Week: Thur. Janauary 11, 2007
Hoang Long is a quirky Asian market whose shelves look like a tornado just ripped through. It’s located off Marietta’s Pat Mell Road in a beaten down strip center that houses the usual Mexican suspects: a taqueria, carniceria, and several seedy storefronts proudly boasting, “We cash checks.”
Pho Hoang Long is a narrow Vietnamese restaurant attached to one side of cluttered Huang Long market. The restaurant side, approximately the width of one store aisle, is surprisingly tidy. A small family runs both the market and restaurant — a husband and wife team with the help of their 2 young sons. Chances are, the pleasantly mannered oldest son will be your server.
Being such a tiny restaurant, the menu is much larger than I expected. One dish that immediately caught my eye is bahn xeo, a wonderful offering that’s rarely served in Vietnamese restaurants along our city’s major ethnic artery, Buford Highway.
Here, bahn xeo arrives a large rice flour crepe stuffed with thinly sliced pork and grilled small shrimp, tangled in bean sprouts and oddly, a healthy helping of mung beans. Just dump the accompanying nuoc cham all over it.
Pork bun is shockingly good, tossed with leaf lettuce not iceberg. The bright red pork pieces are big and meaty, and not overcooked.
The offering that won’t surprise anybody is pho. Though a solid version, it’s certainly not the best you’ll ever eat. The meat is nicely done, but the broth lacks intensity and tends to be a little bland.
But who’s complaining? It’s nice to have a pho option in Marietta, and in such close proximity to deprived Smrynites.
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Bahn Xeo
Type of Cuisine: Vietnamese
Address/Tel:
331 Pat Mell Road, Marietta GA., 30060 Tel: 770.384.0530
Recommended: Pho, Bun Bo Hue, Bahn Xeo, Bun
Pricing:
Most under $10
Hours:
Mon - Sat:10am - 9pm
Sun: 9:30am - 8:30pm
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