There’s nothing quite as disconcerting as the sound of a microwave pinging in the middle of a quiet restaurant. On a polar December night on Devon Avenue, that very sound gave me concern for the condition of my mohinga, a hot, fish-based noodle soup from Burma, or Myanmar, as its military dictatorship renamed it in 1989.
If you, as a Chicagoan, have pined for Burmese food as I have, there are other dishes on the menu at the Family House that will immediately grab your attention. Of course there’s laphet thoke, or Burma’s famous tea leaf salad—sour, deeply funky fermented green leaves tossed with shredded cabbage, roasted peanuts, toasted sesame seeds, and fried split soybeans that together perform a veritable symphony of crunchiness. There’s also ohn no khao swe (there are multiple anglicized spellings), a richly creamy curried noodle soup served with roughly hacked and wickedly moist slices of chicken breast. It’s a relative of the coconut-based type of northern Thai khao soi most commonly found in Chiang Mai and at Thai restaurants across U.S.
I’ve been told that the best time to eat at the Family House is during the day, when the most skilled chefs in the family are on duty, though I’ve had great homey food in the evenings too. The restaurant opened in early November, and due to supply and occasional service snafus, it’s still very much a work in progress, so much so that I almost hesitated to write about it now. But Alif promises that more Burmese food will gradually be added to the menu, and because the Family House has been championed by the travelers at LTHForum—who put it on the food-writer radar—it’s picking up momentum. Let’s hope it thrives. v
2305 W. Devon 773-856-0192 facebook.com/The-Family-House-126214931421882
