Hot Dish Review

Now that my office is near Buford Highway, tempting tacos and fiery pho are just moments away. Last week, I invited my friend BG out to lunch for his birthday. His Mom is Vietnamese, so I let him choose the restaurant….Dai Loi #2. Ironically, it is the same one I have visited several times, located in one of dozens of Asian strip malls on the street.

The decor is not nearly as gawdy as I remembered, save for the huge crystal chandeliers. Walls are turquoise and deep red, an unusual combination that I really like. Faux marble tables are cluttered with Sriracha and other condiments.

No need to waste time perusing the menu….the numerous photos won’t help you. All you need to know is you are ordering pho Thai, the one with beef and no tripe. Unless, of course, you want the long clear tendrils of grizzly tripe.

BG and I ordered a small bowl each. The traditional accompaniments arrived in seconds…a plate of bean sprouts, fresh jalapeno slices, basil, and cilantro and limes. Moments later, two steaming bowls of pho were delivered. Customizing your pho can take some time, adding some hot sauce, maybe a bit of hoisin sauce, and copious handfuls of herbs.

Pho is made with oxtail broth, flavored with onion and cilantro. Very thin slices of raw beef are added at the end, cooking in the hot broth while the bowl is enroute to your table. A tangle of rice noodles rest at the bottom of the bowl. Slurp them up with your chopsticks along with a tender slice of beef, crunchy bean sprouts, and fragrant herbs. Wipe your brow as the sriracha takes effect.

I love Vietnamese food, from pho to lettuce wraps with grilled meats dipped in fish sauce, it is a cuisine rich in flavor and tradition, and naturally healthy.

At lunch with BG, I caught a glimpse of the dessert menu and commented on how I crave the authentic dessert drink made of crushed ice, red beans (or bean paste), coconut milk, and jelly candies. Sounds like a freakshow, right? Turns out, BG finds the weird riot of textures somewhat disconcerting. I had to order one to go.

Dai Loi’s dessert contained two kinds of beans, one large white variety and the typical red beans, a.k.a. azuki, both canned in high fructose corn syrup specifically for use in sweets. The addition of crushed peanuts was a pleasant surprise. Chewy, crunchy, wonderfully weird.

4186 Buford Highway 404-633-2111

Leave it the Top Flr guys (Darren Carr, Jeff Myers, Shane Devereux) to introduce yet another new concept to Atlanta! B and I finally dined at their new restaurant, Sound Table, having been there a few times already for cocktails. Only open a few weeks now, this is the space where B and I attended the Dinner Party in February, Darren Carr’s other venture with partner Patrick La Bouff.

The Sound Table is a dual concept; downstairs is a bar/lounge with local and national DJ’s spinning, upstairs is a full restaurant. When the upstairs is winding down, the downstairs is cranking up….literally. Very New York. Jeff Myers, plus a third partner in the business, Karl Injex, are DJ’s so the emphasis on music here is natural. As their ad in Creative Loafing so appropriately states, sound is on the menu.

Their drink menu downstairs is just as detail oriented as the dinner menu upstairs, with a selection of old-fashioned spirits poured and shaken into creative cocktails like the Pink City Rickey and the White Tiger’s Milk.

Upstairs, lights are low, walls are exposed brick. Seating is mostly wood slat benches. Fine if you are wearing pants, not so good if you are wearing a mini dress. But the benches do serve to create a minimalist Asian-style vibe that diners see mirrored throughout the menu.

Our fabulous server Nick started us off with a fantastic 2007 cab, Blue Rock “Baby Blue”. He also recommended the fried sugar snap peas to snack on, calling them “addictive”. Seasoned with soy sauce, they were yummy.

The menu has a multi-culti flair, with everything from Israeli falafel to Algerian cous-cous. Everything is a la carte and reasonably priced to fit the Old Fourth Ward neighborhood. Four sections differentiate portion size and serving style. Bowls, for instance, are served in….you guessed it, bowls. Of the four bowls offered we ordered three; a salad, a soup, and a curry dish.

I love frisee. And duck confit. So the salade frisee, also with macerated raisins, was a given. Crispy and light.

Seeing Vietnamese pho on a menu not on Buford Highway just worries me. I’ve eaten lots of pho, on Buford Highway and in New York. With Vietnamese people. Pho has rules. I’m not sure it’s a good idea to try to duplicate it here, although the presentation was approaching correct. But the broth lacked depth. B and I both wanted more spice.

Ditto on the Kaeng Daeng pork with red curry, coconut milk, and kaffir lime. Served over perfect sticky rice, it needed more sauce, more spice.

Having drank all the cab we moved on to the 2008 Monastrell, Olivares “Altos de la Hoya” from Spain.

Oaxacan hangar steak, medium rare, came on a long plate with a spicy puree. It was tender, flavorful, awesome. I ordered the Belgian-style frites with it, a classic pairing. Hot, crispy, and served with housemade mayo, the fries were cut a bit thick for my taste but B loved them.

Chef Devereux was not there but the kitchen was in the capable hands of his Chef de Cuisine, Andrew Sheridan. As members of the Shane Devereux fanclub, we couldn’t help but be disappointed. Service, however, was spot-on. Dishes were expedited in a steady and professional fashion.

Sweet potato cheesecake (I think) was for dessert. Not made in-house, but good nonetheless. They will be making sweets there soon.

I don’t know how much wine we drank but both B and I were wickedly buzzed as we hobbled down the stairs. WTF? We are usually such pros!

B said it best when she said our meal was good, but not compelling. We are looking forward to returning to Sound Table when they’ve had a minute to smooth out some of the kinks. Good luck boys!

483 Edgewood Avenue at the corner of Boulevard