole lot of flavor. My fiance's sister had the vegetarian version of the same thing with a similar result. Her husband had the Happy Beef, which was a rather small portion, and my fiance had the MeeShay. He enjoyed that and was pleased with how tender and spicy it was, but it was very small as well. I'm inclined to think that this was an off night for them, particularly in terms of the service, but there are a lot of other Thai fusion places around there so we probably won't be back.
(2)Ms. S.
The tea leaf salad was great, but the rest of the food was forgettable. Overpriced for the quality.
(3)Marie W.
We were initially hesitant to come here because of all the bad reviews that seemed to come after the renovation, but since someone posted that it went back to normal, we tried it out this past weekend and we are glad we did! We were seated quickly because we offered to sit at the side area with the stools rather than than at the tables (otherwise it was a 45 min wait). We ordered: -Tea leaf salad--definitely worth a try, and as good as people say it is! -Pumpkin tofu--came with white rice. Good flavors. Not amazing, but a good, solid dish. -Garlic chicken noodles--our favorite. Amazing flavors and good portion size. 3 dishes were enough for the two of us. The waitress also recommended the Tofu salad, which we will try next time. We also liked how the waitress gave us honest recommendations about what she liked off the menu. Will definitely come back to try a few more dishes!
(4)Melody W.
I came here with my friend on Saturday night. I wanted to come here to try Burmese food, since I never had that kind of opportunity to eat it. But I felt a bit letdown after eating the food (especially now I just read some of the Yelpers saying that it wasn't authentic Burmese food). In all honesty, this is 3.5 stars. The half star is for the excellent waitress service. We had one who was so patient with us and had to put up with our indecisiveness and the followup on drink dissatisfaction! I thought the food was okay but not mindblowing. The Coconut Pumpkin Tofu was light and surprisingly not heavy. The MeeShay was bland and lacked flavor. I'm not sure if it's because we requested the spiciness adjusted to mild or it was just our own preference of taste. The portions are a bit small. My friend was not happy with her Limeade. She thought it tasted like soap (in her view). I thought there was a strange aftertaste in it, but soap did not come to mind for me. It was hard to tell if it was meant to be sweet or if its too syrupy? I might come back here another time to give YoMa one more chance, but honestly I was not impressed with the cooking that night. Not sure why the ratings were high.
(3)Mansi M.
I wish i had tried this place earlier. It is my GO TO place from now on. It is a very casual place but the food is AMAZING the staff is super sweet. A friend wanted to try something different for her birthday and we went here not knowing what to expect. The staff ( 2 waitresses) took such good care of all 20 of us. They even stayed open later than they usually do for us:) Loved the below dishes: Chicken plata as an appetizer Happy chicken Limeade MUST TRY and oh it is amazing for Vegetrains (they have a separate menu)
(5)Gina S.
We ate at Yo Ma last night, yummy. My coconut shrimp with pumpkin came with a crunchy topping. The topping is called Bala Chong a mixture of fried beans, shallot, garlic and chili. This crunchy little topping can be used on any dish, great flavor a little spicy and a little crunchy. Either comes with your dish or you can order it separately under sides.
(5)Nikki Z.
One of my favorite places in Boston. The tea leaf salad with all the garlicky fried bits is the best dish. 5 stars for the tea leaf salad. 3 stars for the curry dishes - the meat tends to be overcooked. I've tried the beef/potato and shrimp/pumpkin. 3.5 stars - The chicken platha is their take on the Malaysian roti canai. I've had better.
(4)Josephine L.
Who doesn't love exotic, ethnic food? Burmese, you say? Yes, please! This is a no-frills, straight-up, delicious restaurant that happens to be the only Burmese place in the city. Prices are ridiculously affordable and service always comes with a smile. If you're Asian (like me) and you're tired of the same ol' heavy-hitters of Asian cuisine (Japanese? Korean? Chiiiinese?), come to YoMa to remember why being Asian rocks. The tea leaf salad is out of this world. So many textures, from crunchy to soft, and flavors. Spicy, salty, savory. Mmmm. Also got the MohHinGar (catfish soup), which was hot and refreshing at the same time. You could tell the fish had been simmering in the broth for a long time as all the flavors just melded together perfectly. The Super Pumpkin is fantastic. I don't usually like sweet in my entree, but the sauce made everything delicious. We got the Burmese dessert, whose name escapes me, but it was delicious. Texture denser than cake, but lightly sweet. I ended up finishing it because my friend was full and could have easily eaten another even though I was full too. Definitely a go-to place for a delicious, exotic, affordable meal.
(5)Marina W.
Ooooh my god, I love YoMA. I take everyone here: local friends, out of town friends, family, my partner, myself, everyone. I love the Tea Leaf Salad (even though I'm a little grumbly that they just raised the price, but, hey, it's worth it). The mango salad is delicious. The pumpkin anything is delicious. Everything is delicious. It is not a high-class fancy establishment - it's very casual and almost cheap feeling, but honestly, I don't care. The food is fantastic and that is why I go.
(5)Andrew r.
I went to yoma craving some of the food I ate while I was traveling through Burma. YoMa left me still craving. While the food isn't bad it also really isn't Burmese food. The flavoring is not really close and they don't have many Burmese staples. The tea leaves were pretty on par but the salad itself did not really resemble what a tea leaf salad tastes like. I don't like sounding all negative but I was generally non-impressed with YoMa. The staff was very friendly and helpful, though they were Thai not Burmese which may explain something about the lack of authenticity. I don't think I'd go back. Sorry
(2)Meg B.
I really liked this place! Tried the chicken and tofu with rice and the rainbow noodles. The chicken and tofu was good, although nothing special, but I really loved the rainbow noodles. Lots of texture and flavor with just enough heat to make it interesting. Would definitely come back to try more dishes, I think this is a great neighborhood staple.
(4)Priscilla T.
Yum. Delicious and affordable. AND authentic! Tea leaf salad was the highlight, but also amazing was the chickpea tofu salad and Shan Noodles. I was just in Burma over the summer and this place is a nice reminder of all the yummy cuisine.
(4)L R.
$24, just for me, take out. I thought I'd try 3 things to get an idea of the place. I got the catfish soup, which literally was a cup of broth. There were some indistinguishable bits of "fish" and some spicy oily blobs on the top, but for $5, I expected more than just a cup of broth (menu states catfish, lemongrass, garlic, onion). The shrimp rolls were 4 underwhelming tapered rolls that didn't fit in the thimble size dipping cup of sauce, and they needed all the sauce they could get. The tea salad was a serious bummer, I'm not sure if it doesn't work for take out, but for $8.50 it was some cheap veggies (cabbage/lettuce) and a tablespoon of pickled tea. Most expensive, least filling, meal I've had in Boston ever. I'd skip it. Slow take out service as well.
(1)Sean M.
3.4 stars I had a simple lunch of chick pea tofu salad and pork noodle dish. The noodles came with a small portion of salad as well but sans the tofu, but still slightly redundant. The server asked how hot/spicy I wanted it to be, I asked for "almost Burmese" level. It was spicy but I had to ask for the condiments tray to kick it up some. I mixed what was left of the salad and what came with the noodles and proceeded to spice it with chilies to a perspiration generating level. This was my first time here, I have been to other Burmese places in NYC and in SF, this was decent by comparison and I will be back with friends so I can try a larger selection of the menu. * ingredients were fresh, chick pea tofu was wonderful * I love spicy and you can get that here, ask for the condiment tray. * Tough location for parking, T or cab it here.
(3)Wen-fai F.
My friend and I came here for the first time for lunch because we were excited to try Burmese food! Good, cheap filling meal but we'll probably order different things next time. The restaurant was empty but it was 2p on a weekday so we didn't expect it to be bustling. The waitress offered us Burmese tea, free of charge! Tastes like the tea you get at dim sum. We ordered: Chickpea tofu appetizer ($7) - we'd read so much about this on Yelp that we wanted to try it! It was a bit disappointing but I can see the appeal if you've never had anything like it before. It tasted like the fried milk balls you can order at Chinese restaurants. The dish is ~10 small triangles of fried battered chickpea - fried on the outside and a very creamy taste on the inside. I couldn't taste much else beyond the oil though, I was hoping for some more depth of flavor but it was almost like eating french fries. If you're curious, you might as well try it once though! Tea leaf salad ($8) - This dish is so refreshing! It comes with raw cabbage, fried/dried shallots, diced tomatoes, pickled tea leaves mixed with garlic, and roasted peanuts. The components come separately and you mix it together on your plate. The tea leaves were naturally salty but you could choose how much you wanted. I would highly recommend this! Catfish soup entree ($7) - Apparently a Burmese staple, and very delicious! I've never tasted anything like this before. The broth was opaque but refreshing, and tasted, of course, like fish. There was also vermicelli and some veggies. A little oily but it's what we expected. Slightly reminiscent of Malaysian laksa, except without the coconutty creaminess. The meal came to $22 and was just enough food for us. I will definitely be back to try some of their other entrees as everything seems pretty cheap on the menu and the food output is quick. The food we had was solid but nothing out of this world.
(3)Matthew D.
Like many other reviewers, apparently, I've eaten at Burma Superstar in the Richmond District of SF. And no, this place does not compare. But few things will. So I gave it another chance recently and I've decided that it does deserve some credit, and doesn't deserve being downgraded because it can't live up to a famous restaurant where people line up for hours to get a table. Last time I had one of the generic chicken bowls, which was dull. Also the Tea Leaf salad was disappointing compared to Burma Superstar. But, I was there with a person born in Burma and he seemed to be happy enough with what he ordered at YoMa. This time, I tried two of the noodle dishes, Shan and Simple Chicken. They were both quite good, and I just wish they had served more.
(4)Casey F.
This is hands down my favorite restaurant. Ok, well actually Oleana is my favorite restaurant... but YoMa is 1/12 the cost, so I go there at least twice per week. The waiters know me and my boyfriend. I have the menu memorized. Typically, I seek out new places for my nights out... but now I consider YoMa home. Reasons YoMa is deliciously wonderful: - The food. (duh.) Burmese cuisine is a combination of Thai / Vietnamese / Chinese --- but not as sweet as Thai, as greasy as Chinese, or as lemon-grassy as Vietnamese. - The homemade tofu appetizer. Creamy and delicious. Even if you don't like tofu you'll like this. - Y4. Don't ask, just order it (as long as you eat pork). - The prices. So affordable. Leave a good tip, 'cause the service is friendly but the prices aren't high. - The location. Easy to get to via car, bike, or bus. Dinner from YoMa is what got me through a few months of 90 hour work weeks. Words cannot describe the love I feel for this place, their food, and their cute waiters and waitresses. Go there now.
(5)chanelle d.
I was introduced to YoMa a couple of years ago by two friends who are regulars. They love it, and now, so do I. The service is usually pretty good--not always quick, but super friendly, possibly because they see my friends there often. We always end up getting the Assorted Noodles to share, a very interesting mix of tofu, veggies, and different kinds of noodles; my two friends like it extra spicy. I usually get the Chicken Bamboo, which is chicken and bamboo chutes in a delicious tamarind sauce over rice, and they give you a mixture of fried shallots and red pepper flakes to sprinkle over everything (my favorite!). The rice dishes are hard to explain, I would compare them to curry, but it doesn't feel accurate enough. I suggest you try it to get your own impression of the food!
(4)Steph D.
In order of amazing: F**king SPICY (just how I like it). ADORABLE waitress who seemed endeared to my Burmesian ignorance rather than annoyed by it. LIMEADE - Oh, god yes. Coconut rice, milk, cake... EVERYTHING. Inexpensive cultural adventure. The odd little combination of Noodles and Potatoes. The NAMES - Yes, HAPPY SHRIMP - please.
(5)T G.
If you've never had Burmese food before, I would classify it to be a combination of Indian and Thai food. They have a good selection of menu items for vegetarians, which is great. Their "plata," or layered bread, is basically the frozen parathas you get from the Indian grocery store. In fact, I am willing to put money on it being the EXACT same ones that you get from the Indian grocery store lol. My coconut tofu was a little bland and didn't have a lot of coconut flavor to it. There really wasn't anything that struck me as being an authentic Burmese dish on the menu; most seemed to fall under the Indian or Thai category. The restaurant is super casual. It could easily pass as a take out place. Not very many tables so I would be cautious if I was going here with a party of more than 10 people.The servers were attentive and respectful :)
(3)Taryn H.
Loved it! Love the decor- I don't know how to describe it, there are giant babies eating noodles in the jungle and all sorts of Engrish that I just adore. The food- tasty, fresh, delicious. Every time I'm in a new city I try to find Burmese food. It is so darn hard to find (insert political Junta comment here). When I find it: first I scream, second I locate, third I enjoy. Or at least that was the order I indulged in YoMa.
(5)Sandra C.
I would have been THRILLED to go to this restaurant last summer when I went veggie on everyone. However, I am a hardcore carnivore now, and my experience was A-OK. The fried chickpea tofu was delicious! But I'm so weaksauce, I wish the dressing that came with it was less spicy. The tea leaf salad was...INTERESTING. It's something I would just snack on during my free time, but I probably should not have had this for dinner. By the time the chicken and potato curry arrived, I was already stuffed. Don't get me wrong though, it was good. I actually think the curry was the best out of the three. When I come back, I'll just skip the appetizer/salad and dig straight into the curry entrees. The place is cozy and quiet, but I wish it were a little busier so that no one could hear my conversation with other people. No privacy man! This experience was decent, but I'm probably gonna give this restaurant another chance. I see more deliciousness in future visits.
(3)A K.
This place is a hidden gem. Everything was delicious.
(5)Kelly B.
Ok, I'm vegan, and love the "vegan mini-mall" that is forming in Allston too. But that doesn't mean that YoMa should be overlooked! The veggie options here are plentiful, and the chickpea tofu is uniquely delicious. You have to ask for the Vegetarian Menu when you get there, it's separate from the regular one now. The food is light and tasty, and affordable considering the portions. Expand your "ethnic food" options and try Burmese food.
(4)Jackie K.
Tea leaf salad was very good--one of the most refreshing and best salads I've had. I had mine mild. I had the tofu chickpea for a main dish and it was good. I also tried the potato, tofu and cilantro dish which was better, very tasty. The flavors overall were new to me but reminded me of Thai food--it was amazing to see how many dishes they had with the same five ingredients and they all tasted different. I would go back. Very reasonably priced as well.
(4)Winnie T.
I'm really disappointed with my meal after reading such great and positive reviews from fellow Yelpers. Either I caught them on a bad night or Yelp is rigged... The overall meal itself can be described as lukewarm, meager portions, and one dimensional in flavor. We ordered: - potato plata (bread with potato curry sauce): the bread was warm and buttery, and the curry was good. I wish there was more spice in it however. As an appetizer, it only came with two pieces of bread and a little side bowl of curry. Felt as though they skimped out on us - eel spring roll: very little eel in the rolls. It was decent though. - Tofu curry with potato: the tofu curry was warm at best, and it just tasted like...curry. Nothing special. Again, small portions. - Catfish noodle soup: sour and tamarind based, the flavors were there, but again, it WAS BARELY WARM. I like my noodle soups to be hot and fresh off the stove. The noodles were soggy and it didn't taste fresh... almost as if someone just threw it altogether in the microwave. - Wonton egg noodle with garlic sauce: the noodles were hard and chewy... was not served hot. Don't be surprised to find large chunks of garlic in every bite of your noodles. Though I didn't mind it, I wish there was some dimension of flavor in the dish aside from JUST garlic. - Happy Beef: Ehhh... happy beef was not very happy. There were only about 6 chunks of beef in the dish. The dish just didn't look very appetizing or welcoming to eat.... it looked... sad :( I'm not all THAT familiar with Burmese food, but regardless, YoMa did not appeal to my taste. I'm a big fan of Southeast Asian cuisine (and Asian cuisine in general) but this just left me wanting more.
(2)Anne F.
The weekday lunch special is one of the best deals on food at any restaurant I've ever been to ever, and many of the other dishes are very reasonably priced. You can easily eat for $9-10 /person, tip included. Have you ever tried Burmese food? If not, you should totally check out this restaurant by the corner of Brighton / Cambridge. We really don't have enough experience with the cuisine to talk about it like experts. If you like Thai / Indian, however, I'm sure you'll like something on the menu. I don't know if I've ever had a potato curry in such a delectable sauce. They served it with a paratha-style bread, very tasty. My boyfriend has been trying the noodle dishes w. tofu and fried potatoes - also delicious. Our food has come out with several chili-based condiments so you can make the food as blistering-hot as you want. We saw others order soups, which also look fantastic. Wouldn't really recommend the desserts, however. The ' Snow Garden' amounted to green jello topped with shaved ice and sweetened condensed milk, and was just strange. We also tried the semolina cake, which was better. The fantastic deal on yummy lunch entrees, however, has been enough to keep us coming back! Our waitress was completely adorable and the restaurant extremely clean. The decor featured several picturesque shots of various Payas, golden-cone-topped Buddhist temples, in Burma and there were cute little statuettes lining the sides. I was going to give it only 4 stars, I have had yummier food, but this is just too awesome a deal to pass up. All 5, baby!
(5)Heidi B.
Tea Salad! very different and awesome. Noodles were great. Lots of interesting flavors and truly tasty. Ask for the vegetarian menu if you want it.
(5)Sally F.
I just realized I haven't reviewed this place yet, which is insane-- I'm probably at YoMa around 4-5 times a month as it's one of the few local places (within walking distance) where I can eat gluten free (this has been mentioned in others' reviews, so I'll just mention it in passing) and there are vegan menu options, so "the boy" and I can actually share dishes there without any worry. Shocking! Aside from the ease in ordering in regard to allergies/diets, the food is delicious! They combine flavors that I normally would never consider throwing into a single dish and they're balanced remarkably well. I love the tea leaf salad (though it can be VERY salty), the pumpkin curry, the potato and pork curry, and planning on trying the coconut tofu option soon. The coconut rice is simple, but outstanding. The inside of the restaurant kind of lacks in ambience, but I enjoy the humble, down-home feeling it evokes. The servers are incredibly friendly and helpful, without being pushy or bothersome while you're chatting with your friends/date/mom, etc. Definitely worth stopping in. Then...a trip to Deep Ellum to top of the night and you're golden!
(5)Emma W.
I have been driving by this place twice a day for over a year, and tonight we finally made it our dinner destination. Great new culinary adventure. The service was excellent, the nicest most adorable servers with huge smiles- always improves an experience. We tried a little of everything, and were happily rewarded with a great meal. The tea salad was interesting both texturally and flavor-wise. and the first salad I have ever tried like it! Also, the bread with curry potatoes was excellent - great tortilla-pita-naan hybrid served with a curry sauce to dunk in with pieces of curry soaked potatoes. I am a die hard for thai coconut chicken soup (tom yung gai) and tried it here to taste the Burmese version - completely different, more subtle flavors and creamier, yet delicious.. Hot and sour soup was HOT like I like it, and Garlic pork noodle entree had the best crunchy grated garlic on top. If I could figure out how to make garlic like that, I would do so often. The menu was very simple, but provided us with all firsts as this is the only Burmese restaurant I have seen to date. Oh, and all of this, with two salty sweet must-have Limeades made from scratch, and their semolina coconut cake (pretty much obsessed with all things coconut) came to $40! Great deal and a great meal. :)
(5)Blair H.
The first thing I noticed was the dust-free shelves. I don't know why, but this said a lot to me about the pride they have in their establishment. The food was good, though I've never been to Burma, so I can't comment on authenticity. I'd definitely go again.
(5)Amy Z.
We went as a family for my kid brother's 21st birthday. Not where I would have chosen to celebrate, but each to their own. The food turned out to be surprisingly great. We have everything from vegetarians to hardcore carnivores in the family, so it's unusual when we all like a restaurant. Highlights: - Limeade - Pumpkin or squash tofu - MeeShay - Veggie fresh rolls - Peanut eggplant tofu - Rice n' Spice The restaurant is small and cozy. Its great family vibe makes it a great choice for all ages.
(5)Sarah T.
I really wanted to like this place because I grew up eating Burmese food and it was super exciting to have the opportunity to try it here. I think supporting a small business like this is critical and I am all for variety and diversity in food. It's a great way to learn about aspects of another culture. Firstly, I was surprised my waitress didn't speak Burmese. Either my pronunciation of burmese dishes was way off or what. Evaluation of dishes: mohinga (fish soup with noodles) - this is a traditional core dish in Burmese culture. The best ones comes with tons of catfish, lots of garlic, ginger, and onions. And not so watery like Yoma's :( samosa - not bad. I expected more from the hot sauce though. real good burmese-style hot sauce has tamarind, cilantro, and lime in it. nan-gyi-thok (i think this is the "royal noodle salad") - wasn't like how i expected it. maybe it's a different style of making it so i can't really judge whether it's truly authentic. i've just never had it with the preserved vegetable which usually comes in shan thok, not nan-gyi-thok. tofu pumpkin curry- this was watery too. when i say that, i wish there was more punch in flavor. then agian, there was no meat in it so maybe that's an explanation hopefully they can improve on some of their dishes for a more authentic-seeking crowd like the one i'm in. otherwise, i think it's not bad. great to see burmese food offered in boston!
(3)Amy C.
This place is awesome. Since I just recently moved to Allston/Boston, my mom and I needed a good asian place that offered the best of both worlds: meat and vegetarian options. Since I have never had Burmese food before, I looked up the menu for this place and it sounded delicious, adventurous, and interesting. Located in an area where there's many vegetarian and vegan options, this is one of few that offers gluten free, vegetarian, vegan, and meat dishes. To start, we ordered the potato plata. It comes with a piece of baked bread similar to nan and a small potato curry sauce. It was so so yummy; I had to refrain myself from devouring the whole thing without sharing with the table. I ordered the tofu curry with potato and asked for it spicy. For me, it was the perfect combination of spices; even the tofu had flavor from the curry! Needless to say, I cleaned my plate, and that has not happened in awhile. My mom opted for the peanut eggplant chicken dish. I picked off the vegetables from hers to try the taste. I will admit that I thought the peanut sauce was really over powering at first; however, as I continued to chew the eggplant, I realized what a perfect marriage the peanut sauce was with the eggplant. I'm pretty happy with this place; the only thing is the service could've been a little better, but hey, the food is well worth any bad service here! Will DEFINITELY be back :D
(4)Chirag M.
My friend went there for the first time for lunch and brought us back to this restaurant for dinner the same day, I knew the food would be good. This is truly a hidden gem in Boston. For someone who loves spicy food, the chef made a few dishes spicy on request, and the regular dishes were perfect for those who cant handle spicy food too. Stongly recommend: Chicken Plata, and Bamboo chicken, Mango salad
(5)jazzy l.
I've been wanting to eat Burmese food after eating at a San Francisco joint called (Burma Superstar) many years ago. I recall the food being very good so when I saw that a Burmese place opened up in Allston, I had to go try it. SERVICE - Attentive and pleasant. INTERIOR - Many photos and wall paintings of Burmese culture. They even sell Tibetan clothing, handbags, figurines at the cash register. FOOD - I thought it was okay only. We got the tea leaf salad. It had 5 or so ingredients. It had this rice bean that was crunchy, peanuts, slaw, tomatoes, and this green pasty textured green leaf that was semi tart. Long squash with pork dish - It was mild in flavor, definitely something I can re-invite at home. Chicken, Egg noodles - Mild flavored. Dessert -We tried this caky bean dessert. It was okay. Nothing really to rave about. Street Parking only. Easy access on Bus 57, 66, or get off B line and walk over.
(3)Ellie W.
I don't know if I just don't like the taste of Burmese food or just YoMa, but the one time I tried YoMa, I just remember everything being way too salty...like, drinking ocean water kind of salty... My friend seemed to like it, though, so maybe it's just me?
(3)Julie F.
I thought that going vegetarian would limit the number of places I could eat at. Instead, it opened my tastebuds to several different type of places. YoMa (coolest restaurant name ever!) has a separate vegetarian menu. I ordered a potato/curry type dish, and it was cooked to my spicy preference. The food was tasty, the service was friendly, and the price was great and affordable. I will be back.
(4)Jaimie M.
When one of my friends (celiac) came into town, we headed over to YoMa to test it out. What a great restaurant! Never had Burmese food before, but everything that we got was great. Appetizer combo plate was delicious- lightly fried, but not overly oily. We enjoyed the TohuJaw and Smusa in particular. My friend that had the curry dish said that it was spicy and amazing. Didn't have any problem with the service. Got a table right away and food came decently fast. Will definitely be going back to try more!
(4)Mike S.
This place has to be one of my favorite haunts while I was living in the area. Not only was the staff and employees extraordinary nice to me on every occasion. The place was nice and cozy to me, where I loved just sitting there on a cold winter morning after working, and enjoy some delicious noodle soup there. The catfish noodle soup was so amazing, I loved the way it was spiced and how it had plenty of nice big chunks of fish. Now they had this desert there thats name escapes me at the moment but it's this warm doughy squares with raisins in it, simply delightful. Long story short, go here. You will not regret it.
(5)Daphna R.
Burmese food, I bet you've never tried it. Its somewhere between Indian and Thai food, if I had to categorize it... but the spices are unique. EVERYTHING on the menu is gluten free unless its called "wheat noodles with..." or "bread with...". I'll recommend the Coconut Tofu, Green Tea Salad, Pumpkin Salmon... for starters.
(5)Bobbie R.
I seriously can not get enough of the assorted noodles. I often crave them. Every time we go there or order out, I tell myself I am going to order something different, but I just can't stay away from the assorted noodles. They are so flavorful and hit the spot every time. Fortunately my partner orders other things and lets me try them, so I can also say the coconut tofu and the pumpkin tofu are delicious, too. And we always enjoy the veggie fresh rolls. Limeade and coconut juice are also tasty.
(5)Tony W.
Overall, very friendly staff and reasonably-priced food. Also great for sharing. I can't speak for other Burmese food, but I thought the coconut tofu I ordered was pretty boring - think Indian food without the spices. I shared some of the salad that the friend I went with ordered, and it was unfortunately much of the same. I would go back again to give the place the benefit of the doubt, but my first tasting was less than impressive.
(2)Raymond W.
This was my first time having Burmese food so I'm only giving this a 3. While everything was decent, I didn't like it as much as any other Asian cuisine. The tofu salad was light and had good contrasting textures, but the coconut chicken noodle soup I had was a little bland and was kind of mushy with the egg noodles and the thicker soup. I think that trying some more dishes with someone who is more in the know could improve my Burmese experiences next time around.
(3)Sasha B.
Delicious delicious food, and inexpensive! I love unique dishes that you don't normally see in restaurants, so YoMa was perfect. First off, an asian restaurant that constantly refills water (let alone gives you any at all...and in a regular sized cup) = awesome. Secondly, there were so many things on the menu I wanted to try, always a good sign. We shared the tea salad, very unique, light, and refreshing. It comes beautifully presented with separated toppings that you mix together. 5 stars Then I had the pumpkin chicken entree, super delicious! Giant chunks of pumpkin and tender chicken, served with rice. 5 stars. I can't wait to go back and try all the other fun stuff on the menu.
(5)Ana K.
YoMa has authentic, healthy, and tasty food. I ate here for lunch and had the Vegetarian Green Tea Leaf Salad, and Coconut Rice. The salad is an excellent mixture of peanuts, toasted sesame seeds, peppers, and more. The coconut rice is phenomenal! Light jasmine rice infused with a subtly sweet coconut juice. All the items on the menu sound delicious, as I'm sure they are. Most dishes have meat or a form of seafood in them, but they have vegetarian versions of many of the items on the menu. I recommend dining at YoMa if you've never had Burmese cuisine, or if you're a fan of it. You won't regret it!
(5)Annie L.
The service was VERY slow! Considering we were 1 of two tables here. We ordered two noodle dishes and both tasted like we could have done better.
(1)Stacey D.
I asked a friend of mine, "so what's your favorite place to eat in Boston". "Yo-ma, wonderful hole in the wall Burmese food!" Hole in the wall ethnic restaurants were my forte, so it was with great pleasure and anticipation, that I hopped on the T., and on a dreary, went, film-noir evening trekked here with a buddy from work to try Burmese food. Sadly, I was disappointed. We started with the plata with potato curry, the plata, which is like a crispier, lighter naan bread, was delicious, but the potato curry was on the sweet side, and the sugary tasted overwhelmed all the other flavors. We barely touched it. Following this, I had the catfish soup, and I was sourly disappointed, almost angry. Past reviews have mention big chunks of catfish, but my soup was watery, and almost seemed like it was leftovers. I enjoyed the flavors, but it was more like a savory drink then a soup. There were no chunks of anything, much less catfish. For our entrees, my friend had the pumpkin special with pork, chicken and beef. I had the mango chicken salad. Once again the food was simply so so, there was not much spice nor flavor (so perhaps a good place for not so adventurous eaters), I asked for the spice rack and dumped seasonings on both the pumpkin and salad. The pumpkin special is like a curry, but I keep telling myself, I might as well have gone to an Indian restaurant if I wanted curry. The mango chicken salad is reminiscient of thai or vietnamese salads, but once again I thought the flavor was too mild and bland. As for the prices, they weren't expensive, pretty typical for this kinda of restaurant, but on the whole, I thought it was a let down.
(3)Helen L.
I absolutely LOVE the food here. The noodles are incredible. However, you have to wait like an HOUR to get your food. The service is horrendous. The first time I went, we waited 30-40 minutes sitting IN THE RESTAURANT before we go our food. The second time, I ordered take out and I ordered like an HOUR before, and when I got there, the food was still not ready. But when you DO get the food, it's wonderful. I got the MeeShay, which is some sort of udon noodles that is spicy and delicious. I LOVE IT. I'm not even sure what Burmese food actually is, but it's sorta like a Thai and Japanese combined. The spices are fantastic, it is very flavorful and very cheap! It's about $8 for a dish, which honestly, is incredibly reasonable for a meal. Especially since anywhere you go, even a sub costs $5-10. If only they can make their food faster!!
(4)Kim H.
I have been to Burma and tried many a burmese home cooked meals so I was happy to see a burmese restaurant opening in Boston, the first since Mandalay closed over a decade ago. It was surprisingly good and authentic. The flavors, as others have said, is unique and perhaps not for everyone. They use a lot of fishy flavors and intense mixtures of spices. The tea leaf salad and monhingar are typical Burmese dishes and I love them. The best way to order the food is to order a bunch of different dishes with different tasts - spicy, sweet, bitter, fishy, etc.. to get the real experience.
(4)Amara M.
I had no idea what to expect from Burmese food, but Yo Ma exceeded my expectations. My sense just from this first visit is that its a like Thai + Indian + Japanese (subtlety) I tried the plata w/potato curry, the green tea leaf salad and the coconut shrimp with pumpkin. The plata was a flatbread - kind of a cross between a roti and naan. It was served with a creamy, soup-like curry. Very delicious - my only complaint was that for $4.50 we only got one plata. I had a couple bites of the tea leaf salad. Spicy, nutty and delicious. I don't know if I could do a full serving, but I will definitely be ordering this next time. My main course was very good- and a great portion, enough to finish happily, but not be grossly full. I liked the spicy accompaniment but would have liked a little spice. Overall very pleased and excited to explore the menu further.
(4)Jeremy P.
3.25 stars Why 3.25 stars? There's no way the any of the food was prepared to order. Likely the appetizers and entree's were either in chafing type dishes to keep them warm or were microwaved to order. One can tell this given the foods consistency. for example: Entrées: The pumpkin special: The meat pieces were overcooked and the whole dish was inconsistently warmed, hot in one area and warm in another. The garlic noodle dish: The noodles were stuck together as is when they're overcooked or a day or two old The flavor of both entrées was good but their honesty there was no real fireworks one would expect from something as exotic as Burmese food. Appetizers: The spring rolls: Were the best part of the meal. Fresh. cold and simple with a tasty accompanying little sauce. The salad: This was obviously premade and forked on the plate per order. The rustic chop of the cabbage could have been a little neater to make it appear to be a somewhat gourmet. The dressing tasted good and salty but the whole salad looked as if it were made the day before or that morning. there was zero effort put into it's presentation. The waitress was adorable with an ass to die for, which made up for the overall quality of the food. I can't say I'd recommended this establishment for the food but the quick service (appetizer and entre served within 2 minutes of ordering) and the esthetics are worth a the one time dinning experience.
(3)Gilad S.
The menu went back to normal, so I am returning this to 5 stars, but I hate the hours. Open before 4 PM please!
(5)Alex F.
Went to Yoma on a whim looking to try something different in the Allston area. I am so glad I went. The food was great with so many different flavors and ingredients. We started with the tea leaf salad that had like 10 different ingredients, definitely worth tasting for the flavor adventure. Next we had for our main course the coconut shrimp with pumpkin in curry. Was phenomenal, not to spicy but still had a kick at the same time. The cooked pumpkin was something I have never had, and was worth taking the risk. We also had an extremely delicious noodle dish i think called Meeshay. It was quite spicy but had flavors of pork, cilantro, lemongrass...great combos of flavors. Overall yoma was great, and very bang for your buck. Food comes fast and is really good. Check it out when wanting to try something different.
(4)Jesse H.
This place used to be amazing before they revamped their menu. Now they do not have the spicy chicken noodle soup, which was the best item on the menu (one of the best soups I've ever had). It's a sad day. I hae no idea what their strategy is but it's not brilliant.
(2)aaron t.
Really fresh food. Cute small environment. Run by a family . Great service since there are only 7-8 tables. I came here with 2 others(3 total) ordered the tea salad (Awesome!!!! crunchy, tea like taste, and super fresh) Then we had a mixed appetizer dish w/fried tofu triangle, a samosa like ball, and a very crispy waffer with some kind of nut. all good, very light, not heavy at all. We also shared the pumpkin dish, super mix noodle dish, and a curry chicken dish. All very tasty and warming. I think the tea salad impressed us th most for uniqueness. The main dishes were very good, just not as different as the salad. A couple came in later and ordered just the tea salad, so I'm guessing it might be a favorite. I'd come here again to try the variety of food. The menu is rather large and it'll take some time to figure out what you want since everything is so new. The nice thing is that they take their time to cook everything fresh and hot. Nothing seems pre-made or frozen. so, it might take a few mins for your dish to come out...its not liek those fast food chinesee restaurants popping stuff out 2 mins after you order. Come here for a fresh taste of burmeses food, though I'm not sure how authentic it is. It's good, but has me a bit locked between vietmenese and indian food. The pices are awesome...$4-9 for all dishes.
(4)Zachary W.
Having dabbled in lots of different facets of ethnomusicology, the first thing that struck me was the cacophony that is Burmese music playing over the speakers. Perhaps if I knew a bit more about it, it would be easier to stomach. However, the food I can say was very easy to stomach. Burmese food is made up of a smattering of curries--often with a meat and potato mixture. The rice is served with a bowl of dried shrimp bits that you are to mix in yourself. Pretty awesome. Do not, however, order the ice cream salad. It consisted of canned fruit, ice cream, jello...string? and cashews. BLEH
(3)moosh k.
Food is absolutely delicious and authentic. I'm South East Asian and the food here reminds me of home. Love everything but especially love the MeeShay, Catfish soup and the various Plata. Price is very reasonable. $9 for a plate of Meeshay, chock full of pork- it's the best you can get! Service is fast and the staff are always smily and polite.
(5)Ross L.
One of my top 3 favorite restaurants in Boston. Yoma offers cuisine unlike any other local eatery. The wide spectrum of flavor is a refreshing change of pace from the local Thai and Indian restaurants. Great vegetarian menu! Extremely friendly staff and excellent service.
(5)Tiffany Z.
I've only ordered delivery from YoMa but have been very impressed with what I've ordered. I'd highly recommend the Super Pumpkin (a fragrant pumpkin, chicken, and pork dish), Beef and Potato with Curry, and Plata (flaky bread). Note that there's a $5 delivery charge to Cambridge through Foodler, but if you're only interested in the food aspect, it's definitely worth the time saved on commuting :) And, thus far (I've ordered from them 3 times), the delivery has always arrived on time with the food piping hot.
(4)Amy Y.
A friend and I really wanted to try authentic Burmese food, and word on the street was that YoMa was the place to hit up. I have to say that it was an interesting experience. I was really looking forward to the chickpea tofu appetizer and the tea leaf salad. The fried chickpea tofu didn't disappoint, but 12 pieces of fried tofu were definitely too much for the two of us. Light and fluffy, and went well with the spicy sauce. The tea leaf salad was slightly underwhelming. The leaves were also extremely salty, which detracted from the aromatic tea flavor. My friend and I shared the potato curry dish. The chicken was tender and flavorful, but was not bathed in enough curry sauce! Couldn't finish the rice with the dish because we didn't have enough thick, soupy curry goodness to soak it up. Also, the actual curry sauce was more of an oil than a sauce. Burmese food here comes packed with flavor (mostly... salt... ) and lots of spice.
(3)Sean G.
I loved the food here. I got the shrimp with pumpkin sauce and jasmine rice, along with the tea leaf salad and loved both. Highly recommended and distinctly unique, even for Boston!
(5)Mimi X.
I never knew Burmese food (kind of like Indian +Thai) was so awesome! Prices are cheap, and food is tasty! Plus, you can entertain yourself by looking at all the scenic pictures of Burma decorating the walls. Not a place that impresses with atmosphere, but if you love food, it will be forgiven. Try the tea salad (really spicy), plata with chicken dipping sauce, or the chicken mango salad. PS-They are closed on Wednesdays.
(4)Jeannie H.
Unfortunately, it's impossible for me to comment on the food. This was the first time in dining history I have walked out of a place mid-meal and I've eaten at hundreds of restaurants. We were seated at 6PM and there were two other tables of diners. We ordered the LaPhetThot (Tea Leaf Salad) and received the dish at 6:35PM. We waited and waited and waited for our main courses. At 7:20PM, we saw that our fellow diners who had preceded our arrival were still dinner-less, gave up, paid for our appetizer and left. The table next to us followed suit. Why the LaPhetThot took so long is a mystery in itself....it's a bloody salad. The thing that made me so irritated is that the waitress never addressed our questions regarding what was going on in the kitchen. She was dismissive and avoidant. Perhaps this was an unusual off day but an apology and some attention would have gone a long way.
(1)Joan B.
This is possibly as good as it gets in Allston. (Sorry Punjab Palace - I still love you). So, if you don't eat gluten, or dairy, or even meat, I bet you eat chickpeas. Get down to YoMa and order some deep fried chickpea tofu and you will not be missing a thing in the creamy crispy deep friend culinary world. Despite ocaisional difficulties from me not speaking Burmese, this is a great place to go to eat gluten free, meat free, milk-free. And the food is SPECTACULAR, which I do not say lightly. Affordable, unique, amazing. Layers upon layers of flavor and off-the-beaten track combinations. Egg potato is my personal favorite, but I've tried five different dishes and they were all wonderful, especially when they were served with fried shallot garnish.
(5)Nas D.
I love the tea leaf salad and I've always had a great experience here with the various dishes I've tried. Sometimes the waiters are not the most fluent with English so it makes ordering hard and the place is a bit small. But it is super well run and I always appreciate my time here. The limeade is also fantastic!
(4)Hana C.
Yes. I am a fan of YoMa. There are really just three things to get from here. 1. Jarzanhingar: spiced chicken soup in clear noodle with black mushrooms, bean thread, lily flower, black pepper, scallion & cilantro. The soup is very spicy but refreshing and comes with vermeceilli. excellent. 2. Chicken curry- comes with potatos. absolute deslih dish. 3. Barlachong grounded dried shrimp stir fried with fish sauce, shrimp paste, shallot, garlic, and spicy red chili flake. This is a side dish that you eat with rice. It is spicy, very spicy but even with the lil tears and runny nose, all the parts and parcels of eating super spicy food, you will love it. Just order these three. Will not be dissapointed.
(4)Greg Y.
Good food, was fun trying out Burmese food for the first time. Had the coconut tofu - it's been a while since I had properly made tofu with just the right firmness. Just note that entree plates are not massive. Should be just right if you had a big meal earlier in the day or something. If you come in starving, though, be prepared to order twice.
(4)Lucy Z.
Solid Burmese restaurant. Although not as good as the ones in San Francisco, it is certainly decent for Boston. The decor was simple and casual. The menu was not very big, but had the staple items such as tea salad and catfish noodle soup.
(4)Anastasia R.
When you go you HAVE to try the ThaYetTheeThot (green mango salad). I've eaten at plenty of funky Asian restaurants, but this salad brings together flavors in a way that I never would have believed possible. It was different from anything I've ever eaten and I Loved it! I have never had Burmese food. This humble little shop only had one other couple in it when we went. The service was amazing and the food was out of control good. They have a ton of gluten free dishes and none of them skimp on flavor.
(5)Sarah B.
I've never had Burmese food before, but I enjoyed my first visit to YoMa. We were there on a Sunday at lunchtime, and it wasn't crowded, so the service was attentive and prompt. Since none of us had tried Burmese food, we got a variety of things, including drinks, soups, appetizers, and noodle dishes. I recommend the yogurt drink and the lime drink. And the potato plata was delicious! The soups that we tried (lentil and hot and sour) were okay, but not great. We all ordered different noodle dishes and shared, and they were all delicious. I especially liked the homemade tofu. All in all, a unique and pleasant dining experience!
(4)Alex H.
I'm always confused that this place isn't totally packed. Without a doubt, it's on my list of top 5 restaurants in Boston. The tea leaf salad is great. I can also highly recommend the pork-potato curry, and catfish noodle soup. And to top it off, very reasonably priced. I really wish I didn't live so far away from this place now.
(5)Anna T.
This restaurant have been on my to try list for the longest time and we finally tried it!!! Background: I never had Burmese food before. I grew up with a chef dad who is not afraid to use salt & spice so I really prefer bold flavors. This place is not afraid to use spices which I appreciate mucho. We had the Tea Leaf Salad, Super Pumpkin, Catfish Soup with noodles and Plata (flaky bread) split among us two girls. The tea leaf salad is indeed very interesting. Crunchy, salty, soft. It tasted like a lil side dish of peanuts my dad makes though. So it wasn't a new flavor to me. I did like the flavor of the pickled tea leaves even though there weren't much tea flavor at all. It bought the dish together but it wasn't enough for every bite so I think that was what was missing. Overall this dish is good, different and refreshing but felt like I needed beer with it. The Super Pumpkin was not as sweet as I thought it would be. The chicken & pork were tender especially the pork. The pumpkin was eh I had way better. But overall this dish was good. We kept dipping our platas in the sauce. The catfish soup w/ noodles. Warning: this soup is fishy lolz what a surprise. I didn't mind the fishiness at all but the noodles bothered me a whole lot. It was really overcooked, not sure if that was intentional or what. The soup itself was different. My friend said it kept tasting like Bun Rieu's soup base to her even though it's different bases. I didn't taste that but then again she eats the homemade Bun Rieu whereas I eat the restaurant kind. There was a very very slight burnt taste that bothered me the whole time so I added hots to get rid of it. Not enough toppings! I'll forgive that since they did have eggs hahaha Overall, a different dish for me. Platas were hmmm platas I guess nothing special about it. I only got them to soak up all the sauces. The service was good for an Asian establishment. Place is not pretentious at all and staff is not snobby. Felt very comfortable there and didn't feel rushed. Tables were too small hahaha we hardly had room to fit all of our dishes.
(4)Matt L.
Yeah, this place is Sofa King good. The location is straight up Allston and the building isn't the nicest, but it was seriously some of the best food I've had in Boston for under $40/plate. I was blown away by the flavoring of the food--spot on with balance of sweet/spicy and hints of floral. When going to new restaurants, I tend to be kind of annoying with all my questions about the cuisine, but the waitress was wicked patient and explained the dishes. Definitely looking forward to going back and trying more!
(5)Rachel Leah B.
I regret not visiting more of Allston's amazing cheap ethnic restaurants when I was living in Brighton for two years. Now that I'm in Somerville, it's kind of a pain to get back out there, but I had to go to a birthday party at Common Ground recently, so I decided to take advantage of the trip and hit up YoMa, which I'd eyed so many times before. It was really delightful and very unique, although with some recognizable hints of other Asian cuisine, particularly Thai and Indian. We started with the Tea Leaf Salad based on other reviewers' mentions of it here, and we were impressed/intrigued. Definitely worth a try. Everything else was great as well, and the decor - though bordering on tacky - was welcoming and fun. Full review: forkitoverboston.blogspo…
(4)Aye M.
This is the first Burmese restaurant opened in Boston within the last 20 years or so. So I tried it out as soon as I could. Logistics : We had 5 people and ordered an appetizer and 6 dishes. We were all pretty stuffed by the end of dinner. It came out to $12 per person including tip. I recommend strongly for a medium sized group (5-8) people sharing a bunch of dishes. Service and Decor : Pretty substandard since it's the owner's first restaurant. They don't exactly know what they are doing yet. Not a place you take your date to unless your date is a low-key culinarily (is that even a word?) adventurous person. Service was not horrible but not that great either. but what do you expect from a $7 an entree restaurant? Food : The taste was excellent. There was only one dish I wouldn't order again out of all 7. Everyone enjoyed almost all the dishes. The names are hard to remember for non burmese speakers. The standout was Chicken Curry and Nan-gyi-thoke( not sure if that's the real name) was great. Authenticity: I would say it's about 75-80% authentic. It has all the traditional Burmese ingredients. They take it easy on oil, fish sauce and spiciness. But not americanzied to the extent that it lost the uniqueness of Burmese food. Everyone agreed the food is distinctly different from Thai, Indian etc.. Full disclosure : I grew up in Burma. I am not associated with the owners in any way. Edit : I'm quite happy to see Yoma's been getting a lot of good reviews. Being a regular and not having any other easily accessible source of Burmese food, I've been hoping this place will succeed and was worried it might not when they closed for lunch. I figure I wanted to jump in and give a bit of a commentary on the portion size and why it might seem small to most people here. People eat much more frequently in Burma. I used to have about 4-5 meals a day when I was growing up (and no, my weight doesn't hit 3 digit on the scale). All the noodle dishes and salads Yoma is serving is more of a breakfast, mid-day or late night snack. For dinner, most families eat together and they don't serve individual servings of curries, veggie dishes. Everyone gets a plate of rice and the rest is all shared. A typical Burmese dinner/lunch includes one or two meat dishes, a veggie side, some sort of salad, a big bowl of soup - all set out for everyone to share. So keep that in mind, when you go to Yoma next time. To recreate an authentic Burmese meal, you may want to order a bunch of different dishes (combination of salad, curry, soup, noodle) and share with your friends and family. If you ask the lady, she might be able to pair them up for you. You will have more fun trying out a bunch of things! My suggestion to keep things sanitary would be put a spoon or folk in every dish and use only those as serving utensils. ( I have enough germaphobic friends to anticipate this concern.) ;) Hope this helps for people who feel cheated regarding the portion size to enjoy Burmese food.
(5)Patti C.
First time for Burmese food. DELICIOUS! I'm here for the food, You don't go to Allston for the decor, so no rating for that here. Bonus that the wait staff is so nice. As my dining partner said: "Someone here knows how to cook." Burmese food is an impt addition to the Allston strip. Take the adventure. Each dish we ordered was excellent: mini pumpkin shrimp, fermented tea salad (yes, salad with "tea" in the ingredients), and egg noodles with pork. The fried garlic/chiles/etc garnishes are mind-blowing.
(5)Moe N.
Warning!!! If you are Burmese please consider not eating here, and give me a ring and come to my house to eat. You will be disappointed here. We order, Thai tea, beef curry, happy shrimp, garlic noodle, catfish soup, spring roll. The Thai tea was terrible, they use those package Thai tea from chinese grocery store and put water in and give it to you. Beef curry, beef are over cook, the curry taste is no good. I expected so much better, my home cook curry taste so much better than that. Next is happy shrimp, the shrimp is over cook again. Catfish soup was super disappointment, it is suppose to be mote hin kar but, it was white color spicy soup with fish and lemon grass pieces throw in. Spring roll is OK, I have eaten better in Vietnam restaurant. Garlic noodle is just no good, taste nothing like Burmese garlic noodle. The food there are design for none Burmese people. The food are super expansive and super small portion, u can't do sharing style when u order cause all the dishes come with rice. Super super disappointment and will never ever go eat there again.
(1)Jamie A.
Since I'm a complete sucker for food I have never heard of or know how to pronounce, YoMa completely satisfied that side of my foodie personality. It's not a particularly interesting spot, but the prices and the service were just right. Our waitress was incredibly kind and even bumped up the spice on the dish I ordered. We had an appetizer of fried tofu, which was greasy and delicious, but it was our meals that were really great. I wish I could remember the name of my dish, but it was a spicy chicken and rice noodles dish with crushed peanuts and vegetables. My friend ordered a spicy "fruits of the sea" type dish and it was incredibly fresh and wonderfully spicy as well. I certainly recommend this place if you're up for something delicious & different!
(4)dedalus w.
My heaven on earth Lunch (for 2): La Phet Thot (tea leaf salad) Jinn Thot (ginger salad) Bar La Chong Coconut Rice If there is a 3rd person, add one or two of the following: Tohu Thot (chickpea tofu salad) green mango salad pumpkin coconut curry and have some coconut juice! Now, some background: I grew up in boston, my parents took e to Mandalay many times, when I was a young teen. I loved that restaurant . So, two years ago, when keeping my eye open for new food adventures, I saw YOMA's sign, I got EXCITED. I took some friends once, again and again. from the start I thought it was pretty good. But with time, it has blossomed into an absolute favorite. The two first salads mentioned above are unique experiences in my foodie life. Fresh, vibrant and complex mouthfuls that light up your mouth. Combine them with the coconut rice and a liberal sprinkle of Bar La Chong and you are in for fantastic conversations of spicy, crunchy, salty, sweet, nutty and fresh flavors. Some other dishes I have tried were too mild and not things to fall in love with. but there are plenty worth a try. The menu does take some exploring. Go with friends, order and eat family style. YOMA YOMA YOMA!!!!!
(5)Eric C.
I decided to give this place a shot after reading about it here on Yelp. Just like the rest of the comments here, the food is unique, authentic and delicious. Its basically everyday homemade Burmese food - and prices were reasonable. And I too agree with some of the comments as they're still a relatively new shop (probably run by a single family ) and hence yet to overcome the hurdle of being efficient with service. Took a while for the waitress to take our orders, give us our drinks and also noticed some of the other frustrated customers. Given time, they'll do well. If you want something South East Asian that you've probably never tried before and don't expect much from service - I would definitely recommend this place! Give it a shot.
(4)Shivani G.
My husband and I visited YoMa based on the rave reviews for the restaurant on Yelp! We were not impressed and, in fact, we actually left our dishes unfinished. We had the curry chicken with udon and the tofu entree and it was much so fishy for our taste. Our appetizer was a friend long green squash which was tasty because 1) it was fried 2) it had no spices except a very tasty dipping sauce. I would like to write one qualification my review-- we're not big meat eaters and we don't eat red meat. Perhaps if we were more accustomed to pungent tastes, we would have enjoyed our meal. So veggies or veggie-friendlies, beware, there may not be a lot of options for you. For others, I am glad that you have found a Burmese haven. P.S. The service was slow.
(2)Victoria W.
I had been eyeing this new Burmese restaurant in my neighborhood for about a month, and finally went for lunch this past weekend. It's a relatively small place, with a minimal decor. The menu is quite extensive for such a small operation. I ended up ordering a lunch special, which includes your choice of appetizer, soup, and rice. I got crab rangoon for my app - which was delicious and not like most crab rangoon at other restaurants with 95% cream cheese. These 4 dumplings were very crabby and very delicious! They didn't have my first choice of soup that day, so I went with a tofu, chicken, and veggie soup, which was very fresh and light and tasty! I also chose the coconut rice, which was excellent. My boyfriend ordered a curry noodle dish with meat, and he enjoyed it very much, but it could have been spicier. The portion sizes are also very good for the price. My only qualm was that we had to wait quite a while for our dishes even though it wasn't terribly busy (2-3 other tables occupied), but it is nice to know that your meal is being served to order. Friendly staff, nice atmosphere, and fantastic prices (I think our bill came to $14 for two!) - we will most definitely be returning!!!
(4)Renee M.
I've been to Yoma before and thought it was ok (I think because I didn't particularly like a certain spice in the dish I ordered) but I went back last night and truly enjoyed it. I ordered the "Super Pumpkin" which was pumpkin with beef and chicken in some kind of sauce over rice, and it was delicious! The pumpkin tasted fresh and the meat was very tender. We also ordered the sampler appetizer which came with a very yummy spicy sauce. Not only was everything delicious, but it was so cheap! My dish was just under $11 and a lot of the items on the menu are under $10. I will definitely be back (especially since it is literally a 2 minute walk from my apartment- lucky me!)
(4)aaron t.
Really fresh food. Cute small environment. Run by a family . Great service since there are only 7-8 tables. I came here with 2 others(3 total) ordered the tea salad (Awesome!!!! crunchy, tea like taste, and super fresh) Then we had a mixed appetizer dish w/fried tofu triangle, a samosa like ball, and a very crispy waffer with some kind of nut. all good, very light, not heavy at all. We also shared the pumpkin dish, super mix noodle dish, and a curry chicken dish. All very tasty and warming. I think the tea salad impressed us th most for uniqueness. The main dishes were very good, just not as different as the salad. A couple came in later and ordered just the tea salad, so I'm guessing it might be a favorite. I'd come here again to try the variety of food. The menu is rather large and it'll take some time to figure out what you want since everything is so new. The nice thing is that they take their time to cook everything fresh and hot. Nothing seems pre-made or frozen. so, it might take a few mins for your dish to come out...its not liek those fast food chinesee restaurants popping stuff out 2 mins after you order. Come here for a fresh taste of burmeses food, though I'm not sure how authentic it is. It's good, but has me a bit locked between vietmenese and indian food. The pices are awesome...$4-9 for all dishes.
(4)Zachary W.
Having dabbled in lots of different facets of ethnomusicology, the first thing that struck me was the cacophony that is Burmese music playing over the speakers. Perhaps if I knew a bit more about it, it would be easier to stomach. However, the food I can say was very easy to stomach. Burmese food is made up of a smattering of curries--often with a meat and potato mixture. The rice is served with a bowl of dried shrimp bits that you are to mix in yourself. Pretty awesome. Do not, however, order the ice cream salad. It consisted of canned fruit, ice cream, jello...string? and cashews. BLEH
(3)moosh k.
Food is absolutely delicious and authentic. I'm South East Asian and the food here reminds me of home. Love everything but especially love the MeeShay, Catfish soup and the various Plata. Price is very reasonable. $9 for a plate of Meeshay, chock full of pork- it's the best you can get! Service is fast and the staff are always smily and polite.
(5)Amy Y.
A friend and I really wanted to try authentic Burmese food, and word on the street was that YoMa was the place to hit up. I have to say that it was an interesting experience. I was really looking forward to the chickpea tofu appetizer and the tea leaf salad. The fried chickpea tofu didn't disappoint, but 12 pieces of fried tofu were definitely too much for the two of us. Light and fluffy, and went well with the spicy sauce. The tea leaf salad was slightly underwhelming. The leaves were also extremely salty, which detracted from the aromatic tea flavor. My friend and I shared the potato curry dish. The chicken was tender and flavorful, but was not bathed in enough curry sauce! Couldn't finish the rice with the dish because we didn't have enough thick, soupy curry goodness to soak it up. Also, the actual curry sauce was more of an oil than a sauce. Burmese food here comes packed with flavor (mostly... salt... ) and lots of spice.
(3)Sean G.
I loved the food here. I got the shrimp with pumpkin sauce and jasmine rice, along with the tea leaf salad and loved both. Highly recommended and distinctly unique, even for Boston!
(5)Jeannie H.
Unfortunately, it's impossible for me to comment on the food. This was the first time in dining history I have walked out of a place mid-meal and I've eaten at hundreds of restaurants. We were seated at 6PM and there were two other tables of diners. We ordered the LaPhetThot (Tea Leaf Salad) and received the dish at 6:35PM. We waited and waited and waited for our main courses. At 7:20PM, we saw that our fellow diners who had preceded our arrival were still dinner-less, gave up, paid for our appetizer and left. The table next to us followed suit. Why the LaPhetThot took so long is a mystery in itself....it's a bloody salad. The thing that made me so irritated is that the waitress never addressed our questions regarding what was going on in the kitchen. She was dismissive and avoidant. Perhaps this was an unusual off day but an apology and some attention would have gone a long way.
(1)Joan B.
This is possibly as good as it gets in Allston. (Sorry Punjab Palace - I still love you). So, if you don't eat gluten, or dairy, or even meat, I bet you eat chickpeas. Get down to YoMa and order some deep fried chickpea tofu and you will not be missing a thing in the creamy crispy deep friend culinary world. Despite ocaisional difficulties from me not speaking Burmese, this is a great place to go to eat gluten free, meat free, milk-free. And the food is SPECTACULAR, which I do not say lightly. Affordable, unique, amazing. Layers upon layers of flavor and off-the-beaten track combinations. Egg potato is my personal favorite, but I've tried five different dishes and they were all wonderful, especially when they were served with fried shallot garnish.
(5)Ross L.
One of my top 3 favorite restaurants in Boston. Yoma offers cuisine unlike any other local eatery. The wide spectrum of flavor is a refreshing change of pace from the local Thai and Indian restaurants. Great vegetarian menu! Extremely friendly staff and excellent service.
(5)Tiffany Z.
I've only ordered delivery from YoMa but have been very impressed with what I've ordered. I'd highly recommend the Super Pumpkin (a fragrant pumpkin, chicken, and pork dish), Beef and Potato with Curry, and Plata (flaky bread). Note that there's a $5 delivery charge to Cambridge through Foodler, but if you're only interested in the food aspect, it's definitely worth the time saved on commuting :) And, thus far (I've ordered from them 3 times), the delivery has always arrived on time with the food piping hot.
(4)Nas D.
I love the tea leaf salad and I've always had a great experience here with the various dishes I've tried. Sometimes the waiters are not the most fluent with English so it makes ordering hard and the place is a bit small. But it is super well run and I always appreciate my time here. The limeade is also fantastic!
(4)Hana C.
Yes. I am a fan of YoMa. There are really just three things to get from here. 1. Jarzanhingar: spiced chicken soup in clear noodle with black mushrooms, bean thread, lily flower, black pepper, scallion & cilantro. The soup is very spicy but refreshing and comes with vermeceilli. excellent. 2. Chicken curry- comes with potatos. absolute deslih dish. 3. Barlachong grounded dried shrimp stir fried with fish sauce, shrimp paste, shallot, garlic, and spicy red chili flake. This is a side dish that you eat with rice. It is spicy, very spicy but even with the lil tears and runny nose, all the parts and parcels of eating super spicy food, you will love it. Just order these three. Will not be dissapointed.
(4)Greg Y.
Good food, was fun trying out Burmese food for the first time. Had the coconut tofu - it's been a while since I had properly made tofu with just the right firmness. Just note that entree plates are not massive. Should be just right if you had a big meal earlier in the day or something. If you come in starving, though, be prepared to order twice.
(4)Lucy Z.
Solid Burmese restaurant. Although not as good as the ones in San Francisco, it is certainly decent for Boston. The decor was simple and casual. The menu was not very big, but had the staple items such as tea salad and catfish noodle soup.
(4)Anna T.
This restaurant have been on my to try list for the longest time and we finally tried it!!! Background: I never had Burmese food before. I grew up with a chef dad who is not afraid to use salt & spice so I really prefer bold flavors. This place is not afraid to use spices which I appreciate mucho. We had the Tea Leaf Salad, Super Pumpkin, Catfish Soup with noodles and Plata (flaky bread) split among us two girls. The tea leaf salad is indeed very interesting. Crunchy, salty, soft. It tasted like a lil side dish of peanuts my dad makes though. So it wasn't a new flavor to me. I did like the flavor of the pickled tea leaves even though there weren't much tea flavor at all. It bought the dish together but it wasn't enough for every bite so I think that was what was missing. Overall this dish is good, different and refreshing but felt like I needed beer with it. The Super Pumpkin was not as sweet as I thought it would be. The chicken & pork were tender especially the pork. The pumpkin was eh I had way better. But overall this dish was good. We kept dipping our platas in the sauce. The catfish soup w/ noodles. Warning: this soup is fishy lolz what a surprise. I didn't mind the fishiness at all but the noodles bothered me a whole lot. It was really overcooked, not sure if that was intentional or what. The soup itself was different. My friend said it kept tasting like Bun Rieu's soup base to her even though it's different bases. I didn't taste that but then again she eats the homemade Bun Rieu whereas I eat the restaurant kind. There was a very very slight burnt taste that bothered me the whole time so I added hots to get rid of it. Not enough toppings! I'll forgive that since they did have eggs hahaha Overall, a different dish for me. Platas were hmmm platas I guess nothing special about it. I only got them to soak up all the sauces. The service was good for an Asian establishment. Place is not pretentious at all and staff is not snobby. Felt very comfortable there and didn't feel rushed. Tables were too small hahaha we hardly had room to fit all of our dishes.
(4)Rachel Leah B.
I regret not visiting more of Allston's amazing cheap ethnic restaurants when I was living in Brighton for two years. Now that I'm in Somerville, it's kind of a pain to get back out there, but I had to go to a birthday party at Common Ground recently, so I decided to take advantage of the trip and hit up YoMa, which I'd eyed so many times before. It was really delightful and very unique, although with some recognizable hints of other Asian cuisine, particularly Thai and Indian. We started with the Tea Leaf Salad based on other reviewers' mentions of it here, and we were impressed/intrigued. Definitely worth a try. Everything else was great as well, and the decor - though bordering on tacky - was welcoming and fun. Full review: forkitoverboston.blogspo…
(4)Sara S.
I've never had Burmese food, but after sampling their ginger salad at the Taste of Allston, I knew I had to go for a full meal! Susie A. and I started out with their ginger salad, which was even better than I remembered. It's super gingery and loaded with peanuts, shallots, cabbage, and sesame seeds! It's a little spicy, so if you don't like spice, I wouldn't get it. We split the "ShwePaYonTheeHin"- jumbo shrimp cooked with oriental pumpkin (orange and green!), tomatoes, ginger, lemongrass, and cilantro. We're big pumpkin fans, so this dish was right up our alley. It wasn't spicy but it was very flavorful. It was more like a broth than a curry; surprisingly quite light. We also had the KhotSweThot, which is a wheat flour noodle dish with chickpea tofu. It was like a hybrid of Chinese lo-mein, but a LOT better, and a great compliment to the shrimp. I never had chickpea tofu before, but it was delicious and tasted very chickpea-ish! The food wasn't very hot, which is why the rating is 4 stars rather than 5. It's extremely casual inside. It almost looks like a to-go restaurant. They don't have a liquor license, so booze at Deep Ellum down the street before and/or after.The service was good and they take credit cards.
(4)Payal D.
So good! we go here probably 2-3 times a month. The tofu salad is so good, the spice and rice is also delicious, and tofu noodles. I wouldn't suggest the curry though, not into it.
(5)Pixie G.
Just okay. Not exciting and delicious according to our party of 3, 2 of which are fans of Burmese food.
(3)Skyler K.
Tea salad is where it's at! Everything I have ever eaten in my life combined is bland gruel in comparison. We also had pumpkin shrimp and MeeShay, which were both delicious, but had little hope of living up to their predecessor. Service was super-friendly and helpful and politely refrained from openly laughing at me when I had a minor breakdown over a slice of chili that damn near melted my tongue off. Plus, I love anywhere with a "gift shop" selling miniature paper parasols.
(4)Sandy H.
GET THE TEA LEAF SALAD! You must get it if you come here. I enjoyed everything else I got here too. The ginger salad is very ginger-y so get it if you like ginger. It's very refreshing. The entrees are also very good. I've gotten the super pumpkin and the garlic noodles and they were great. I think I'll try the Shan noodles the next time.
(4)Ramzi B.
I have been in love with Burmese food ever since I tried it last year and had been looking to get my fix somewhere in Boston. After some fairly thorough research (on Yelp, of course), I happened upon YoMa - and discovered it was only a block away from my house! How could I have missed it? I got some friends together a few weeks ago to give it a try, and boy was I disappointed. It's not that MY food was bad - mine was pretty good. But my friend ordered something so horrible, so offensive, that I had to take YoMa's fourth star away. The dish I'm talking about is FRIED FODDER FISH! My friend ordered this dish for the sake of trying something new and was handed a plate of something that looked and tasted like an old sponge soaked in salt water, coated in flour and deep fried! If you're curious as to what fodderfish is (which of course we were after assaulting our digestive systems with it), please refer to this link: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fi… . On to what I liked: 1) The service: the owner served us and was very nice, talking to us about Burma (or Myanmar) and the type of food she liked. 2) I ordered a delicious Curry Shrimp dish with coconut rice. The ingredients were fresh, and the rice was rich and sweet! Very yummy! 3) The tea-leaf salad was really very good. Much better than others I've tried. Don't get me wrong, I'll give this place another shot, but I'll be sure to stay away from a few choice items and stick to the good stuff.
(3)R. D.
This place is great. Really good food, friendly waiters, no rush. A friend and I came to try the place out on a whim. We'd made reservations earlier in the day, but when we arrived at 7:15, the place was completely empty. We weren't worried though. I ordered the Green Tea Leaf Salad. It was a little salty, but really tasty. Little shrimps and fried dal, lots of fresh and wonderful flavors. My friend ordered the Chickpea Tofu Salad. We split out salads in half so we could try each other's. She ended up liking hers better and I liked mine better. The Chickpea Tofu had a texture that reminded me of this Indian delicacy I'd had at someone's place (not my favorite thing in the world but my dad raves about it, so it's an acquired taste). So many options! What to eat for the main course? My friend got the Pumpkin Curry with Shrimp, and I ended up going with a chicken soup that had mushrooms, noodles, and other delectable goodies. Here's my biggest thing of awesomeness about YoMa: The pumpkin curry came with rice, and is mainly a tomato-based curry with chunks of pumpkin and four to six plump shrimp. (I could have used some more shrimp.) I took my first bite and literally dropped my spoon. It tasted EXACTLY like my mom's cooking at home, reminding me of a particular curry with tomato, potato, and peas (no peas in the pumpkin curry btw). I'm Indian, not Burmese. And from Gujarat, where our food is different than the typical Indian food that you get in an Indian restaurant. It's not rich and creamy, like North Indian food is. Anyway, I was completely floored. How does an Indian girl get home cooking in a Burmese restaurant?! That pumpkin curry was just....ridiculous. So so very good. The chicken soup was lovely. Savory, fragrant, and very filling. The broth too was well-seasoned, which is great, especially for clear-brothed soups. By the end we were completely stuffed. Happy and so very satisfied. I will be back soon, YoMa. Now I know that when I want real home cooking, I'll be walking past Punjab Palace or Indian Dhaba to this lovely little gem.
(4)Rachel B.
I had never tried Burmese good, and Friday night was my first experience. Overall the food was great. I had the tofu salad, vegetable soup, and a side of steamed chickpea tofu. I had never had tofu like this -- very creamy yet didn't fall apart. Almost like a soft cheese in texture. The meal was a bit too spicy for me.... my taste-buds approved but unfortunately my tummy did not.... won't go into details on that one... You may not want to go on a Friday night, by the way, because they were so busy and it took us 45 minutes to get our food (table of four)... The ambiance of the restaurant can certainly use a little help. They definitely have the quirky-Asian-restaurant thing going on, but the lighting is pretty harsh. Some of the decor is pretty cute and they even have a little "gift shop" at the counter where they sell various Burmese kitsch. I almost got the little elephant keychain! I will probably go back here because the food tasted great, but my tummy might get pissed at me if I do...
(4)Michael B.
Had a good meal....sat eve....by weds I looked at my bank on line statement and found out that they charged my credit card twice so that caused an overdraft of 35 dollars I went directly to the owner w copy of bank statement which clearly demonstrated this error......thus causing me the overdraft fees the owner refused to aknowledge the error and refused to remove the charge and would not reimburse me for the overdraft charges..,...bad biz decision....food is good but they will cheat you of they can
(1)C T.
Being that this is the only burmese restaurant in boston, I can't complain too much. I get burmese food at home which is a lil heartier with endless portions so my review is very, very biased. They serve okay burmese food, but it's still tastier at home when my mom makes it. :) Sorry!
(3)Laura F.
This place was awesome! The food is unique, must try the spice rice app!
(5)Bernice S.
No frills decor cuz all the zest (and spice!) went into their tasty, unique "cheap eats" - go for a 'combo' with the soup featured in the photo - yum! Easily eat for under $25 for 2 people - drinks included! Friendly service but finding street parking can be a bitch. Still, definitely worth the trip - we'll be back.
(4)PT R.
Yo Ma, you are one of my favorite local staples. If you didn't exist, I wouldn't know where to go. Your pumpkin shrimp -- yum yum yummy. Your tea leaf salad? Delicious! You are affordable, friendly and close by. I only wished you'd deliver but other than that, you are staying on my speed dial forever. And even though I've moved away, you are the only place I visit EVERY time I come back to Boston. Okay, I lied. I visit you and Oleana but shhhhh don't tell.
(4)Jen L.
The tea leaf salad is by far one of the best things my taste buds have ever experienced. Love love love this. If only I could have this every day....
(5)Anastasia R.
When you go you HAVE to try the ThaYetTheeThot (green mango salad). I've eaten at plenty of funky Asian restaurants, but this salad brings together flavors in a way that I never would have believed possible. It was different from anything I've ever eaten and I Loved it! I have never had Burmese food. This humble little shop only had one other couple in it when we went. The service was amazing and the food was out of control good. They have a ton of gluten free dishes and none of them skimp on flavor.
(5)Sarah B.
I've never had Burmese food before, but I enjoyed my first visit to YoMa. We were there on a Sunday at lunchtime, and it wasn't crowded, so the service was attentive and prompt. Since none of us had tried Burmese food, we got a variety of things, including drinks, soups, appetizers, and noodle dishes. I recommend the yogurt drink and the lime drink. And the potato plata was delicious! The soups that we tried (lentil and hot and sour) were okay, but not great. We all ordered different noodle dishes and shared, and they were all delicious. I especially liked the homemade tofu. All in all, a unique and pleasant dining experience!
(4)Alex H.
I'm always confused that this place isn't totally packed. Without a doubt, it's on my list of top 5 restaurants in Boston. The tea leaf salad is great. I can also highly recommend the pork-potato curry, and catfish noodle soup. And to top it off, very reasonably priced. I really wish I didn't live so far away from this place now.
(5)Justin O.
Home cooked quality food. well priced and the waitresses are very frindly
(4)Emily D.
TEA LEAF SALAD. You won't regret it.
(5)Jessica T.
I was a little skeptical coming to this place at first, not knowing what to expect. But damn am I glad I let my husband talk me into it. I lived in Allston for seven years and it's a neighborhood that has always had great international cuisine. Very underrated in my opinion. This place is no exception. The food here is amazing. Friendly service and very reasonably priced. Think of it like a heartier Asian style. Lots of great unique flavors and spice. Come often and try everything. You won't be dissapointed!
(5)Jackie S.
So well priced and delicious. Simple dishes yet lots of flavor. I had the pumpkin chicken and was very satisfied. If you are extra hungry I recommend getting an appetizer. Good service. Small place but it wasn't busy at all. It definitely deserves a chance, I promise you will be happy!
(4)Shang S.
This was my first time having Burmese food, so I didn't know what to expect. I thought that the food here was very excellent for its value. According to the recommendations here I got the green mango salad. It was a little more stronger than I had anticipated - it had a lot of lime juice in the dressing. Another salad I'd recommend is the green tea salad. It has a lot of nuts which gives it a great texture. Two of us got the sweet pumpkin with shrimp, and one of us got curry chicken. All the dishes were well-portioned and pungent. It's not as spicy as you'd expect from other Asian cuisine, felt light on the stomach but filling. I highly recommend swapping in coconut rice into the entrees.
(4)Kirby E.
Went here on Monday. The food was awesome. Started off with the layered bread with chicken sauce soooooo good. I recommend starting with this, you will not be disappointed. We also had the spring rools with eel. They were very refreshing and some of the best that I have had, althought I dont know how you can go wrong with spring rolls. My main entree was teh Pumpkin Chicken which was incredible. The chicken must be slow cooked, it was amazing. I loved the sauce. Added some hot sauce of my own because I love everything spicey. Definitely my favorite boston restaurant in this price range. Will eat there again and again.
(5)John L.
Not the most classy place on earth, but its clean and the ONLY Burmese place I would eat at besides homemade. The owner is really nice. Mohingha is good, but they don't put to many noodles in there for the price. Mango salad is where its at. Overall, very unique tasty spicy food! I love it. Also, its a small place so you might have to wait sometimes.
(4)Kassia K.
This is the first and only Burmese restaurant I've been to (so far), and ooh, it has made me a convert. The Burmese food at YoMa is unique, flavorful, and delicious. While the interior of the restaurant itself nothing special, the food is more than worth the trip to Allston. My boyfriend and I ordered the meal for two, which is a great deal for $25.99. We got a big bowl of spicy soup, a huge crock of jasmine rice, perfectly seasoned shrimp curry, a green mango/cabbage salad, and some sort of spicy dried shrimp concoction. It was the perfect amount of food for two people, and quite a deal for the portion sizes. The two Russian waitresses were adorable and super-attentive, which was nice. Whatever sugar-chunk palate-cleansing things they gave us after the meal were delicious, too. Mmm. YoMa ALMOST makes me wish I still lived in Allston... almost. Highly recommended!
(5)Maia B.
I was quite excited when I found Yoma on Yelp - a Burmese restaurant in Boston! For weeks, I tried to get my friends to come with me here instead of getting Thai or Italian food yet again, but they always argued that it was too cold, or too far away, or some other lame excuse. Finally, I decided I couldn't wait any longer, and would take a hellish hour+ ride on the T to try out this place. As I was putting on my coat to leave the dorms, one of my friends asked where I was headed. Turns out, a group of people were looking for somewhere to get dinner, so we all took off for YoMa in the minivan. We weren't disappointed. The restaurant is small, plain, and clean, the usual aesthetic of great restaurants. None of us had had Burmese food before, so it was quite the adventure ordering. I got a fantastic pumpkin curry. I think the group favorites were the spicy mango salad and the ginger salad. The ginger ice cream is a good call too. Also, extremely reasonable prices. Overall, a fun time getting something out of the ordinary - best to share this exotic food with a group :)
(4)Magda T.
Having returned to YoMa, I continue to say this is the best Burmese restaurant on the East Coast, tried Burmese food in New York, Philadelphia, and Washington, YoMa beats them all heads and shoulders. As vegetarians we only have eaten vegetarian dishes and they are amazing, but recently we have gone to YoMa with meat eaters and the both loved their meat dishes: Super Pumpkin with pork and chicken, and pork noodles. Cannot recommend it enough. We'll be back no doubt. Thank you, YoMa for delicious food.
(5)K M.
Wonderful! Thanks to Yelp for convincing me the trip to Allston is SO worth it for this place! We ordered the green mango salad and pumpkin shrimp curry and coconut rice. All 3 were amazingly tasty and perfectly cooked! The green mango salad is unlike anything I've ever tasted & I LOVED it! No liquor, just a couple of Nesteas, and the total was $23 (not including tip)! You cannot beat that price for this high-quality, unique, and delicious food! The staff is very friendly, not rushed, and the place is super-clean. We took a take-out menu because we will definitely be back! By the way, they will be closed on WEdnesdays starting in July because as one of the waitresses said, we need a day off with our family! Of course, everyone needs a day off - these folks clearly work hard to deliver great food & deserve it. It's WORTH the trip! GO NOW!
(5)Andrew J.
GREAT little restaurant service delicious burmese foods. For those unfamiliar with the cuisine, it's similar to Vietnamese in many respects. Our service was very good--we tried a chicken noodle dish and one of the potato 'naan' appetizers. Will be going again in the near future--4 stars for the Reliably deliciously food and customer service.
(4)Andrew R.
Hot damn this place is fantastic. I would have to say that Yoma is my favorite restaurant in Allston. To sum it up in one sentence: the food is authentic, unique, un-pretentious, delicious and cheap. Really cant beat that. My go-to dish is their "assorted noodles" - a big heap of 3 types of noodles with a whole bunch of tofu, fresh vegetables, and a spicy and savory sauce. While I am usually particular to any noodle + meat combination, this one is by far my favorite.
(5)Greg C.
This place is seriously delicious (and really reasonably priced.) I've been there with groups of 4 or 5 a couple of times and everybody in the party has been delighted each time. The staff is friendly, the food comes out fast, but the food is the star. The noodle and salad dishes have complex flavor profiles that elevate what might sound like bland food (I've never before been wowed by cabbage...) into an unusual and tasty treat. As someone who eats a good deal of tofu, I can say that YoMa's ranks amongst the best I've had, and even Tofu haters can be expected to acknowledge the surprisingly savory flavor of this generally bland substance. Also, as other reviewers have said, lots of vegetarian and vegan options for those people that occupy that particular moral high ground. The only downside of YoMa is that portions are a bit small, at least for this ever hungry diner.
(5)Alex C.
If YoMa is the tip of the iceberg for Burmese food, then I am a sold fan of it forever. Like most of the user have said, this place is small and the the decorations are not most eye pleasing. But as a food lover myself, I am all out of the food, and this place would hits the spot. I do have to say the portions are bit small, maybe because I love eating but who knows. Note: Considering that this place is the only Burmese food in Boston, I can't compare to others.
(4)Ryan M.
I have driven past this place several times a week for the past two years. For two years I have told myself that I would try it out sometime. Well, I finally did and I knew it would be good and it was! My wife and I really enjoyed it. There service was very friendly and helpful. The menu was health-conscious. When I asked about a menu item that I had seen on the old web site, I was told it was taken off because they were trying to cut down on really fatty foods. (Me too!) I would totally recommend this place and we can't wait to go back and try some new things!
(5)Tasha M.
Who knew you could develop an addiction to Burmese food? Not I, not 'til now. Yes, the salads are huge & the main dishes are small. So? who cares when you can have salads as amazing as these! Get a salad, a an appetizer ( something deep fried. drool..) an an entree. No worries, you will be very full +happy. Love the sweet pumpkin dish, incredibly flavorful. They adjust spiciness to taste- I recommend at least medium spicy-put some hair on your chest!
(4)Ketan D.
The authenticity of this place will speak to you and you will love the food. They have a separate vegetarian menu which in my case was just fabulous. Food is delicious and a great environment to be in.
(4)Matt S.
went for the first time in two years. had heard a ton about their ginger salad. tried it. wish I were eating it right now instead of typing to YOU about it.
(5)skott d.
fantastic dining in upper allston. great food. lots of vegetarian and vegan options. customer service was fantastic.
(5)Emily A.
Delicious vegetarian food! No complaints except for the service wasn't great. Otherwise food was great. Ask for a veggie menu.
(5)Jennifer L.
I love YoMA! The staff is always very friendly and the food is amazing.You can't go wrong with the Ginger Salad, Chicken Salad and the Pumpkin Shrimp. I would agree with the rest of the yelpers that you are not going for the restaurant decor but the food makes up for it!
(5)Ken M.
I had no idea what Burmese food would be like going into this establishment, I assumed a fusion of asian and indian food, and I'm happy to say I wasn't far off. Something I enjoyed was that there was pork, which is something you won't find in most Indian/Pakistani restuarants. Andy and I both enjoyed our meals and shared samosa like things for an appetizer. The staff was a little too...all about themselves, but that was a really minor annoyance. I'm so glad I live withing walking distance of so many eateries now. My abs, however, are not so thrilled with me.
(4)Zizzles A.
It's hard to say the food here is mindblowing when the flavors in so many of the dishes are simple, but the lightness of the whole meal makes it the perfect place to go when you don't want something that sticks to your palette, which for me is most of the time. I'm not trying to say the food is bland, far from it, it's just simple. Lighter on the spices than south asian food, lighter on the oil and salty stuff than chinese, lighter on the sugar and sour stuff than thai. The chickpea tofu salad was still bursting with peanuty and spicy goodness, but you could actually taste the slight bitterness of the cabbage without the copious amounts of fish sauce you might find in a thai salad. The chickpea tofu is also pretty awesome. It's stiffer than plain soy tofu, with the texture of egg whites. You'd have to fry or dry plain tofu to put it in salad, lest it become part of the dressing, but the chickpea version has enough integrity to hold its own cold and plain, adding to the super clean flavor of the salad that goes well with the spiciness. I love pumpkin and I just had to eat their sweet pumpkin with shrimp, but I feared that they would add a lot of sugar to increase the already sweet pumpkin. Not so! They paired it with a simple sautee of tomatoes and onions, large chunks, and some spices, but those were definitely in the background to the pumpkin, tomatoes and onions. It was sweet and sour, my nemisis, but in a very light way, with all the acid coming from the fresh tomatoes, and the sweet coming from the pumpkin (which isn't too sweet). No added sugar or vinegar from what i could tell. The catfish noodle soup was good too, though this was much more heavily spiced, like a soupy curry noodle, which I'm fine with. Hard boiled egg, and a tiny onion cooked until it is soft and sweet, with lime, fish sauce and dried chili on the side. It's not very salty, but if you need more the fish sauce provides plenty. There definitely were no large chunks of cat fish, but it was a great and hearty noodle soup dish. The place is clean, date worthy in decor and ambiance, certainly a wee bit more expensive than say, xinh xinh, especially since most of the entrees are rice plate style. I wish they would offer family style servings without ordering from their limited combo menus. The food is oh so amazing, and the service was super attentative. Yes I went at like 4pm, but the waitress was constantly checking up on us, making sure to put hot stuff on the side for my parents, and giving my mother water right quick when she caught a little pepper and started clearing her throat, before we even had time to ask. Definitely not the kind of service you expect at restaurants of this price point. I'd pay double what they charge for most of the dishes they serve here. God that tofu salad is awesome!
(5)William M.
I actually like this place a little bit better than Burma Superstar for the following reasons: Separate, dedicated vegetarian menu No 1 to 2 hour wait 1/2 the price of Superstar So, in conclusion, Boston is better than San Francisco.
(5)Tom E.
An excellent addition to the pantheon of Asian cuisine in this city, and a great opportunity to try a unique cuisine - Burmese. I went with my Thai friend who grew up so close to Burma that she once cycled there, sent her self a postcard and then came back for dinner. Take it from her that this place is good. REALLY GOOD. We went together on Saturday and she loved it so much she came back alone on the Sunday night for what is in many ways the food she grew up with. The pair of us heartily recommend the beef entree, the mango salad, the noodles and the soup. Ask for everything to be spicy. It will be - but not quite in that acid Thai way. I couldn't help thinking of my Grade 1 Geography World Map during dining here. I'm overly familiar with Thai food from my last 9 months in Boston and I'm a good old friend of Bangladeshi cuisine thanks to the vast majority of London curry houses being of this ilk. Well guess what? Burmese food, like so many others, is a product of it's location. Being much like Thai & Cambodian food but with a taste of Bangladesh built in (not to mention Indian and Tibetan hints). The decor (strange ceiling with dated photos of the local panorama) and rear-end of Allston location don't quite let this place get to five stars. It was deathly quiet too with no music and there is no alcohol either. Kudos on the name though. It allowed me to use the following line... "What did I do last night? I did Yo Ma"
(4)Silpa S.
In my search for a quirky restaurant after much search all over the web I finally saw recommendations for this place. I've never heard anything about Burmese food so I was sold on giving this place a try. I actually went for my birthday dinner there with a few friends. It's a very small place. It doesn't have the most visually pleasing ambiance. However I didn't have any issues with the services. It all went really well. My friends have never tried such "adventurous" food before and they were all really happy with there food, as was I. If you are tired of the same old food this place is a great change of pace and the flavors will not disappoint!
(4)Lidya T.
I came here when it was first open with a few of my friends. At that time the lady/owner who was pregnant was running the whole show from serving, cooking and cashing. Because of that ,service was slow and food was mediocre. Nevertheless, I continue to patronize this place as i know deep in my heart, this place can develop to its full potential as a thriving ethic restaurant. True enough after a few more visits, i notice the improvement of the service, varieties of delicious food on the menu and also growing additions of the distinctive burmese paintings and ornaments on the wall. I will definitely keep coming here for the tasty mohingga and tofu jaw - my two top favorites.
(4)Praful M.
Went there on Sunday afternoon after waking up late from usual Saturday business. Me and my friends walked nearby and picked this one against some other restaurant next to it. I am glad we did. Food is top notch. I had pork with bamboo shoots and my friends had chicken dishes. Everything was cooked well. Server said spicy can be really hot, so I ordered medium. That's not spicy at all. Next time I am upgrading. Kicker here, is the side dish (forgot the name) they serve with rice. It is mix of fried chillies, lentils and some other stuff. Service is decent. I just been here once and I think more I go here, stars will go up. Lentil chicken has pushed rating up by one more star.
(4)Dan B.
Burmese food is really unlike any other Asian cuisine. It's lighter than Thai, and more interesting since there are Thai restaurant all over the place..... Anyway, I had the green tea leaf salad, which comes with all the ingredients on separate parts of the plate, and you're supposed to mix it. I though that was cool, since you know exactly what you're eating. It was really crunchy and nutty, and it was overall a really unique salad that I would recommend to anyone who tries this place. I also got the coconut chicken soup. It was somewhat similar to Thai coconut milk soup, except it was less spicy. They actually give you a separate plate of the spices so you can choose how spicy you want it to be, which is great. Oh, and they have a sign that says "People love us on Yelp" which I thought was pretty funny.
(4)stefanie n.
Went on a Sunday and the place was completely empty and utterly silence which was a little unnerving. Our server was adorable and I'm pretty sure she disappeared after we ordered to cook our food herself. Got fresh rolls for an app that weren't filled with much other than rice noodles. Also, the pumpkin in the shrimp and rice main dish tasted slightly rotten. My friend couldn't decide what to order so he got an entree that seemed to have everything; rice, noodles, pork tofu, egg etc. The dish was very underwhelming and basically had no flavor. So many people like YoMa so I'm going to assume my experience was unusual and give it another try.
(3)Henry M.
Being Burmese, YoMa is the only place I can get a taste of home in Boston. Sad. The food isn't outstanding, the atmosphere is lacking a lot, but the bottom line is, its the ONLY place in Boston you can get Burmese food. Compared to places in New York, San Francisco, um...Burma, it just doesn't compare. But again...ONLY BURMESE FOOD IN BOSTON. Sidenote: staff there are really sweet and genuine. If anything, check out YoMa for them, and their children. And their children's children. UPDATE (8/26/2008): I just logged on and wanted to see how my lovely Burmese restaurant is doing - i'm glad to see most reviews are good, but I can't help but get a little annoyed when people try to describe it as a mix of other ethnic foods. "didn't taste if there was a difference between what they use and curry from Indian restaurants" - really? Should Burmese food really be rated based on how it tastes compared to Indian food? Is it better if it's different? Just a little mini rant is all :) It's hard to hear is all :( Imagine someone saying, "Oh, spaghetti is alright, kinda like tomato lo mein."
(4)Michele C.
Love this place. It's one of my favorite restaurants. One of the dishes I seem to order over and over is their mango salad. I find all the ingredients to be fresh. The veggies are always crisp. The price are extremely reasonable. I go here quite a bit.
(5)Courtney H.
I've never had Burmese food and wanted to give this place a try. It's tiny, but clean, and the food was very tasty. I had a chicken curry noodle dish that had a good balance of flavors -- a little salty, a little spicy, and a little sour. My boyfriend ordered a pumpkin and shrimp dish that was also good. The tea is really good. Very smooth. I think I drank about 5 cups of it. Fortunately, they have a bathroom and it is also clean. My noodle dish was just the right size for me for lunch, but my boyfriend's dish wasn't enough food for him. If you get a rice dish, I'd recommend getting a side dish to go with it, or you might leave hungry. I can't wait to go back and try more dishes!
(4)Jenny N.
I was excited to try YoMa, but the menu was pretty foreign to me. It seemed somewhat similar to Thai cuisine, and of course, I could not pronounce anything! We started off with an appetizer of fried chickpea "pancakes" which were more like crackers because they were crisp and a bit chewy. They came with a sweet and sour dipping sauce that was was really good. I ordered the stewed pork with noodles (soft and white, but more like lo mein than udon). While I enjoyed the pickled sour cabbage that was mixed in, I think the flavor of this dish was a bit weak despite the spice. Also some of the pork pieces were really fatty and I didn't enjoy that. The boy had curry chicken with wheat noodles and pieces of hardboiled egg. I thought it was on the lukewarm side, and I think he would have liked it if they added more meat to the curry. The prices are OK overall, but I was a bit surprised that they charge $3-4 for a bowl of rice! The portions are not very big, but read Aye M.'s review for a great explanation on the portion sizes for Burmese cuisine. For myself, I think the size of my dish was OK. However, my boyfriend is a pretty big eater and he definitely left hungry. I think maybe next time I will try one of the recommended salads. My only other experience with Burmese cuisine was Burma Superstar in San Francisco, and I can't say that it wowed me either. So I guess Burmese cuisine just isn't for me. I would recommend it if you are adventurous and want to try something different. And I loved the super duper friendly waitresses! It seemed like they had many regular patrons on the Saturday night that we visited, so they must be finding their own niche. I was also impressed that they were featured on Chronicle--especially being so new. Maybe if I had taken time to read the reviews on the walls, I would've found a new dish to love....
(3)Avery M.
I walked out of the vegan restaurant next door to come here, and it is a choice I am very happy with. Unfortunately it was empty when we ate there, but the atmosphere was still friendly. I think this is a family owned place; the waiter was very shy, which was cute. The food was pretty good. The spice wasn't very evenly distributed, but it was still 100% authentic and quite an exotic array of ingredients. I probably should have sprung for dessert, which looked good...
(4)Min L.
After months of passing by this place and saying that we would try it out someday, my friend and I finally took the extra step of parking the car and walking in. The decor was cute and simple; the waitress was helpful and friendly. Neither my friend nor I had ever tried Burmese food before, so when we first sat down, we just stared at the menu for a long time, whispering to ourselves the wonderfully foreign blends of ingredients and contemplating the possible tastes they would produce together. The waitress watched as we struggled to find just 2 dishes to try (we wanted to try them all). She came over and recommended 2 dishes which we quickly agreed to go with. I had the sweet pumpkin (whose taste was slightly reminiscent of kaddo, the pumpkin dish I'm obsessed with at The Helmand in Cambridge) with shrimp and jasmine rice. YUM. My friend had the dish with all the noodles (and the longest list of ingredients on the menu) and that was pretty good too, though I was much more excited about my own dish. The portions were perfect and the prices are awesome. I'll definitely be back often this summer to try the rest of the menu. PS, thanks to the waitress for rescuing me from an almost-ruined meal! I didn't notice the super spicy chili peppers in my dish until I took my first bite and started fanning my mouth like a madwoman. Usually I pick those out. The waitress immediately brought me a glass of water and a dish of sweet Burmese candies to help get rid of the spicy - without which, I would not have been able to finish that meal.
(4)Ellen B.
I was the only person here for lunch on a Thursday. Sketchy but I guess it was lateish. As yelpers suggest, I got the tea leaf salad, which was amazing: so unique & refreshing & tasty. I also had pumpkin curry, which was quite enjoyable. The waitress was nice & friendly & refilled my water several times (though not really enough--not that the food was spicy, I just drink a lot). I'd totally return.
(4)Heather P.
I had been dying to try this place ever since I came across it I viewed it from my car. Finally last weekend the man and I went. We first went to Deep Ellum for a drink (a new favorite bar now) and then headed to the completely empty YoMa. I've read service was poor here when it gets busy, so we were a bit relieved. Normally an empty restaurant is not a good sign, however throughout the course of our meal it filled up a lot! We started with the spicy beef salad which was amazing! It had a lot of kick and we only ordered it medium. I would recommend getting this salad as an accompaniment to other dishes as opposed to an appetizer. I saved some for my meal and it was much better mixed in with the other food. We would have ordered a traditional appetizer, however nothing stood out to us from the selection. For our meals we shared a chicken curry dish over what looked like spaghetti noodles and a pork and squash dish. The chicken was very tasty but sparce on the meat. The pork was great, however there was a spice in it that I couldn't get past. It wasn't the taste, but more the smell. It evoked some sort of nausea in me that made it difficult to eat. I thought the restaurant as a whole was VERY unique and different from what I am used to as far as Asian cuisine. I like it a lot, didn't love it. My boyfriend on the other hand loved it! I'm sure we will be back to try out some other dishes, and the fact that it's super cheap doesn't hurt!
(4)Maria R.
really fresh and tasty. unique to other Asian food. I recommend the plata, hot and sour soup, tea salad and curry shrimp and tofu. So good!
(5)Sara K.
Yoma seems to sit on the "sketchy" side of the road (corner of Cambridge/Brighton, Union Sq), but we walked in to see a pleasantly bright, decorated restaurant, that was bigger than we expected, very clean, very neat. My only issue that I could not get past was the cheezy "Welcome to Yoma!" Sign. What does Yoma mean? Maybe other Yelpers can tell me? But the most important thing, is that the food was delicious. Plata (flaky bread, similar to Na'an, but more buttery. It was delicious dippied in the chili oil set at the tables. Garlic Noodles, thin, soft, luscious noodles, with bits of garlic bites, peanuts, scallions, pork (that I substituted for tofu). A well sized dish, but I added a little cabbage, because I am not a fan of dishes that come loaded with nothing but carbs! ----I would lovee a full veggie version of it! Royal Noodle, was my companion's dish, the coconut chicken sauce was delightful, and I wish that my own dish had had some sauce like that, it made that dish feel more authentic than mine (although obviously it's just different.). I still do not really understand the hard-boiled egg in it though.... All in all, the price was right, and we will definitely be back.
(4)Amber L.
Went in to grab a quick meal to go because it's been consistently coming up in conversations with friends. I knew exactly what I was getting - a burmese dish with coconut curry and noodles (I forgot the name!) My aunt makes the same dish and it's delicious, and I was really craving it. Hung around the restaurant for a bit while they were getting my order ready. When I went to pay, I handed her an American Express, she went to the register and came back and told me they don't accept AmEx. Fine, handed her a Discover, and the same thing, she went to the register came back and told me they don't accept Discover. Luckily I had cash that I could pay with, but I just think that you should be fairly aware of which cards you do and don't take. Took my food home, it wasn't bad, but wasn't as good as my aunt's (of course). I haven't tried anything else on their menu, but I still hear great things. Food was good, but not amazing.
(3)Mats K.
Though I completely lack the vocabulary to explain the dishes I ate here (I don't know much about Burmese food) I can attest to the fact that it was absolutely delicious. The service was quick and kind, the prices were reasonable and parking was easily available behind the restaurant. The decor was not fancy, or even particularly Burmese, using the same decorations as the previous business in the building. That being said its a brand new restaurant\, and this may change. Come here, its wonderful to support a new culture of food and make it succeed in Boston. It is also very good food at a very reasonable price.
(5)Patti C.
First time for Burmese food. DELICIOUS! I'm here for the food, You don't go to Allston for the decor, so no rating for that here. Bonus that the wait staff is so nice. As my dining partner said: "Someone here knows how to cook." Burmese food is an impt addition to the Allston strip. Take the adventure. Each dish we ordered was excellent: mini pumpkin shrimp, fermented tea salad (yes, salad with "tea" in the ingredients), and egg noodles with pork. The fried garlic/chiles/etc garnishes are mind-blowing.
(5)Daphne M.
I've traveled to Burma and eaten a few Burmese meals cooked by a native, and my almost-hometown of Philly has an excellent Burmese restaurant. So my big sorrow about Boston cuisine was that, like most east coast cities, it lacked a Burmese eatery of its own. Thank you, YoMa, for filling my void so well! In the spirit of authenticity, this place is nothing fancy - very low prices and seriously minimal decor. The latter can probably be put down to the fact that the restaurant is new and a fresh venture for the owner, but it really doesn't matter. The meals are cooked to order and brought out as they are ready, so dig right in and don't worry about offending your waiting friends, sillies - they'll understand! My chickpea tempura was crunchy on the edges, chewy in the middle, delightfully oily, and served with a zesty dipping sauce. I ordered the pan fried egg curry with potato, and lord, that flavorful tomato-y sauce transported me right back to Bagan. Meanwhile the smell of my friends' dishes of ket jee keit had my mouth watering, and I vowed that the next time I'd have them make me a vegetarian version of those noodles. All of that, and one of the best waitresses I have had - so warm and friendly, very attentive, but not pushy. It probably helped that I mentioned having spent time in Burma, but at any rate, I hope I see her (whose name spelling I won't bother to butcher here) again when I return!
(5)Kathleen M.
I've had my eye on this place since it opened several months back, and I finally tried it last night. I wasn't put off by the lack of decor - that sort of thing doesn't bother me, as long as a restaurant is clean, and YoMa is. Service was fine, and so were the prices. I don't remember the names of what we had but I had something that amounted to shrimp lo mein, and my fiance had a dish with roast pork, nuts, and veggies on rice. I think we should have asked for suggestions or tried one of the curry type dishes ... what we had wasn't spicy or special ... I guess I just expected some cool flavors that would make this different from Chinese or other Asian food. I did like the hot, gingery cabbage side dish they gave us, and I know if I would have ordered an entree with that kind of flavor, my rating would be higher. So I'm going to go back and try something different .... I think YoMa has potential.
(3)Francine W.
the coconut tofu is AMAZING. I also enjoy the appetizer sampler. This family-owned restaurant is so cozy and the food is amazing. It's like a cross between asian and indian but more towards asian. The service is great and the owners/workers are so cute and friendly. Yum!
(4)Scott F.
I finally got around to trying YoMa last night. I really liked the dish I had. I have no idea what it was called. It was the one with pork/chicken and jalapeno. It was really good. The portions are smallish but then again they are cheap. (entrees average about $8) My only real complaint: No liquor license. In fact, it kind of seemed like the only beverage they offered was water - the waitress didn't ask what we wanted to drink, but rather asked if wanted water or not.
(3)Aye M.
This is the first Burmese restaurant opened in Boston within the last 20 years or so. So I tried it out as soon as I could. Logistics : We had 5 people and ordered an appetizer and 6 dishes. We were all pretty stuffed by the end of dinner. It came out to $12 per person including tip. I recommend strongly for a medium sized group (5-8) people sharing a bunch of dishes. Service and Decor : Pretty substandard since it's the owner's first restaurant. They don't exactly know what they are doing yet. Not a place you take your date to unless your date is a low-key culinarily (is that even a word?) adventurous person. Service was not horrible but not that great either. but what do you expect from a $7 an entree restaurant? Food : The taste was excellent. There was only one dish I wouldn't order again out of all 7. Everyone enjoyed almost all the dishes. The names are hard to remember for non burmese speakers. The standout was Chicken Curry and Nan-gyi-thoke( not sure if that's the real name) was great. Authenticity: I would say it's about 75-80% authentic. It has all the traditional Burmese ingredients. They take it easy on oil, fish sauce and spiciness. But not americanzied to the extent that it lost the uniqueness of Burmese food. Everyone agreed the food is distinctly different from Thai, Indian etc.. Full disclosure : I grew up in Burma. I am not associated with the owners in any way. Edit : I'm quite happy to see Yoma's been getting a lot of good reviews. Being a regular and not having any other easily accessible source of Burmese food, I've been hoping this place will succeed and was worried it might not when they closed for lunch. I figure I wanted to jump in and give a bit of a commentary on the portion size and why it might seem small to most people here. People eat much more frequently in Burma. I used to have about 4-5 meals a day when I was growing up (and no, my weight doesn't hit 3 digit on the scale). All the noodle dishes and salads Yoma is serving is more of a breakfast, mid-day or late night snack. For dinner, most families eat together and they don't serve individual servings of curries, veggie dishes. Everyone gets a plate of rice and the rest is all shared. A typical Burmese dinner/lunch includes one or two meat dishes, a veggie side, some sort of salad, a big bowl of soup - all set out for everyone to share. So keep that in mind, when you go to Yoma next time. To recreate an authentic Burmese meal, you may want to order a bunch of different dishes (combination of salad, curry, soup, noodle) and share with your friends and family. If you ask the lady, she might be able to pair them up for you. You will have more fun trying out a bunch of things! My suggestion to keep things sanitary would be put a spoon or folk in every dish and use only those as serving utensils. ( I have enough germaphobic friends to anticipate this concern.) ;) Hope this helps for people who feel cheated regarding the portion size to enjoy Burmese food.
(5)Melanie R.
well priced, good food. cozy restaurant, nice staff. the menu was a bit foreign to us, but we were impressed!
(4)Lisa Y.
YOMA is easily my most favorite restaurant in Boston. Thawdar, the owner is so sweet. True definition of mom and pop shop and she really cares about her food and the happy diner!!
(5)Moe N.
Warning!!! If you are Burmese please consider not eating here, and give me a ring and come to my house to eat. You will be disappointed here. We order, Thai tea, beef curry, happy shrimp, garlic noodle, catfish soup, spring roll. The Thai tea was terrible, they use those package Thai tea from chinese grocery store and put water in and give it to you. Beef curry, beef are over cook, the curry taste is no good. I expected so much better, my home cook curry taste so much better than that. Next is happy shrimp, the shrimp is over cook again. Catfish soup was super disappointment, it is suppose to be mote hin kar but, it was white color spicy soup with fish and lemon grass pieces throw in. Spring roll is OK, I have eaten better in Vietnam restaurant. Garlic noodle is just no good, taste nothing like Burmese garlic noodle. The food there are design for none Burmese people. The food are super expansive and super small portion, u can't do sharing style when u order cause all the dishes come with rice. Super super disappointment and will never ever go eat there again.
(1)Jamie A.
Since I'm a complete sucker for food I have never heard of or know how to pronounce, YoMa completely satisfied that side of my foodie personality. It's not a particularly interesting spot, but the prices and the service were just right. Our waitress was incredibly kind and even bumped up the spice on the dish I ordered. We had an appetizer of fried tofu, which was greasy and delicious, but it was our meals that were really great. I wish I could remember the name of my dish, but it was a spicy chicken and rice noodles dish with crushed peanuts and vegetables. My friend ordered a spicy "fruits of the sea" type dish and it was incredibly fresh and wonderfully spicy as well. I certainly recommend this place if you're up for something delicious & different!
(4)dedalus w.
My heaven on earth Lunch (for 2): La Phet Thot (tea leaf salad) Jinn Thot (ginger salad) Bar La Chong Coconut Rice If there is a 3rd person, add one or two of the following: Tohu Thot (chickpea tofu salad) green mango salad pumpkin coconut curry and have some coconut juice! Now, some background: I grew up in boston, my parents took e to Mandalay many times, when I was a young teen. I loved that restaurant . So, two years ago, when keeping my eye open for new food adventures, I saw YOMA's sign, I got EXCITED. I took some friends once, again and again. from the start I thought it was pretty good. But with time, it has blossomed into an absolute favorite. The two first salads mentioned above are unique experiences in my foodie life. Fresh, vibrant and complex mouthfuls that light up your mouth. Combine them with the coconut rice and a liberal sprinkle of Bar La Chong and you are in for fantastic conversations of spicy, crunchy, salty, sweet, nutty and fresh flavors. Some other dishes I have tried were too mild and not things to fall in love with. but there are plenty worth a try. The menu does take some exploring. Go with friends, order and eat family style. YOMA YOMA YOMA!!!!!
(5)Eric C.
I decided to give this place a shot after reading about it here on Yelp. Just like the rest of the comments here, the food is unique, authentic and delicious. Its basically everyday homemade Burmese food - and prices were reasonable. And I too agree with some of the comments as they're still a relatively new shop (probably run by a single family ) and hence yet to overcome the hurdle of being efficient with service. Took a while for the waitress to take our orders, give us our drinks and also noticed some of the other frustrated customers. Given time, they'll do well. If you want something South East Asian that you've probably never tried before and don't expect much from service - I would definitely recommend this place! Give it a shot.
(4)Shivani G.
My husband and I visited YoMa based on the rave reviews for the restaurant on Yelp! We were not impressed and, in fact, we actually left our dishes unfinished. We had the curry chicken with udon and the tofu entree and it was much so fishy for our taste. Our appetizer was a friend long green squash which was tasty because 1) it was fried 2) it had no spices except a very tasty dipping sauce. I would like to write one qualification my review-- we're not big meat eaters and we don't eat red meat. Perhaps if we were more accustomed to pungent tastes, we would have enjoyed our meal. So veggies or veggie-friendlies, beware, there may not be a lot of options for you. For others, I am glad that you have found a Burmese haven. P.S. The service was slow.
(2)Victoria W.
I had been eyeing this new Burmese restaurant in my neighborhood for about a month, and finally went for lunch this past weekend. It's a relatively small place, with a minimal decor. The menu is quite extensive for such a small operation. I ended up ordering a lunch special, which includes your choice of appetizer, soup, and rice. I got crab rangoon for my app - which was delicious and not like most crab rangoon at other restaurants with 95% cream cheese. These 4 dumplings were very crabby and very delicious! They didn't have my first choice of soup that day, so I went with a tofu, chicken, and veggie soup, which was very fresh and light and tasty! I also chose the coconut rice, which was excellent. My boyfriend ordered a curry noodle dish with meat, and he enjoyed it very much, but it could have been spicier. The portion sizes are also very good for the price. My only qualm was that we had to wait quite a while for our dishes even though it wasn't terribly busy (2-3 other tables occupied), but it is nice to know that your meal is being served to order. Friendly staff, nice atmosphere, and fantastic prices (I think our bill came to $14 for two!) - we will most definitely be returning!!!
(4)Renee M.
I've been to Yoma before and thought it was ok (I think because I didn't particularly like a certain spice in the dish I ordered) but I went back last night and truly enjoyed it. I ordered the "Super Pumpkin" which was pumpkin with beef and chicken in some kind of sauce over rice, and it was delicious! The pumpkin tasted fresh and the meat was very tender. We also ordered the sampler appetizer which came with a very yummy spicy sauce. Not only was everything delicious, but it was so cheap! My dish was just under $11 and a lot of the items on the menu are under $10. I will definitely be back (especially since it is literally a 2 minute walk from my apartment- lucky me!)
(4)E.N. Z.
Excellent food if you consider the price, the taste, the service. I have never been to Burma. But the food at this place (freshly cooked- everything) reminds me of the home cooked food I had in Indonesia and Thailand. When we were having our delicious food (chowing that down in no time), two other couples came in. The last couple sat down for a few minutes, studied the menu for 5 minutes, then stood up and left! They told the waitress that they were leaving because they had no idea of what Burmese food was and after reviewing the menu they didn't want to eat there! That's really too bad for these people since they are truly missing out on the good stuff! However, this does bring up one issue about this place. When we first arrived, we also didn't know what to order after reading the menu. We had to ask the waitress to recommend - which was very good choices (Burmese Samosa (this is not on the menu so I don't know how to spell it, but it is different from the Indian ones. I like the Burmese far better in this case.) , Egg curry (another very different dish from Indian and Japanese sauce mushy stuff), Pork Stew with noodles and garlic, spice) . I think they need to better describe their menu to make the food more attractive. The pork stew I ordered is really slow cooked pork chunks which is really really tasty. According to the waitress, they are printing new menus next week. I wonder if they are improving their dishes or increasing their prices... We will see., For now, I give it a 5 star.
(5)Marietta A.
I love YoMa. Everyone there is so friendly. The food is totally yummy. I can't say that I've had Burmese food anywhere else, so I have nothing to compare it to, but the fact that my boyfriend and I drive over from West Roxbury, is a testament to how awesome we think it is. GO TO YOMA!11
(5)Thomas G.
I love Yoma! Their food is healthy and great tasting, so you can't go wrong! My favorite is the chicken and squash curry or the beef and potato curry. Both are very filling without being too heavy. The flavors are very unique. I also recommend their salads and soups. I've tried most of them, but I recommend the tomato salad, the beef salad and their spicy noodle soup. We live near there and usually eat there a few times a week. It's been a few years now and we still aren't tired of it!
(5)J p.
Tried this place for lunch and it was a most pleasant surprise.The food is delicious and tasty. Tried the bread special which included a salad, soup and chicken curry with their authentic bread. Food is extremely flavorful and light. Those with big appetites might find it a little lacking, but it gets an A+ from me. Give it a whirl...
(5)Graham J.
Boston not only has a great Burmese restaurant, but one that easily outshines the very good places in Philadelphia and New York. The chickpea tofu is a unique treat, and the tea leaf salad is out of this world. If you order spicy, boy you'll get it. The opposite of meh.
(5)James L.
I'm at Yoma as i Type this. Im eating the atfish soup. It's pretty good and I can tell that this is quite authentic. This is the 4th time I'm coming here. I've never had a bad experience and service is very good. Prices are pretty good, atmosphere has family-owned feel to it that I like, and the recipes seem to be authentic. If I had to choose from the best Indian restaurant in Boston - and I'm Indian - an this place, then it will be YoMas any time. They don't add sugar to the recipes at all or Americanize their dishes, which I hate. Why didn't I give it a 5 stars? 1. I wasn't fool after my $9 soup. 2. Although I love the atmosphere (think of a nice hotel in a very developing country in Asia), it lacks vibrancy since not too many visitors eat there. 3. It's hard to find parking in this area. 4. They could give me a little more food and/or appetizers.
(4)Anna B.
Really liked this place! Can't say I've had Burmese food before so I have nothing to compare it to but the chicken curry was inexpensive ($9) and tasty as heck. I think the food's supposed to be salty and it was but the staff was really good about constant water refills which is really key in my book. Spring rolls were just OK. But overall this is another one of Allston's great deals - stuff yourself on yummy home-cooked tasting ethnic food for under $15! The decor's nothing special which is cool because you can go ultra-casual. And it's right off the 57 and 66 bus lines.
(4)Andrew M.
Delicious stuff--I really liked my chicken dish, which had peanuts and scallions and I forget what else. The plain interior doesn't bother me, but the service was very slow--I guess that's to be expected with only one waitress. I'll probably be back.
(4)Anonymous P.
I ate lunch at YoMa, a new Burmese restaurant in Allston, on its second day in operation. This was one of the better meals I've had in Boston. The food at YoMa was light, healthy, and refined, and superb for the cheap prices. Highly recommended. update (May): very much enjoyed again, similar thoughts
(5)Carole H.
I have been to a number of Burmese restaurants in different cities, and while some dishes were good (tea leaf salad), overall this is by far the greasiest and least spiced/flavored version I have had. Good if you are in the mood for greasy chinese food cheap eats but want something a touch classier. Also had the pumpkin shrimp (ok), and the assorted noodles (pile of grease with no recognizable sauce outside of oil).
(3)Jason M.
Best Burmese in Boston.
(5)Kneekey T.
As a number of yelpers loved the ginger salad, I ordered it as a starter to share. It was super intense and amazing, very spicy, gingery, salty and crunchy. I am craving it right now as I write this. I then ordered the tofu noodles which were flavorful but not nearly as good as the salad. I was disappointed with the texture of the chickpea tofu although the taste of it was nice...I would try it fried next time. Also, there were no veggies in the noodles. My boyfriend had the Royal noodles which were also full of flavor but I found there was something slightly funny about the after taste.
(4)Tyler C.
super tasty. I've only had experience w/ takeout but the salads (green tea salad, roasted chicken salad), and plates/noodles (curry noodles, and slow cooked pork noodles) were really nice. Only thing - it takes a bit to prepare so i'd call ahead about 45 mins or so for takeout.
(5)Ben K.
You know what? This place was awesome. When you walk in and there are only a couple people there, and there's a big sign above the kitchen that says they'll be "closed on Wednesdays" beginning in a couple weeks, it makes one skeptical. But honestly, the food was fabulous. Hands down, the favorite was the chicken and green mango salad. For less than $8 you get this big plate of perfectly spiced Burmese salad with thinly sliced curry chicken and green mangoes. Even the $2.25 dessert was good! I will hands down be visiting this place at least once a week. What a find!
(5)Jonathan L.
Service was horrible. It looked like the waiter has had no previous waiting experience. He was forgetful and seemed overwhelmed. Food quality was very good. Also, the food came out pretty fast. So fast that the waiter could not keep up with the kitchen. Food quantity was bad. We ordered an appetizer and six dishes. Our group of six left hungry. I'm giving this place a three because I believe it has potential. The waiter needs to shape up and the serving sizes need to be bumped up.
(3)sal k.
Picture this romantic setting, two people in a cozy restaurant, checking out a new an exotic menu. Now picture this: two people order what turns out to be hot water and pepper with a dash of salt, nasty noodles and the worst part? the portions are so small. Sorry, the worst part was that there was one lady staring at us the entire time, even when she was in the kitchen. So not only was the meal bad, small and overpriced, it was uncomfortable. Am I missing something?
(1)Sara M.
Great food, great prices. I had the Royal Noodles ($8.25), which were excellent, and my husband had the Pumpkin Shrimp (about $10), also delectable.
(5)Gizmo G.
Good Burmese food in Boston at last! My dad is from Burma and I have family there so I've been dying to go since I read about it on Yelp. I had the stir-fried noodles with shrimp and chicken and my friend had the One Note Khat Swe. Lots of Burmese around which is a good sign. Plus, a gorgeous woman wearing a Singapore Airlines type tunic walks in, nearly driving me out of my mind. I digress. I'd say very authentic, if a bit easy on the spice -- they put some fish oil on our table and some chili flakes so a liberal dousing helped lots. My mom makes the KhatSwe a little different (doesn't everyone's) but it was still pretty good. I'll go again and review more dishes soon!!
(5)Angie B.
This is some of the best food I have ever had in Boston. I fell in love with Burmese food after going to Burma Superstar in SF, but I think that Yo Ma might be even better!!! My husband and I went with another couple (one of whom was vegetarian), and so we focused mostly on vegetarian options (of which there were plenty). Highlights of the meal were the chickpea tofu, ginger salad, and coconut curry with potato and pumpkin. Everything was seasoned perfectly, fresh, and mouthwatering.
(5)Michael M.
i read the reviews first before i went last night and i'm not sure what the fuss is all about. first, yes, from what i heard this is the only burmese restaurant in boston area. i give it props. second, the lone waitress was nice and smiled while we ordered. the rest was pretty average disregarding the fact it's the only burmese place around. the restaurant itself is pretty small, nothing fancy. here's a link to the menu - yomaboston.com/Site/Our_… we started with 3 apps - Green Mango Salad (T5), Burmese Samusar (A4), PaeKatJaw (A2). the salad was pretty good. has a bunch of bunch of different things in there, a little spicy too. the samusar was crispy, small pieces of curry potato. not bad. the chickpea pancake thing was decent too. crispy, crunchy. apps worth it. i had the Beef Curry with Potato (B9). all the portions were individual size. not enough to share a plate and load up on apps. the curry was OK...didn't taste if there was a difference between what they use and curry from Indian restaurants. the quality of beef wasn't great...all the pieces were kinda tough. 3 chunks of potatoes. my girlfriend got some yellow noodles while my friends friends got a yellow noodle in soup and another with noodles similar to Pad Thai (i think from the menu Y7, Y2, Y10 respectively). they all said food was alright. food came out pretty fast...there were only another couple in the restaurant on this Wednesday night. prices were reasonable. i'm a tough critic so my 3 stars might mean 4 for others. for me, I would try other places before going back.
(3)Michael G.
This is an awesome Burmese place! Go figure: we actually ate here with a friend who had just done a year-long stint in Laos teaching female Burmese (Myanmar, whatever) refugees English, and she said it was authentic and tasty. If that's not a recommendation for going, then I don't know what is.
(4)Lindsey H.
Everything I had was great (although pretty spicy, but they can alter it according to your taste) - the coconut rice is AMAZING!
(5)Poe C.
Menu: yomaburmeseboston.com/mi… My wife and I have tried appetizer AaJawSone (A7), OhnNoteKhotSwe (Y2), ShanKhotSwe (Y6) and HinGar (the soup). About the appetizer, I love TofuJaw (A3), but the rest aren't as impressive as TofuJaw. Both noodle dishes don't give you the impression of "love at first sight", but it tastes better and better when you keep eating. The cuisine is mild and light yet still very tasteful. A few things you might like to know: *The dish portion is relatively small comparing to a regular Vietnamese noodle dish. But don't get me wrong, it's not small portion, but it's definitely not a large dish size. *Not many tables in the restaurant. It's relatively small... *They are only open for dinner, no lunch at all (not good for us since we don't live in town)!!! We'd definitely love to go to the restaurant again!!
(4)Lily C.
I was really excited to try YoMa because I'd heard such great things so perhaps I had high expectations. Overall the food wasn't bad but there wasn't anything in particular that I'd crave from them and thus probably won't go back there again. I went there with 3 of my girls and we ordered the Catfish with somen noodles, 2 orders of shrimp curry, chicken curry and the roasted pork salad. The shrimp curry was pretty good - nice mixture of spices but the sauce was a lil diluted for my taste. The catfish noodles were "interesting". It kind of reminded me of the deluxe ramen noodles I've had. There wasn't a strong fishy taste which was great but the broth was overpowered by the mixture of lemon grass and cilantro. The soup broth was very thick as well but maybe that's how its supposed to be... dunno since this is the first time I've had burmese food.
(3)Linda M.
Yo Ma is a great Burmese restaurant. My husband and I ordered the green mango salad and green tea leaf salad as appetizers. We asked for it spicy so both had a kick to it. My husband preferred the green mango salad because it was refreshing, and I preferred the green tea leaf salad for its varied texture. For the main course, we had OhnNoteKhotSwe and MeeShay. These are both noodle dishes and were not as spicy as the appetizers. That may have been a good thing because our mouths were burning by this time. We preferred the OhnNoteKhotSwe over the MeeShay in terms of flavor. The OhnNoteKhotSwe is a coconut chicken soup base. The MeeShay is noodle with pork sauce over it. Previously, we ordered the rice curries, but we think the noodle dishes are a better choice. Within walking distance to the Green B line. Only downside is that it is a little expensive. yomaboston.com/mingalabah ...
(4)A Z.
Yelpers, why must you raise, then painfully dash, my hopes so frequently? My garlic noodles were so bland, lacking the promised garlic or spice... the meat and rice dish (chicken with squash) was more flavorful but nothing very noteworthy, and the meat quality was low. After the disappointing food, dire atmosphere (bright florescent lights) and uncomfortable post-meal stomach, I will not be returning.
(2)Hamdan A.
Good food. Had happy beef. Tasty. This place is awesome and customer service is great. But don't expect this place to be like burma superstar in san francisco. Enjoy the only burmese food in boston
(4)Ashley J.
One night we were tired of the same old places we tend to frequent and we decided to look on yelp and try a cuisine we knew nothing about. I came across YoMa and said hell why not. Even if it sucks at least we had a new experience. This small unassuming restaurant in the sketchy part of Allston delivered a delicious meal and an interesting flavor palate. We tried the appetizer sampler platter, a beef dish and a shrimp dish. Both were served with rice and the dried shrimp and garlic condiment. The appetizers were pretty greasy and unremarkable. The shrimp dish was amazing and perfectly cooked. We fought over it we loved it so much. The beef in these types of restaurants is always a little tough in my opinion and this was no exception. While we liked the sauce and spice combination it was just not cooked correctly. The rice with dried shrimp was a very strong flavor and we also loved that. The portions are huge so we took home the rice and ate it for breakfast. It was delicious with scrambled eggs! I think it a great place to go out and have something very unique and support a local business.
(4)Teju P.
If you like fusion food - this is your place. It is a fusion of inidan, thai, chinese, and veitnamese. they have a special vegetarian menu. this place is not good for big groups because its small - but its excellent for a first date. the service is super friendly and very fast. i went to eat with a friend and we were done eating in 45 mins.
(4)a r.
We found this place by coincidence fell in love with the food and went there many times since. The food is great, very interesting consistently good, great spices, and nice presentation. The drinks and the deserts are very nice too.
(5)Courtney E.
I had no idea what to expect, but Burmese food is terrific! I ordered the Pan Fried Egg Curry with Potato, which was light, refreshing, and SPICY!! It comes with a plate of jasmine rice, which is RE-FILLABLE (FYI!!!). The most delightful waitress let me in on the fact that in Burmese restaurants, the rice is re-fillable with your entree. Everything at YoMa is made with FRESH vegetables, meaning NO CANNED products are used, and you can taste the difference! YoMa is an experience unto itself, especially if you're like me and never knew you liked Burmese food!
(4)Dan P.
Seriously good Burmese food. Delightful people. Attentive. Our kids, not completely adventurous eaters, consumed this food. Unique and interesting flavors. We went for lunch one weekend day .. no crowds. I hear dinner is busy. A do again!!!
(5)Paul I.
cute, small place. don't expect amazing service. but you'll get very tasty food. i got the koungpoung chicken and it came as very small pieces.. a unique and really appealing presentation. the flavor was soy & ginger; quite good! the prices are low enough you can try this place out. do it. btw- here's the menu: boston.menupages.com/res…
(4)Amy L.
YoMa is by far my favorite restaurant in Boston. For a while, we were going about once a week. The decor isn't fancy and the location isn't ideal, but the food here is incredible. Everything we've ever had here has been fantastic. The salads are always fresh and spicy -- my favorite is the one with the tomatoes, the curries are delicious, and the soups are absolutely perfect. Everything is served by the friendliest woman I've ever met (I think she may be the owner). It almost feels like being in someone's kitchen.
(5)C. N.
Yummy, interesting food, good service from nice people, good price. Will go out of my way to eat here again.
(4)Allie S.
I LOVE Yo Ma! Besides the fact that the food is delicious, the owners are some of the nicest people I've ever met. They're simply lovely, and are now apparently doing catering for the school for the blind across the street. If you know Burmese food, they're always willing to make something that's not on the menu for you. The menu changed at the beginning of September and they no longer have spring rolls now, which is a bummer, but I'll be back as soon as I possibly can to check out the new fare. I always get the Burmese fried rice, which contains the best fried tofu I've ever had. Oh, and at the end of your meal, ask for palm sugar--it's delicious!
(5)Mabel L.
I finally went to Yoma after seeing Mary Richardson rave about it on Chronice. I was pleased to see that they had a vegetarian menu separate from the regular menu, which made ordering super easy. I didn't know what to get, so I went for the dish that had two things I love, potatoes and tofu. It was nicely spiced, tenderly cooked, and perfectly flavorful. Even the plain rice was delicious. Appetizers we chose were a fried combo plate from the vegetarian menu. The portions were perfect and not overhwhelming (which is a good thing when it comes to fried anything). I hope people take a chance on YoMa. Nothing like it. I hope it sticks around for a long time! I plan to go back very soon!
(5)Q S.
This place just opened, so when I went in, I was prepared to be forgiving if small things went wrong. But for most of the night, everything was better than I expected. The interior of the restaurant is pretty. It is nicely decorated and clean. The bathroom is clean as well. I loved the appetizers. We ordered the chickpea tempura and it was delicious. It came with a tangy spicy chili sauce that was a nice compliment to the dish. The green mustard soup was also very good. It was light in favor but was very satisfying. Plus, you can't go wrong with the price. The entrees weren't as impressive as the appetizers. I had the goat meat curry with potato and the goat meat was especially fatty. I think they didn't cut off pieces of fat that was not suppose to be there, but I'm not sure. Overall, the curry was good, but the meat was just too fatty. My partner had one of the noodle dishes. And I wasn't too impressed with that either. But again, for the price, you can't go wrong. Especially when the portions are just right. I don't really understand the portion complaints because as it is, the price is already low, so you shouldn't expect a giant mountain on your plate.
(4)patty b.
i like yoma. they make tasty, not too complex, healthy s.e. asian food. the place is very homey, mom and pop-ish... the service is polite and friendly. my only complaint is that they never seem to have the room temperature at a comfortable point- i feel a bit like goldilocks in there, it's always too hot or too cold, never _just right_. i still give them 4 stars though- i wish them much success!
(4)Ryan B.
Average food. Cheap.
(2)Felix L.
Burmese food in Boston! It's certainly authentic, and if you like your burmese food very traditional, I'm sure they can adjust, just slip in a few Burmese conversations heh... If you want to try something very burmese, go for the salads, i believe salads are a staple (they are nothing like lettuce with tomato and that jive). Salads are more like a vegetarian dish, definitely go for some tea leaf salad if they have it! The fish chowder noodle soup is also very distinctive of burmese food.
(5)Lynn W.
AS stated in numerous reviews below, this little hole in the wall will leave you feeling "just right" in regards to how full your tummy is after leaving. My sister and her veggie boyfriend were in town and he was intrigued by the Burmese title - none of us ever had Burmese before and I always like trying new things, so in we went! We were the only ones there which I thought was cool, some people would be put off by this, but not me, I like thinking that I am the only one who knows about a good restaurant lol :) Also knowing that the waitress spoke limited english seemed a good sign of the authentic cuisine to come, and I was not disappointed! We ordered off the vegetarian menu their sampler appetizer platter and it included these delightfully light deep friend pastries, a crackly corn cracker thingy and some veggie stuffed triangle dumpling. Then I ordered the asian pumpkin dish and it was amazing! Now, I appreciate subtle nuanced taste and this place gives it to you, everything is kind of... understated and I think that is what I liked the most. If you are looking for bold tastes, go somehwhere else, but if you really appreciate lighter tastes with perfect portions and a fair price, YoMa is a great place to try!
(4)laura l.
Yum yum yum. Great service, cheap prices, and authentic Burmese food. Definitely going to be one of my new favorites.
(5)Kim H.
I have been to Burma and tried many a burmese home cooked meals so I was happy to see a burmese restaurant opening in Boston, the first since Mandalay closed over a decade ago. It was surprisingly good and authentic. The flavors, as others have said, is unique and perhaps not for everyone. They use a lot of fishy flavors and intense mixtures of spices. The tea leaf salad and monhingar are typical Burmese dishes and I love them. The best way to order the food is to order a bunch of different dishes with different tasts - spicy, sweet, bitter, fishy, etc.. to get the real experience.
(4)Ana K.
YoMa has authentic, healthy, and tasty food. I ate here for lunch and had the Vegetarian Green Tea Leaf Salad, and Coconut Rice. The salad is an excellent mixture of peanuts, toasted sesame seeds, peppers, and more. The coconut rice is phenomenal! Light jasmine rice infused with a subtly sweet coconut juice. All the items on the menu sound delicious, as I'm sure they are. Most dishes have meat or a form of seafood in them, but they have vegetarian versions of many of the items on the menu. I recommend dining at YoMa if you've never had Burmese cuisine, or if you're a fan of it. You won't regret it!
(5)Greg W.
Fantastic, interesting fresh Asian flavors and excellent service My brother and I went for dinner and ordered the mango chicken salad, a side of the Bala Chong (spicy and crispy mixture of chili, garlic, onion and beans) the Mandalay Plata (crispy bread with potato and chickpea sauce to dip in) to share The mango chicken salad was extremely fresh and had a nice garlicky taste from the sauce. We mixed the Bala Chong in which gave it some extra kick and crunchiness. The Mandalay Plata was also delicious, the bread had a perfect texture and heat and the sauce was rich and tasty I ordered the Pumpkin Chicken for my main at the suggestion of our waitress and it was fantastic. The pumpkin was meaty and tender and the tomato sauce was excellent. I threw in some hot chili paste to mix it all together and give it some additional heat This place is a little more expensive than some of the Asian food you'll find in Allston but I have never had flavors like that in the US before. The service was also fantastic. Our waters were filled constantly and our waitress gave us great suggestions
(5)Harri S.
Folks, do me a favor and DO NOT die before trying YoMa's tea leaf salad. It is a food journey you will not soon forget. I put off going here for a long time and boy do I regret it now that the Biff has left Allston and I have no real excuse to go there anymore. YoMa! I miss you baby! I promise I'll come back for you soon! [Also, try their chicken curries which are rich and coconutty, and the eggplant so so delicious].
(5)Cindy D.
Restaurant itself is a quaint little hideaway, run by friendly folks who are patient and can recommend a few good items to try. I liked the tea leaf salad for its texture more so than its taste (lots of crunch to each bite!) It's a bit different from the ones I've tried in California. Portions here are smaller and they use less garlic, but it's the first Burmese place I've see here, so I'm a fan! The pumpkin chicken with rice and golden chicken noodle were good, with a thin curry sauce to coat the noodles. So much flavor! Warning: parking is non-existent in this part of town. The restaurant is situated at the intersection of Scary and Scarier, especially since you're trying to find street parking and still go with the flow of traffic. It took us 20 minutes of looping around to find a spot. There's no paid private lots around the area either.
(4)Pradeep R.
This place came very highly recommended but unfortunately I wouldn't recommend it myself. I tried the Rainbow 23 dish. It came cold, it tasted like leftovers. It hardly had any chicken in it. It was bland at best. This is not worth the $10.95. This was supposed to be "spicy" l, not even close. I also tried the Garlic Chicken Noodle. Again nothing to write home about. It was a tad better than Rainbow 23 though which was the only silver lining. This also is not worth the $10.45. I tried the Balachong "large". This thing cost me $5.50 for something that should really cost like a buck at most. It is basically fried urad dal mixture for those who know Indian snacks. The chicken dumplings were pretty good. The ambience wasn't great. It felt constricted.
(2)Lindsay M.
Wow! I've never had Burmese food and after trying it I will definitely be coming back! What an experience! It's a mix between Thai and Indian food. So good! My friend and I got eggplant tofu and coconut pumpkin shrimp. At first, since it was take out, I didn't think it would be enough food, but I was wrong! It was light and filling, without feeling bloated or stuffed! We also had the Mandalay Plata which wish incredible! Two thumbs up!!
(5)M N.
I can't find Burmese food as good anywhere else. Anything pumpkin of theirs is so delicious. And they have this side stuff that you sprinkle on rice that is so delicious....it's salty, garlicky. Mmmm
(5)Kayla S.
Had gone here once the other week. Never had been so I didn't really know what to expect. Overall it was good service. Everyone was really nice. The venue was cute but very small. It was not crowded when I went so it was fine but can't imagine if it was crowded. The cons would probably be the portions. They were tiny. I mean unreasonably small for the price. Also. My boyfriend's took a little longer so mine was sort of cold and his was incredibly hot when it came out. Both of ours were warm dishes. They should have kept mine in a hot box or something
(3)Kim S.
We went the family style route and ordered many dishes to share. The tea salad featured Burmese pickled tea, sesame seeds, peanuts, crispy peas, garlic, tomato and iceberg lettuce. On the Yelp photos, the salad was shown with the different ingredients portioned out on its own section of the plate to be mixed by the guests. I was a bit disappointed that our tea salad had already been mixed for us in the kitchen. The roasted chicken mango salad was very similar to a staple dish in Thai and Cambodian cuisine. The big difference is that the chicken was roasted instead of boiled or steamed which added a crispy texture to the salad. The spicy shrimp salad was not spicy at all and also reminded me a of a Thai/Cambodian dish. The only thing missing was the Thai red basil and lemon grass to make it the same. We split 3 different noodles dishes among the 7 of us. The Garlic chicken noodle was the best of the 3, we actually wanted to order another one. It was a bit heavy on the black pepper but boasted the most flavor. The dish shared the same roasted chicken from the mango salad. The other two noodles were a bit tricky. The simple chicken noodle item was described on the menu as steam wheat noodles, roasted chicken, cucumber, potato, onion, tofu, peanut, garlic, cilantro, scallion and tamarind sauce. The dish was bland and I couldn't taste any of the tamarind sauce. It reminded me of lo mein from a Chinese restaurant sans the oil and heavy soy sauce. The Rainbow 23 noodle dish on the menu looked intriguing. The dish was a combination of four types of steamed noodles, roasted chicken, mango, cucumber, onion, potato, tofu, peanut, garlic, cilantro, scallion, and tamarind sauce (aka an Asian "Kitchen sink" dish) Although I was really excited to try it, there was too much going on in my mouth and it left me overwhelmed. I do love peanuts in my noodle dishes but I prefer them crushed not whole roasted. It's a bit harder to eat and all most of the salad and noodle dishes had peanuts. The rice plates on the menu were non descriptive with the exception of what the meat, seafood or vegetables were. We had no idea how it was going to be prepared and if we were getting a curry, stew or stir fry. The "Happy Shrimp" had steamed shrimp, bamboo and potato and was like a curry dish. It was the best out of the three rice dishes. Although no one was fighting over the tofu and eggplant, the portion was really small. There were only 5 pieces of tofu and 3 chunks of eggplants. It was also like a curry stir fry dish. The chicken squash dish was like a curry chicken stew. It was alright. We ordered a delicious side of shrimp balachong. The spicy and crispy bits were reminiscent of a Cambodian/Thai "Bok Trey" rural dish made with dried fish, salt, sugar, garlic, msg and smashed with a mortar and pestle eaten with white rice. We topped off our rice dishes and noodles with the spicy shrimp balachong it added a crispy texture and bursts of flavors. We liekd it so much that we got another of it to eat at the restaurant and some of us even bought some to go to eat with plain rice or rice porridge. The total came to about $ 150.00 for: 2 Mandalay plata bread with sauce 1 plata bread 2 steamed Shrimp Dumpling 2 Shrimp BalaChong side 1 tea salad 1 spicy shrimp salad 1 chicken mango salad Garlic chicken noodle Simple Chicken noodle Rainbow 23 noodle Chicken and squash rice dish Happy Shrimp rice dish Tofu and eggplant rice dish Extra white rice To see food pics, check out mami-eggroll.com/2014/05…
(3)Kat T.
One of the most amazing places for Asian (Burmese) food! The first time I stopped by this place, the food was just spectacular! I've never had Burmese food before, and it was just amazing! The second time, it was just as great, and it's become one of my favorite places to eat! The location is great but place is not very noticeable. The 'tea cafe' sign makes it a bit confusing but it's not only cafe, it's a regular Asian food restaurant. The ambience is comfortable and simple which is great. Food: highly recommend vegetarian samosas (blew my mind) and spiced mountain (has cut-up samosa in it with several different vegetables, lots of flavor and textures). I tried Happy Egg (contains bamboo shoots, tofu and egg), it was quite flavorful! Rainbow 23 is a great dish if you're not sure what type of noodles you like as it has a combination of several different types. This dish is also quite interesting and unique. Drinks: Ragoon tea, coconut juice all are amazing but very sweet. Highly recommend this place!
(5)Aswin V.
Authentic Burmese restaurant. Great Rangoon Tea. And they serve free plain rice with any entree you order. I'd go back there any day. Plenty of options for both Non vegetarians and vegans.
(5)Lily G.
I was recently introduced to this place. Right away I was drawn to their salads. I tried the spicy chicken mango salad the first time I came here and it did not disappoint me. It was spicy enough to taste but not so spicy that my mouth was on fire. It was light and the portion was just right. Their food is incredibly affordable. I found myself craving their food and here I am again. Back for more!
(5)Mandy E.
So, one of the reasons why I joined yelp in 2012 was to rave about this hidden Allston gem. They remodeled a few months ago and as their #1 fan, I thought YoMa deserved another review. YoMa, to me, is the epitome of excellence. The dictionary defines "superlative" as: of the highest kind, quality, or order, surpassing all else (or others). I define it as dinner at YoMa. The atmosphere is incredibly relaxing. Walls are adorned with photos from Burma and there is soft music playing in the background at all times. It's a 5/5 each and every time, and I've been a regular for well over three years- I truly appreciate the consistency. My friends like to joke and say I'm YoMa's best advertisement due to my excessive raving and praising (they're not paying me I swear)! My favorite picks off the menu haven't changed, Rainbow 23 is still my go-to. I absolutely hated the tea leaf salad the first time I tried it but ended up craving it a week later, and I've been hooked ever since! The coconut chicken noodle soup is the thickest most flavorful creamy delicious comforting soup you will ever try. Portions are just right, and the prices are good under $10 for a meal. I will continue to tell everyone I meet about YoMa, it's that good. As lame as it sounds this place feels like you're home and I really love that because that feeling can't be bought. With a beautiful interior, lovely service and fantastic unique food what's not to love? To get an authentic Allston experience stop by before 9pm and after your meal head over to The Model or Deep Ellum for post dinner drinks.
(5)Claire E.
Yoma Burmese restaurant has the most amazing tea leaf salad. It is SO good. And, its almost impossible to find this dish anywhere else. I also like their ginger salad and their plata bread. I would have given it five stars but the atmosphere is not great, so we usually get take out. They used to have more extended hours opening around 11:00 am and then staying open until late. Now, they are only open from 4:00 pm - 10:00 pm, so basically dinner only. I used to love to get the tea leaf salad on Saturdays for lunch! Otherwise though, the food is excellent and the owners are really nice. She always remembers us. Check it out if you are in Allston, but like I said, I do recommend taking the food to go. No liquor license either, fyi.
(4)Chenkai L.
This is my first time to a burmese restaurants so not much to compare by. Let me first start by saying they have some really unique items on the menu that I have never seen in my life, the combinations of ingredients used in their dishes and unlike any asian cuisine I had. Seems like the central feature of burmese dishes is mixing of vegetable, nuts, dried beans, tea leafs to make some sort of salad. I got the tea salad (burmese pickled tea, sesame seeds, peanut, crispy peas & garlic, tomato, lettuce) because I felt it was a main burmese dishes. The ingredients were fresh and the salad was refreshing, but not being a big fan of salads, I find it hard to enjoy this dish, especially with the combination including peanuts and crispy peas, I didn't feel it was a very good mixture. I also had Dried shrimp BalaChong (Mixtures of dried shrimp, shallot, garlic, and chili), which was extremely salty and surprisingly spicy. Also, I'm not sure how much oil was in the BalaChong but the whole thing seem fried. In addition, I tried some Garlic Chicken Noodle. The broth was yellow and creamy and the noodles was standard, seems to be a nourishing dish to recover from sickness. Though I am not the biggest fan of burmese food after this experience, something tells me this restaurant is a haven for vegans and vegetarians due to their unique ingredients and dishes offered.
(3)Sho Y.
This was my first experience with Burmese food. Ordered the coconut shrimp and they were delicious! The chicken platas appetizer was good as well. Will definitely go again.
(4)Archana M.
We were in Boston for the weekend and the first thing I did was look up for Burmese restaurants. We love Burmese food but haven't been able to spot one in Chicago. We walked a bit from Harvard square to get to this place. The long walk was totally worth it. The place is tiny and nothing fancy. But we had an amazing vegetarian dinner. Definitely don't miss the tea salad. The simple noodles was the best noodle dish I've tasted - spicy and flavorful. Plus it's a BYOB. Must visit if you're in Boston!
(5)Laura S.
This place is so good. It's BYOB, which is totally key if you're trying to save money on your booze bills, which you KNOW I am. I first had Burmese food out in a swanky little joint in Berkeley, CA, and where Yoma has a long way to go before it reaches that point, however Yoma manages to completely quench my cravings for Burmese. I often go after work, and I am never disappointed. If you're new to Burmese, you HAVE to get the Tea Salad. It's the best. thing. ever. I'm also pretty partial to all of the noodle dishes. Last night i tried the Tofu Curry. Actually you can't go wrong with this menu. It's so freaking good. Go here. Eat here. love it. Drink whatever you want (beer/wine!!)...no corking fee!!!!!!! just do it.
(4)Ekta K.
Great service to begin with. Food was very refreshing. Ate Burmese food for the first time and enjoyed all the vegetarian options !! Balanchong was very flavorful a little on the hotter side. Garlic tofu noodles were full of garlic and pepper as explained in the menu. Overall the restaurant is definitely worth a try for those seeking a slightly different Asian cuisine experience.
(5)Ayelet R.
I absolutely love this place - it may just be my favorite place to eat in the Boston area. As most of the other reviewers have mentioned, the Tea Leaf Salad is amazing. I'm not someone who usually gets excited about salads, but this is the exception - it's a crunchy, crispy, amazing blend of flavors. I also love their vegetarian menu, where they offer vegetarian alternatives to almost all of their usual dishes. I've been here many times and still haven't exhausted my options, and have loved everything I've tried so far. Vegetarians - try their chickpea tofu! Their noodle dishes are especially delicious - flavorful but not swimming in sauce, spicy enough to provide a kick but not be overpowering (although they are also more than willing to modify for those who aren't fans of spicy food), and full of fresh vegetables. Also since the renovation, they've added the Rangoon Tea, which is delicious. Just writing this review has made me ache to go back!
(5)Leslie W.
Great place, it's BYOB which is kinda nice. Started with tea salad which deserves the raves it gets on yelp. Great mix of textures and flavors. Our group tried several entrees. My favorite was the Royal Noodle but the Happy Chicken and Rainbow 23 were all great. Our server was super nice and attentive. All in all I'm now a fan of Burmese!
(5)Emilio S.
Yoma is a great little restaurant and very reasonably priced. As a matter of fact, this is probably the cheapest spot in the neighborhood, but the food is excellent. I don't really have a frame of reference by which to judge the quality of a Burmese meal, but I enjoy this place. During the cold months they serve a spicy chicken noodle soup that will warm a spirit battered by the cold, dark, New England winter.
(4)Brian K.
Solid, authentic, and yummy Burmese food with a separate vegan menu which rules. The service is great and the place is intimate with cool pictures from Myanmar (Burma).
(5)Tiffany L.
I went here on my TCO friend's recommendation...BEST DECISION I made today. I never tried Burmese food before so I was super pumped haha. I walked in around 1 pm on a Tuesday and we were the only customers. The interior is super cute, simple, and clean. The walls are baby pink! They had what I'm guessing is Burmese music playing. They also had a delivery area - I wish they could deliver to Wellesley.. Service is amazing. The waiter's English wasn't good, but she was super nice and so attentive. My water was literally refilled after every other sip. The food comes so quickly, too, which I was super thankful for (I missed breakfast cause I slept in...#collegestrugs). I got the hot Myanmar tea. I expected some herbal hot tea but what I got was a gift from the heavens...too much? It was just so good. It's like the condensed milk tea they serve at Hong Kong breakfast restaurants, but a thousand times better. It was the perfect level of sweetness and I was so sad when I finished it. The serving isn't big - half the size of a Starbucks tall beverage. Literally 10 minutes after we ordered, the dishes came TEEHEE: Bean Plata: I could smell it before it left the kitchen haha in a good way. It's similar to a scallion pancake, but it's SO much better. It's a bit crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside. It's salty but a bit sweet at the same time...it's hard to explain. The beans that came with it were good, too. They weren't super flavorful, but the pancake thingys were so soft and yummy. There were 8 pieces in the order, and the two of us finished it pretty easily. I think I might order one just for myself next time... Spicy Chicken Noodle Soup: Really good. Even for me, the bowl was pretty large. The noodles are glass noodles. It tastes similar to Tom Yum soup, but it's not as salty. The chicken soup was subtle and light, not too spicy. I finished the noodles, but couldn't finish the soup. I love the tartness of it though. Eggplant Peanut Chicken: This dish was pretty good. Portion is generous. The peanut sauce was super thick haha I feel like they literally put a spoonfuls of peanut butter into it. But I really liked it. The flavor was subtle unlike most Asian restaurants. I love eggplant and this eggplant was cooked perfectly - it was soft enough but not too soggy and gross. The chicken part was okay in comparison - it tasted really healthy and firm haha which is why I didn't like it as much. The food here is super light and refreshing - I felt like I had a salad for lunch leaving the restaurant. I actually really loved this place and would def go back a second, third, and even fourth time haha. And I really want to try their tea salad. Emily, take meeeeee. Must try desserts/shakes next time!
(5)Katie C.
Amazing Black Tea Salad. - MUST ORDER. Great Chicken Pumpkin Curry Chick Pea appetizer is delish. Food is salty, service is AMAZING! Don't order the "ice cream salad" for dessert - it's an American ice cream sundae with raisins :)
(4)Jenn S.
good place for burmese food. i think i enjoyed the tea leaf salad from burma superstar in SF better, but their food was very well done, nicely spiced/ seasoned, and good portions. I would recommend the seafood dish (i think it was alled happy shrimp or something like that?), and really enjoyed their curry infused dishes.
(4)Adeola O.
Barf.
(1)Ian Y.
Let me start by giving my review some context. I enjoy eating a simple, healthy diet. For me, it's nice to eat out once in a while, but nothing beats a down-to-earth, home-cooked meal that just hits the spot. So, being in the Boston area for a conference for a few days and having all my meals catered or served at a restaurant, I was really starting to feel sick. My body was simply begging me to go home and detox from all the rich foods that I had eaten over the last couple of days. It had gotten to the point where my body was pretending that it wasn't hungry at all, even though I hadn't eaten for hours. So, the last thing I wanted to do on my final night in Boston was to eat out at another restaurant. But, boy, did this restaurant impress me. Maybe it's because the food served here resembled the food I had growing up, but there was something about the way the food was prepared that made it simultaneously simple and irresistibly delicious. I ordered the Royal Noodle dish (NanJeeThoh) -- the noodle dishes, by the way, are the way to go -- and upon taking one bite, my appetite changed from "no more, thank you" to "more, please!" The people in my dinner party also exclaimed at how good their food was, and as a result, we couldn't help but try each other's dishes. The service was both friendly and FAST on all fronts: ordering, food arriving, and paying the bill. And the restaurant owners didn't pressure us to leave upon closing time. Vegetarians will be happy to know that there is a vegetarian-specific menu made available upon request. And being full-fledged, it won't disappoint. Oh, and did I mention that the food is super cheap? Win. Some things to watch out for that could possibly cause irritation: There's only one toilet (for ALL patrons) and there is a $10 minimum to use a credit card. They will also try to limit you from using more than 2 credit cards on a single bill. All in all, though, I have to give this place credit for not only being a gem in the rough (literally, given its physical location) but for also drastically shifting my mealtime attitude. I'm not surprised it won one of Boston Globe's "Best of the New" honors, even if it was in 2008.
(4)Jeannie D.
We never tried Burmese food before. Well, we are not really familiar with what it entails. It's not too bad yet it wasn't amazing either. They have an extensive vegetarian menu so that is a plus for people who are looking for that. The atmosphere is pretty nice with their bright colorful walls and traditional music
(4)Katie B.
Pretty solid, but not overly memorable. This is a pretty authentic restaurant, as far as I can tell. I've never been to Myanmar/ Burma before so it's hard to say how this compares to "real" burmese food. However, I enjoyed my meal nonetheless. Try the Tea Salad if you want something different! Lot's of texture and flavor.
(4)Roy M.
Great food. I had a wonderful tamarind juice drink. Rainbow salad had fabulous flavor and crispy taste. Everything was subtle, tasty and unusual. They can adjust spice to meet your desires. Prices are reasonable. Restaurant very clean.staff is great and friendly Beautiful pictures of Myanmar that complements the food. Ginger ice cream was fabulous with tasty chunks of ginger. A very pleasant surprise. I'll be back.
(4)Kiki P.
BEST and ONLY Burmese restaurant in Boston. I religiously go to Yoma at least once a week. I am definitely their most frequent customer. I always get the same two dishes...the RICE and SPICE and the burmese tofu noodles from the vegetarian menu. Yes, every time. Yes, they have a vegetarian menu...you have to request it though. My favorite is the RICR AND SPICE. It is flavorful and they use very little oil. If you ask for it spicy, they will actually make it spicy. Woohoo! The Burmese Tofu Noodles are amazing and the tofu is unique. They use this tofu made out of chickpeas which just melts on your mouth and goes so well with the egg noodles. I usually ask for it spicy and the dish is full of spices and flavor. The only reason the restaurant is four stars instead of five stars is their lack of customer service. They are not very attentive and several servers don't speak English. The owner herself is super nice and speaks fluent English though. Consistency is another story. The food is different every time, but I can assure you that I am never disappointed. It always hits the spot. Whenever I am entertaining a vegan or vegetarian guest, I always bring them here. Vegetarians seem to LOVE this restaurant. Make sure you ask for the vegetarian menu! Another note is that the restaurant is often closed around the Holidays. I tried to go the first week in December and I drove all the way into Boston. I was so annoyed when I read their sign which said "Closed for the Holidays until January." Therefore if you plan on visiting during the Holidays just call before you go...Otherwise..ENJOY!
(4)Dhaval A.
Like many other yelpers, this was our first visit to this restaurant. Sometimes I think that restaurants located in urban areas or close to student concentrations get excessively good reviews just because. So here is our experience, we ordered a few items of the list that seemed interesting, Tea Salad, Garlic Tofu Noodle, Mandalay Plata. The tea salad was disgusting.. it seemed that they prepare all the items early in the day and keep serving the same s*** all day. We had gone at around 8 pm which is close to closing time, but you would still expect decent food if you are paying for it. The Mandalay Plata tasted like a very watered down dish, true burmese food is not this bland and tasteless, this was not burmese. The Noodles, we had ordered garlic noodles and asked them to hold off on the chicken since we had vegetarian diners, but they showed up with a dish with chicken shavings, by the time we realized there was chicken in it, most of us had helped ourselves to a serving, on asking the waiter, he said no this is not meat. We asked him to check with the kitchen who confirmed that it was indeed meat. Since we had already taken a serving each, we could no longer eat the other food that was on the plate. The waiter was willing to not charge us for the dish (how generous) but made no effort to redeem the situation. Another issue was, we had bought a cake from outside for one of the members of our group and they were charging us $2 dollars a person for cutting the cake in their restaurant. Not sure if this is a new trend or it has always been this way, but that's absolutely ridiculous, I would understand charging that much if I walk into the restaurant just to cut a cake, but why would it matter to them if I am paying for the dinner and dessert from your menu? The decor was dated, the spoons, table and floor unclean. I am not sure why this place is still in business.
(1)R K.
Let me start off by saying I've been here countless times over the past few years and the food has always been good. My boyfriend and I are fans of this place. We don't know how authentic it is, but we don't care. The food is so tasty and that's why we keep coming back. My only gripe is with the inconsistency of their menu. I believe they made a change for the worse back in March, the last time we ate there. So disappointed. They took away a lot of goodies, especially beef and shrimp dishes. All that was left was mainly chicken and veggie dishes, which is not good since we appreciate more meat options. And the side of ba la chong that usually comes with the meal, they took that away as well. We questioned it, but was told they don't do that anymore and we'd have to pay extra for it. I don't remember what dishes we ordered since it was a while ago, but the portions were very small, the absence of the ba la chong on the plate made it look even smaller. The food was tasty enough, but it seemed they were stingy with the portions. They could've given us a bit more for our buck. The service was a horrible miss the last time we were here. When we came in, the place was empty. Two more couples came in after we were seated. Instead of taking our order, they went straight to the other tables which came in after us. I'm not sure why they skipped us, but the other tables got their food before us, even though we got there first and were seated well before the others came in. By the time our food came, one of the other tables had already finished, paid, and left. There were two waitresses and one of them appeared to be newish and/or in training. Maybe they were having an off day. Whatever the case, I can overlook the service if they had been more consistent with the menu. I didn't like that they took away so many options and made us pay extra for ba la chong, when we were able to get it free before. Since this review reflects our last visit, I'm sad to say I can only give two stars for the food being decent. I take away one star for the service, and another one for the lack of options available, and there being no more free ba la chong that comes with the meal. I would still be willing to return and give them another chance as they have been genuinely good in the past.They need to get their act together though. We like the menu the way it was before, not sure why they always feel the need to take stuff away.
(2)Dorise G.
After *all that* (see previous reviews), Yoma is back. I'd heard word that they'd brought back the dishes, brought back the dining, brought back the full menu, and it was the best present anyone could've ever given me. Only big changes to the original YoMa that I knew and loved: ~there's a takeout counter on one side now (nbd) ~they've added ice cream drinks ~it now costs a dollar extra for the puffed chilis to come with the rice dishes, but if they want to up-charge me a dollar in exchange for having all of my favorite items at my favorite restaurant back? You won't hear me complaining.
(5)Melissa W.
We enjoyed the samosas, the Mandalay plata and the coconut chicken noodle soup. However, I must knock off stars for the garlic noodles, which were completely INEDIBLE for me due to the massive amount of black pepper in it. My husband tried eating it but couldn't enjoy it. We told the waitress and she only responded with "oh".
(3)Yao M.
I have had authentic burmese food before, and this restaurant is definitely the closest to authentic burmese food. Things to get: Meeshay - really good, but spicy and if ur dieing after it, get the coconut dessert. It will cool u down!! Coconut rice is also bomb, overall best burmese restaurant in boston area!
(5)Ryan H.
Just went for dinner for the first time since 2012, and it's still fantastic. Burmese Chai Iced Tea was perfectly balanced. I got Chicken and potatoes in red lentils with rice, and it was just delicious. Perfectly cooked and seasoned. The service was good and the place is low-key enough to have conversation comfortably. I would highly recommend Yoma, especially since the other restaurants in the area are usually crammed full of people.
(5)Noshii R.
Got take out for the first time...eating it as I write this. Despite the portions being way small the food tastes great. However, the issue that I have is that they overcharged us. I ordered the food based on the menu from their online link and they charged us an extra dollar per entree. As an example the tea salad is $9.50 and they charged us $5.50 for a hot-n-sour soup. This is a side soup which should not be $5.50. Its too bad that businesses pull this type fraudulent moves as I wont be returning.
(1)Lisa W.
Burmese food in Boston! Yay!!! Mixed noodle salad and tomato salad are delicious and spicy. The beef and potato curry is pretty good.. I would've liked it with tomato in the sauce, but it is served with a side of yummy fried garlic. I wasn't a huge fan of the cream of wheat dessert, though, it seemed kind of small and dry.
(4)Karen H.
For their tea salad -- 5 stars!!!! For everything else, 3.5. I've been here 3 times and I tried a few different dishes but always end up coming back to the tea salad. It's so unique and all the flavors come together to play a symphony in your mouth. That is all.
(4)Molly L.
Yoma is awesome! We had the bean plata and a salad and noodles with their chickpea tofu. So delicious!! The bread especially was crispy and delicious. Very fast and curteous service.
(4)Kendall M.
This may be an unduly harsh review, but here was my thought after eating at YoMA: "Wow, I'm really excited to try an authentic Burmese restaurant next." Why do I say that? Well, having previously lived in Hong Kong and then in the states, I feel I have a pretty solid grasp of what Americanizing Asian food tastes like, and this was rife with the symptoms: over-steamed meat and vegetables with sauce only poured over it at the last minute, overcooking in general, meager portions despite high dish prices and cheap ingredients. But I hadn't had a Burmese salad before, so that was interesting. I'd skip everything else though, including the Pumpkin curry and the Pancake/Roti/Forget what it was called but basically fried bread with a curry dipping sauce. We left hungry despite paying over $40 for two and had ice cream instead of ordering more dishes.
(2)Alexandra S.
Unbelievably great Food. it is a bit pricey though...
(5)Phil C.
Allston gem! Sick of eating at the same restaurants in Allston? Step outside your comfort zone. Delicious Burmese food!! Had the original tea salad, spicy chicken noodle soup, and the royal noodles. Very flavorful and similar to Thai food. Tea salad is light, crunchy, and has a lot of very rich flavors that blend very well together. I think slightly overpriced for what it is, but definitely delicious. My favorite dish of the night. Spicy chicken noodle soup - served in a big bowl and definitely spicy. The glass noodle is similar to the noodle in the Korean dish japchae. Perfect for a cold night. Royal noodles - love anything with coconut milk base. Also love udon noodles. Very rich and flavorful.
(5)David C.
12 Word Summary: Delicious and interesting fare that you won't find anywhere else in Boston. The Super Pumpkin was a little bit of a letdown after the complexity and intrigue of the Tea Salad, but that's not to say it was a bad dish--the Tea Salad is just that good. I don't even like tea, but the balance of flavor and texture in this dish is simply masterful. Service was kind and attentive throughout, and our waitress was happy to explain a little more about the menu, which is a little vague in description. When you're trying something for the first time, don't hesitate to ask the experts!
(4)Ella C.
I was pretty upset last year when the restaurant closed down to renovate, I thought it was going to close permanently! Although the menu shrank and many of my favorite dishes are gone, the food is still pretty good, simple, flavorful and yet not too greasy. It's just seasoned appropriately. I've never had a bad experience in this place and also they are somehow so skilled that they can make a non vegetarian person fall in love with vegetarian dishes. I think by now I must have tried pretty much every single item on the menu. I just love the food here, I wish they can add new dishes in the future, especially mohinga!
(5)Guillermo M.
This place is so goood!! We got a variety of dishes and 100% of them where delicious. Let's start with the appetizers: the bean plata and potato plata were both excellent. The flour "tortilla" and the main ingredients were very different and tasty. Then we got 2 noodle dishes and one chicken with pumpkin and were all very good in balancing a variety of flavors without having too many spices. The yoghurt drink was sweet and refreshing, I would have that for sure. Then we closed with the semolina cake and it didn't disappoint. Great place to come back!!
(4)Michele H.
The pickled tea and the mango salads are fantastic. Nothing feels more like summer to me than going to town on the picked tea salad, with a spring roll bursting with shrimp and cilantro. The curries are good, too, but a bit bland for me.
(4)Champika F.
I'm so glad there is a Burmese restaurant in Boston within a reasonable distance from me. Two words: Tea Salad....I don't typically go for salads on a menu but this one is amazing. I could eat it all day. Other things I've had here that I think are pretty good: - Mixed Noodle dish - Hot n Sour Soup I don't recommend the shrimp dumplings - they were a bit bland. I've only gotten food to go here, but I plan on going back for a sit down meal.
(4)Tanya S.
I read all these positive Yelp reviews and decided to order delivery with a friend. The portions were tiny, there weren't many special ingredients! Happy Beef was 4 pieces of beef, a hardboiled egg, 4 pieces of potato and a sauce with a small side of rice. Even rice portion was tiny! And my friend got a $13 noodle dish that was about half a normal portion at a Thai place. And none of it tasted that good! The Happy Beef sauce smelled really weird =( The $7 layered bread with coconut chicken sauce was one small round piece of flat bread and a tiny container of sauce. I don't understand what others find so good in this place... Way too expensive given the food quality.
(1)Jeremy R.
We had a lot of trouble using the yelp based delivery service, but my review does not reflect this. We ordered the happy shrimp and the mango salad. Both were delicious, but the prices were about 25% higher than similar offerings that I have back in San Francisco, so I am docking it one star.
(4)Julie L.
3.5 stars YoMa is lovely! I think the staff cares and really tries to deliver a home-style meal. My favorite dish that keeps me coming back: Rice n Spices - it includes rice, bean noodles, potatoes, cucumbers, and peanuts. It's so unique and what I've come to know as Burmese with the contrasting textures and sharp flavors. I've ordered it medium and it was a tad too hot. But then I've ordered mild and there was a distinct lack of flavor. I think I'll have to try and get something in between next time. It's also listed under salads. I just love the Burmese definition of salads. So much more interesting and full of flavor compared to your raw greens variety.
(3)Shir L.
Since there were so many good reviews on yelp, why not give this place a try? Tea salad - i liked the fried chick peas however, there was something about it that i didn't like it. it was a strong savory taste, however its like nothing ive ever had. Garlic Noodles - basically its stir fryed thick, yellow wonton noodles with garlic and other sauces/spices. Someone liked it but i felt it was a quite salty, or heavy flavor since I was craving tons of water (my taste buds usually only crave water after heavy msg or salty). Ive heard that any dishes with pumpkin in it, are simply delectable, however ill probably only return when I'm craving something savory or salty. Not my cup of tea.
(3)Caitlin C.
This place is great on every level. The waitstaff is so kind and attentive (but never pushy), and the food is so delicious and vibrant-- if you can substitute their chickpea tofu in whatever dish you're considering, DO IT!! You won't be disappointed.
(5)Yue Z.
I love this place. Though the food quality does very from time to time. They have all the classics. I highly recommend trying the tea leaf salad or the tofu salad, Be sure to mix the salads before eating. For appetizer, I'm a fan of the fluffy plata with potato or chicken curry. For entree, try the meeshay, royal noodle and eggplant peanut chicken, Overall, I like this place because it is authentic and unpretentious. The food can be a bit slow at times, and the service lacking some warmth, but overall it's a pleasant dining experience. It's a very casual night out and a great addition if you like variety when eating out! Parking is a little difficult in the area so give it an extra 10-15 minutes.
(5)G I.
Their "renovation" destroyed a restaurant that I once loved. They renovated away almost the entire menu, including most of the good dishes. They renovated away their plates, so that the five remaining food options are now served in plastic takeout containers on a fast food tray. They renovated away their soul. It's sad. Like an old acquaintance who sustained severe brain damage after getting hit by a car: you still call him by the same name when you speak to him, slowly, clearly and with small words; but you know it isn't really him anymore.
(1)Michelle W.
I've lived up the street from this place for five years, and now regret not trying it sooner. Royal noodle dish? Amaze balls. Just eat at yoma one night, and you'll see what you've been missing. Tea leaf salad? Delish. Service is fast, friendly and the food is amazing. Tiny one room bathroom and $10 minimum on credit card bills deducts a star but otherwise, you must go.
(4)Laura C.
After eating at one of the best Burmese restaurants in San Francisco, YoMa left me wanting to go back to SanFran. At YoMa we ordered: tea leaf salad (could be way better, get rid of the cabbage and lettuce) plata w/yellow beans (really good, and by far the best of the four things we ordered) eggplant chicken (made with fish oil, really oily, condiments didn't give great flavor, and didn't like it so much) Rainbow noodle (although tasty, meat was dry and only a small piece of tofu; I've had better noodle dishes) Service: fine and what you expect from a small family restaurant in terms of you having to flag them down if you need something; except for another table, the place was empty for Saturday lunch Overall: won't return, won't recommend
(2)Kathy Y.
Well my parent's cook burmese food, so like every typical person who has it at home, obviously nothing compares to what your parents cook. Everybody always thinks their parent's are better if not the best. For a business, I guess this isn't so bad. I mean you really can't compare it to any other Burmese restaurants because this is the only one. I came here when it first opened a few years ago, and service was awful than, they spilled water ALL over me and food took forever to cook. I am guessing after they have adjusted and got the hang of things, service this time around was much better. They do have a pretty good vegetarian selection for you vegans out there. I didn't try the Mohinga this time around, it's one of the most popular dishes amongst the Burmese, but I am not a big fan of it. Maybe because I was born here, I am not as adventourous. I am a bigger fan of their Oh-Nok Kow Swe (Burmese Coconut Chicken Noodle Soup), but I thought this was only okay here because it was too much coconut taste, normally when I have it it's not overpowering with coconut milk, so it's not as heavy. If you do like this, I would suggest, Naan Jee Dok, which they call Royal Noodles. It's similar but not in a soup form. Another one of their dishes I recommend is their Tea Leaf Salad, you will not get anything like this anywhere else. I don't think they give you enough tea part, but their balance of the lettuce makes it more refreshing. Potato Plata - similar to your roti canai, not bad. it's bread you dip in a curry-like sauce pretty much. It's a okay place since not everybody can have Burmese food at home. I don't think the people who have the privelage of getting Burmese food at home should be so hard on the place, especially since this is the only Burmese restaurant in the area, it's good enough for a quick fix to supress the craving you may have.
(3)Brad M.
We recently moved here from the Bay Area and went to YoMa thinking that maybe it would be something similar to the type of food we got at Burma Superstar in Oakland. A couple of the reviewers here on Yelp gave us the impression that this wasn't an entirely stupid thing to think. But no, it's really not comparable to Burma Superstar. I mean, the food is okay, but it just doesn't have that Burma Superstar wow factor. The Tea Leaf Salad, which is pretty amazing at Burma Superstar, is pretty lackluster here. The greens which come with it are also pretty low quality and I was reminded of the salad I had on American Airlines a couple weeks ago. Burma Superstar also had good alcoholic drinks and a bar. Granted, sometimes Burma Superstar's drinks are of variable quality, but their drinks are generally pretty good. I don't even remember seeing alcohol on the menu here, not even beer although I may have missed it. Our food wasn't really that great either. I had the 'Coconut Pumpkin Tofu' and my wife had something with chicken and bamboo shoots. Neither one of them had that amazing deliciousness that typically has me eating multiple servings of rice just to get it all in. What I expect with 'Coconut Pumpkin Tofu' is some sort of really coconut-milk-creamy delicious sauce filled with pumpkin flavor with some high quality tofu thrown in (and maybe a red bell pepper for good measure). What it was was some sort of yellow sauce of unknown origin, 3-4 pieces of pumpkin, and some pretty slippery-looking tofu. Really not great. The place isn't atrocious, and if you try it out you're not likely to have nightmares afterwards, but if this is what Burmese is like in Boston, I think I'll stick to Thai.
(2)Aubrey W.
Unfortunately, I have to agree with @Winnie T. I went with my fiance, his sister, and her husband on a Friday night. A caveat with my review: they appeared to be desperately understaffed. As in, one waitress working the entire restaurant. So, as you can imagine the service was painfully slow. Once the first dish came out, we waited about 15 minutes before the next one. Then, about 10 minutes later, the last two came. Sadly, the food wasn't that great either. I had the Rainbow 23 noodles which were mostly noodles with tiny shreds of the other ingredients (chicken, mango, potato, cucumber, some other veggies I think). There wasn't a whole lot of flavor. My fiance's sister had the vegetarian version of the same thing with a similar result. Her husband had the Happy Beef, which was a rather small portion, and my fiance had the MeeShay. He enjoyed that and was pleased with how tender and spicy it was, but it was very small as well. I'm inclined to think that this was an off night for them, particularly in terms of the service, but there are a lot of other Thai fusion places around there so we probably won't be back.
(2)Anthony C.
Time for some positivity. Time for some Boston love. YoMa is one of the things that makes living in Boston (part - time) delicious. It's on another level from any other Burmese restaurant I've been to. It is not hyper - professional, but that is part of its charm. And when they play that good Burmese Music record, life is complete. Best things: toasted garlic topping - incredible; tofu and coconut sauce - delicious; coconut chicken noodle soup - I dream of it; anything with pumpkin or squash. I love tea leaf salad too, but am not always in the mood for it If you're there at 9:30 PM they start vacuuming - this is not great. It is local in all the best ways.
(5)Alissa L.
Loved the pumpkin tofu coconut dish I had. Great prices and great flavorful food.
(5)Marie W.
We were initially hesitant to come here because of all the bad reviews that seemed to come after the renovation, but since someone posted that it went back to normal, we tried it out this past weekend and we are glad we did! We were seated quickly because we offered to sit at the side area with the stools rather than than at the tables (otherwise it was a 45 min wait). We ordered: -Tea leaf salad--definitely worth a try, and as good as people say it is! -Pumpkin tofu--came with white rice. Good flavors. Not amazing, but a good, solid dish. -Garlic chicken noodles--our favorite. Amazing flavors and good portion size. 3 dishes were enough for the two of us. The waitress also recommended the Tofu salad, which we will try next time. We also liked how the waitress gave us honest recommendations about what she liked off the menu. Will definitely come back to try a few more dishes!
(4)Melody W.
I came here with my friend on Saturday night. I wanted to come here to try Burmese food, since I never had that kind of opportunity to eat it. But I felt a bit letdown after eating the food (especially now I just read some of the Yelpers saying that it wasn't authentic Burmese food). In all honesty, this is 3.5 stars. The half star is for the excellent waitress service. We had one who was so patient with us and had to put up with our indecisiveness and the followup on drink dissatisfaction! I thought the food was okay but not mindblowing. The Coconut Pumpkin Tofu was light and surprisingly not heavy. The MeeShay was bland and lacked flavor. I'm not sure if it's because we requested the spiciness adjusted to mild or it was just our own preference of taste. The portions are a bit small. My friend was not happy with her Limeade. She thought it tasted like soap (in her view). I thought there was a strange aftertaste in it, but soap did not come to mind for me. It was hard to tell if it was meant to be sweet or if its too syrupy? I might come back here another time to give YoMa one more chance, but honestly I was not impressed with the cooking that night. Not sure why the ratings were high.
(3)Mansi M.
I wish i had tried this place earlier. It is my GO TO place from now on. It is a very casual place but the food is AMAZING the staff is super sweet. A friend wanted to try something different for her birthday and we went here not knowing what to expect. The staff ( 2 waitresses) took such good care of all 20 of us. They even stayed open later than they usually do for us:) Loved the below dishes: Chicken plata as an appetizer Happy chicken Limeade MUST TRY and oh it is amazing for Vegetrains (they have a separate menu)
(5)Jim G.
It was ok. I had the tea leaf salad and it was average. Very loud with a large taking up on section. Service was slow.
(3)Ms. S.
The tea leaf salad was great, but the rest of the food was forgettable. Overpriced for the quality.
(3)Josephine L.
Who doesn't love exotic, ethnic food? Burmese, you say? Yes, please! This is a no-frills, straight-up, delicious restaurant that happens to be the only Burmese place in the city. Prices are ridiculously affordable and service always comes with a smile. If you're Asian (like me) and you're tired of the same ol' heavy-hitters of Asian cuisine (Japanese? Korean? Chiiiinese?), come to YoMa to remember why being Asian rocks. The tea leaf salad is out of this world. So many textures, from crunchy to soft, and flavors. Spicy, salty, savory. Mmmm. Also got the MohHinGar (catfish soup), which was hot and refreshing at the same time. You could tell the fish had been simmering in the broth for a long time as all the flavors just melded together perfectly. The Super Pumpkin is fantastic. I don't usually like sweet in my entree, but the sauce made everything delicious. We got the Burmese dessert, whose name escapes me, but it was delicious. Texture denser than cake, but lightly sweet. I ended up finishing it because my friend was full and could have easily eaten another even though I was full too. Definitely a go-to place for a delicious, exotic, affordable meal.
(5)Marina W.
Ooooh my god, I love YoMA. I take everyone here: local friends, out of town friends, family, my partner, myself, everyone. I love the Tea Leaf Salad (even though I'm a little grumbly that they just raised the price, but, hey, it's worth it). The mango salad is delicious. The pumpkin anything is delicious. Everything is delicious. It is not a high-class fancy establishment - it's very casual and almost cheap feeling, but honestly, I don't care. The food is fantastic and that is why I go.
(5)Andrew r.
I went to yoma craving some of the food I ate while I was traveling through Burma. YoMa left me still craving. While the food isn't bad it also really isn't Burmese food. The flavoring is not really close and they don't have many Burmese staples. The tea leaves were pretty on par but the salad itself did not really resemble what a tea leaf salad tastes like. I don't like sounding all negative but I was generally non-impressed with YoMa. The staff was very friendly and helpful, though they were Thai not Burmese which may explain something about the lack of authenticity. I don't think I'd go back. Sorry
(2)Meg B.
I really liked this place! Tried the chicken and tofu with rice and the rainbow noodles. The chicken and tofu was good, although nothing special, but I really loved the rainbow noodles. Lots of texture and flavor with just enough heat to make it interesting. Would definitely come back to try more dishes, I think this is a great neighborhood staple.
(4)Priscilla T.
Yum. Delicious and affordable. AND authentic! Tea leaf salad was the highlight, but also amazing was the chickpea tofu salad and Shan Noodles. I was just in Burma over the summer and this place is a nice reminder of all the yummy cuisine.
(4)L R.
$24, just for me, take out. I thought I'd try 3 things to get an idea of the place. I got the catfish soup, which literally was a cup of broth. There were some indistinguishable bits of "fish" and some spicy oily blobs on the top, but for $5, I expected more than just a cup of broth (menu states catfish, lemongrass, garlic, onion). The shrimp rolls were 4 underwhelming tapered rolls that didn't fit in the thimble size dipping cup of sauce, and they needed all the sauce they could get. The tea salad was a serious bummer, I'm not sure if it doesn't work for take out, but for $8.50 it was some cheap veggies (cabbage/lettuce) and a tablespoon of pickled tea. Most expensive, least filling, meal I've had in Boston ever. I'd skip it. Slow take out service as well.
(1)Sean M.
3.4 stars I had a simple lunch of chick pea tofu salad and pork noodle dish. The noodles came with a small portion of salad as well but sans the tofu, but still slightly redundant. The server asked how hot/spicy I wanted it to be, I asked for "almost Burmese" level. It was spicy but I had to ask for the condiments tray to kick it up some. I mixed what was left of the salad and what came with the noodles and proceeded to spice it with chilies to a perspiration generating level. This was my first time here, I have been to other Burmese places in NYC and in SF, this was decent by comparison and I will be back with friends so I can try a larger selection of the menu. * ingredients were fresh, chick pea tofu was wonderful * I love spicy and you can get that here, ask for the condiment tray. * Tough location for parking, T or cab it here.
(3)Wen-fai F.
My friend and I came here for the first time for lunch because we were excited to try Burmese food! Good, cheap filling meal but we'll probably order different things next time. The restaurant was empty but it was 2p on a weekday so we didn't expect it to be bustling. The waitress offered us Burmese tea, free of charge! Tastes like the tea you get at dim sum. We ordered: Chickpea tofu appetizer ($7) - we'd read so much about this on Yelp that we wanted to try it! It was a bit disappointing but I can see the appeal if you've never had anything like it before. It tasted like the fried milk balls you can order at Chinese restaurants. The dish is ~10 small triangles of fried battered chickpea - fried on the outside and a very creamy taste on the inside. I couldn't taste much else beyond the oil though, I was hoping for some more depth of flavor but it was almost like eating french fries. If you're curious, you might as well try it once though! Tea leaf salad ($8) - This dish is so refreshing! It comes with raw cabbage, fried/dried shallots, diced tomatoes, pickled tea leaves mixed with garlic, and roasted peanuts. The components come separately and you mix it together on your plate. The tea leaves were naturally salty but you could choose how much you wanted. I would highly recommend this! Catfish soup entree ($7) - Apparently a Burmese staple, and very delicious! I've never tasted anything like this before. The broth was opaque but refreshing, and tasted, of course, like fish. There was also vermicelli and some veggies. A little oily but it's what we expected. Slightly reminiscent of Malaysian laksa, except without the coconutty creaminess. The meal came to $22 and was just enough food for us. I will definitely be back to try some of their other entrees as everything seems pretty cheap on the menu and the food output is quick. The food we had was solid but nothing out of this world.
(3)Gina S.
We ate at Yo Ma last night, yummy. My coconut shrimp with pumpkin came with a crunchy topping. The topping is called Bala Chong a mixture of fried beans, shallot, garlic and chili. This crunchy little topping can be used on any dish, great flavor a little spicy and a little crunchy. Either comes with your dish or you can order it separately under sides.
(5)Nikki Z.
One of my favorite places in Boston. The tea leaf salad with all the garlicky fried bits is the best dish. 5 stars for the tea leaf salad. 3 stars for the curry dishes - the meat tends to be overcooked. I've tried the beef/potato and shrimp/pumpkin. 3.5 stars - The chicken platha is their take on the Malaysian roti canai. I've had better.
(4)Matthew D.
Like many other reviewers, apparently, I've eaten at Burma Superstar in the Richmond District of SF. And no, this place does not compare. But few things will. So I gave it another chance recently and I've decided that it does deserve some credit, and doesn't deserve being downgraded because it can't live up to a famous restaurant where people line up for hours to get a table. Last time I had one of the generic chicken bowls, which was dull. Also the Tea Leaf salad was disappointing compared to Burma Superstar. But, I was there with a person born in Burma and he seemed to be happy enough with what he ordered at YoMa. This time, I tried two of the noodle dishes, Shan and Simple Chicken. They were both quite good, and I just wish they had served more.
(4)Casey F.
This is hands down my favorite restaurant. Ok, well actually Oleana is my favorite restaurant... but YoMa is 1/12 the cost, so I go there at least twice per week. The waiters know me and my boyfriend. I have the menu memorized. Typically, I seek out new places for my nights out... but now I consider YoMa home. Reasons YoMa is deliciously wonderful: - The food. (duh.) Burmese cuisine is a combination of Thai / Vietnamese / Chinese --- but not as sweet as Thai, as greasy as Chinese, or as lemon-grassy as Vietnamese. - The homemade tofu appetizer. Creamy and delicious. Even if you don't like tofu you'll like this. - Y4. Don't ask, just order it (as long as you eat pork). - The prices. So affordable. Leave a good tip, 'cause the service is friendly but the prices aren't high. - The location. Easy to get to via car, bike, or bus. Dinner from YoMa is what got me through a few months of 90 hour work weeks. Words cannot describe the love I feel for this place, their food, and their cute waiters and waitresses. Go there now.
(5)chanelle d.
I was introduced to YoMa a couple of years ago by two friends who are regulars. They love it, and now, so do I. The service is usually pretty good--not always quick, but super friendly, possibly because they see my friends there often. We always end up getting the Assorted Noodles to share, a very interesting mix of tofu, veggies, and different kinds of noodles; my two friends like it extra spicy. I usually get the Chicken Bamboo, which is chicken and bamboo chutes in a delicious tamarind sauce over rice, and they give you a mixture of fried shallots and red pepper flakes to sprinkle over everything (my favorite!). The rice dishes are hard to explain, I would compare them to curry, but it doesn't feel accurate enough. I suggest you try it to get your own impression of the food!
(4)Steph D.
In order of amazing: F**king SPICY (just how I like it). ADORABLE waitress who seemed endeared to my Burmesian ignorance rather than annoyed by it. LIMEADE - Oh, god yes. Coconut rice, milk, cake... EVERYTHING. Inexpensive cultural adventure. The odd little combination of Noodles and Potatoes. The NAMES - Yes, HAPPY SHRIMP - please.
(5)T G.
If you've never had Burmese food before, I would classify it to be a combination of Indian and Thai food. They have a good selection of menu items for vegetarians, which is great. Their "plata," or layered bread, is basically the frozen parathas you get from the Indian grocery store. In fact, I am willing to put money on it being the EXACT same ones that you get from the Indian grocery store lol. My coconut tofu was a little bland and didn't have a lot of coconut flavor to it. There really wasn't anything that struck me as being an authentic Burmese dish on the menu; most seemed to fall under the Indian or Thai category. The restaurant is super casual. It could easily pass as a take out place. Not very many tables so I would be cautious if I was going here with a party of more than 10 people.The servers were attentive and respectful :)
(3)Taryn H.
Loved it! Love the decor- I don't know how to describe it, there are giant babies eating noodles in the jungle and all sorts of Engrish that I just adore. The food- tasty, fresh, delicious. Every time I'm in a new city I try to find Burmese food. It is so darn hard to find (insert political Junta comment here). When I find it: first I scream, second I locate, third I enjoy. Or at least that was the order I indulged in YoMa.
(5)Sandra C.
I would have been THRILLED to go to this restaurant last summer when I went veggie on everyone. However, I am a hardcore carnivore now, and my experience was A-OK. The fried chickpea tofu was delicious! But I'm so weaksauce, I wish the dressing that came with it was less spicy. The tea leaf salad was...INTERESTING. It's something I would just snack on during my free time, but I probably should not have had this for dinner. By the time the chicken and potato curry arrived, I was already stuffed. Don't get me wrong though, it was good. I actually think the curry was the best out of the three. When I come back, I'll just skip the appetizer/salad and dig straight into the curry entrees. The place is cozy and quiet, but I wish it were a little busier so that no one could hear my conversation with other people. No privacy man! This experience was decent, but I'm probably gonna give this restaurant another chance. I see more deliciousness in future visits.
(3)A K.
This place is a hidden gem. Everything was delicious.
(5)Kelly B.
Ok, I'm vegan, and love the "vegan mini-mall" that is forming in Allston too. But that doesn't mean that YoMa should be overlooked! The veggie options here are plentiful, and the chickpea tofu is uniquely delicious. You have to ask for the Vegetarian Menu when you get there, it's separate from the regular one now. The food is light and tasty, and affordable considering the portions. Expand your "ethnic food" options and try Burmese food.
(4)Winnie T.
I'm really disappointed with my meal after reading such great and positive reviews from fellow Yelpers. Either I caught them on a bad night or Yelp is rigged... The overall meal itself can be described as lukewarm, meager portions, and one dimensional in flavor. We ordered: - potato plata (bread with potato curry sauce): the bread was warm and buttery, and the curry was good. I wish there was more spice in it however. As an appetizer, it only came with two pieces of bread and a little side bowl of curry. Felt as though they skimped out on us - eel spring roll: very little eel in the rolls. It was decent though. - Tofu curry with potato: the tofu curry was warm at best, and it just tasted like...curry. Nothing special. Again, small portions. - Catfish noodle soup: sour and tamarind based, the flavors were there, but again, it WAS BARELY WARM. I like my noodle soups to be hot and fresh off the stove. The noodles were soggy and it didn't taste fresh... almost as if someone just threw it altogether in the microwave. - Wonton egg noodle with garlic sauce: the noodles were hard and chewy... was not served hot. Don't be surprised to find large chunks of garlic in every bite of your noodles. Though I didn't mind it, I wish there was some dimension of flavor in the dish aside from JUST garlic. - Happy Beef: Ehhh... happy beef was not very happy. There were only about 6 chunks of beef in the dish. The dish just didn't look very appetizing or welcoming to eat.... it looked... sad :( I'm not all THAT familiar with Burmese food, but regardless, YoMa did not appeal to my taste. I'm a big fan of Southeast Asian cuisine (and Asian cuisine in general) but this just left me wanting more.
(2)Anne F.
The weekday lunch special is one of the best deals on food at any restaurant I've ever been to ever, and many of the other dishes are very reasonably priced. You can easily eat for $9-10 /person, tip included. Have you ever tried Burmese food? If not, you should totally check out this restaurant by the corner of Brighton / Cambridge. We really don't have enough experience with the cuisine to talk about it like experts. If you like Thai / Indian, however, I'm sure you'll like something on the menu. I don't know if I've ever had a potato curry in such a delectable sauce. They served it with a paratha-style bread, very tasty. My boyfriend has been trying the noodle dishes w. tofu and fried potatoes - also delicious. Our food has come out with several chili-based condiments so you can make the food as blistering-hot as you want. We saw others order soups, which also look fantastic. Wouldn't really recommend the desserts, however. The ' Snow Garden' amounted to green jello topped with shaved ice and sweetened condensed milk, and was just strange. We also tried the semolina cake, which was better. The fantastic deal on yummy lunch entrees, however, has been enough to keep us coming back! Our waitress was completely adorable and the restaurant extremely clean. The decor featured several picturesque shots of various Payas, golden-cone-topped Buddhist temples, in Burma and there were cute little statuettes lining the sides. I was going to give it only 4 stars, I have had yummier food, but this is just too awesome a deal to pass up. All 5, baby!
(5)Heidi B.
Tea Salad! very different and awesome. Noodles were great. Lots of interesting flavors and truly tasty. Ask for the vegetarian menu if you want it.
(5)Sally F.
I just realized I haven't reviewed this place yet, which is insane-- I'm probably at YoMa around 4-5 times a month as it's one of the few local places (within walking distance) where I can eat gluten free (this has been mentioned in others' reviews, so I'll just mention it in passing) and there are vegan menu options, so "the boy" and I can actually share dishes there without any worry. Shocking! Aside from the ease in ordering in regard to allergies/diets, the food is delicious! They combine flavors that I normally would never consider throwing into a single dish and they're balanced remarkably well. I love the tea leaf salad (though it can be VERY salty), the pumpkin curry, the potato and pork curry, and planning on trying the coconut tofu option soon. The coconut rice is simple, but outstanding. The inside of the restaurant kind of lacks in ambience, but I enjoy the humble, down-home feeling it evokes. The servers are incredibly friendly and helpful, without being pushy or bothersome while you're chatting with your friends/date/mom, etc. Definitely worth stopping in. Then...a trip to Deep Ellum to top of the night and you're golden!
(5)Emma W.
I have been driving by this place twice a day for over a year, and tonight we finally made it our dinner destination. Great new culinary adventure. The service was excellent, the nicest most adorable servers with huge smiles- always improves an experience. We tried a little of everything, and were happily rewarded with a great meal. The tea salad was interesting both texturally and flavor-wise. and the first salad I have ever tried like it! Also, the bread with curry potatoes was excellent - great tortilla-pita-naan hybrid served with a curry sauce to dunk in with pieces of curry soaked potatoes. I am a die hard for thai coconut chicken soup (tom yung gai) and tried it here to taste the Burmese version - completely different, more subtle flavors and creamier, yet delicious.. Hot and sour soup was HOT like I like it, and Garlic pork noodle entree had the best crunchy grated garlic on top. If I could figure out how to make garlic like that, I would do so often. The menu was very simple, but provided us with all firsts as this is the only Burmese restaurant I have seen to date. Oh, and all of this, with two salty sweet must-have Limeades made from scratch, and their semolina coconut cake (pretty much obsessed with all things coconut) came to $40! Great deal and a great meal. :)
(5)Blair H.
The first thing I noticed was the dust-free shelves. I don't know why, but this said a lot to me about the pride they have in their establishment. The food was good, though I've never been to Burma, so I can't comment on authenticity. I'd definitely go again.
(5)Amy Z.
We went as a family for my kid brother's 21st birthday. Not where I would have chosen to celebrate, but each to their own. The food turned out to be surprisingly great. We have everything from vegetarians to hardcore carnivores in the family, so it's unusual when we all like a restaurant. Highlights: - Limeade - Pumpkin or squash tofu - MeeShay - Veggie fresh rolls - Peanut eggplant tofu - Rice n' Spice The restaurant is small and cozy. Its great family vibe makes it a great choice for all ages.
(5)Jackie K.
Tea leaf salad was very good--one of the most refreshing and best salads I've had. I had mine mild. I had the tofu chickpea for a main dish and it was good. I also tried the potato, tofu and cilantro dish which was better, very tasty. The flavors overall were new to me but reminded me of Thai food--it was amazing to see how many dishes they had with the same five ingredients and they all tasted different. I would go back. Very reasonably priced as well.
(4)Sarah T.
I really wanted to like this place because I grew up eating Burmese food and it was super exciting to have the opportunity to try it here. I think supporting a small business like this is critical and I am all for variety and diversity in food. It's a great way to learn about aspects of another culture. Firstly, I was surprised my waitress didn't speak Burmese. Either my pronunciation of burmese dishes was way off or what. Evaluation of dishes: mohinga (fish soup with noodles) - this is a traditional core dish in Burmese culture. The best ones comes with tons of catfish, lots of garlic, ginger, and onions. And not so watery like Yoma's :( samosa - not bad. I expected more from the hot sauce though. real good burmese-style hot sauce has tamarind, cilantro, and lime in it. nan-gyi-thok (i think this is the "royal noodle salad") - wasn't like how i expected it. maybe it's a different style of making it so i can't really judge whether it's truly authentic. i've just never had it with the preserved vegetable which usually comes in shan thok, not nan-gyi-thok. tofu pumpkin curry- this was watery too. when i say that, i wish there was more punch in flavor. then agian, there was no meat in it so maybe that's an explanation hopefully they can improve on some of their dishes for a more authentic-seeking crowd like the one i'm in. otherwise, i think it's not bad. great to see burmese food offered in boston!
(3)Amy C.
This place is awesome. Since I just recently moved to Allston/Boston, my mom and I needed a good asian place that offered the best of both worlds: meat and vegetarian options. Since I have never had Burmese food before, I looked up the menu for this place and it sounded delicious, adventurous, and interesting. Located in an area where there's many vegetarian and vegan options, this is one of few that offers gluten free, vegetarian, vegan, and meat dishes. To start, we ordered the potato plata. It comes with a piece of baked bread similar to nan and a small potato curry sauce. It was so so yummy; I had to refrain myself from devouring the whole thing without sharing with the table. I ordered the tofu curry with potato and asked for it spicy. For me, it was the perfect combination of spices; even the tofu had flavor from the curry! Needless to say, I cleaned my plate, and that has not happened in awhile. My mom opted for the peanut eggplant chicken dish. I picked off the vegetables from hers to try the taste. I will admit that I thought the peanut sauce was really over powering at first; however, as I continued to chew the eggplant, I realized what a perfect marriage the peanut sauce was with the eggplant. I'm pretty happy with this place; the only thing is the service could've been a little better, but hey, the food is well worth any bad service here! Will DEFINITELY be back :D
(4)jazzy l.
I've been wanting to eat Burmese food after eating at a San Francisco joint called (Burma Superstar) many years ago. I recall the food being very good so when I saw that a Burmese place opened up in Allston, I had to go try it. SERVICE - Attentive and pleasant. INTERIOR - Many photos and wall paintings of Burmese culture. They even sell Tibetan clothing, handbags, figurines at the cash register. FOOD - I thought it was okay only. We got the tea leaf salad. It had 5 or so ingredients. It had this rice bean that was crunchy, peanuts, slaw, tomatoes, and this green pasty textured green leaf that was semi tart. Long squash with pork dish - It was mild in flavor, definitely something I can re-invite at home. Chicken, Egg noodles - Mild flavored. Dessert -We tried this caky bean dessert. It was okay. Nothing really to rave about. Street Parking only. Easy access on Bus 57, 66, or get off B line and walk over.
(3)Ellie W.
I don't know if I just don't like the taste of Burmese food or just YoMa, but the one time I tried YoMa, I just remember everything being way too salty...like, drinking ocean water kind of salty... My friend seemed to like it, though, so maybe it's just me?
(3)Julie F.
I thought that going vegetarian would limit the number of places I could eat at. Instead, it opened my tastebuds to several different type of places. YoMa (coolest restaurant name ever!) has a separate vegetarian menu. I ordered a potato/curry type dish, and it was cooked to my spicy preference. The food was tasty, the service was friendly, and the price was great and affordable. I will be back.
(4)Jaimie M.
When one of my friends (celiac) came into town, we headed over to YoMa to test it out. What a great restaurant! Never had Burmese food before, but everything that we got was great. Appetizer combo plate was delicious- lightly fried, but not overly oily. We enjoyed the TohuJaw and Smusa in particular. My friend that had the curry dish said that it was spicy and amazing. Didn't have any problem with the service. Got a table right away and food came decently fast. Will definitely be going back to try more!
(4)Mike S.
This place has to be one of my favorite haunts while I was living in the area. Not only was the staff and employees extraordinary nice to me on every occasion. The place was nice and cozy to me, where I loved just sitting there on a cold winter morning after working, and enjoy some delicious noodle soup there. The catfish noodle soup was so amazing, I loved the way it was spiced and how it had plenty of nice big chunks of fish. Now they had this desert there thats name escapes me at the moment but it's this warm doughy squares with raisins in it, simply delightful. Long story short, go here. You will not regret it.
(5)Daphna R.
Burmese food, I bet you've never tried it. Its somewhere between Indian and Thai food, if I had to categorize it... but the spices are unique. EVERYTHING on the menu is gluten free unless its called "wheat noodles with..." or "bread with...". I'll recommend the Coconut Tofu, Green Tea Salad, Pumpkin Salmon... for starters.
(5)Chirag M.
My friend went there for the first time for lunch and brought us back to this restaurant for dinner the same day, I knew the food would be good. This is truly a hidden gem in Boston. For someone who loves spicy food, the chef made a few dishes spicy on request, and the regular dishes were perfect for those who cant handle spicy food too. Stongly recommend: Chicken Plata, and Bamboo chicken, Mango salad
(5)Bobbie R.
I seriously can not get enough of the assorted noodles. I often crave them. Every time we go there or order out, I tell myself I am going to order something different, but I just can't stay away from the assorted noodles. They are so flavorful and hit the spot every time. Fortunately my partner orders other things and lets me try them, so I can also say the coconut tofu and the pumpkin tofu are delicious, too. And we always enjoy the veggie fresh rolls. Limeade and coconut juice are also tasty.
(5)Tony W.
Overall, very friendly staff and reasonably-priced food. Also great for sharing. I can't speak for other Burmese food, but I thought the coconut tofu I ordered was pretty boring - think Indian food without the spices. I shared some of the salad that the friend I went with ordered, and it was unfortunately much of the same. I would go back again to give the place the benefit of the doubt, but my first tasting was less than impressive.
(2)Raymond W.
This was my first time having Burmese food so I'm only giving this a 3. While everything was decent, I didn't like it as much as any other Asian cuisine. The tofu salad was light and had good contrasting textures, but the coconut chicken noodle soup I had was a little bland and was kind of mushy with the egg noodles and the thicker soup. I think that trying some more dishes with someone who is more in the know could improve my Burmese experiences next time around.
(3)Sasha B.
Delicious delicious food, and inexpensive! I love unique dishes that you don't normally see in restaurants, so YoMa was perfect. First off, an asian restaurant that constantly refills water (let alone gives you any at all...and in a regular sized cup) = awesome. Secondly, there were so many things on the menu I wanted to try, always a good sign. We shared the tea salad, very unique, light, and refreshing. It comes beautifully presented with separated toppings that you mix together. 5 stars Then I had the pumpkin chicken entree, super delicious! Giant chunks of pumpkin and tender chicken, served with rice. 5 stars. I can't wait to go back and try all the other fun stuff on the menu.
(5)Matt L.
Yeah, this place is Sofa King good. The location is straight up Allston and the building isn't the nicest, but it was seriously some of the best food I've had in Boston for under $40/plate. I was blown away by the flavoring of the food--spot on with balance of sweet/spicy and hints of floral. When going to new restaurants, I tend to be kind of annoying with all my questions about the cuisine, but the waitress was wicked patient and explained the dishes. Definitely looking forward to going back and trying more!
(5)Stacey D.
I asked a friend of mine, "so what's your favorite place to eat in Boston". "Yo-ma, wonderful hole in the wall Burmese food!" Hole in the wall ethnic restaurants were my forte, so it was with great pleasure and anticipation, that I hopped on the T., and on a dreary, went, film-noir evening trekked here with a buddy from work to try Burmese food. Sadly, I was disappointed. We started with the plata with potato curry, the plata, which is like a crispier, lighter naan bread, was delicious, but the potato curry was on the sweet side, and the sugary tasted overwhelmed all the other flavors. We barely touched it. Following this, I had the catfish soup, and I was sourly disappointed, almost angry. Past reviews have mention big chunks of catfish, but my soup was watery, and almost seemed like it was leftovers. I enjoyed the flavors, but it was more like a savory drink then a soup. There were no chunks of anything, much less catfish. For our entrees, my friend had the pumpkin special with pork, chicken and beef. I had the mango chicken salad. Once again the food was simply so so, there was not much spice nor flavor (so perhaps a good place for not so adventurous eaters), I asked for the spice rack and dumped seasonings on both the pumpkin and salad. The pumpkin special is like a curry, but I keep telling myself, I might as well have gone to an Indian restaurant if I wanted curry. The mango chicken salad is reminiscient of thai or vietnamese salads, but once again I thought the flavor was too mild and bland. As for the prices, they weren't expensive, pretty typical for this kinda of restaurant, but on the whole, I thought it was a let down.
(3)Helen L.
I absolutely LOVE the food here. The noodles are incredible. However, you have to wait like an HOUR to get your food. The service is horrendous. The first time I went, we waited 30-40 minutes sitting IN THE RESTAURANT before we go our food. The second time, I ordered take out and I ordered like an HOUR before, and when I got there, the food was still not ready. But when you DO get the food, it's wonderful. I got the MeeShay, which is some sort of udon noodles that is spicy and delicious. I LOVE IT. I'm not even sure what Burmese food actually is, but it's sorta like a Thai and Japanese combined. The spices are fantastic, it is very flavorful and very cheap! It's about $8 for a dish, which honestly, is incredibly reasonable for a meal. Especially since anywhere you go, even a sub costs $5-10. If only they can make their food faster!!
(4)Annie L.
The service was VERY slow! Considering we were 1 of two tables here. We ordered two noodle dishes and both tasted like we could have done better.
(1)Amara M.
I had no idea what to expect from Burmese food, but Yo Ma exceeded my expectations. My sense just from this first visit is that its a like Thai + Indian + Japanese (subtlety) I tried the plata w/potato curry, the green tea leaf salad and the coconut shrimp with pumpkin. The plata was a flatbread - kind of a cross between a roti and naan. It was served with a creamy, soup-like curry. Very delicious - my only complaint was that for $4.50 we only got one plata. I had a couple bites of the tea leaf salad. Spicy, nutty and delicious. I don't know if I could do a full serving, but I will definitely be ordering this next time. My main course was very good- and a great portion, enough to finish happily, but not be grossly full. I liked the spicy accompaniment but would have liked a little spice. Overall very pleased and excited to explore the menu further.
(4)Jeremy P.
3.25 stars Why 3.25 stars? There's no way the any of the food was prepared to order. Likely the appetizers and entree's were either in chafing type dishes to keep them warm or were microwaved to order. One can tell this given the foods consistency. for example: Entrées: The pumpkin special: The meat pieces were overcooked and the whole dish was inconsistently warmed, hot in one area and warm in another. The garlic noodle dish: The noodles were stuck together as is when they're overcooked or a day or two old The flavor of both entrées was good but their honesty there was no real fireworks one would expect from something as exotic as Burmese food. Appetizers: The spring rolls: Were the best part of the meal. Fresh. cold and simple with a tasty accompanying little sauce. The salad: This was obviously premade and forked on the plate per order. The rustic chop of the cabbage could have been a little neater to make it appear to be a somewhat gourmet. The dressing tasted good and salty but the whole salad looked as if it were made the day before or that morning. there was zero effort put into it's presentation. The waitress was adorable with an ass to die for, which made up for the overall quality of the food. I can't say I'd recommended this establishment for the food but the quick service (appetizer and entre served within 2 minutes of ordering) and the esthetics are worth a the one time dinning experience.
(3)Gilad S.
The menu went back to normal, so I am returning this to 5 stars, but I hate the hours. Open before 4 PM please!
(5)Alex F.
Went to Yoma on a whim looking to try something different in the Allston area. I am so glad I went. The food was great with so many different flavors and ingredients. We started with the tea leaf salad that had like 10 different ingredients, definitely worth tasting for the flavor adventure. Next we had for our main course the coconut shrimp with pumpkin in curry. Was phenomenal, not to spicy but still had a kick at the same time. The cooked pumpkin was something I have never had, and was worth taking the risk. We also had an extremely delicious noodle dish i think called Meeshay. It was quite spicy but had flavors of pork, cilantro, lemongrass...great combos of flavors. Overall yoma was great, and very bang for your buck. Food comes fast and is really good. Check it out when wanting to try something different.
(4)Jesse H.
This place used to be amazing before they revamped their menu. Now they do not have the spicy chicken noodle soup, which was the best item on the menu (one of the best soups I've ever had). It's a sad day. I hae no idea what their strategy is but it's not brilliant.
(2)Mimi X.
I never knew Burmese food (kind of like Indian +Thai) was so awesome! Prices are cheap, and food is tasty! Plus, you can entertain yourself by looking at all the scenic pictures of Burma decorating the walls. Not a place that impresses with atmosphere, but if you love food, it will be forgiven. Try the tea salad (really spicy), plata with chicken dipping sauce, or the chicken mango salad. PS-They are closed on Wednesdays.
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