Marisa Windiyanti
What it is – Cho is a recent addition to the many popular Japanese dining options in Yangon. In a modern setting the kitchen has a strong focus on product quality, which makes it the place with the probably freshest food in town. The bi-weekly sashimi flown in directly from Japan is especially an unique highlight.
Atmosphere – Cho is similar to most recently-built or renovated buildings in Yangon with modern sleek furniture and a casually fancy feel. A view of Golden Valley belongs to one side of the restaurant while the back facilitates a more intimate vibe. Each table comes with individual grills and prongs needed for yakitori.
Food & Drink – At Cho every meal starts with seasonally changing, complimentary Hors d’oeuvre. We were served with home-made Pitan Tofu in century egg sauce. The tofu was very smooth and the sauce added a nice, salty flavor. A great start that made us look forward to more good food.
As appetizers the Kani Karaage (soft shell crab) as well as the Cheese Tamago (Omelette with Mozzarella Cheese) were recommended to us. The crab had a nice, not too strong taste perfect for an appetizer, however, the dough it was fried in absorbed a lot of oil taste, which overpowered the actual flavor of the crab. The Tamago was delicious, the egg, cheese and sauce went together very well, the only small comment would be that the portion was quite big. If you don’t like mayonnaise however, you should let the cook now, the standard version has a lot of it.
We continued with Sashimi (most are 15,000 Ks for 2 piece) all of which are freshly imported from Japan, never frozen, as the chef empathized. This is something very unique in Yangon, we have not heard of another place who places that much value on the quality of its Sashimi and the effort has paid off. The presentation was truly special as well. The sashimi come on a plate with accompanying vegetables, flowers and herbs. The chef showed us how to use them to flavor the soy sauce and grinded the wasabi for us at our table. These ingredients added flavors to our meal that we had never tasted before. The fish itself was extraordinary as well. The selection from light to strong flavor is probably one of the best meals in Yangon. Some of the pieces were melting in our mouth, while others had a hearty bite and the white shrimps had an almost sweet taste.
We continued with Wagyu Beef Tongue, which was grilled by the chef on our table. It was only lightly seasoned with salt and pepper, more was also not necessary, the quality of the meat was excellent with a tender texture and a nicely balanced flavor.
We also were served with prawns, which were also grilled directly in front of us. They had a tender-juicy taste and were apparently very fresh. Similarly as the sashimi, prawns that can match the quality of the ones we tasted are hard to find in Yangon.
In the same way as the Hors d’oeuvre, also the dessert is seasonally changing and complimentary. We had a home-made lychee sorbet, which was a very welcome fresh and light taste after a lot of delicious food.
Cho also offers a variety of cocktails, classic ones (8,000 Ks) and Signature house-made ones (8000-11000 Ks), but also excellent non-alcoholic options with organic smoothies (5500 Ks). We tried two smoothies which represented the focus of the restaurant on high quality ingredients very well.
Final thoughts – Cho primarily convinced us with the outstanding quality of their products. It offers the probably freshest high quality fish and seafood available in Yangon and the also the meat seems to be high grade. The prices at Cho are among the highest in town, but the special food experience is worth it and should definitely be one of the first choices for special occasions.
