Pho
DaNa
Dinings Options Expand
By Wanda Freeman TIMES RECORD
Pho DaNa, a Chinese and Vietnamese restaurant at 3802 Towson Ave., represents a new lease on life and a break from the buffet for proprietor Na Luoi Dai.
Dai, who has lived in the area for 30 years and whose family started the Diamond Head restaurants, has cooked for 23 years and believes her work as a restaurateur has saved her life.
"Eight years ago, my doctor told me I had three to five years to live," Dai said. Diagnosed with lupus, she said her kidneys almost shut down before she went to Mayo Clinic in Minnesota. Since then, her cancer has gone into remission and she has gained her lost weight back, "plus more," she admitted.
After closing her buffet restaurant in Van Buren two years ago, Dai found herself unhappy to be idle.
"I love to work. I love to cook," she said.
Pho DaNa, opened a month ago in a space that seats 60, allows her to keep busy doing what she loves, the way she loves - preparing her mother's recipes and cooking strictly to order.
"My old customers come in. Sometimes they see there's no buffet and they walk out," she said without regret. Those who stay discover her food is good, and she has no intention of reintroducing a buffet.
"It's unhealthy," she said of buffet-style service. "You just cook a bunch of food, and people stuff themselves."
In contrast, Dai said she cooks to order using homegrown mint and fresh vegetables as well as basil, ginger, lime and jalapenos from the local Vietnamese market. Cooking in smaller batches allows her more control over the flavor, freshness and healthfulness of her food.
"I come in every day at 8 o'clock to start cooking," Dai said.
For her pho, a noodle soup that is considered the national dish of Vietnam, she boils beef broth from bones a day ahead so she can skim off the chilled fat and serve a light broth filled with rice noodles, meat and fresh herbs.
Her husband, Da Nguyen, and her 17-year-old son work in the restaurant, but Dai lets neither into her kitchen.
Other specialties of Pho DaNa - the name is a combination of Dai's and Nguyen's first names - include Vietnamese egg rolls, spring rolls with homemade peanut dipping sauce, a variety of stir-fried noodle dishes and rice plates, and rice vermicelli salads. A specialty beverage is Vietnamese coffee, a strong brew made with Cafe du Monde chicory coffee and condensed milk that can be served hot or cold.