We did carryout from this magical Burmese restaurant Saturday night. Went in, and the entire place was under renovation. Their kind and welcoming owner explained that they're giving the place a major facelift in preparation for an in-person dining open the first week of July. Please support this wonderful family-run restaurant! The ginger salad, tofu appetizer, Shan noodle, and beef curry were as exceptional as ever. Worth a trip from the city, for sure.

We had lunch at La Pian yesterday. This is a wonderful place with excellent food. We had the tofu and samosas appetizer. We also had the ginger salad and the beef curry with pickled mango. Everything was delicious!
If you are in the Wheaton area you owe it to yourself to try this food! We will support this gem very often in the future.

So glad they survived the lockdowns. Wheaton is not close, but I do try to get there every once in a while, if for no other reason than to visit Pa Lian. Yum.

Via their FAcebook page:

Pa Lian Burmese Restaurant
Effective Oct 1st, 2022
To make everyone enjoy our cuisines, we have decided to discontinued all pork product from the menu . Effective Oct 1st ,2022. Pls see our updated and current menu below link.
Agian ,thank you for your continued support to our small burmese team
FYI - All our meat products are Zabiha Halal
https://palianburmeserestaurant.dine.online/
#burmesecuisines ##zabihahalal##halal##vegan##vegetarian

Pity. I liked their pork belly. Sigh. Fortunately, my favorite dish, the green tea salad, doesn't involve pork, so it should be safe.

Pa Lian, a Burmese restaurant in Wheaton, came in No. 2 on Yelp's newly released list of the "Top 100 Restaurants in the Midwest." 21 Illinois restaurants in total made the ranking, which looked at businesses Yelp's restaurant category across Midwestern states including Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio and Wisconsin.

https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/p ... t/3200159/

This is cool news. I was just in there a few weeks ago (admittedly it had been over a year) and Tawk, the owner, said business has still not rebounded post-pandemic. He literally said he doesn't see anyone from LTHForum anymore. There were two other tables there on a weekday lunch hour.

Food was as good as ever. I tried the ginger salad, which was tasty, but quite similar to the laphet thoke and was missing it's salty funk. Kauk swe thoke was great, as always. It was my first time dining in since before the plague. He's invested in some nicer flatware and seems to be putting a little more flair into the plating.

The person I went with today for lunch is strict vegetarian so we ordered with that as a condition.

Appetizer of Tofu Kyaw - House made chickpea tofu served with house made sauce
The tofu had warm crispy edges, topped with sauce was a memorable bite, we both loved this.

Tea leaves salad - Fermented tea leaf tossed with salad oil and garnished with fried fava bean, yellow bean, peanuts, sesame seed, sliced tomatoes, cabbage and lime. We liked the different textures but didn't feel there was enough flavor here.

Kaukswe - Thoke - Warm wheat flour noodle tossed with burmese dressing garnished with green onion, cilantro, chickpea powder, fried onion, fresh carrot, chickpea tofu and garlic oil. Server asked if we wanted this spicy, we both said yes. This dish was outstanding, loved every bite !!

tazerowe wrote:Note that the owner was clear that he needs more business. There were maybe 4 tables taken on a Friday night. Please support this place if you can.

The owner stated same thing today, "spread the word about Pa Lian", there were maybe 4 tables occupied at lunch and I didn't notice any takeout business.

Went to Pa Lian yesterday evening with some LTHers.

We all split a number of items.

Appetizer of Tofu Kyaw - terrific again, warm crispy edges of the chickpea tofu and that sauce, terrific

Tea leaves salad and the owner comped a ginger salad as well. I personally preferred the ginger salad more.

Kaukswe - Thoke - Warm wheat flour noodles, medium spice, delicious again.

Moh-Hin-Gar ( National Dish) - Thin rice vermicelli in catfish fish and bean broth, garnished with boiled egg, lime, cilantro, crispy lentils. Owner explained that this dish when he was growing up was only served for breakfast, now can get 24/7.

Tofu Salad - Warm homemade chickpea tofu tossed with burmese dressing and garnished with shredded cabbage, fried onion and cilantro. You might be thinking how good can a tofu salad be (I know I was), but this was a stunner of a dish, will definitely order again, might have been my favorite bite of the evening of which there were many.

Also tried two of the beef curries:
Beef with pickled mango - Beef chunks, bell peppers and pickled mango simmer in onion, garlic and ginger curry
&
Beef with fermented black bean - Beef chunks, broccoli and fermented black bean simmered into onion, garlic and ginger base curry. While I had a preference for this version I'd have been happy with either.

I have not been there since the pandemic.

Curious what was the cost of the meal per person?

Thanks!

CAthy2

Cathy2 wrote:Curious what was the cost of the meal per person?

7 folks total last night, $25 per person which included tip

Sweet Willie wrote:Appetizer of Tofu Kyaw - terrific again, warm crispy edges of the chickpea tofu and that sauce, terrific

Sweet Willie wrote:Tea leaves salad and the owner comped a ginger salad as well. I personally preferred the ginger salad more.

Sweet Willie wrote:Kaukswe - Thoke - Warm wheat flour noodles, medium spice, delicious again.

Sweet Willie wrote:Moh-Hin-Gar ( National Dish) - Thin rice vermicelli in catfish fish and bean broth, garnished with boiled egg, lime, cilantro, crispy lentils. Owner explained that this dish when he was growing up was only served for breakfast, now can get 24/7.

Our host thoughtfully brought this out in two parts which we combined in our bowls at the table. A substantial fish broth


and the accompanying noodles, chilies, crispy fried bits, cilantro, boiled egg, and lemon

Sweet Willie wrote:Tofu Salad - Warm homemade chickpea tofu tossed with burmese dressing and garnished with shredded cabbage, fried onion and cilantro. You might be thinking how good can a tofu salad be (I know I was), but this was a stunner of a dish, will definitely order again, might have been my favorite bite of the evening of which there were many.

I did not manage to photograph either of the beef curries but they were both thick with sour and salty fermented flavors, the black bean version even more so than the pickled
mango version.

SaintPizza's coworker from Myanmar was unable to join us so we do plan to return in December and will likely put it on the events board again, in case anyone is able to join us then!

We've been there a few times and did some carryout during Covid. Love everything about Pa Lian & Tawk/family!

Planning another visit the week after Thanksgiving with some friends who are virgins Burmese cuisine, so looking forward to sharing some of these amazing dishes with them!

Thank you Saint Pizza for organizing the dinner on Saturday, I had a great time and it was fun working through the menu, including a few new-to-me dishes.

I wanted to address the laphet thoke situation – for whatever reason, simply the proportions of their recipe, or cost-cutting, or dialing down for the Wheaton crowd – Pa Lian's version skimps on the tea leaves. I was tempted to say that they've adjusted the recipe over time, but if you rewind to my post on my first visit 5 years ago, I had the same impression. It was telling that the table preferred the ginger salad, which I found under-seasoned on my last visit. Probably why I roll my own these days, with a heavier hand with the funky stuff. There's at least three Burmese grocery stores nearby to source everything you need.

I fully agree with the consensus of the deliciousness of the tofu salad, which I had never ordered before. It contains many of the same elements of the other salads – shredded cabbage, citrus dressing, though the soft, yet hearty texture and subtly savory flavor of the gram tofu make for a satisfying base for the salad. I can see making a light lunch of this dish in the future.

Like the salads, the curries also seem to begin with the same base of flavors and ingredients, an oily paste of ginger and alliums. The addition of fermented black beans certainly dialed up the umami several notches, though I might be in the minority preferring the subtle tang and fruitiness in the pickled mango version. And I still lament the dropping of the pork belly (and all porcine products) when they went halal a few years ago. The beef was fine, but was no pork belly.

The mohinga was mostly as I remember (I hadn't had since my first visit), though I think the newer presentation, including the noodles on the side with garnishes is a good move to prevent them from sogging out. Their version distinctively has no chunks of fish. I thought the addition of extra fish sauce that Tawk brought to the table greatly enhanced the broth. Next time, y'all should try the oh-noh-kauk-swe, a coconut chicken egg noodle soup with most of the same accompaniments.

The kauk swe thoke remains my favorite dish and seems to be increasing in heat over the years.

Although I'm usually in there for a weekday lunch, I was heartened to see a majority of the tables occupied on a Saturday night. Pa Lian is a gem.

Jefe wrote:Next time, y'all should try the oh-noh-kauk-swe, a coconut chicken egg noodle soup with most of the same accompaniments.

noted !!

Jefe wrote:There's at least three Burmese grocery stores nearby to source everything you need.

appreciate you pointing this out, I've got a note to visit the store you mentioned Hornbill Asian Grocery 1513 N Main St in Wheaton