Dagon – Moilili, HI

My friend told me about Dagon restaurant a few weeks ago and I just had to try it! They specialize in Burmese cuisine and I have never had it. The pictures on Yelp look amazing so I was very excited to give this place a try. It’s located on South King Street in front of Kokua Market and across the street from 7 Eleven. How was it? I’ll let the pictures do the talking!

140517-01It’s “dagon” good! Yes, I went there. I apologize.

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140517-03Dagon Tea Leaf Salad – $10.99
All the pictures on Yelp are of the Tea Leaf Salad so I was really excited to get it…not realizing the one I ordered would look so different. No regrets though, this salad tasted fantastic. The menu says it’s spicy but it is pretty mild. Here are the pics of the regular tea leaf salad: here and here.

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140517-05Burmese Samusas – $7.99
These are a lot like samosas, they are filled with flavorful vegetables and deep fried. My friend described this best, it tastes like apple pie but not. Confusing? A bit, but once you taste it – you’ll get what we mean. And what we are trying to say is that there is a lot of nutmeg…but it’s great!

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140517-07Burmese Beef Curry with Potatoes – $13.99
This dish does not come with rice, it was good but I think it’s a bit overpriced.

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140517-09Pumpkin Chicken Stew – $13.99
Once again – no rice and I don’t think it’s a great deal. Both curry dishes also contain a lot of oil. I tried a pumpkin from this dish and felt it was undercooked so I wasn’t a big fan.

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140517-11Burmese Indian Rice – $5.99
Isn’t this dish of rice beautiful? I love all the colors! The rice itself didn’t have any real flavor or spices in it – it’s only when you got a bite of the raisins or any of the other toppings that you would get a new flavor.

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140517-13Nan Pia Dok – $10.99
Flat flour noodles with a chicken curry sauce and yummy toppings. I loved this dish so much! I wasn’t too impressed when it was first placed at our table…but I mixed it up, took a bite and I was in coconut curry heaven. I love coconut milk so this dish was perfect. What’s great was that the flavor was fairly mild yet not at all bland. If you enjoy coconut curry, give this dish a try!

All in all, it was a great meal! They have almost non-existent parking…but I scored a spot right up front in the street. I really did enjoy the tea salad and my noodle dish a lot. I’d love to go back to this restaurant soon. It was pretty busy in there so the food took a little while to come out. They only had one waitress for the whole restaurant so it was a bit hard to flag her down after or order was taken. Anyhow, please give it a try!