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Restaurant Review (from October 2, 2008) B Star Bar a Solid B By Sow Kobayashi I’m guessing that if one were to scour the Internet there would be websites, Facebook groups, odes and haikus dedicated to Burma Superstar’s tea leaf salad and vegetarian samusa soup. Loyal locals and guide-book brandishing tourists descend on this Inner Richmond restaurant and wait however long it takes to be seated in the cramped dining room. The fact that they don’t take reservations indicates that they are wildly popular, incapable of multi-tasking or both. I’ll assume that it’s due to their success since coordinating and sourcing the 22 ingredients in the tea leaf salad seems like a case study in organizational management. In light of this success one couldn’t fault the owners of Burma Superstar for opening another restaurant. The newcomer, B Star, is located just a few blocks down Clement Street from its adored older sibling. Despite a shared lineage and a couple of the same dishes, B Star seems intent on establishing an identity separate from its sibling. First off, they accept reservations and house a much roomier dining space. The self-described “eclectic” menu is a departure from the traditional Burmese dishes found at Burma Superstar. B Star’s offerings include pan-Asian, fusion dishes such as edamame hummus and Thai salmon green curry pot pie on the same menu as butternut squash soup. This incongruence left me a bit confused as to what to order; I ended up playing it safe and ordering more traditional Japanese and Burmese dishes. The first dish to arrive was fried oyster, portabello and shiitake mushrooms served with a tentsuyu and grated daikon sauce. A solid, slightly-less breaded version of Japanese tempura. This was followed by spicy shrimp tomato curry – another solid, yet unremarkable dish. The final entrée, Burmese vegetarian noodles, proved to be the star of the meal. The mix of cucumbers, bean sprouts, cilantro, tofu, potatoes, cabbage and spicy chile sauce harmoniously blended soft and crunchy textures with sweet and spicy tastes. This well-balanced noodle entree provided another example of how fluidly Burmese cooking incorporates the ingredients and spices of its neighboring countries. If you’re in the Inner Richmond and discouraged by the long wait at Burma Superstar, it may well be worth venturing down a few blocks to B Star. However, you are forewarned that this is the nouveau riche sister – the dining room is more aesthetic and the average costs of dishes are more expensive. Despite an attempt to distinguish itself from Burma Superstar, a comparison is unavoidable. Only opened a year ago, I get the sense that the menu is still evolving. Given its lineage, it has plenty of potential and many will attest that those few blocks of Clement Street can easily support two restaurants of Burma Superstar’s caliber. Sow Kobayashi is a second-year medical student. B Star Bar |
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