Google ‘Best Burmese Restaurants in India,’ and Burma Burma is likely to top the list. Co-founded by Chirag Chhajer and Ankit Gupta in 2014, Burma Burma has monopolised the Indian market with Burmese cuisine. It comes as no surprise that the restaurant has now completed 10 years and stands strong with 13 outlets and one delivery kitchen across India, offering an authentic take on Burmese cuisine while maintaining its unique cultural essence. At a time when Indian dining preferences were transitioning from multi-cuisine offerings to more specialised, immersive food experiences, Burma Burma seized the moment, creating an indelible mark on the Indian culinary map.
To keep up with the changing times and demands of diners, the team visits Burma (present day Myanmar) twice a year to source ingredients and bring authentic flavours to Indian guests. What makes this even more remarkable is the restaurant’s strict adherence to vegetarianism and its absence of alcohol—a combination that hasn’t hindered its popularity but rather bolstered it.
From an employee strength of just 55 in 2014, the brand now boasts 950 employees across various levels. Their growth is not just in numbers but in the quality of the experience they offer. In a candid conversation, Ankit Gupta takes ELLE through the origins of his idea, the challenges and triumphs of curating an entire cuisine, and his exciting vision for the future.
ELLE: What inspired you to launch Burma Burma?
Ankit Gupta (AG): The inspiration was right at home – my mother’s side of the family is from Myanmar. Though I grew up in Mumbai, I had a very big influence from that country right from my childhood days – in terms of eating Burmese food, listening to stories of the region and chancing upon Burmese artefacts. They always used to keep me very curious. Seeing or hearing the language, which is not so common where I live, also fascinated me. That eventually made me excited to know more, so I visited the country.
And once I visited Burma (Myanmar), I wanted to ensure that we captured what we saw there and what I grew up eating, in the form of a restaurant. It was organic and it was years of building up which led to this. My formal training in hospitality management gave me a great platform, a pedestal to probably even fine-tune the concept of Burmese food. And things just fell into place.
The timing was right. India was going through a shift in eating preferences. In 2014, a lot of speciality restaurants, which have become a chain or are fairly popular now, had launched back then. So we were lucky enough to catch that.
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ELLE: Why do you think there are such few people talking about Burmese food in India?
AG: Well, it’s not spoken a lot, but yes, the food enthusiasts and historians, especially in areas like Chennai, Bengal, Surat, and Mumbai, who had strong roots in Myanmar, are very well aware of Burmese food. I think the main reason is because of limited access to the country; you won’t hear people going to Myanmar, though it’s a neighbouring country. And it has everything, right from crystal clear waters to colonial style buildings too, it’s so beautiful. Three times the size of Thailand. But you won’t hear a lot of people talking about it because they don’t have access to that country due to its political situation.
So I think that is the reason why the only connection that people have with Myanmar is through Burma Burma. Burmese food is a very hot cuisine. Burmese restaurants are all over the world; they are doing very well in terms of business and popularity. Be it in the Bay Area in the US, London, Singapore and Hong Kong. I think it’s about time that in the next few years, because of its relatable flavours and diverse taste, the country also opening up, and there’ll be a lot more people talking about Burmese food.
ELLE: What does Burmese cuisine include? How would you define it?
AG: It’s made up of so many different regions and tribes, and all have their own unique ingredients, cooking techniques and dishes. Being a Southeast Asian country, they’re very big on eating starch, like noodles and rice. Coconut is popular in the south. That’s how Khao Suey came to India because of the border it shares with Thailand.
Whereas when you go to the northern part, near the China border, you’ll see dishes that have more spice level in them. Moreover, some of them even have Sichuan peppers that have travelled to it, like the malar sauce. So that’s where you’ll see a complete shift. Rice also varies from South to North. And when you talk about the central part of Myanmar, you’ve got comforting dishes like the Tohu (Burmese chickpea tofu).
In the northwestern side of Myanmar, you’ll see a lot of these pea shoots, Gondhoraj, roselle leaf, fermented mustard and fermented greens – sour ingredients. So it’s very diverse yet comforting. Flavours are very relatable, and they have the right textures of crunch, spice and citric acid mixed together. Plus it’s very fresh. Unlike India, they don’t like marinating overnight. It’s a lot about spices, dips and sauces.
ELLE: Burma Burma is vegetarian—was that a conscious choice?
AG: It wasn’t planned initially, but during our research, we found many vegetarian dishes in Myanmar due to its Buddhist traditions. We decided to keep the menu vegetarian, using alternatives like vegan fish sauce and mock meats. It reflects the Burmese experience without alienating diners who may avoid strong-smelling non-vegetarian dishes.
ELLE: When I visited Burma Burma in Oberoi Mall earlier this year, I relished the Tea Leaf Salad, which is a family recipe in your restaurant. Have you incorporated more recipes like that into the menu?
AG: Yes, many recipes come from my family’s Burmese roots. We’ve stayed true to traditional techniques without Indianising them, though we sometimes elevate presentation or ingredients. So, similarly, for the tea leaf salad, we just added more greens and elevated it, so that guests could enjoy the greens, as well as the tea leaf paste because sometimes it’s too concentrated and it can overshadow the entire dish. Nothing is twisted or Indianised because we feel that we are also custodians of Burmese food.
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ELLE: When you go to Myanmar to source ingredients, is there anything new that you discover, every time you visit?
AG: We still have a backlog of almost 40-50 dishes that have not come on the menu. Usually, we have 15-16 meals every day in Myanmar. Most of them are from roadside cart vendors and tea shops. So, we make it a point to at least visit a new region, city, or town there. That is the time when we are inspired by some of the new dishes made by locals. The locals are happy to see someone visiting Myanmar and know someone who wants to know about their food. They’re so open to sharing the recipe and cooking techniques. Once we take note of this, we come back to India and try to work on the recipe. We have a tasting unit, which includes my mother and myself, among others. Once we feel we’ve got it to the exact level of what we ate in Myanmar, then we put it on the menu.
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ELLE: For any brand that’s been running for 10 years, it’s important to achieve sustenance of flavours and standardisation of recipes. How have you and your team managed to do that for so long?
AG: Three to four things have worked in our favour. We are a focused company; we never wanted to open multiple brands, but have just one brand, focus on it and then take it to different parts of India and probably the global environment. Additionally, we prioritise guest experience—everything we do is based on what our diners want. This, along with a steady rise in dining out culture, has helped us sustain and grow. And lastly, what we serve is unique and there is no alternative to a lot of dishes. So if you like our samosa soup, tea leaf salad or steamed baos, the only place you can have the same flavour (except for Khao Suey) is Burma Burma. If great processes are put in place, and the experience is the same, I don’t see a reason for a brand like Burma Burma or any other brand which is focused not to survive.
ELLE: Reinventing or bringing something new to the table is a demand for any restaurant to last. How do you navigate those challenges while balancing creativity and running a restaurant business at the same time?
AG: It’s so important for us to be updated with what’s happening around. We are avid travellers with the team. We go to multiple restaurants and countries, collaborate with chefs and restaurants to learn about new techniques, and see how we could integrate that within our operations. It’s a very continuous and constant effort that we have. We even have a little bit of an R&D lab/kitchen to test dishes. Not necessarily all get transpired into dishes or ingredients but we have an ecosystem where there’s constant innovation to make our current offering better.
ELLE: What’s next for Burma Burma?
AG: We’re expanding in India, with new locations in Mumbai and Delhi. Internationally, we’re eyeing London and Dubai, with plans to introduce Burmese cuisine there within the next few years.
