Q&A with the man behind Sharky’s, Yangon’s gourmand food empire

In 1920s Rangoon, Pansodan Street was the beating heart of the city: home to imposing British government offices and the stately Sofaer Building, where imported luxuries like Egyptian cigars and German beer were sold. Across the street, at number 81, was a department store selling home comforts from across the Empire. But, along with much of the city’s colonial core, its splendor faded over the ensuing decades. The red bricks shipped in from Manchester and cast iron beams from Lancashire were shrouded by layers of grime.

By 2014, the place was being run as a Chinese restaurant. That’s when Sharky found it. The 56-year-old entrepreneur and trained cheese-maker, whose real name is U Ye Htut Win, had returned from Switzerland to his native Myanmar in the 1990s to start a new venture: producing local high-end food in a country still ruled by a military junta. It took a decade, but the business took off, propped up by wealthy expats drawn in by the shelves laden with buffalo mozzarella and brown breads. Sharky numbered Aung San Suu Kyi among his clients.

Last year he had three shops and one restaurant. But the operation was all uptown: a shop and a restaurant on Dhammazeddi Road and two more shops on Inya Road and at Marketplace. So when he stumbled upon the old department store downtown, he was quickly convinced to open another. The newest venture consists of a shop, restaurant – with new Middle Eastern-inspired dishes – and even a small garden.

After months of restoration work, the doors finally opened this week. Coconuts Yangon sat down with Sharky to learn more. 

How did you find this place?

I was invited to the Rangoon Tea House and was amazed by the structure of the building – the height. They told me something like this might be available downstairs. I went down to see and I figured it had potential. It was like digging for diamonds. Everything had been painted over. The bricks were covered up with layers of dirt.

What’s different about this outlet?

This Sharky’s is very important. It’s not just about Sharky’s restaurant, it’s about preservation. Downtown has The Strand [Hotel], Gecko, Union Bar, 50th Street. The more you create out of these old buildings, the more you make a dynamic, sustainable economic entity.  The crowd is more of a working crowd – at night it’s all dark on the street. I reinvented the menu to fit the crowd. Still, with time, it will become a destination. Just like The Strand.

Last year you said Sharky’s was making $3,500 in half a day. Is that still true? 

We’re making better turnover but at the same time labor cost is rising. Restaurants have to do three fundamental things: control your overheads, have a good food cost – the cost of buying your products – have a good labor cost. If you can make 10 per cent profit you’re doing very well. At 15 you’re doing very good and 20 is excellent.

Are you on 20 per cent profit?

I’m on the very good average of 15. But Sharky’s is constantly growing. We’re taking investment and loans. You have this window of opportunity that is still here. Despite being a market leader and having a unique product, I don’t take anything for granted. There might always be a better one coming over.

Tell us about the design of this outlet.

We want to provoke a conversation. You have this beautiful English building and all the technical entities – the food area, a modern kitchen and a beautiful bar. We call it ‘The Bubbly Bar’. We want to work with champagne and prosecco because it’s very sexy. It’s very feminine. I’m very much an admirer of my counterpart, the woman. In Myanmar, we lack woman-friendly places. We have beerhouses, karaoke, snooker halls.

The tables are communal here.

Eating alone is bad. Where do you go? Go to a bar, you eat at the bar. Go to a sushi counter, face the sushi chef. I’ve discovered a few communal restaurants – there’s this Belgian concept going around the world. You sit down, and the next person sits in front of you, you could have a conversation. Sharky’s style of food and interior design attracts a certain clientele. There’s a common point, even if the customers are from different countries.

Aung San Suu Kyi reportedly ordered your goat cheese when she was under house arrest. Does she still come here?

She’s a big fan of Sharky’s. She likes our goat cheeses and our salads.

Most of your dairy products are made with buffalo milk. Why is that?

With buffalo milk, the fat content is very high. I have this relationship with Muslim families that have been herding these buffaloes for generations. We have worked together for many years. They came during the colonial period, when Myanmar was part of greater India. There was a migration of workers because the borders were open. Indian farmers were coming over as buffalo herders. These are the remnants of the colonial period.

Do you use buffalo milk in the ice cream?

It’s not buffalo milk – it’s cow’s milk, very rich cow’s milk. Just good, wholesome, grass-fed milk. Milk is so creamy [naturally] but nowadays what you do if you want a certain percentage of fatso you extract it. During my years when I was being trained as a cheesemaker I was in the Swiss Alps. In the morning we had a jug of fresh milk coming from pasture-raised cows. You drink it and say, ‘Wow’. You can’t even finish it: it’s thicky, fluffy, the best milk ever. These are experiences I’m trying to bring back.

Doing this kind of work in Myanmar must have its challenges. What kind of solutions have you found?

To grow vegetables from seed to salad takes about 60 days. If you have optimal weather and your staff working properly you’ll end up with good products. But, as you know, now with global warning you have late monsoon and when you have late monsoon, then you have heavy monsoon. Crops are destroyed, even if you have them under greenhouses. What Sharky is putting a lot of its resources into is microgreens. The harvest is within two weeks. Instead of harvesting every two or three months you harvest every 10 days. Your turnover is bigger. Microgreens have taste benefits – they call them superfoods. Antioxidents, mineral-rich, lots of amino acids. Sharky is now into that: eating less, but better. In the evenings I want to eat less but still have nutrition.

What do you eat at home?

I’m very much a vegetarian. I travel a lot. I travel to the Middle East, where my wife is based. I brought back [inspiration for] new products: Baba Ganoush, Taramasalata, Pita Bread.

What’s your next project?

My next project is an artisanal factory outside of Yangon, which I’m making into a food destination. From start to finish: flour grown in Shan state, stone mill from Germany, milk turned into cheese, meat turned into sausages. All in one site. You can see and take food tours. It’ll be open in about two years time – we’ve got the land.

Photo / Coconuts Yangon

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