9400 Snowden River Pkwy
Columbia, MD 21045
410-381-3839
Pros: Impressive menu encompassing multiple Asian cuisines
Cons: Summer rolls are tiny, inconsistent service
After a few visits, we have determined that this restaurant deserves a firm place on our list. After a few visits to An Loi, we finally realized that we were missing an incredible Vietnamese restaurant just up the street a bit. At first glance, we were a listtle hesitant because the menu actually derives quite a bit from several Asian cuisines, and in the past, we’ve have unfavorable experiences with some pan-Asian restaurants, but this restaurant does it right!
Given that the primary portion of the menu is devoted to Vietnamese cuisine, we of course had to indulge in our favorite Vietnamese dishes: pho and vermicelli. The pho was excellent with a great tasting broth that leaves you yearning for more, especially on a cold winter day. The vermicelli topped with grilled pork and crispy egg rolls was actually approaching the standard set by our all-time favorite Vietnamese restaurant (Atlanta’s Pho 96). Our only complaint was that the summer rolls that we ordered seemed tiny…not at all worth the $3.50 they charge for them.
We also ventured over towards other areas of the menu, which shows a bit of a Chinese and Thai influence. The fried tofu and vegetables over crispy noodles was one of the best versions of this dish we had tasted (outside the version coming out of a home kitchen). And the clay-pot fish (actually a bit of a misnomer, as ours came in a metal pot) was simply amazing…better than our home-made attempt at this dish.
If you come in the middle of the week, business tends not to be very busy, but towards the end of the week, business booms. This just goes to show that Columbians know how to eat well after a long week of work.
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