Đà Nẵng Restaurant

Đà Nẵng is located at the corner of 14 Mile road and Main in downtown Clawson.  We decided to stop in for dinner Friday evening after having a few rounds at Black Lotus Brewing Company which is located just across 14 Mile.

I've never eaten Vietnamese cuisine before and Đà Nẵng was a pleasant introduction.  This quaint little restaurant looks deceptively larger from the outside due to the design of the building, but that is just fine by me.  They were not overly busy and our group of four was seated immediately at a table right next to the hostess area, which is not right by the front door as is typical of most places, but rather more centrally located and somewhat near the kitchen.

The staff was very warm and attentive and asked if we had been to Đà Nẵng before and whether or not we had any questions about the menu.

For starters, we chose the Tempura Green Beans with sweet and sour sauce and the other couple dining with us chose the Vegetarian Imperial Rolls.  Upon bringing the appetizers to the table, our waitress suggested dipping the imperial rolls directly into the sauce rather than cutting them and dipping the pieces.  The sweet and sour sauce was different than I was expecting, but pleasingly so.  It wasn't overly sweet and had just the right amount of a sour punch to it that went well with the beans.

After pointing out to my friends that Phở is actually pronounced "Faa" and them not believing me until the waitress validated my claims, we got down to ordering our main courses.  We all stuck to the regular menu despite a number of tasty specials.  I ordered Shrimp and Sausage Fried Rice topped with an egg cooked over easy and the rest of the group ate Vietnamese Crepes, Spicy Shrimp Soup, and Vegetarian Soup.  The entrees arrived promptly and again the waitress was very helpful in providing suggestions and explained each of the sauces that were brought to the table to help add some kick to the meal.

The fried rice was somewhat similar to every other fried rice dish you would get at any Asian restaurant, but was more sweet.  This was mostly due to the sausage in the dish that is very similar to the sweet tasting cured meat I encountered often when I visited China.  I did find the egg to be overcooked as the yolk was very firm and I wanted a runny yolk, but it tasted fine all the same.

My friend Chuck from Fermentation Nation added plenty of Siriacha and Đà Nẵng's smoky house-made Sate sauce to his already spicy soup and enjoyed his way through his sweaty experience despite making some sort of bizarre sound at one point that even he couldn't believe he made.  His girlfriend Liza made her way through close to half of her tofu laden Phở while pointing out how large the bowl was.  To be fair, she probably could have worn it as a helmet if it were sufficiently padded.
 
I did also get a sample of the crepes, which were also not quite what I'm used to when eating crepes.  First off they were folded rather than rolled, and they were crispy and a bit thicker than your run of the mill crepes.  The shrimp and pork stuffing was cooked perfectly and tasted excellent.

As we were preparing to leave, we learned that due to a large volume  of requests, they now sell jars of their Sate so that you can add some spice to those scrambled eggs next Saturday morning.  We were also told that they hope to be getting their liquor license soon so we don't have to do our drinking across the street.  I didn't have the heart to tell her that beer is my thing, but I'll be back regardless.

danangrestaurant.com