Fermented green tea leaves mixed with crunchy fried split peas, peanuts, garlic, sesame seeds, dried shrimp, lime, sliced tomato and shredded cabbage. Burma Superstar's defining San Francisco dish.
Lephet thoke arrived in San Francisco with the Burmese community that settled in the Bay Area through the 1990s and 2000s. Burma Superstar opened on Clement Street in the Richmond District in 1992; current owner Desmond Tan acquired the restaurant in 2000 and built it into the Bay Area Burmese reference, making tea-leaf salad a cult dish. The Burmese fermented tea (lephet) is mixed at the table from a divided plate. Today Burma Love, Burma Bites and Mandalay continue the San Francisco Burmese tradition; the salad remains the city's most distinctive imported dish.
4 editor picks for Lephet thoke (Burmese tea leaf salad) in San Francisco, ranked by editorial score. All San Francisco signature dishes · Lephet thoke (Burmese tea leaf salad) across every city.
Mister Jiu's ★ 4.8
chinatown · 28 Waverly Place, San Francisco, CA 94108
Mister Jiu's in San Francisco is Brandon Jew's Cal-Chinese flagship in old Chinatown, holding a Michelin star and a separate cocktail bar worth a visit alone.
Ferry Building Marketplace ★ 4.7
1 Ferry Building, San Francisco, CA 94111
The Ferry Building Marketplace in San Francisco runs daily inside the 1898 Ferry Building, with Hog Island Oyster Co., Cowgirl Creamery, Acme Bread.
Burma Superstar ★ 4.3
richmond · 309 Clement St, San Francisco, CA 94118
Burma Superstar in San Francisco is the Clement Street Burmese room that taught the city to eat lahpet thoke; the tea leaf salad is the order.
House of Nanking ★ 4.0
919 Kearny St, San Francisco, CA 94133
House of Nanking in San Francisco is the Kearny Street Sichuan-Cantonese hybrid since 1988, with a sesame chicken set by an opinionated counter.