The Bold Taste of Burma Lands in Elmhurst at Mingalar Bites
The Road to Mandalay lies just past Broadway
Unless I stroll down Roosevelt Avenue for a taco or head into the Bangladeshi hawker paradise that centers around 37 Avenue and 73 Street I hardly ever encounter street food on my daily walk home from the bustling Jackson Heights/Roosevelt Avenue subway. So I was quite happy a few weeks ago when I caught sight of a cheery little red food truck bearing the name Mingalar Bites stationed on 76th Street and 41st Avenue around the corner from my two of my favorite nonfood spots in the area, NYC Broadway Hair Cut and the United Sherpa Association Nepalese Buddhist Temple. When I saw it was a Burmese cart, my excitement grew even more. There hadn’t been a Burmese spot in the hood since Yun Cafe left the Jackson Heights subway station for the East Village.
I wasn’t hungry at the time, but after chatting with the owner who said it was their first day of soft opening I made a mental note to return. There was only one problem, the cart seemed to have vanished. After about a week and a half I figured they’d decided to park in a busier area perhaps Jackson Heights proper or Center Boulevard along the Long Island City waterfront. And then one evening it was there again.