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One of New York’s few Burmese restaurants just opened up this month—in a subway station.
The 74th-Broadway stop—where five different subway lines converge at peak hours—is the main entry point to Jackson Heights, which is often called the most diverse neighborhood in the country. You’ll find restaurants serving Himalayan, Colombian, Nepalese, Indian, Thai and Mexican, among many other cuisines from all across the world just steps from the transportation hub.
So it’s not a huge surprise to find Yun Café and Asian Mart, which is located beneath Diversity Plaza. Joe DiStefano, an expert on the borough’s food scene, noted on his website Chopsticks and Marrow that it it’s likely the only Burmese restaurant located within a subway station.
While another Burmese restaurant opened earlier this year—Myo Moe’s Rangoon in Prospect Heights—it’s still difficult to find Burmese restaurants in New York. At Yun Café, it’s a family operation under Yun Naing and her mother Thidar Kyaw. You’ll find them in the tiny shop selling paninis, avocado toast and cheese Danishes.
But it’s the Burmese menu you’ll want to explore. The country’s popular tea leaf salad ($7) is filled with cabbage, bird eye chlis, garlic, dried baby shrimp, soybeans and fragrant herbs with a squeeze of lime juice. There’s also a filling noodle salad with shredded chicken ($7) and a host of other salads you can eat at one of the two tables set outside the shop or you can get your order to go.
Yun Café & Asian Mart is located at 73-05 37th Road (with an entrance from Diversity Plaza between 73rd and 74th Streets), Jackson Heights, NY 11372
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