Tin Tin Aye sells one thing and one thing only: mohinga.
About 200-300 bowls of the breakfast favorite are dished out to customers every morning from 5-9am at the popular joint in Sanchaung.
The rich fishy broth poured over rice noodles costs a mere 500 kyats—or 900 kyats with split bean fritter and quail egg. But the real steal is the unique, flavorful taste, a gathering of fried gourd, onion, crushed peanuts, coconut milk, ginger, garlic, lemongrass, and more coupled with diced snake beans and coriander.
Tin Tin Aye was named after the woman who started the operation from a street cart on Tamwe junction about 50 years ago. From there she moved to a market shop in Lanmadaw, eventually closing that to open in Sanchaung.
Now at the age of 76, she has built a legacy of four Tin Tin Aye diners scattered across the city. Her eldest son has run the Sanchaung spot for 30 years, while her other three children each run their own Tin Tin Aye.
Her daughter-in-law, Daw Khin Than Win, 58, told Myanmore that Daw Tin Tin Aye “tried her best to make the mohingya taste different from others,” adding, “she is very smart.”
Khin Than Win has run the place with her husband on the bustling Sanchaung Street for 30 years. They have two daughters and a son—the generation to continue Tin Tin Aye.
Surprisingly, the mohinga is not made on site but instead all cooked at Tin Tin Aye’s home in Mayangone every morning and delivered to each eatery. Unsurprisingly, they usually sell every last bowl.
