When we lived in Columbia, my favorite pho restaurant was Pho Dat Thanh on Snowden River Parkway. I’d been to An Loi, which was good, but always returned to Pho Dat Thanh. The staff was always nice, the food was served quickly, and I can’t recall getting anything wrong in the over hundred times I’ve been there.
It is also our kids’ favorite pho place, to this day, and we have our standard order that we get about once a month.
But when Pho 5Up opened up in the Cherry Tree Shopping Center in Fulton, I was excited. I now had a pho place just around the corner… I just hoped the folks going into the old Verizon store could deliver the goods.
Pho 5UP is a local chain with four locations (others are in Annapolis, Crofton, and Hanover) but I’ve only ever ordered from their Fulton location. They opened up during the pandemic so I’ve actually only ever gotten takeout from them!
My standard order is to get their #15 Beef & Pork Spicy Soup, described on the menu as “Big noodle with flank beef, pork ham, and pig feet (Vietnamese style) or no pig feet (American Style), in lemon grass and pepper flavor soup base.
Don’t let the “pig feet” freak you out, they’re more like ham hocks and not the foot.
The soup is quite spicy, which I like, and it comes with some sides that you get to pick. I tend to get the hard boiled egg but you can get a roll or a side of rice.
Here’s what it looks like all together in one of our bowls (which is massive, 8.5″ across and 4″ tall:
Their shrimp & pork rolls are delicious and the egg rolls are crispy. The egg rolls are more like spring rolls with the thin outer wrapper, not the thicker ones you might get at a Chinese takeout place.
The parking out front is quite limited (maybe 8-10 spaces) but it’s at the start of the Cherry Tree Shopping Center so there’s plenty of parking overall.
Give it a try and let me know what you think!