What if you want a quick lunch of soup or salad? Or maybe you're in the mood for a vegetarian meal? Or maybe it's time for multiple dishes with contrasting flavors, varied textures and exotic ingredients? Vietnamese cuisine can satisfy all these requirements and is becoming increasingly popular.
Pho Dat Thanh, off Snowden River Parkway at Columbia Market Place, opened April 17 and offers about 150 authentic Vietnamese dishes.
"We're still working with the menu, to improve it and find new and excellent dishes," said manager Jim Louang. "Our chef has 20 years' experience cooking Vietnamese food, and he's got some good ideas."
Don't be intimidated by names that might seem unfamiliar. The menu groups foods by category (soups, rice crepes, beef, chicken, etc.) and explains each dish in detail.
Noodle soups are an important part of Vietnamese cuisine. More hearty than the Western notion of soups, these meals in a bowl figure prominently on Pho Dat Thanh's menu. They include Tai Nam Sach (with slices of eye-of-round steak, well-done flank and bible tripe served with rice noodles); Pho Ga (chicken soup served with rice noodles); Mi Dat Thanh (house special egg noodle soup with shrimp, fish balls, squid, barbecued pork and fried shrimp cake); Mi Ga Cay (spicy chicken egg noodle soup with vegetables); Banh Canh Gio Heo (rice noodle soup with pig knuckle); and Bun Bo Hue (spicy beef rice noodle soup with lemon grass).
The menu also features a variety of beef, chicken, pork and shrimp dishes.
Beef entrees include Bo Xao Lan (sliced beef simmered with noodles and sweet onions in a light curry and coconut sauce) and Bo Chien Don Dac Biet (shredded crispy beef sauteed with a hot and spicy sauce).
Chicken entrees include Ga Sate (sauteed chicken with sate sauce on lettuce and tomato) and Ga Chien Don (crispy "Prince" chicken, battered chicken glazed with the house's favorite spicy sauce).
Offered under the pork section are Dau Hu Xao Thit Heo Voi Ot Cay (diced bean curd sauteed with ground pork, green peas and carrots in a spicy brown sauce) and Thit Heo Kho To (lean, sliced pork simmered in a traditional sauce and sprinkled with black pepper).
Shrimp selections include Tom Rang Muoi (tempura and pan-seared with diced jalapenos, garlic and scallion) and Tom Chien Chua Ngot (sweet and sour shrimp).
Some vegetarian dishes are available, such as Dau Hu Xa Ot (stir-fried crispy tofu with lemon grass), Mi Xao Don Chay (crispy egg noodle topped with assorted sauteed vegetables and bean curd in a brown sauce) and Mi Xao Mem Chay (pan-seared egg noodles topped with fried tofu and vegetables).
House specials include Ca Hap Hoac Chien (whole rockfish, red snapper or flounder served steamed or deep-fried with black bean sauce or house sauce), Chao Tom Banh Hoi (sugar cane shrimp served with vermicelli, vegetables and rice paper), Muc Rang Muoi (salted squid with black peppers) and Bo Luc Lac (cubed beef sauteed with garlic and black pepper).
"Our long-term goal -- our permanent goal -- is to offer continuing good service and good food," Louang said. "Our customers deserve it."
Pho Dat Thanh
Where: 9400 Snowden River Parkway, Suite 124-125, Columbia; 410-381-3839.
Hours: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily.
Prices: Items range from $5.95 to $10.95.
Credit cards: Visa, MasterCard and American Express are accepted.