New Carina restaurant Sorai puts Burmese cuisine in the spotlight

Though Brisbane’s food scene is a diverse melting pot of cultures, there are still gaps. Even Indonesia-born chef Alfan Mustafa, who is well versed in many Southeast Asian cuisines, had never encountered the food of Myanmar until his friend and fellow chef Bosco Htoi introduced him to it.

“A few months back, Bosco took me to the Global Food Market in Woodridge, where his auntie was selling Burmese food at a stall,” recalls Alfan. “Her food was something different – I’d never tried that kind of flavour.”

So, not long after, when Bosco and his friends Min Kyaw and Su Zaw met with Alfan at his Fortitude Valley eatery Warisan to talk about a business opportunity, he was all ears.

“They wanted to open a [Burmese] restaurant,” recalls Alfan.

“When I opened Warisan, someone had come to me and offered me a partnership, to run the business under my philosophy, with my ideas and my childhood memories. It felt really good for me – it was my time to be strong. That’s what I wanted to share with [Bosco, Min and Su]. So when they came to me, I thought, ‘Why not? Let’s do it all together.’”

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This week, the team softly opened Sorai on Old Cleveland Road in Carina. Here, Burmese cuisine takes centre stage, with Min and Bosco overseeing the kitchen while Su handles front-of-house duties. While not the first Burmese restaurant to have opened in Brisbane, the team believes that Sorai’s arrival could be the catalyst for a greater interest in the food of Myanmar.

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“When we came here, if we really wanted to eat our own food, we couldn’t find it,” says Min. “I thought, in the future, if I could cook my Burmese dishes in a restaurant, that would be great for our people.”

The 45-seat restaurant is a mix of colour and texture, with exposed brick walls juxtaposed against bright yellow tiling. A mural on an exterior wall points the way, in case the neon sign behind the bar isn’t enough of an attention-grabbing beacon. Inside, the restaurant is divided into two halves, with the team opting to blend aesthetics to convey their intent.

“The idea was to create a mix of authentic and traditional, but also modern,” reveals Alfan. “That’s why we decided to have two vibes and two rooms – one showcases who we are, with the ornaments and decor, and the other showcases our energy, which is happy and funky.”

For the uninitiated, Burmese cuisine occupies a unique position among Southeast Asian cuisines. Centuries of cross-pollination between countries has resulted in an identity shaped by influences from Chinese, Indian and Thai cooking. Breads, noodle dishes, curries, soups, street eats and salads are common, as is the use of flavour-packed condiments and pastes. Sorai’s menu offers a snapshot of Myanmar’s diverse and delectable fare, which might be familiar at first glance, but boasts a hidden depth.

“When we talk about Burmese food, people mostly think it’s similar to Thai food,” says Bosco. “But I think Burmese dishes are quite different – Thai spices are quite different from Burmese spices.”

Sorai’s menu kicks off with entrees, including aloo kat tha late (golden-fried potato cakes seasoned with Burmese spices), salt-and-pepper squid, bao buns and a kyaw sone (a platter of vegetable fritters served with house-made tamarind dipping sauce).

From there, guests can choose their own adventure, filling up a table with a variety of dishes. For those seeking an authentic Burmese culinary experience, the Sorai squad recommends the lahpet thoke (Myanmar’s iconic fermented tea leaf salad with crunchy beans and crispy garlic), kyay oh (rice vermicelli soup with pork meatballs, offal, quail eggs, poached egg and choy sum), tofu nway (Burmese Shan-style tofu with rice noodles, chicken curry, garlic oil, chilli oil and sweet soy sauce), and slow-cooked Burmese chicken curry with roti.

The offering also includes riffs on pad Thai, mie goreng, beef massaman curry, duck red curry, sweet and sour pork, and som tum. For dessert, there’s Burmese falooda (sago, house-made rose milk and egg pudding, jelly and vanilla ice-cream) and mont ohn nout (Burmese-style coconut pudding with coconut creme anglaise and mango sorbet).

For drinks, Sorai is starting out with a non-alcoholic beverage list until its liquor licence is approved, featuring Burmese coffee, milk tea and playful mocktails. When booze is given the tick, the menu will expand with Asian-inspired cocktails leading the menu.

All told, Sorai is a restaurant looking to bring something new and exciting to the table. For Bosco, Min and Su, the endeavour is more than just a business venture – it’s a genuine attempt to introduce locals to the culture and cuisine of their homeland. Ask Alfan, and he’ll tell you that he believes Burmese fare is a gastronomy worth investigating.

“Burmese food is an underrated cuisine in Asia,” says Alfan. “I know that the food can be as delicious as any other Asian cuisine – Thai, Vietnamese or whatever it is. We want to give something new to Brisbane – something refreshing, something yummy, something from their roots.”

Sorai is now open for dine-in and takeaway – head to The Directory for more information.