Lest you think I restricted my food intake to poached tofu after Friday afternoon’s debauchery, in keeping with the detox I’d planned, please allow me to demonstrate that I really don’t believe in asceticism or in “making up” on one day for any sins I may have committed on another. I know this seems quite radical, given that tomorrow is indeed Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, but you’re just going to have to make peace with that yourself. God (with full “o” intact) knows I have.
Yesterday the DOG and I had lunch at Village Mingala, a Burmese place I’d been meaning to try for quite some time. Over the past few months, I’ve become Ms. East Village, and can’t seem to get enough of it. The Upper West Side is starting to get jealous, but that’s just the way things go, I suppose. And besides, I believe it’s important to mingala as much as you possibly can.
Although it was only 12:30 p.m., we ordered as if we were having dinner. I don’t do lunch specials, because I always feel like I’m being cheated. Like I’m at a matinée and not getting a performance with all the heart and gusto of the Saturday night show.
Now, if you’ll follow along on your on-screen menu, which should be in a separate window on your computer (see, I do care about making things easier for you), I will list what we ordered, by number and name for even more ease of reference:

A4.  Tofu Kyaw

N11.  Kow Swear Let-Thoke

S2.  Prawn with Asparagus
DOG only, natch

We also had the Fresh Green Papaya Spicy Salad (T12), but the photo isn’t even marginally usable, and I don’t want to embarrass T12 by showing it as anything less than its spectacular self. However, the owner of the restaurant has promised to call me the next time someone orders this dish, so I can dash over to get a better shot before it even reaches that diner’s table. Talk about service!
You may notice that the Prawn with Asparagus plate lacks asparagus. The DOG and I didn’t even notice until early this evening, when I was going through my photos and remembering, in grainy black and white slow motion, the details of our lunch. In all fairness, the menu description does contain a caveat, i.e. “(seasonal)”, so we did not call the owner to complain many hours after the fact. (Besides, I can’t complain given his willingness to call me about the papaya salad ‘n’ all, right?) (Right.)
So there you have it. A lunch most delicious, and, I think you’ll agree, nice-lookin’!
Of the three Burmese restaurants I’ve gone to in this city — and I think there are only three — this one is my favorite. But to be fair, I should return to the other two again and this one again. Just to be fair. Not to be a glutton, of course. No. Because that’s wrong and sinful!