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Pho lovers in southern Prince George's County no longer have to drive up county or out of state to enjoy their favorite Vietnamese broth.
In fact, Brian Tran opened his new Saigon Noodles Place in Fort Washington two months ago specifically for such customers, he said – though his restaurant also offers a full range of other fresh, authentic Vietnamese dishes.
"People say they have to go to Virginia [to eat pho]," Tran said. "I say, why [don't] I bring it to your backyard?"
Saigon Noodles Place is Tran's second restaurant; the first he ran for five years in Washington, D.C.'s Chinatown before moving to Maryland. His wife and chef, Anh Nguyen, draws on her family's lifetime of restaurant experience in Vietnam. Tran himself draws on the customer relations experience he has gained from working with immigrant communities in Washington's Metropolitan Police Department, he said.
Tran also designed the restaurant himself. In the large dining space – two plaza units merged into one – the lacquered tables with rural life images stand out against the pale yellow walls accented with gold paints and bamboo décor Tran cut himself. Against the back wall, an ornate wall fountain cascades into a low fish tank surrounded by green shrubs – just underneath a speaker playing traditional Vietnamese music.
All this makes for a soothing ambience in which to try vivid new tastes, or relax with delicious favorites, if you are already a pho fan.
Tran's restaurant offers 14 varieties of traditional beef pho – a noodle soup made with various cuts of beef, like eye round steak, flank, soft tendon, tripe, brisket or many others – as well as "Pho Ga" or chicken noodle soup, and a vegetarian "Pho Chay" made with tofu and tomato (each $7.75 regular, $9.95 large).
The beef pho dishes are all very popular with customers who come for the sake of this soup, but there are already favorites among other menu sections as well.
The "Mi Xao Gion" ($12.95) is one bestseller, adding stir-fried shrimp, squid, chicken, pork and onions to the mix. Other favorite vermicelli dishes include "Bun Ga Nuong Sa-Cha Gao," featuring charbroiled lemongrass chicken and spring rolls, and the "Bun Tom Nuong Bo Phap" with charbroiled shrimp in imported French butter (each $8.75).
Tran's jasmine rice selection contain a variety of pork dishes, too, including the popular "Com Heo Nuong-Trung Ga Opla" ($8.75), featuring charbroiled sesame pork with an over-easy egg, as well as "Com-Ca Kho To" ($9.95), fish cooked with chili, ginger and black pepper in a clay pot, both served over steamed rice.
The menu's lighter fare includes Vietnamese sandwiches ($3.95 each) made with chicken, pork or ham, as well as a small range of appetizers ($3.95 each), including the refreshing "Goi Cuon" garden rolls, with shrimp, pork, vermicelli noodles and mint leaves wrapped in rice paper and served with nuoc mam.
Not to be missed are the refreshing Vietnamese smoothies ($4 each), blended from fresh fruits like mango, avocado, strawberry and banana and served with black tapioca pearls.
Saigon Noodles Place offers one dessert, a traditional "Rau Cau" or Jello agar, made with seaweed, mocha, skim milk and coconut milk and topped with ice cream and a red cherry.
Tran has just recently remade his menu to include more items and illustrate them more clearly for diners new to Vietnamese foods. With his and his family's experience, and his own passion for providing this food in his local community, Saigon Noodles Place is the perfect place to introduce a new food fervor or to indulge an existing appetite for this flavorful cuisine.
Saigon Noodles
9227 Oxon Hill Road, Fort Washington
Phone: 301-749-9227
Hours: Monday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.
