Flying under the radar is this small, casual café near Old Street. The chef-owner Kyaw Thu Ya’s main trade is in sandwiches and cakes, but the name of the café, a small A-board outside listing Burmese dishes, and the posters of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi (Burma’s state counsellor) give away other loyalties.

For the past five years, Kyaw Thu Ya has been quietly serving a selection of home-style specials, such as ohn no khao swè (coconut chicken noodles) one week and khayunthee kyet (aubergine curry) with rice the next. His biryani comprising pilau rice with kyethhar masala (Burmese masala chicken) is a permanent fixture, however, as the last time he tried to take it off the menu, there was “nearly a riot”. Order 24 hours in advance for his lahpet thohk (pickled tea leaf salad) which comes highly recommended. Diners can even pick up a jade bracelet, a woven Kachin purse or some Burmese tomato candy at the till.

Founders Dan Anton and Zaw Mahesh serve thoroughly modern takes on Burmese cuisine in their restaurant on Bethnal Green Road, with another in Covent Garden. Head chef Mahesh, born in Kalaw in Burma, and raised in nearby Mogok, will take a traditional Burmese dessert like mont lone yay paw (similar to the Malaysian onde-onde) and stuff it with balachaung to transform it into a savoury snack. It’s intelligent and thoughtful innovation which displays the same kind of ingenuity which gave the world now-classic Burmese dishes such as samosa salad of which chef and food writer Madhur Jaffrey is a fan.

Classics are also well-executed at Lahpet — its mohinga, Burma’s national dish of fish broth and rice vermicelli heaped with crispy split-pea fritters, roast chilli and coriander, is a treat, as is the signature dish of lahpet thohk which turns umami-packed tea leaves into a unique textural salad. The pone yay gyi salad is another must-order, made using a home-fermented black bean paste that could be deemed Burmese miso.

From the same people behind Thai barbecue restaurant Smoking Goat, in 2016 Kiln opened in Soho to even greater acclaim. It describes itself as serving regional Thai food “with influences from Yunnan and Burma” — Yunnan being the Chinese province which borders Burma. It’s worth grabbing a table near the eponymous kiln, before ordering the deservedly popular, fragrant Burmese wild ginger and short rib curry, which has a nice kick to it but then melts in the mouth.