Ma Khin hosts Valencia’s largest Asian market: eleven chefs from different nationalities come together to celebrate its 11th anniversary

If there’s one thing that becomes immediately clear to anyone visiting Ma Khin, it’s that this is a truly unique restaurant. Steve Anderson, the founder of the project, along with the entire team he’s gathered around him, has created a meeting point between Southeast Asian culture and the Mediterranean — a space where diverse languages interact, listen to each other, and blend together daily to create a culture of its own. The restaurant’s 11th anniversary aims to honor that spirit, celebrating its journey and, above all, the many people who have been part of it along the way.

To mark the occasion, on May 20, Ma Khin will bring together eleven guest chefs — friends of the restaurant — each preparing dishes from eleven different countries. All recipes will incorporate ingredients from the local pantry, resulting in a vibrant encounter of world cuisines.

The eleven food stalls will be spread across the restaurant’s dining room and terrace, located on the ground floor of Valencia’s iconic Mercado de Colón. The space will be transformed into a bustling street food market — a global culinary journey that reaffirms the restaurant’s foundational values: diversity and borderless cooking.

“After eleven years, we’ve managed to consolidate the philosophy of Decolonial Food, which is ultimately about embracing diverse culinary histories and traditions,” Steve explains. “That’s why we couldn’t think of a better way to celebrate this kitchen of encounter than by gathering friends and team members from different countries, each bringing their own background to the table.”

The selection covers all five continents and maps out a tasting route with tapas from a wide range of origins. Participating chefs include:

• Javier Lajara, executive chef at Ma Khin, honoring Indonesia

• Haesung Yoon, originally from Korea, from La Taula de Yoon (Valencia)

• Toshi Kai, Japanese, former head chef at Seu Xerea, now at Toshi (Valencia)

• Zaw Mahesh, chef at Lahpet London, representing Burmese cuisine

• Kristian Lutaud, from Oligarum (Jávea), offering French cuisine

• Yuan Qiansheng, Ma Khin cook, presenting a dish from his native China

• Niccolo Cusatis, Ma Khin cook, offering an Italian dish

• Oumaima Elrhati, Ma Khin cook, preparing a Moroccan dish

• Sonia Tobar, Ma Khin cook, bringing a taste of Colombia

• Leyre and César Gómez, from Les Perles, Valencia — regular suppliers of Ma Khin — serving Valencian oysters with a Thai twist

• Guillermo Álvarez and the Bánh Mì by Ma Khin kitchen team, representing Vietnam with a signature tapa from their new street food concept

Of course, no celebration is complete without live music. On May 20, the band Dixie Jumble will perform live. Guests will also receive special gifts, including the latest edition of the Decolonial Notebook, exclusive discounts for Bánh Mì, and other surprises prepared for the occasion.

A solidarity corner will offer copies of the book Burma: Food, Family and Conflict
, with 100% of proceeds going to Action Against Hunger, in support of emergency efforts after the earthquake that struck Burma last March.

Attendees will also receive a gastronomic passport listing the eleven countries represented. As they taste each dish, they’ll identify its country of origin, and those who guess all correctly will be entered into a prize draw.

In addition to celebrating global cuisine, this event also invites a moment of reflection — to look back on Ma Khin’s journey so far. Especially in a context where restaurant openings are booming and food trends change monthly, longevity is something to celebrate. “In eleven years, Valencia’s gastronomic map has changed dramatically,” Steve says. “When we started, it was hard to find international cuisines here. Now, there’s a wide variety.” Rather than seeing this growth as competition, Steve says it “nourishes and inspires” them — but he’s clear: to keep evolving, one must embrace change.

In this spirit, Ma Khin has undergone a full renovation, along with a new visual identity and an updated website. Since its opening, the restaurant has become a reference point for culinary encounters in Valencia. Now, true to its essence but looking forward, it enters a new chapter — one that amplifies the values it has championed from the beginning: diversity, inclusion, and cuisine without borders.

Because Ma Khin has never been just a restaurant. It’s a place where food weaves an invisible thread between different voices. The new visual identity reflects this transformation: more contemporary, flexible, and aligned with the concept of Decolonial Food that defines Ma Khin — a cuisine rooted in Southeast Asia but shaped by the ingredients, stories, and people of Valencia.

Bánh Mì by Ma Khin: a new journey

As part of this new phase, Ma Khin has launched Bánh Mì, a new brand focused on Vietnamese street food, located right next door to the restaurant. It’s a more casual offering, available for takeaway or to enjoy outdoors on the Mercado Colón terrace. The name refers to the iconic Vietnamese sandwich that blends a French-style baguette with Southeast Asian fillings.

At Bánh Mì by Ma Khin, the sandwiches are crafted using local ingredients, with options like chicken satay, char siu pork belly, marinated tofu, Vietnamese meatballs, or cuttlefish with sriracha mayo. The menu also features daily salads, homemade desserts, and drinks such as mango or coconut lemonade.

This new concept is not just an extension of the restaurant — it has a spirit of its own. Young, adventurous, and globally inspired, Bánh Mì by Ma Khin is a way to connect with new audiences, explore different formats, and continue discovering the world through food.

So as the restaurant celebrates more than a decade of culinary exploration, it does so with a clear path forward, always expanding its universe. Because Ma Khin has made curiosity its compass — and cultural encounter its language.

A journey that began 150 years ago, when Steve Anderson’s great-grandmother, Ma Khin, met a young Englishman named William Carr in a bustling market in Moulmein. From that crossroads to today, their story has traveled across countries, finally taking root in Valencia — a city Ma Khin never knew, but one that is now part of her legacy.