428434 Mon Aug 06 10:35:23 -0700 2007 10 19 Outer Boroughs 0 2817943 I hadn't seen anything about the exact date for this year's fair online, but after digging up the flyer for 2006 (http://www.shwemyanmar.net/catalog/files/Fun_FairFlyer_2006.pdf), I called Rebecca, one of the contact names. She tells me that the festival will be held this Saturday, August 11, noon to 6:00. Here's a post on last year's festival: http://www.chow.com/digest/561 Mon Aug 06 10:35:23 -0700 2007 14517 DaveCook 1 2819123 thanks for the update, will definitely try to make it. Mon Aug 06 15:19:55 -0700 2007 2817943 12656 bigjeff 1 2819641 here's the link - http://myanmarbaptistchurch.net/ Mon Aug 06 18:20:23 -0700 2007 2817943 11130 jen kalb 1 2826334 Thanks. I seem to miss this every year, including last year's debacle when I arrived a day late. Will make a point to go this year. Wed Aug 08 13:38:06 -0700 2007 2817943 13893 Jonathan Saw 1 2837269 Just a quick note about today's fair/fest. I took four dishes home for lunch to have with my wife The first was a chicken soup w/ a coconut milk base with rice noodles. The second was a cold chicken noodle "salad". Third was another soup, a fisg soup with angel hair noodles. The fourth was a beef curry. Really a cross bet the Indonesian randung (sp?) but w/o the coconut milk base. All four were really, really good. I think the best was that this was a chance to have real Burmese home cooking; something that does not happen very often. I only wish I could have sampled more but as it was we're only two and four dishes were more than enough. This is a great idea....would love to see other ethnic groups do like wise instead of having to rely only on commercial restaurants. These cooks were cooking for their friends, etc. We "Haloies" got real lucky today. Sat Aug 11 21:48:14 -0700 2007 2817943 35262 toby1355 2 2837801 I went with two friends, and we all had a blast and agreed that the food was spectacular. We tried quite a bit of the offerings, although mostly the vegetarian ones. Highlights were the chicken curry noodles, the spicy tofu salad, and the green papaya salad (actually prepared by Thais), which was among the better ones I've had in my life. The bread with beans (maybe chick peas or lentils) was nice, but kind of bland, and the vegetable tempura was skippable. We all agreed that the dessert with the ice was bizarre and tasted like bubble gum, but the yogurt and cheese with cane sugar was pretty good. The people there were really, really nice, and taught me how to say "hello" and "thank you" in Burmese ("mingalaba" and "chisu tamare", roughly). One gentleman informed me that there are two Burmese festivals in July for the New Year and directed me to this web site: http://www.thingyan.org Many thanks to the original poster for letting me know about this, this was a wonderful event. James Sun Aug 12 08:31:33 -0700 2007 2837269 87656 fat_hot 3 2838252 Glad you liked it; once I finally made my first excursion to Briarwood, I had a great time, too. I only managed to touch down briefly at last month's water festival on the Lower East Side (http://www.eatingintranslation.com/2007/07/rakhaing-thingy.html). The food seemed nearly as enticing (though the middle-school blacktop playground was much hotter); I've already made a note for next year. Sun Aug 12 12:34:21 -0700 2007 2837801 14517 DaveCook 1 2838235 With the help of like-minded members of my dining-out group, I managed to taste my way around the periphery of the church backyard. My favorite was an item loosely translated as "near the river" rice noodles by the pastor of the Myanmar Baptist Church, who made that table his first stop. http://www.eatingintranslation.com/2007/08/burmese-fun-fai.html Sun Aug 12 12:29:04 -0700 2007 2817943 14517 DaveCook 1 2838666 great food, great event, and should be a must-attend summer event for all ya'll next year. had some delicious noodle salad topped with chicken curry, some wonderful vegetable fritters, a wonderful fried flatbread topped with a bean paste and also a cold noodle dish where the noodles were made out of a mustard-colored firm jello, sort of like chinese dou-hwa or dou-fa, and topped with all manner of oils, powders and other garnishes; excellent. no written english here, but pretty much a point-and-eat extravaganza, and of course, most of the vendors (members of the congregation) spoke english anyway, so no problems. good eats, and quite a unique experience. Sun Aug 12 16:06:18 -0700 2007 2817943 12656 bigjeff 2 2839537 The flatbread with noodle paste, if I heard the vendor correctly, is called Plata. I loved it too. Went with my wife, had our one year old in tow. We pigged out and loved the whole thing. The home cooking, the music (mostly Burmese pop, with the exception of a heartfelt rendition of "Have You Ever Seen The Rain"), the warm, friendly atmosphere, it was all happening. This is one of those touchstone events that served to remind me how lucky I am to live in NYC; In a remote, shady corner of the city that most New Yorkers probably haven't even heard of, you can sample glimpses of a far off Southeast Asian culture completely unique in and of itself. We left with big smiles, full bellies, and pork at the head of next year's checklist. P. Mon Aug 13 02:13:43 -0700 2007 2838666 24813 Polecat 2 2839984 I think I had that "noodle" dish too, and the woman told me it was tofu. Mon Aug 13 07:32:47 -0700 2007 2838666 87656 fat_hot