Oh? An Loi Has Different Pho? Let's Go.

An Loi's pho with kimchi

Variation is the spice of life -- just be clear about out how much spice you want.

Vietnamese soup makes for a great dinner -- either a casual dinner out or great get-well takeout for home.  The standard pho -- which is pronounced "fugh" despite the bad "fo" puns above -- is a beef stock served with several beef options and an array of Thai basil, sprouts and sliced hot peppers that you can use to personalize the dish.

An Loi and Pho Dat Thanh in Columbia both do a fine pho.  I can't claim they match the amazing Vietnamese food that you could get in Northern Virginia.  But I enjoy my basic bowl with thin-sliced brisket and eye-round steak (#P4), and you can't beat dinner entrees at $7.

Two soups -- one with fried chicken

With several weeks of colds this fall, we filled several prescriptions at An Loi, and we went beyond the generic drugs.  Pho with kim chi (#P11) came first.  That can't be traditional Vietnamese, but the flavors paired nicely.  The sour spice of Korean cabbage contrasted with the stock, but it didn't take over.

Then we left the pho page all together for other Vietnamese soups.  Bun bo hue (#H8) comes with vermicelli noodles -- thicker than the regular rice versions.  Spicy soup.  Nose-clearing, virus-killing spicy.  It was exactly what I needed.

Mrs. HowChow mixed up and ordered hu tieu hoac mi ga xoi mo (#H3) -- a soup flavored with minced pork and served with crisp fried chicken on the side.  Cool variation.  Not chicken as special as you can get.  But still proof that you should work around An Loi's menu as well.

Anything else you like at An Loi or Pho Dat Thanh?  Mrs. HowChow likes the lemon grass chicken with noodle (#B6), although the spiciness can vary day-to-day.  Thai and Vietnamese are both great cuisines, and we have good places.  I'm still looking for the great dishes though.  (Updated: I fixed both mis-spellings. I think.)

Comfort: Bread - In Many Forms - With Meat Or Vegetables (And Potato Salad On The Side)

The vegetarian special at Soretti's

Bon Fresco Sandwich Bakery has begun charging 50 cents for its potato salad side dish, and you shouldn't think twice about picking up one or even two.

Fresh bread makes wonderful comfort food.  To me, no one makes a better sandwich than Bon Fresco's London broil.  But don't go cheap and miss out on the amazing potato salad -- smooth without being heavy, getting all the flavor from the basic potato without tarting up with cream and fat.

Fifty cents is a bargain.   It's better than any bag of chips -- and cheap at that price.

Bon Fresco's London broil and potato salad

But comforting bread can come in many forms.  The Bon Fresco sandwich makes for an easy grab.  Even after a drive home, the thin-sliced steak contrasts perfectly with the crisp greens and the slightly chewy loaf.


In contrast, Soretti Ethiopian Cuisine's vegetable special provides a homey, simple challenge.  You just eat everything. Eat the vegetables.  Eat the lentils.  Even eat the plate -- the injera bread spread out beneath the stews.

It's not literally the plate.  There is a plate under the injera.  I realize that Ethiopian vegetable platters may not be the most-standard comfort food.  But I last ended up in the Burtonsville restaurant on night where I had to feed myself and a cold.  I brought a paperback novel, and I sat quietly with dinner and a cup of sweet Ethiopian tea.  One of the lentils runs spicy, but mostly, the salads and stews just taste like vegetables.  Bright colors, earthy flavors, and healthy fuel for a healing body.

Soretti is a friendly, relaxed place.  The women there treated me nicely, and I hung out to read and finish my tea.  They offered some extra lentils, which sounded smart until I realized that I was incredibly full.  They're delicious, but I realized eventually that I was scooping food to be polite -- not because I needed any more to eat.

Comfort: The Classiest Takeout Dinner Around

A takeout spread from Sushi Sono

It's always odd to realize that I get such comfort from a food that I didn't really eat until after college.

Takeout dinners are a wonderful comfort on busy days, and you can get delicious takeout at many places around Howard County.  But the classiest takeout comes from one of the best restaurants -- Sushi Sono.

Sushi Sono's fish and rolls make it one of my favorite restaurants in Howard County, and I'm always surprised at how well it makes the trip home in the car.  I steer away from rolls with tempura shrimp.  That's no problem because you can fill a platter with good ideas -- the vegetable roll, the #14, bridal, hurricane eye . . .

Fill a pretty platter, and you could run a dinner party with Sushi Sono's takeout.  Plop the takeout containers in front of the television, and you can just relax with delicious fish.  Either way, it's a winner.

Sushi has become ubiquitous so you don't need to drive to downtown Columbia for Sushi Sono.  I'm just saying it's beautiful, amazing food that you can carry home.  Where do you get takeout sushi?  What rolls or other dishes take home the best? Check here for all the posts about sushi.

Sambar, Idli, And Deep-Fried, Old Bay Wings -- Comfort Food Just Like Grandma Used To Make

Sometimes, you just need to trust your instincts.

I drove all the way to Rte 40 in a cold-induced fog last night in search of dinner.  I had food in the house, but I'd been trapped inside for two days -- one without phone, Internet or television.  (A Verizon tech apparently unplugged us yesterday because he or she found us plugged into the wrong port in the company's hub.  Thanks Verizon!)

But somewhere around St. Johns Road, I decided that I couldn't face eating alone in a bright restaurant.

That's how I ended up at a cafe table outside Kloby's Smokehouse's takeout counter.  Warm night.  Weird fog.  And a weird pairing of food that just felt right: lentil soup with rice dumplings and chicken wings.

That's health food on Johns Hopkins Road: Sambar and idli from Tandoor Grill and "dirty and old" wings from Kloby's.  A slightly spicy soup.  Some mild steamed rice dumplings.  The crunchy chicken wings.  At the time, I passed on the chili naan as too much for my stomach, but now I wonder if that heat would have killed off my viruses.

Comfort: Royal Taj's Korma, Eggplant & Naan

Royal Taj when they took us in during the blackout

Comfort food doesn't make obvious blogging.

Work and a series of colds have kept me down -- and made us go back for food that we already know.  It's not new, but it's delicious and warm.

Royal Taj in Columbia was actually the place we fled during last summer's blackout.  We sat forever.  We would have been satisfied were just air conditioning, but they fed us well too.

Comfort food at Royal Taj generally means takeout.  Mrs. HowChow can drive home via Snowden River Parkway, so there is a choice of great Indian at House of India, Akbar, Mango Grove, etc.  That summer dinner converted her to Royal Taj.

Chicken korma and baigan barta.  They're mild dishes, full of the spices and flavors of Indian food, but not spicy in a hot pepper kind of way.  Sometimes, Mrs. HowChow mixes up the meat order by going with tandoor chicken.  At $14-20 an entree, Royal Taj isn't cheap, but we always get dinners and next-day lunches from two entrees and naan.

Naan really makes this a comfort dinner.  Warm bread makes everything seem better.