localflavor Pho Dang Vietnamese Café cooks up flaming fare

Author: Jean Falconer

If I had to describe Pho Dang Vietnamese Café in just one word, I think I would go with SPICY! If I had a bald spot, it would have been shiny with sweat by the time I finished my meal, just like my dad whenever he eats any really spicy food. Looking back on this dining experience nearly brings tears to my eyes - not because the food was bad, but merely because every bite was like putting a stick of dynamite into my mouth. Before my mouth was burned to the point of numbness, however, I was able to rejoice in the bliss of Asian cuisine, a far cry from Atwater's poor attempt at mimicking Eastern victuals.

When I first entered the tiny building on Main Street in Winooski, it felt like a regular burger joint with an Asian sign out front, rather than a typical Vietnamese restaurant. Pho Dang is a tiny eatery, with only nine petit tables. Once I walked inside, a teenage employee at the back of the restaurant hailed me with the highest-pitch voice I have ever heard. After she instructed me to take a seat wherever I pleased, I sat down at one of the small tables and began to peruse the menu while over the radio came the crooning of what I imagined to be Vietnamese pop music - it was pretty horrendous. After ordering my meal, my waitress brought out a little silver teapot full of piping hot liquid and tiny Asian cups, which provided sufficient distraction from waiting for my food to where the wait became nearly nonexistent.

When my meal arrived, it was laid down in front of me in a gigantic bowl. Although I had ordered #23 on the menu (I recommend using the numbers when ordering as the actual names of the dishes are ridiculous to pronounce. For instance, mine was "Bun Bo Xao Xa Ot Cha Gio), which was under the section entitled "Bun-Vermicelli Noodle," it appeared to be almost soup-like. It had very skinny, clear noodles along with stir-fried beef, and cut-up miniature eggrolls. The dish also came with lemongrass, of which I was not a big fan since it overpowered the other flavors in the dish. Literally, all I could taste was lemon and grass. That is, of course, while I could still taste at all. By the time I had finished, eating one of those little eggrolls was like lighting my mouth on fire. It was seriously so hot that I proceeded to attempt to let air in my mouth to cool it down and ease the pain by opening my mouth ridiculously wide and looking like an idiot. Until that point, though, the eggrolls were probably my favorite part of the dish.

If spicy foods are not your forte, I would recommend ordering the classic pho dish instead of one of the hotter entrees. Pho, a Vietnamese soup dish with noodles, meat and cilantro, is much more mild than, say, #23 on the menu. One drawback to the pho, however, is that the soup served up at Pho Dang was rather lacking in flavor. If you do opt for the pho, you may find it necessary to add salt and rooster sauce to up the flavor intensity. Also, if you are not a huge fan of cilantro, you might want to count this dish out. Aside from entrees, I would also recommend the eggrolls or Cha Gio as an appetizer and the Ca Phe Sua Da, or iced coffee, for a frosty, caffeine-infused treat.

Although the spicy fare served up at Pho Dang may leave you nursing third-degree burns on your tongue, it certainly will not burn a hole through your wallet. With the most expensive item on the menu costing just $8.50, Pho Dang most definitely fits the average college student's budget. The Vietnamese café, located at 215 Main St. in Winooski, Vt., serves up some of Vermont's finest pho daily from 10 a.m. to 10:30 p.m.