If you ever grow tired of the same ol’ burgers and fries from In-N-Out or Five Guys, or the almost-Chinese food from Panda express, or even just want to eat something really really spicy, then Rangoon Ruby’s is your place.
First off, the decor needs a mention: it’s cool, hip, and it has a very intriguing jellyfish-esque lamp that hangs from the ceiling. It is reminiscent of a San Francisco restaurant, but without the borderline-overpriced meals. Now this is a lot different from the other places I’ve reviewed, since it is more higher-end than the others. Rangoon Ruby’s is meant for treating that special someone or taking a family member to dinner.
Rangoon Ruby’s serves Burmese cuisine, which is something we don’t see a lot of today. Their menu has an extremely large amount of available choices for everyone, which is always good. Sometimes a large menu can feel very overwhelming, but I didn’t feel that when I was deciding what to order.
Their drink selection has a good variety, from standard soft drinks to $9 Norwegian water to house made Burmese iced tea. I ordered the Burmese iced tea and was immediately hit by the sweetness and massive amount of caffeine in it. Burmese iced tea is a milk tea; it is either sweetened with condensed milk, or milk is added with sugar to sweeten it. Also many bags of tea are added to really bring out a lot of flavor. Condensed milk has a different sweetness to it. It has more creaminess to it, making the Burmese iced very different from sweet iced tea.
Burmese iced tea has a sinful amount of caffeine and sugar.
For an appetizer I had the calamari, which was a lot different than what I was used to. Rather than a thin and crispy fry, the calamari had a much thicker and fluffier fry. Thankfully the octopus meat was much bigger to compensate with the thicker fry. So the fry’s flavor didn’t take away from the meat.
Bigger, meatier, and better tasting, this calamari was a nice surprise.
For an entree, I had the Village Catfish, which is a fried catfish (with the bones still inside it, so watch out) slathered in “Village Sauce.” Now before I talk about the catfish itself, I have to mention the sauce. When they ask how spicy you want it, know your limits! The waiter asked me how spicy I wanted it on a scale of one to ten. Even ordering it at a four, my mouth was an inferno. So when they say spicy, they mean it!
The catfish itself was good, but the sauce felt a little overpowering. I did wipe off some sauce and got to taste the stand-alone catfish, which was extremely tender and buttery. So I felt a little disappointed when the sauce (which was delicious) took away too much from the catfish.
The sauce overpowered the catfish with an overwhelmingly spicy taste.
And now for probably one of the most unique things I’ve had so far, sweet sticky rice. After getting stuffed on fried calamari and Village Catfish, I was pleasantly surprised by how light it was. It was only black rice, condensed milk, and a few other ingredients with ice cream on the side. The light flavor of the dessert gave it a great flexibility. If you aren’t a fan of sweets, then eat it plain. If you have a big sweet tooth, then you can dip the rice in some ice cream. It was a very cool thing to eat. It was delicious, and a very unique dessert. Also it has a lot of flexibility depending on your flavor preference.
The sweet sticky rice was something very different, and very flexible for all palates.
Rangoon Ruby’s meals will cost between $15-$17, and it is well worth it. The full men can be found on their website.
Overall, Rangoon Ruby’s is a very different place than what many are used to. The flavors are very unique, and definitely worth a try. Â The fish was exquisite. The calamari was fried to perfection, the tea was perfect, and the dessert was an experience for the palate.
Rangoon Ruby’s is at  680 Laurel Street, San Carlos.
[star rating=”4.5″]
