Sunday Roast: Chef Orng’s Devotion to Great Food and Tradition

The traditional English Sunday Roast originated as a hearty meal to break the Sunday morning fast after church and has become the heart of British food and cooking. When my friends and I heard that Chef Orng was partnering with The Envoy, we were excited and made plans immediately.

My girlfriend and I arrived early, too early, as usual and we enjoyed a couple Bloody Marys and The Envoy’s breadbasket with spreads. We couldn’t have been happier. We were starving—as is tradition before a Sunday Roast—and the breadbasket gave us a diverse and distinguished flavors of sweet, savory, and sour on soft and flaky bread without weighing us down.

Our friends arrived and even though I urged them to try different starters and roasts, they all had their heart set on the beef.

Chef Orng’s Roast gives the discerning foodie meaningful variety. The chef has a vision of seasonality and shifts in the menu as the Roast develops. On this first Roast we had the option of cauliflower soup, prawn cocktails, and chicken liver pate for starters. For the main event vegetarians had the option of mushroom Wellington, while the rest of us had the tough choice between lamb, beef, pork, or chicken. And for dessert, if you had room, we had apple crumble with ice cream.

The starters were a 50/50 split between the cauliflower soup and the shrimp cocktail. I had to fend off my friends as they sought to dip their bread in my soup. The shrimp cocktail was fantastic:—subtle spice, citrus, and prawn flavors over a bead of greens—but the cauliflower soup was creaming, rich, and addicting.

The roasts arrived shortly after we finished our starters: 3 beef and one lamb. Then there was silence.

We all have our way of making a Sunday roast our own. Mine is drowning everything in gravy and blending flavors of the sides with the beef and the Yorkshire pudding. While I was fixated on my blends, my girlfriend went right for the beef, savoring the thinly cut slices and enjoying the savory flavors and textures.

No one spoke, not for a time, not while we enjoyed the Roast.

That is how good it was. If you want to know more, if you want the details, you’ll have to experience it yourself. The three-courses Sunday Roast starts at 25,000 kyats and is well worth the money.

Chef Orng is working diligently with the waitstaff and kitchen of The Envoy to ensure that not only is the food quality, but the service meets his high standards. He prepares a good Roast and with each iteration it will only get better and better.

When I asked the chef how long he intended to keep the weekly Sunday Roast going, he said, “forever.”

You can enjoy Chef Orng’s Sunday Roast at The Envoy on Bo Aung Kyaw Street between the hours of 11:30 and 14:30 on any given Sunday. Call 01 380 284 to make reservations or inquiries. Don’t miss booking your table for this Sunday.