The Future Development Kit

Podcast's up over at futuredevelopmentkit.blogspot.com, with an iTunes compatible RSS feed at feeds.feedburner.com/FutureDevelopmentKit.

In other news, I'm getting a little fed up with how primitive Blogger is. I'm really not enjoying hand-coding technorati tags. I'm considering a move to either Movable Type or WordPress (as recommended by FeedBurner) and would appreciate comments from anyone who's happily using those (or any other) blog hosting services (free or for-pay), especially ones that support tagging directly.

tags: blog, october, 2005, podcast, futuredevelopmentkit

The Appropriate Food: Pho Ca Dao

Hackers love noodles. Not sure why, but it's a known fact. I particularly like Bun[1], the Vietnamese vermicelli noodle dish. I hadn't had any in a while, and Saturday night I was out with my wife and daughter looking for a fix. We were in Garland (a suburb just north of Dallas) and mildly lost, making our way through a maze of Vietnamese businesses, when my wife spotted the sign for Pho Ca Dao. It wasn't the place we were intending to go, but the sign called out to us and we decided to roll the dice and give it a try.

The inside of the restaurant wasn't fancy. It had a sort of diner feel that went with the sign. I suspect it may have been a Kip's in a past life, but nothing remained of the former occupants but a vague sense of good food served without pretense.

I ordered vermicelli noodles with beef, while my wife had my normal choice: charbroiled pork with miniature egg rolls. We got some spring rolls to start, and I couldn't resist a durian smoothie. While we were waiting, one of the staff brought my daughter a balloon.

The food arrived promptly. Our spring rolls appeared freshly made, with crisp, firm shrimp and unwilted leafy bits. My beef was tasty and tender, with not a hint of the gristle you get when the chef is skimping on the meat. The little egg rolls in my wife's dish were crisp on the outside and tender on the inside, and the pork was perfectly carmelized without being overcooked. The durian[2] shake smelled of rot and turpentine and gave me brain freeze. Everything was delicious.

There are probably other Vietnamese restaurants in Dallas that can match the food, but I doubt many can match the graphic design talent that went into the sign and menu, or the friendly and prompt service. We'll definitely be back.

Pho Ca Dao is located near the corner of Walnut and Plano Road in Garland, TX, just north of Dallas. They have a website at http://phocadaodallas.com/.

[1] Bun Cha, for example, is vermicelli noodles with charbroiled candied meat. Mmm. Candied meat.
[2] Everybody loves durian: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Durian

tags:blog, october, 2005, food, restaurant, review, bun, vietnamese, dallas, tx, garland