This week I attended a media lunch at Pho Colonial Authentic Vietnamese Diner on Frankford Rd. in Far North Dallas, and while I’m generally not a fan of fast food, and while Pho may at first look like it belongs under that banner, what owner/creator Khanh Dao has created here has very little to do with the fast food milieu. Think handcrafted pork and shrimp dumplings for $3.50, two large fresh spring rolls for only $3, or Bun (grilled meat over rice vermicelli) for between $6.75 -$9.50. Bonus: the rice noodles that Pho uses throughout the dishes are naturally gluten free, which means you can enjoy a protein-rich feeling of fullness without the bloat.
Dao, a Dallas restaurant veteran and sassy addition to the North Dallas casual dining scene, has chosen to go with the second-nature dishes of her youth. Her signature Pho—so rich and customizable—requires that the eater wield both chopsticks and spoon and packs a low calorie count thanks to grilled meats and clear broth. The combination is as good for an afternoon shopping stop (especially when you’re needing a pit stop after Ikea) as it is for curing a cold. My leftover pho tai chin (thinly shaved beef & brisket in broth with bean sprouts and fresh rice noodles) knocked my hubby’s head cold out of the park by morning.
Best news of all, both locations (Frankford Rd. and the soon-to-open downtown location in the Wilson building) deliver (keep an eye out for their pink mopeds). So you can settle in with some shaken beef or banh mi at home tonight and have enough left over for lunch tomorrow.
