Dagon

The food style is very close to Indian with lots of spices and heat. I have been here twice. The chili lamb and chili beef are the toppers in my list. I also love their tea salad. Very unique. My wife is in madly love with their chili lamb. Great service and food. I would definitely recommend this place. Will come back again :)

One of my favorite restaurants! The roasted tea salad is a must (the crunchiest salad you’ll ever eat and oh so good). Other favorites include the basil lamb, crispy tofu with salad filling, and the nan pia dok.

Pretty similar to Burmese restaurants in California. The tea leaf salad is a staple. The rest is similar to an Indian food menu with their own unique spices.
I tried the lamb, the roti chicken curry, and the tea leaf salad.
The portions a little smaller than I expected and you have to order starch separately. All in all, a nice quaint restaurant. Parking is a little difficult, try and get the customer stalls or street parking.

This place is so rad. It’s such a treat for me to get to come here to eat and to bring people who are down to trying different exotic cuisines as much as I am.
When people ask me what Burmese food tastes like I liken it to a marriage of Thai and Indian flavors.
My co-​workers and I arrived a little after they opened for dinner (5pm) and we scored metered street parking right in the front. We got seated immediately and were given ample time to look over the menu. We ended up ordering the special Tea leaf salad (a must have), crispy tofu with salad filling, garlic noodles w/​tofu, and the samosa soup. All four of these dishes were more than enough food to feed all four of us. Everything was delicious! My favorite obviously was the tea leaf salad (my main reason for coming here) because of the unique flavor it holds, as well as the equal balance of textures crunchy and savory. The samosa soup warmed my stomach. The aroma of this soup is full of cinnamon spice and reminded me of a soup I’d eat at an Indian restaurant. It was very flavorful yet light. The garlic noodles w/​tofu was equally tasty, fresh, and a dish I would order again.
The servers are so nice and helpful here if you have any questions when it comes to what flavors or ingredients each of the dishes contains. I especially appreciated that our server while mixing our tea leaf salad at our table also explained where they source the ingredients for the salad, and how they make it.
I can’t wait to come back here and try a lot more of their unique and flavorful dishes.
This restaurant is BYOB, so if you are planning on enjoying some wine or beer with your meal, Kokua Market and 7 – 11 are nearby.

To me, it is the best restaurants in the island .
This was my first experience with Burmese cuisine and I absolutely fell in love with it.

For my first review of the New Year, 2016, I chose a restaurant whose cuisine reflects DIVERSITY. I believe that Dagon Burmese Restaurant does just that. Burma’s (now known as Myanmar) cuisine has been heavily influenced by the country’s diverse religions from its various ethnic minorities and because of its geography. The Buddhists avoid beef while the Muslims avoid pork. The bulk of Burma’s cuisine is fish or vegetarian based. Myanmar’s borders are surrounded by India, Thailand, Laos and China so many snacks and dishes show influences from these countries, too.
Because it was just the two of us, we tried only a few different dishes that were representative of the some of the cultures. The menu is extensive and diverse enough that one could eat their way through the country if you came here in a group. The restaurant isn’t very large and the décor Is typical Southeast Asian. Dinner service is only available and reservations are recommended. Metered street parking is usually available but this restaurant also shares a small parking lot with 2 other business in this building (Sweet Home Glad and a vape shop).
THE FOOD:
— Tea Leaf Salad: Unique to Burma, this salad features a mix of «fermented» Burmese tea leaves, fried garlic, yellow split peas, peanuts, sesame seeds, lettuce, tomatoes, dried shrimp with fish sauce, jalapeño peppers and lemon. A most interesting salad came to our table in a «deconstructed» form. Our server took the time to describe the ingredients on the plate as she tossed the salad together. It was a unique and flavorful start to our meal.
— Garlic Noodles: Flat noodles with crisp garlic, green onions, cucumbers and scallions tossed in a special house sauce. We chose fried tofu as our protein. The noodles were served with a sweet-​hot sauce that we originally just dabbed atop the portion but, as our tastebuds became accustomed to the sauce, we emptied and tossed the contents of the ramekin into the noodles. It was reminiscent of the famous Vietnamese garlic noodles at San Francisco’s or Los Angeles’ Crustacean restaurant but with a little spicy kick.
— Burmese Lamb Curry with Potatoes: Traditional special Burmese curry featuring tender stewed lamb and potato chunks. The curry didn’t appear to be tumeric-​based as it was brownish red. It was more paprika colored flavored with cinnamon, bay leaves, cardamom pods, onions, garam masala (?) and ginger. This curry wasn’t as complex as an Indian curry nor spicy. It was delicious and served as a great sauce to the tender lamb (although somewhat dry) chunks. The sauce even paired well with the garlic noodles until our palata arrived.
— Palata: Burmese-​style paratha (Indian flat bread). There didn’t seem to be anything outstanding with this flatbread. I found it to be a bit oily and used it to scoop up some of the lamb curry sauce.
The restaurant filled as we were dining. Several couples had come in to dine but were turned away because they didn’t have reservations. Service was pleasant and friendly but seemed a little disorganized. The disorganization seemed to occur when people came in to place takeout orders while the kitchen executed the orders of the other diners. The kitchen signaled the servers that orders were ready but because the servers were helping the walk-​ins and some other tables, the food came a bit delayed to everyone.
We’d gladly return to try more flavors and cooking styles of Myanmar.
#504

As someone born in Myanmar, I would say the food was authentic and delicious for the most part. From all the food we ordered, I would definitely recommend the samusa. Tea leaf salad was mediocore along with the curry pork and lamb. I would not say the price was too much but that I did not agree with what they charged for the overall experience.
Parking is terrible and the restaraunt is understaffed.
We did not reserve before getting to the place so waiter gave us a 20 min wait. After the 20 min wait, we waited another 30min (because of being understaffed) until we decided to take it to go.
Would not recommend to my friends.

Wow this was a great recommendation. We found out about Dagon by asking a local. It’s real rating should be closer to 4.5.
I was not familiar with Burmese food, but I love Thai food. Since Burma (also known as Myanmar) shares a boarder with Thailand I was not surprised that there are many similarities.
Dagon is a pleasant little restaurant. Simple and tasteful Burmese decorations on the walls. Our waitress was very helpful in suggesting items. We started off with the Samosas as an appetizer. These were great and I assume part of the Indian influence. We had the Tea Leaf Salad and Spicy Chili Lamb. The salad is a signature dish and has a wonderful mixture of texture and taste. It’s a masterpiece and should be tried. The lamb was tender and the chili sauce had just the right mixture of heat and flavor.
BYOB
I’ll definitely consider stopping in on my next trip to Honolulu.

Another small mom and pop with wonderful service and amazing food… BYOB :) I like that they do not look at me strangely when I tell them I am Vegan. They know what that means and are well aware of what I eat and do not eat. I know I can rely on Dagon for a great, healthy and flavorful meal that will give me plenty of leftovers and a full belly. The girls that work there are very hospitable and friendly. I appreciate this business and will return for sure.

I am definitely a fan of this place and will be returning soon.
First off, parking can be a bear as it’s on South King near University (busy area with cars rushing to H1), but I hear there is a small lot that you can use.
Secondly (this should probably be first)…BYOB!
I have only been once but the highlights are definitely the tea salad, pumpkin anything (you can get this with different meats… very saucy) and the spectacular service. The salad was the most flavorful I’ve had in a long time and included ingredients like a variety of nuts/​seeds, tea leaves and jalapenos… not your typical salad. The mains are also very flavorful, packed with spices to keep you wanting more.
One tip… make a reservation. I was lucky to get seated right away because the restaurant was packed and the first question they asked was if I had a reservation.
I’m looking forward to trying more items on the menu.

This place is closed on Tuesdays.
Which I learned because we excitedly took an out-​of-​town guest there on a Tuesday and they had no lights on. This was heartbreaking. We opted for an Indian restaurant and while I may have stuffed a large amount of naan into my face, I wasn’t happy about it.
Amusingly, we seem to always want to go there on a Tuesday. Our wedding anniversary? Tuesday. Date night because Utah Aunt is in town? Tuesday. My upcoming, uh, 25^th birthday? TUESDAY!!!
First world problems, people.
And yes, we celebrate our wedding anniversary at places like Dagon. What of it.
At any rate, we like it. A lot. The portions are a bit small and the parking sucketh, but OH the exotic deliciousness. The perfect little bread triangles, the mouthwatering pumpkin curry, the luscious peanut noodles and the tea leaf salad that is just as damned good as everyone claims it to be.
I love that salad.
I want to marry it and make little salad babies and that might be creepy but I’m leaving it in the review because once you try it you won’t judge me anymore. You’ll be all «Oh yes, I see. I seeeeeee…»
DAGON! May we see you on not a Tuesday sometime soon.

A must try!
Amazing tea leaf salads, curries with flavors from another dimension. Many vegetarian options and very affordable.
Make reservations so you don’t wait.
Parking can be iffy.
We had
Tea leaf salad (both)
Samosas
Lamb Curry
Mango Chicken
Bread with curry lentils and chicken.
Amazing!
No desserts yet?

Eep, I can’t remember everything we got here, but I’m pretty sure we got the tea leaf salad, ginger salad and definitely the fried tofu stuffed with salad. I do know we ordered a ton, because when we went to pick it up, the staffer looked kind of shocked (why does that always happen? Yes, I said I wanted all that and yes, I will eat it all. Goddamn it stop judging me and just bring the food). I remember everything was so so delishioooous! I hadn’t had much Burmese food before, but I’ve had much more since and this place still ranks up there.
I think my first time eating Burmese was a few years prior at the OG Burma Superstar in SF and I wasn’t really impressed then so I’d never been in a hurry to have Burmese again. I was, however, super happy with Dagon that night and while I like Burma Superstar’s Alameda location just fine these days, I still think Dagon ranks higher. It’s a small, unassuming restaurant, but till we meet again, Dagon, I will remember you fondly. Heart.

Dagon = happiness.
I adore the Dagon tea leaf salad. Lots of yummy bits all tossed together with lots of sprouts. It includes: lemon, sesame seeds, fried garlic, slivered raw garlic, jalapeños, stewed tea leaves, cherry tomatoes, sunflower seeds, toasted lentils, roasted peas, hot peppers, peanuts, cabbage, dried shrimp, fish sauce, and more!
Best lamb dish so far, for us, is the Spicy Chili Lamb. Ask for the lamb minced.
Order the palata! Like a buttery chapati.
Pal, who doesn’t like spicy, had the chicken curry
soup Oh Noh Kauswe. Thick, sweet, I guess good if you don’t like spicy flavor. Almost like dessert to me.
Best app, so far is the homemade fried tofu filled with salad.
I’ll update more, third time in two weeks… as I said, I’m obsessed!
Note, no dessert. And BYOB.

I’ve driven by this place many times and always wanted to try it but never did. One of my friends recently dined here and he couldn’t stop raving about it. Once the words BYOB came out of his mouth, I was sold to go. We quickly made reservations and starting counting down the days till we got to dine here.
The day of our reservations finally arrived and we were excited! My friend picked me up because he mentioned the parking situation. The choices were prepaying to park at lots near by, look for parking in the residential area or street parking. If you ride the bus, it’s right near a bus stop. Luckily, we found a stall on the street right across the restaurant. It was 7:30pm so free parking!
This is a nice hole in the wall type restaurant with several tables and artwork hanging on the walls to give it a Burmese vibe. It’s brightly lit and very welcoming. The servers for the night were Noemi and Zell whom were very friendly, helpful and least to say awesome. They were dressed in all black which made them stand out of the crowd.
Our reservations were for 8 people but a couple had to cancel last minute when we arrived. Noemi and Zell were very accommodating and moved a table so that the seating would be for 6. Our 4 other friends were running late but not to worry! What did we do? We cracked open a bottle and started to have a few drinks while we were waiting. During this time, Noemi brought us water, glasses for our drinks and menus. She was very patient with us because our friends were about 30 – 40 minutes late.
We felt bad so we ordered the Dagon Tea Leaf Salad and the Tea Leaf Salad while we waited for our friends. Our friends arrived just when the salads did, talk about perfect timing. Noemi explained what was in the Tea Leaf Salad and mixed it for us. She did it like a pro!
After mixing the salad, she took our order while giving us recommendations of dishes to try. We ended up ordering Nan Gyi Dok, Spicy Chili Lamb, Lamb Masala, Beef Masala, Basil Chicken, Biryani w/​Chicken, Garlic Noodles w/​Chicken and Pumpkin Pork Stew.
The dishes that stood out for me were the Dagon Tea Leaf Salad, Tea Leaf Salad, Garlic Noodles w/​Chicken and Spicy Chili Lamb. I just wished that the Spicy Chili Lamb was spicier but it was packed full of flavor. They are the only Burmese restaurant that I’m aware of on Oahu. What a shame, Burmese cuisine is quite flavorful. Overall, this place has good food, great service and it’s BYOB… a clear winner in my book.

When I first laid eyes on Indonesian beef rendang at an annual Indonesian event on Oahu, I knew I had to try it because I was not familiar with this dish and of course, the beef looked really luscious and savory. At this particular art & music festival I attended, I fell in love with beef rendang after eating this wonderful dish. Beef rendang originated in Indonesia and the stew is a much celebrated recipe served at ceremonial occasions and also to honored guests. No wonder because this delicious beef stew is made by simmering beef for hours in coconut milk and a host of spices + aromatics until the liquid evaporated. The dish can be very fragrant (from the use of coconut milk, chiles and spices) and at the same time, the beef becomes very tender and kind of similar to «fall of the bone» soft.
My intro to this dish has spawned a new affinity for all dishes named rendang. When Dagon opened in November of 2013, I was making reservations for the following month in order to get some of that beef rendang even if it was not the Indonesian beef rendang stew. Dagon, specializing mainly in Burmese cuisine, is a BYOB restaurant located a few doors down from Kokua Market on South King Street. If I recalled correctly, the menu initially printed the beef dish as rendang but now it is re-​labeled beef curry. It’s similar to the commonly semantics between «tomayto» vs. «tomahto» — depending on your perspective but this beef still a delicious dish regardless of the pronunciation variations.
For those who has yet to dine or experience Burmese cuisine at Dagon, there are quite a few menu items worth trying. First and foremost, a high percentage of loyal customers raved about the tea leaf salad and it is deserving so because this particular salad is not your typical salad you might be accustomed or even imagined. Tea leaf salad — say what? Yes, I agreed tea leaf salad sounds odd, especially to us Americans. Burma (now Myanmar) is one of the very few countries where tea is not only served as a a drink but the leaves are eaten as well. Regarded as the national delicacy in Myanmar, tea leaves are pickled and mixed with nuts and seeds, then served with fresh vegetables. Well, consuming tea leaves has to be good for you right? It is a unique, satisfying and crunchy salad due to copious amounts of peanuts, sunflower seeds, garlic chips, split peas and sesame seeds. I will eat this salad any day.
Other dishes I thoroughly enjoyed dining at Dagon includes the Biryani rice (a mixed rice dish from the Indian Subcontinent) made with spices, meat or vegetables and the coconut chicken soup is quite comforting. For appetizers I’d recommend starting with the pan-​fried paratha flat bread and samusas. These tasty fried (or baked) triangular pastries filled spiced potatoes, onions, peas, lentils, minced meat and sometimes pine nuts are delicious. In addition, I was not hesitant to try the quintessential Burmese national dish: mohinga. Mohinga is eaten as breakfast and any time since it’s also considered an «all day breakfast» noodle or rice soup dish (made with fish, fish paste and fish sauce). A squeeze of lime, the crispy fried onions, coriander, spring onions and crushed dried chilies makes this dish. Dagon’s mohinga was decent but on the strong side (some might consider it pungent) because the fish sauce can be overpowering to some. Not me! It was all fine.
When Dagon first opened, service was spotty as most newer restaurants tend to be but now they got the process down. They only open for dinners and reservations are available too. On my most recent visit, our young waitress was very good, friendly and genuine. Ambiance is casual classy and clientele seems to be in good spirits when they take advantage of Dagon’s BYOB policy. Oahu is getting more international as the days go by. Go and check it out, have a mohinga or rendang or maybe even two… lol. Don’t forget to wash it down with some happy evening juice.

I thought we were experiencing awesome stuff when we’d get the tea leaf salad at Burma Superstar in San Francisco… aaaand it turns out there’s a Burmese restaurant right here in Honolulu.
We had some delicious things! But be sure to:
1. Make a reservation.
2. Get the burmese style tea leaf salad– it’s made with cabbage, not lame-​o lettuce.
3. Get the Nan Gyi Dok (rice noodle dish with bean powder-​coconut based sauce that reminds me of peanut butter)

Coming from the west, take the king st. exit towards the zoo and loop around past the humane society. Halfway down the block past, before the light, across from 7 – 11. There is some limited parking in the lot beside the restaurant/​in the back lot behind the restaurant, but it fills up fast cause there is like 1 and a half spaces…
Calling to make the reservation for a party of 7, it took a while for the line to go through. I had called and left a message a couple weeks ago to make reservations but no one called me back. The day before the dinner plan, I tried calling again… incessantly until I got someone to pick up. About 10 tries… after that reservation for the monthly girls dinner was set. Easy peasy.
Pulling up in the dark alley to park, the day of our girls dinner, I managed a space right beside the dumpster. Walked in and the interior had about 8 tables set. Cute interior with some paintings hanging up. The mood lighting seemed to start to go into on slightly more and more as the dinner went on past our appetizers. Not sure if it was just me, or it seemed to keep getting darker, but anyway.
Started with an order of the tea leaf salad and samusas (SP?) to share between the first 4 of us as we waited for a few more of our party to arrive. A beautiful plate of seeds and nuts and greens, all the things that are outside of my normal candy diet… very healthy looking, so I was a bit hesitant. This was then mixed by our server, tableside, as she explained the dish. I have found a new love. I will be going back again possibly everyday for this salad. And I don’t even like salads. It had a subtle citrus brightness, with a nice variety of textures and crunches from the lettuces, seeds, and nuts. Amazingness. The samusas were also delightful. not too oily, not undercooked or overcooked potato filling on the inside and some nice bright peas.
We ordered 5 different dishes to get a nice variety of the menu — a lamb and rice dish (Biryani), a shrimp pumpkin soup, a rice noodle and chicken dish, a mahi curry, and a coconut milk curry/​noodle dish garnished with boiled egg. The biryani dish had raisins and cashews in it and normally I don’t like raisins, but these seemed like a nice balance to the other spices and I didn’t pick them out. Each dish had such a different taste to it – not just the change of protein choice. I’d have to say the group favorites were the samusas, tea leaf salad, and coconut milk/​curry noodle dish. There was none of those left over at the end of the dinner — I think the least favored was the rice noodle dish… like pad thai noodles, but a darker richer sauce, loaded with red peppers.
PROS summary — Great food and the servers were attentive will refilling water, and explaining the dishes. The price was reasonable– split between 4 of us, the 5 dishes, salad and appetizer was less than $ 25 before tip.
Paying the bill however… kind of seemed beyond slow. I’m not sure why this seemed to be the longest part of the meal — we were all sort of ready to go, and had requested the servers to bring the check a couple times. The check was slow to arrive… and it was also slow to be charged. Midway between cashing us out, I think the server also cleaned all the empty tables and took care of a takeout order… but aside from that… only took away half a star for the speed of the bill and the lack of parking.
I will be back for the salad and samusas. trying to wait for an acceptable allotted time in between going back…

Have I never written how wonderful this little neighborhood restaurant is yet?
Recently a neighbor asked if I wanted to try something new. When she mentioned wanting to try Dagon I wanted to dine here so bad. Not because I hadn’t ever eaten here before, but because I had, many many times !
So the three of us dashed down to this lower Manoa/​Moiliili restaurant. I recommended the samusas for appetizer and then my favorite… the tea salad. I could come to this restaurant for their tea salad alone. Do yourself a favor if you dine here… get it! We traveled through a few of their delicious entrees and curries. All agreed, the next time we eat here, and there will be a next time, we will each get our own tea salad and perhaps a few other dishes, or not.
Parking can be tight for this restaurant. Remember, parking is free after 6pm. There are also a few spaces designated for the restaurant in the apartment parking lot in back.
No liquor is sold at the restaurant. It is a strictly bring your own kinda beer or wine kinda place
Enjoy !!

Dagon-​it! Why did it take Hawaii so long to get a Burmese restaurant?!?
I saw it while driving down King street and had to pull over to take a peak at the restaurant that is now occupying the space that Spices used to be in. Dagon? Hmmm… better Unilocal it! Burmese food?!? I was so excited I called my mama!
No…seriously…I called my mama and asked her if she was aware that there is a Burmese place in Honolulu. She introduced me to Burma Star and B-​Star in San Fran years ago. Go try it she said… and so I did.
I am so lucky to have wonderful BFFS who bend to my foodie whims and accompanied me to my first time here. We went here for a GDO. And I was happy.
The parking is like most places on king street… bad. But I was so happy that there is a place to get a legit tea leaf salad and the fried tofu is spot on. Another successful GDO.
I got to go again with Malia H. and we had the tea leaf salad and anything else without meat. It was all good.
I’m not a huge fan of their noodles. But the salad is great. Maybe for those of us who know bstar and such are bias. But it’s the best Burmese food I’ve had in hawaii to date. :)