Soul Food for my Inner Little Asian Dude.

I loves me some Vietnamese Food. Hoards of Vietnamese coming to America was the only good thing to come out of that war in SE Asia. I'm not of fan of why they came, but my inner little Asian dude is exceedingly happy they came with their woks.

For years now, I've been going to Thang Long on John R in Madison Heights. I've never had a bad meal or experience in all those years. I love this place and at Pee Wee Herman's suggestion, "Then why don't you marry it?", I just might. At least I know it can cook.

If you love food and you love Thai or Chinese and have never had Vietnamese, you're like a guy who loves football but have only watched Lions. I mean this stuff is yummy times 10. Think about it. You have all the influences of SE Asia, plus the infusion of French cooking courtesy of their colonial attempts which like all their conquests, ended badly.

Most people, including myself think Pho when they think Vietnamese. Pho is pronounced like fuck, without the ck on the end. So if you're very much like you were when you were 12 years old, you can have a lot of fun talking about Pho. "I love to Pho" or "Pho you" comes to mind. But I digress. Actually, I always do. When Pho comes to the table it always comes in a Jethro sized bowl. In it you'll find a mass of rice noodles so large that it would make an East side girl's "big hair" look like a crew cut. The noodles come swimming in a rich broth seasoned with star anise, ginger and all kinds of mysterious scary things that we Americans are happy not to know about. Generally, people prefer beef in their Pho but chicken Pho is worth trying too. Served on the side is your veg and herbs. Bean sprouts, cabbage, mint, chilies, basil, any all or all could come to the table. You throw these in and season with condiments on the table and strap yourself in for cosmic rocket ride of flavor. I likes to sear my tongue until tears roll down my pinchable cheeks so usually you'll find me suffering over a bowl of Hue soup. It's Pho that's been made to harm white people like myself. If I haven't made myself clear I LOVE TO PHO!

There's much more to life than just Pho. Bun is another fav. The same noodles without the broth. I generally order number 74 or 75. Noodles with choice of meat and spring rolls. Make sure you order the pork. It's marinated and then seared over a charcoal grill. Order the pork or I will find you. The spring rolls are divine as well. Different from Thai and way different from Chinese I get a little woosy just thinkin' about them. So you got your noodles and pork and you've poured the liquidy sweet, sour, spicy sauce into your bowl and begin to pull at your noodles with your sticks and find lots of shredded veg hidden underneath. This btw is my Summer dish. It's lighter and served just warm but not hot.

The menu features a ton of Viet dishes. I've tried a few. Living away for so long I had to have my favs whenever I came to town. Now that I live here I'll force myself to venture outside of my love zone. Here's some of the things I've had, Todd Mun (Yum), La Lot Beef, Larb (different from most Thai, Larb but excellent just the same), I've made my own rolls and a few other things I'm forgetting. They've all been good. I'm looking forward to eating my way through the menu like Kwame burned through campaign donations.

One of the things you want to do when going to an ethnic joint is to play the Sesame St. game, "One of these is not like the other". Look around the room, if you're the thing that doesn't look like the other, then you're in the right place. Thang Long always attracts Vietnamese people. Or at least Vietnamese looking people. Don't call me a racist because I can't distinguish between a Cambodian or a Vietnamese person. Geesh, people get a grip!

I love this place. It's like soul food for my Little Inner Asian Dude. It hits every flavor note and the best thing is, I'm discovering my city one bite and one drink at a time. If you're in a food rut, my advice is for you to do the same. Soon, you'll be digesting detroit too.


Thang Long Map