Phó Anh Dào

A melange of herbs, spices, sauces and sprouts comes to the table to liven up beef, pork, fish and vegetable soups and rolls.

By:Faith Bahadurian

Phó Anh Dào

Franklin Mall

1483 Route 27 South (at Sinclair Street)

Somerset

(732) 246-1788

Food: Good to very good
Service: Very good
Prices: Inexpensive
Cuisine: Vietnamese
Vegetarian Options: Nine dishes in a special section
Ambience: Bright and utilitarian
Hours: Mon., Wed.-Thurs. 11:30 a.m.-9:30 p.m.; Fri.-
Sat. 11:30 a.m.-10 p.m.
Essentials: Major credit cards accepted; not wheelchair accessible due to small restrooms; BYO; no smoking; reservations only for large parties.
Directions

   Good Vietnamese food is inching its way south toward the Princeton area. Head to Somerset and pull into Franklin Mall to enjoy the delicate cuisine served up at Phó Anh Dào, which opened in 2002. Owner James Dào played a riff on his own name, which signifies luck, to come up with the name for the restaurant. Technically, it means "lucky noodle" (the noodles in pho, the Vietnamese soup), but he used a cherry blossom motif on his menu. The flower signifies good luck for Asians.
   Mr. Dào, who enjoyed the blossoms during springs spent in Washington, D.C., has been in the U.S. for 20 years. When his wife lost her restaurant job in post-9/11 layoffs, they decided to take a cue from his mother, who was a caterer in Vietnam, to open their own place. Phó Anh Dào has been successful enough that he gave up his own career as a chemist to focus on the business.
   The restaurant is divided into two spaces with a low wall in between. The décor is plain and the ambience is pleasant but subdued, maybe because diners are so busy working on their food.
   "Some assembly required" is the rule at the Vietnamese table, as many dishes come with accompaniments that require the diner to add this or that to their pho (the beef noodle soup that is arguably Vietnam’s national dish), or to wrap lettuce leaves around morsels of grilled or fried food.
   The service has been charming on each of my visits. One time I’d brought along a split of Asti Spumante (sparkling Italian wine) to celebrate a friend’s good fortune. Although I was nervous about his capabilities, I relinquished the bottle to a gently insistent waiter to be opened in back. He soon brought it back and set it on the table with a small smile. Turns out there was a screw cap under all that packaging!
   On the menu, each dish is numbered, with the name given in Vietnamese, and a concise English description underneath. Hot and spicy dishes are marked with a red chili pepper, but those are few, since Vietnamese cuisine lacks the fiery heat common to Thai cuisine. On the table are bottles of soy sauce, fish sauce, fruity hoisin sauce, and a hot chili sauce for those who wish to spice things up. But the focus here is on fresh, lively flavors, and the soups that make up much of the menu are accompanied by fresh bean sprouts, herbs (basil, mint, cilantro) and wedges of lime. The idea is that you add a little of each to each spoonful, for maximum effect.
   It’s easy to get carried away with appetizers here. Shredded pork and vegetable wrapped rice paper ($3.75) had all the positive attributes a spring roll should have, and will please those who can’t get enough of that treat. But I’ve found other appetizers more interesting.
   Grape leaves stuffed with beef ($5.95), a frequent special, are lightly grilled, served on bed of lettuce, and sprinkled with crushed peanuts. Mr. Dào tells me the leaves used in Vietnam are not found here, so he has improvised, with tasty results.
   Vietnamese pancake with shrimp and pork ($6.95) was good on one visit, and excellent on the next, with its filling of bean spouts, shreds of pork and small shrimp. I could eat this one every day.
   I have tried but one of the many varieties of beef pho offered, No. 21 ($6.50), and found it good although the broth was not as richly flavored as I’d expected. But my friend’s rice noodle and egg noodle soup with seafood ($7.50) was so very good that I ordered it for myself on the next visit.
   Pork is a popular meat in Vietnamese cooking, and of the several dishes that feature it, grilled pork chop and shredded pork on white rice ($6.75) was tasty in spite of a thin and somewhat dry chop. The shredded pork in the dish was more to my liking.
   On my recent review visit, I asked the waiter for entrée suggestions and he gave us two winners. Hot and sour seafood with vegetable soup ($9.95) bursts with flavor, chunks of salmon, shrimp, squid and the usual side dish of sprouts and herbs. Vietnamese egg rolls with grilled shrimp on rice vermicelli ($8.25) was also very good, with firm shrimp and crispy slices of spring roll perched on top of soft noodles. In a thoughtful gesture, the menu also has a selection of nine vegetarian dishes.
   Beverages at Phó Anh Dào are varied, with many fruit shakes available. While the avocado seems quite popular, I haven’t yet tried it, as it looks so filling. But I do recommend refreshingly tart-sweet soursop shake ($3.25) or lemonade mixed with seltzer ($2.50), the latter especially thirst-quenching.
   Every time I drive up to Phó Anh Dào the ride seems shorter. And I am making the trip more and more frequently as this charming restaurant grows on me.