We had such an interesting outing this week! I hope I can do it justice!
Both Audra and I were so humbled when one of our “dream” guests said yes to us this week. I was nervous about finding a good fit restaurant for our outing because I always try and pare the restaurant with a cuisine that I know our guest will enjoy. I didn’t know much about our guest personally before our outing, but knew he had lived in Boston in grad school and grew up in Alabama. Based on that teaser, some of you can probably guess that LANE DAVIS, our beloved youth minister at DUMC, joined us.
Obviously trying new, unique restaurants is a great perk that Audra and I enjoy with our foodie frenzy, but no better than spending time with the friends that agree to be our guinea pigs. I loved hearing about Lane growing up the son of a Pastor in the Dothan area in South Alabama close to where my Dad was from. Lane went to Huntingdon College in Montgomery where he met his wife Mary. When asked about how they got to Boston, he said they both applied to a few colleges where he could go to seminary school and Mary could attend law school. Here’s what they narrowed it down to….Duke or Harvard! Tough choice for these two smarty-pants. Lane picked Harvard and Mary chose neighboring Boston U.
What I did know about Lane in advance was that every Sunday morning at 9AM, my family and I LOVE going to the contemporary service for his compelling sermon (he preaches at that service most of the time, but not always) and the amazing band that backs him up. It is so nice when you don’t have to twist your kids’ arms to go to church and when they are the ones who motivate you to get out of bed. One of Alaina’s non DUMC friends, Olivia, called the other day to check on the time of one of Lane’s outings. Love that!
I actually gave the crew a choice this week and we all agreed that Vietnamese Pho should be the cuisine du jour! My family and I have been enjoying different Pho restaurants on BH for many years, but have never landed on a favorite. Many AHA subscribers all recommended Dai Loi #2, so we went with that! It fronts BH and is right next-door to Plaza Fiesta tucked into the corner of a small strip mall.
I knew Lane was a good fit for us when he started out by ordering the egg custard drink (check it out on the video, raw egg and all) It is called Soda Sua Hot Ga (egg soda with with sweet condensed milk). I loved my salty lemonade with club soda and Audra’s “surprise me” request didn’t work out so well since our waitress, Be, mistook “surprise me” for Sprite!
Appetizer wise, we ordered Tom Cuon Chien (Fried shrimp rolls) and Goi cuon (fresh steamed spring rolls). The fried shrimp rolls were very tasty and the steamed ones were, well, fine. My definition of fine equates to yawn. For example, when I get dressed to go out, I usually ask my husband how my outfit looks. When he says it looks “fine”, I immediately go change.
For those new to the cuisine, Pho restaurants specialize in bowls of piping hot soup broth served with your meat of choice and topped with aromatic herbs such as bean sprouts, mint, cilantro, lime, jalapeno, etc. We all chose different meats:
All were yummy, but the broths were different. I doused mine with spicy table sauce, spicy fish sauce and a table red pepper sauce and enjoyed a more kicked up version.
We also ordered Bun Thit Nuong (Vermicelli with marinated grilled pork slices) and Com Bo Luc Lac (Rice with marinated beef chunks) . We all agreed that the marinated beef dish was our favorite. The unique sweet and spicy contrasting flavors kept our forks coming back to that dish.
The service petered out at the end which was a little disappointing, but then we realized that our waitress, Be, had a more urgent task come up. They evidently had just received a shipment of fresh basil and she was busy prepping for dinner. Check it out in the picture!
Lane took home plenty of leftovers for his wife, Mary, to enjoy after a long day. What a sweet husband!
We welcome all your comments especially if you try any of the restaurants we have visited. Please let us know if you have a Pho favorite too!
The tab “pho” this meal was $53. Not bad for some good comfort food especially as the weather starts to get colder.
Salud!
Patty
Pho Dai Loi#2
4186 Buford Highway, Ste. G
404.633.2111
Health Rating: 74 (We had difficulty finding the health rating and didn’t discover the score until 2 days after our lunch.)
Rating:
Foodie Frenzy Week 1 (El Rey del Taco)
Foodie Frenzy Week 2 (Han IL Kwan)
Foodie Frenzy Week 3 (Nam Phoung II)
Foodie Frenzy Week 4 (Gu’s Bistro)
Foodie Frenzy Week 5 (Casa Vieja)
Foodie Frenzy Week 6 (Canton House)
Disclaimer: This is not a paid advertisement. The owners of this restaurant are unaware of this article at time of publication.
What an awesome meal with awesome friends! Thanks so much for the invite and the egg drink was amazing…the most adventurous thing I’ve eaten in a long time for sure!
My family and I love going to this place. We all order Pho # 13. The Phos with the base of beef broth are the best and you have to flavor them up with the items on the table: plum sauce, hot sauce, and fresh herbs. It is perfect for winter night or when you’re fighting off a cold.