Our dwelling in Christchurch was ultra-comfortable, with a living area, kitchen and two bedrooms. Once we got organized and took a load off, I looked through local travel guides to figure out where to go for dinner. One place jumped out: The Bodhi Tree. It’s the only Burmese restaurant I’d ever seen, but the short list of menu favorites indicated that we wouldn’t be eating snake bowels or anything. Several publications raved, and it was just a couple blocks away. The only problem was that the guides said it was small, and reservations were generally essential.
So we embarked on the short walk to the restaurant, and even at the early dinner hour of 5:30 p.m., most of the tables were full. It was a small storefront, with simple decoration and only maybe 15 tables.
I inquired about availability, and the harried waitress who had come to meet us at the door took one glance around and said, “Sorry, we’re all booked.” So we turned away with disappointment–even Mom and Dad, who had finally warmed to the idea of potentially eating something weird. But as luck would have it, just as we’d walked about five paces, the same waitress poked her head out the door and said, “Wait, we can get you in!”
Bingo! We were seated, and the menu inspection began.
The crowd was definitely intellectual—not surprising, as a major university wasn’t far away. And the small plates/sharing concept at the restaurant was perfect for our group, as the no one person had to commit to something they weren’t sure about. In the end, the food wasn’t weird at all – I loved it. It was mild and reminded me a lot of Vietnamese. Read more about the cuisine here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuisine_of_Burma
gallopingnelly
