Arponnar

What started as a lockdown catering operation feeding local weddings and monastery events has settled into a permanent storefront in Willesden Green. Founders Zarne Koko and Thant Zin didn’t build Arponnar to chase broad trends; they built it around the specific, homestyle cooking they missed. The dining room reflects that personal scale, where teak carvings of harps and Buddhist stupas sit on the shelves and the soundtrack is often a Burmese radio station rather than a curated playlist. The cooking here is unapologetically pungent and textural. You’ll likely smell the ngapi – fermented shrimp paste – as soon as you step inside. Tables are typically covered in bowls of mohinga, the catfish and rice noodle chowder that serves as Myanmar’s national comfort food, or ohno khauk swe, a rich coconut chicken noodle dish. The salads are particularly distinct, moving beyond simple greens to mixes like the lahpet thoke, where pickled tea leaves meet the heavy crunch of fried beans, nuts, and garlic. It’s a neighborhood spot in the truest sense, serving halal options and traditional curries to a room that often feels more like a community gathering space than a standard restaurant.