"Burmese restaurants are few and far between in Illinois, but Pa Lian in suburban Wheaton provides a rare opportunity to dive head-first into the culinary culture of Myanmar, the Southeast Asian country formerly known as Burma. Founded in 2018 by owner Tawk Zalian, it specializes in distinctive dishes like crunchy tea leaf salad, moh-hin-gar (rice vermicelli in catfish and bean broth), and tofu gyaw, a fried Burmese favorite made with chickpeas." - Naomi Waxman