Pho Dat Thanh

This place is everything I don’t want a restaurant to be. The service was subpar and the food was horrible. Three of us went there to quench our late night cravings and ordered things off of every heading of the menu. Not one dish was edible. The orientalist decorations and aesthetics ruined the ambiance. The staff was painfully slow and didn’t give us separate checks when we had clearly asked before giving our orders.
The other patrons were composed of rowdy and obnoxiously loud Towson university students which ruined the experience further.

I’ve been here twice. I am not a phở expert but I have had it at a few other restaurants and have always enjoyed it. I always get tai phở. Eventually, I may branch out and try other varieties. My experiences here have been pretty good. However, the steak is sliced very thick at this restaurant, which is unlike the other phở places I’ve been. Usually, it is very thin and raw when they put it in the bowl of broth and the broth cooks it. The steak slices here are already cooked and thicker (like a thick slice of deli meat from a deli). I’m not exactly complaining, as the soup is still yummy — it’s just not what I’m used to.
My husband is not into phở, so he had beef lo mein. The beef was so salty that I would deem it inedible (and I was eating phở, which is pretty salty).
Service is definitely spotty. We went at peak dinner rush and they were clearly really short-​staffed. We waited a VERY long time for our order to be taken. Several of the tables around us were also waiting. Once the orders were taken, however, the food came out quickly, as it should. The server apologized profusely for the wait after we kind of raised a stink about it. Since this place is within walking distance of my home, I will be visiting again, I am sure.

Phở Dat Thanh is solidly my favorite local phở place — fast service, consistent broth, fresh garnishes, and good takeout, too!
The bag of cilantro, sprouts, and onions are always clean and fresh (unlike a few other takeout spots we’ve tried), the broth is enough for two meals for me, and there’s always enough spicy sauce. The menu’s pretty much the same as all of the phở options around, and I’ve tried a few of the phở meat options as well as my favorite, the not as traditional C4 — spicy chicken egg noodle soup with lots of vegetables. Extra broccoli? Always great. The roasted pork spring rolls are good, with really flavorful spicy peanut sauce that you cannot miss if you’re stopping in for food here.

Decent phở and spring rolls. Nice selection of other Vietnamese dishes. A busy establishment in Towson that will satisfy you phở cravings.
The place is relatively small but the food that comes out is big with flavor.
If you love phở give this place a try.
Thanks for reading my review. This review is based off of my personal opinion and experience.

My husband and I stopped in on a whim. It was a snowy Monday night, so it was no surprise that it wasn’t busy. It was too quiet though and we found ourselves whispering. A little background music would’ve been nice. The service was fast and friendly. The lighting was blinding and the lights flickered and buzzed. I’m sensitive to that kind of stuff and found it annoying. We did enjoyed our food, but it wasn’t anything to write home about. The limes and jalapeño peppers served with my soup were dried out, so I couldn’t get the citrusy hot taste I was looking for. Prices were fair and portions were generous. I feel like they could do so much better if they improved the ambience. It has a hospital cafeteria feel.

This place is my happy place.
Unpretentious, large portioned, filling-​packed phở bowls.
I love this place so so much. It might be a sentimental thing (me and the boy used to go here all the time) but it’s like a phở haven for me in Baltimore.
We always get a large D1 each (D1 is absolutely the way to go if youre a true phở enthusiast — tripe! tendons! rare beef!) and then some sort of appetizer. All the appetizers we’ve tried have also been good, grape leaves stuffed with beef, spring rolls, summer rolls, even the quail.
They give you tons of sprouts cilantro basil lime and jalapenos, no stingy bastards here.
I love their meat, and their broth, and their noodles (not over cooked), and it’s well priced for its size.
It also does wonders for a hangover.

Wait time was a little more than 20 mins. Other than that, chicken vermicelli was delicious. However, they gave me wilted old lettuce. Next time I will ask for no lettuce.

Meh. I’ve experienced better. This is exactly how I’d describe this place.
I went here after the gym at off peak hours, 4 PM. Walked in alone. The place was mostly empty. There were 4 people working there waiting tables.
Asked to be seated for one. And kind of suggested I wanted to sit at a booth by pointing my body towards an empty one. I was told «no, come this way» to the other side.
I asked for half noodles and asked for meatballs. They said that’s an extra charge, which is totally fine. No problem. But if I removed ingredients from the bowl, shouldn’t i get money back? I didn’t expect to, but I didn’t like the double standard.
Next, water cups were very small. Phở is salty by nature. I had to stop eating and waited exactly 8 minutes before I was acknowledged. I specifically asked for water. This is highly unusual for a phở place.
Phở was just OK. Broth was just OK. I’ve experienced better.

Not a huge fan of phở, but if you go with someone who is there are good options. I got black pepper chicken with vegetables and rice. Service is good. Gets slow when it’s crowded, obviously.

Trust me when i say this, i know my phở!
Here is the reality of phở joints… Because they make their broth out of so many ingredients (especially bones), the soup can be inconsistent. They may add bit of water to the broth when they’re busy, they may be kinda salty if they reduce it too much. Given this fact, this place does well in keeping consistency. There were few times when the broth wasn’t deep, but they did mot fail me many times.
Noodles are key and this joint never fails. Over cooked rice noodles is the worst problem any bowl of phở can have.
It is really not an easy dish to make, despite the cheap price of $ 6 – 8 for a huge bowl of noodles with fair amount of meat.
Highly recommend giving this place a shot

My go to stop for Phở in the area. I like picking it up because I don’t have to worry that their skimping on the sprouts and other sides.
On a total fluke tried the pepper beef and it was AWESOME. I love phở but I would definitely go back for this. There was a ton of onions (not as many green peppers like you’d think) and tomatoes. Better than Chinese pepper steak, none of that MSG aftertaste and I didn’t feel 25 pounds heavier after consumption

I am a phở virgin — or at least I was until yesterday. Oh, and for you other virgins, it’s pronounced fa. Anyway, I was with a group of foodies (two of which own a food truck). And then there’s me — who would be happy eating hummus for the rest of my life.
For an appetizer we ordered summer rolls There was a debate as to whether or not the pork was prepared the way it claimed on the menu. I don’t know if I would order them again but they tasted fine to me.
The main course was D1 — phở — which is pretty much soup for those of you who have no idea what I’m talking about.
I flippin loved the broth. You get a bowl of fresh herbs and bean sprouts to make it your own. Some of the guys said that the bean sprouts can lessen the flavor. Some put the them in and some didn’t. I opted for no because like I said — LOVED the broth.
One of our phở afficionados would have liked more spices but he enjoyed his bowl — and a bunch from mine.
I got the large and didn’t leave feeling like a pig or over-​stuffed. Or maybe I should have paid closer attention to what was disappearing from my bowl…
As for the service — we hung out for close to two hours. The staff never forgot us and made sure we had whatever we needed.
Is it authentic Vietnamese phở? I’ll let you in on a secret. The food in America is flavored to our palates. You can take the same candy bar or bag of chips from here and another country and they won’t taste the same. Don’t believe me? Visit McDonalds in Europe.

I am a regular here. I would say I go at least 2, 3 times a month to get my regular phở fix. I’ve had better phở, but I would say this place offers solid phở for its price/​portion. Some of their items on the menu are a hit or miss, so I stopped being adventurous with the menu and I stick with their phở. Their pork appetizer, on the other hand is very good! Sometimes, when I get tired of eating phở, I order the pork appetizer with a side of rice. Their spring roll and summer roll are also very good! It’s definitely worth a visit if you are looking for a good bowl of phở in the area.

I’m never coming here again. The food was horrible! I had the lemon grass chicken and it tasted so bad. The spring rolls tasted old, and didn’t taste fresh at all.
Service was absoutely horrendous. The waiter only came to to drop off food and that was it. He checked on the other tables but didn’t check on us once. I even had to ask for the check when he would drop the check off at other tables. They weren’t even going to tell me to have a good day until I announced that the tip was in the book. So fake. Shouldn’t have even tipped, but I couldn’t bring myself not to. Never again!!!

The only reason people eat here is because
1. They have a monopoly when it comes to Vietnamese restaurants in this area
2. People love phở
3. It’s cheap and/​or convenient
But what they serve here is NOT PHO. It is a bland, watered down stock without very many seasonings but lots of undercooked rice noodles.
DO NOT EAT HERE. I used to eat here regularly, but I refuse to be disappointed any longer by their mediocre phở.
The wait staff is rude and occasionally, incompetent. They do not care about their job.
The restaurant booths have busted up seats and dirty silverware.
The music they play is awful, and the restaurant décor is atrocious.
This is not Vietnamese food, and the owner does not care about serving quality food.

Now I understand why it got the stars it did.
Fried egg rolls were over done and the stuffing wasn’t that great.
Service was fast but the booth we had which was next to the cashier had huge rips on the seat in addition to a jumbo of wires and cables on the wall.
Phở: run of the mill soup stock, not bad, not memorable. Beef slice was too thick and not much tripe and no tendon was found. Phở itself was fine.

The beef phở wasn’t bad, pretty decent. The regular size of phở was rather small compared to other phở restaurants. The noodles were also short, as if someone cut the noodles in various spots (huh?!). The Thai iced tea was disgusting though, do not order this at all! It tasted so artificial & just overly gross. My friend and I were seated at a booth and the seating on my side of the booth was broken! I leaned to my right and almost fell off when the bench moved upward!
Come here if you need desperately need some phở, otherwise just keep searching for somewhere else to eat.

I went here for the first time and it is not a place I’d return to. I’d rather drive to Catonsville or Silver Spring for some great Phở.
THE PROS
— inexpensive
— service was OK for the most part
— water refilled promptly
THE CONS
— food was bland
— noodles in phở were almost like bits and pieces
— summer rolls were pretty tasteless
— server never asked if we needed boxes
— décor is super plain
— god awful smooth jazz music playing
Overall this spot is not worth a second visit. The food was not good and there’s better places to spend time and money. Skip it…

The food is awesome. It is served quickly and the portions are generous.
The staff is extremely efficient; some are friendly and others are more reserved. But, do you need someone kissing your butt at a noodle bar? No!
I highly recommend it.

4.5 for the PHO
Yum yum my favorite phở spot– think I go here at least once a month
SURROUNDING: This place is in walking distance to towson mall/​trader joe/​s. Street parking in the busy area of towson, so it would be best to park at trader joe’s or park at urban outfitters (if you are lucky) and walk over. A mixed crowd of ethnic vietnamese and college students with outrageous expectations (see reviews below).
SERVICE: The staff and owner are friendly. It usually takes about 5 minutes for them to bring out the phở, though there has been once or twice when they were slow. They are usually busy on Saturday/​Sunday mornings like most phở places.
FOOD: I have tried phở tai and spring rolls. The broth is the best part of this place. It is very rich, flavorful and fragrant. The flavor is not too strong and friendly to the phở-​naïve. It’s also not too salty or greasy, which I have seen in some other phở places. They always give plenty of fresh basil, jalapenos, and sprouts. Also, their large is a true large– for serious eaters only.
PRICE: ~7 for small, less than a dollar more for large. This is the only phở place that I have been to in the past 2 years that hasn’t changed their prices.
BOTTOM LINE: Generous portions, good flavor, right price. Out of 6 of my regular spots, this is my number 1.