Pho Dat Thanh — Restaurant in Towson

What's the Bowl of Soup Doing Hanging in the Window? (Unexpectedly Delightful Vietnamese Cuisine at Pho Dat Thanh)

Do you love Japanese and Chinese food? Well then, you’ll love Pho Dat Thanh. Pho Dat Thanh is a Vietnamese restaurant on York Rd, just a short walk from that delightful little traffic circle in downtown Towson, MD. Hanging in the window is a luminescent light shaped into the familiar form of a steaming bowl of soup. Besides this colored light flickering in the window, only a simple green awning, with the restaurant’s name printed above it in large, san serif letters, signifies the restaurant’s existence. Though you won’t find anything grand inside, Pho Dat Thanh provides its customers with outstanding, fresh, genuine Vietnamese cuisine at prices even a college student couldn’t scoff at.

The entire restaurant consists of a small bar at the very back of the dining area and fifteen to twenty tables spaciously organized in an open room. The restaurant is designed to look oriental, though the decorations are noticeably sparse and unexciting. Very few pictures and ornaments hang on the plain walls while Vietnamese styled lanterns hang from the ceiling. The place is quiet, housing an almost awkward atmosphere. No music plays in the background, and when the place is empty, the silence is deafening.

When visiting the restaurant, it seems no single server is tasked with the job of greeting diners at the front door. Once seated, however, a server is quick to take your order.

The service is O.K. and the ambiance is quiet and strangely reserved, but don’t let this fool you! Despite the somewhat awkward atmosphere, the food is OUTSTANDING and arrives at the table quite hastily. The portions are enormous and overflow with fresh vegetables, herbs, noodles, and an assortment of meats. Lime, basil, cilantro, jalapenos, and bean sprouts are commonly provided in addition to your main dish. The menu consists of nearly 100 different dishes and a dozen or so different drinks. Since I am a person who prefers fresh vegetables, fruits, brothy soups, and meats, this place was perfect for my tastes. The food is crisp and fresh and arrives quickly.

Pho Dat Thanh does not offer a dessert menu, but they do sell fruit smoothies (and yes, avocado is a fruit, so they sell an avocado smoothie too).

The prices at Pho Dat Thanh range between $6.35 and $14.95 for main dishes, while appetizers and drinks are as low as $1.50 and as high as $8.25. There is a carryout option available and reservations can be made, but only for parties of five or more. There are several vegetarian options on the menu as well.

Pho Dat Thanh is a wonderful place to eat, especially with family and friends! I will be returning sometime in the near future. I can sum up the experience in five short sentences: Outstanding food. Nice restaurant. Decent service. Enormous portions. Great prices.

Pho Dat Thanh is open Sunday - Thursday from 11am to 10pm and Fridays & Saturdays from...

Came in expecting a nice supper, but what we got was a nightmare. We were seated and given water on the table immediately; it was packed, but we didn't even get a chance to speak with anyone from the time we ordered till when we received our food. Not once did we get asked if we wanted more drinks—not even "hi" or "hello"—just "what do you want?" Our dinner was undercooked and missing several of the items we ordered, and we waited for service a little less than an hour after placing our order while every table sat after had already received their food. Our food was also sat in front of us and the waiter quickly walked off, this have us no time to speak, we received no utensils and were treated rudely by the server when we asked for the missing food and utensils. We didn't receive any respect until we threatened to leave because we didn't want to eat. This eatery was really rude and ill-organized. We were met with looks and rude treatment from the moment we stepped in, not to mention that we were treated like second-class citizens compared to those that arrived after us and received service. We noticed that every table after us was receiving more attention and couldn’t help but notice a difference in appearance and after we walked out another couple of similar appearance to us also walked out. Isn’t that a...

Service is horrible. The experience made me feel insulted. I ordered 1 large pho. A lady with broken English on the phone said 10 min. I got there in 15 and it was not ready. When they finally packed it, it was 2 large order of pho. I said I only ordered one. The lady who took my order gave me a dirty look and said that I said 2. I reiterated that I never said 2. She rolled her eyes and then gave a smirk as if I was being ridiculous. OK lady, you got the order wrong, you didn't apologize, and you were so rude. She finally changed the bill to 1 order. I was already in there for a while and my family was waiting outside for me. So I hurry to the bag to open it and take out the extra order. She actually ran to me and yelled loudly at me, "hey you only get 1 order!" I explained that I knew and that I was in a hurry so I was trying to take the order out of the bag. No apologies whatsoever and she actually shook her head at me. I am not being discriminating because I came from an immigrant family, but that lady has horrible English that I could hardly understand. Yet I am being yelled at because she got the order wrong. Wow stellar service. Please pay your money at another restaurant that treat customers...