Adventurous Vietnamese: Hit the Road to Thanh Phuong in Pearland

Thanh Phuong has existed in Pearland for at least the last 15 years, but until very recently it served an uninspired if decent menu of Chinese standards with a few Vietnamese dishes thrown in. That was before the Nguyen family took over. They smartly left the standards in place — Thanh Phuong still does a very busy to-go service in the evenings for families in the area — but added more traditional dishes to the menu along with a massive assortment of game meats, something which sets it very far apart from nearly every other Vietnamese restaurant. PHOTOS BY THEO SANTOS