HTAW METTA

Northsiders, we are in luck! Many of the city's Burmese restaurants are on the south side but we can get a taste of Myanmar, too! Htaw Metta offers delicious Burmese and Thai food. There is plenty of parking and ample seating in the restaurant. We sampled the samosas (different than their Indian counterparts but similar and still delicious!). With some of us trying sushi, someone trying Thai noodles, and someone ordering Burmese noodles we got a small taste of the giant menu. Since I'd never been able to try Burmese food before I made sure to get the Khau Swe Kyaw. It's thinner noodles than lo mein and has a smoky sweet flavor. There were tons of veggies inside but the cabbage stood out. One plate was more than two servings for me! My only caution is that a medium leaned toward very spicy for me (I eat medium wings with no issues but this was hotter). I drank plenty of water and powered through because the flavor was so amazing. I can't wait to come back on a rainy day and try the Nan Gyi Thoke!

I recently read about Indianapolis having one of the largest Burmese communities in the US, mostly concentrated on the south side. Due to this, I wanted to try out some Burmese food but I didn't want to deal with the Eclipse 2024 Day traffic to get down there. Instead, I found a place closer by that promised to have good authentic Burmese food. Burmese Tea Leaf Salad ($8.99) - The components come separate for you to mix up yourself. There's a very pleasing mixture of textures to delight the mouth. A crunch from the mix of fried chickpeas, green peas, broad beans, and peanuts. A crisp from shredded cabbage. A burst of soft freshness from a bunch of thinly sliced tomato. And finally the squishy tea leaves. The leaves are fermented, but aren't too pungent. Overall, the taste is that classic blend of fishy, spicy, savory, sweet, sour. I didn't get to eat too much of this tea leaf salad but thought what I ate was pretty good. (4/5)Fried Opo ($7.99) - I don't remember ever eating opo before. This is a tender green squash, with a mellowed crunch, that's surprisingly juicy inside. It's very mild flavored with no particular sweetness. It's battered, fried, and served with a dipping sauce that's fishy, nutty, sour, with a very concentrated savoriness. There's sweet soybean powder heaped on top of the sauce to mix in as you please. It's a delightful mix of textures and flavors. (4/5)Burmese Mon Beef Curry ($11.99) - This was the daily or weekly special and was not labeled as being spicy. We also did not get asked for our spice level preference so we assumed this would be pretty mild. Bad mistake. This was ridiculously spicy (speaking as someone who usually gets Nashville-style chicken Hot). The flavor of the curry comes out well for the first second after sipping it - it's lemongrassy with a meaty savoriness. Then the spice hits and starts to build and build, drowning out the other flavors. Texture-wise, this curry is a bit more watery than, for example, a Thai curry. There's no coconut milk added to help mellow out the spiciness. The beef is sinewy and kind of tough - it could probably be stewed longer to improve the tenderness. There's no other visible ingredients other than chunks of beef in the curry. The curry is served with a portion of rice, but it's not enough to help tamper down the spicy. (too spicy/5)Burmese Chicken Coconut Noodle Soup ($9.99) - The first taste to really hit me as I drank the broth is that of fish sauce. Then the other flavors come - a bit of sweetness from the coconut milk and a very mild spiciness from chilis. The soup is extremely thick and reduced. I was expecting a curry mee or laksa type of viscosity, but this took it to an extreme. The ingredients inside the broth includes pretty typical smooth sliced chicken that I'm sure they use for their other dishes, thick rice noodles that are decently bouncy but I felt are a little bit overcooked, and a hard boiled egg that has a bit of the green sulfur ring on the yolk. The egg falls apart a bit in the broth and worse, it's not peeled fully. There are pieces of egg shell still attached to the egg and some pieces floating around in the soup. Unfortunately, they are not visible due to how viscous the broth is and how many ingredients are stuffed in the dish. Instead, I only found this out when I started chewing and every few bites there was that disturbing egg shell crunch in my mouth. This repeated every so often as I ate. Not good. To round out the dish, there is a generous amount of fresh red onion, green onion, and fresh cilantro on top. (4/5 if no egg shells, 1/5 because of the egg shells).Bathrooms: One individual room for women and one individual unisex room. The flavors of the food served at HTAW METTA are good, but the egg shells in the noodle soup and not informing us how spicy the curry is really ruined things for me. There are tons of other restaurants around that don't make simple mistakes like that.

I'm writing this review this evening after having food from here because I feel so good after it that I needed to share it with you all. After asking Indy subreddit about fav Thai places, this stood out given its location and menu listing. Htaw Metta is a Thai place but also serves sushi. Has a Burmese influence as well.I ordered the Drunken noodles with tofu, Pad Thai with tofu, and the veggie spring rolls. All were prepared so well- the spices nicely balanced, and the quantity so generous for $11.99 each. I could tell that the guy actually loves what he does because no food should be this flavorful for this price point on a Saturday night.The ambiance was quiet, and there is seating. I got my food to go. I called the guy to place my order and initially the phone didn't pick up, but I think it was a one-man operation this Saturday night.I have not had such good Thai food like this in a while. It was truly one of the best I have. I've been to Bodhi and that was great as well. But you can't beat the price and quality here. If you're in Broad Ripple/Nora- I highly recommend coming here.I've no clue how to pronounce Htaw. But I will come back here for sure. I just felt so good- like this food was made with love or at least caring.

Our waiter was funny and kind. Glad I came back here with friends! Definitely want to try some other items on the menu.

Very very good!!We were recommended to come here by some family and it was delicious! The soup was so good. We also got the red curry, chicken dumplings, spring rolls, and fried rice. It was all good and we'll definitely be back! It was a quiet atmosphere. Our server was very friendly and our food came out really fast.

This place is amazing. Hidden gem, or at least it was to me. Went for lunch, the drunken noodles were amazing, massaman curry was delicious too. Great service but no one was in there! In my opinion, it should be packed. If you're in the area you have got to try it.

Inside, very clean, easy to find a table. Crab Rangoon was out of this world -very unique and delicious. Red curry was very flavorful with a nice flavorful, set in spice.The Thai pho was super generous in serving size and had a delightful flavor!

I WISH they had more BURMESE dishes so I would not have to go all the way to Southport. Their ONE Burmese coconut chicken noodle soup is outstanding!

Food: 10/10. Rich and bold in flavor. Savory dishes. Service: Is always serviced with a smile. Gentle talk! Very helpful 10/10Ambiance: 8/10

This is a local mom and pop Thai/Burmese restaurant near the Iron Works restaurants.We went for lunch on a Sunday around 11:30am and were the first ones there. Ambiance was very quiet and felt like true homestyle dining. We had never had Burmese food before, but were excited to support a small local business. For appetizers we tried the tea leaf salad, which is a popular Burmese appetizer. This was unlike anything that I've tried before. It had iceberg lettuce, tomatoes, fermented tea leafs, fried peanuts, and an oil-based dressing. It was very unique and had a fun mix of textures. The fermented tea flavor was subtle, but you could tell that it added some funk. We also tried the fish cakes as an appetizer. These were okay but were a little greasy for my liking. I ended up getting the tom yum soup, which came with rice. The flavor was very good, but I thought the ratio of soup to rice was a little off. I had finished off my rice and still had more than half the soup left. I wish there was also a little more protein. My fiance got the Thai Boat Noodle. We've never had this dish before but the broth reminded me of Pho. He liked it but again, wished there was a little more protein. Overall, great service and reasonable prices. Food didn't blow our minds but we still very much enjoyed everything.