‘Comfort food on a cold day:’ New Danglicious Vietnamese Kitchen brings authentic dishes to Washougal

WASHOUGAL — Some of Andrew Dang’s fondest memories are of family get-togethers at his parents’ house in northeast Portland.

He and his nine siblings would gather weekly to catch up and share a home-cooked meal, usually pho, a traditional Vietnamese soup.

Food and family is the heart of the Danglicious Vietnamese Kitchen, which Dang and his wife, Thoai Nguyen, opened Aug. 17 in downtown Washougal.

“This is the food that we eat at home,” Dang said, nodding to a bowl of spicy beef stew during a lunchtime conversation late last month. “We feel that food is the connection among us as a family. And we want to be able to pass that on to customers, to be able to have them enjoy nice food and talk about their lives. You come here, you order, sit down, relax, and enjoy the food and the conversation.”

Danglicious is the only Vietnamese restaurant in Camas and Washougal.

“After we moved to Camas, when we had a craving for Vietnamese food, we really didn’t know where to go, and I feel like a lot of people probably had the same feeling,” Nguyen said. “We saw that a lot of Americans were really interested in our Vietnamese food. At my workplace, when I talk about our food: ‘Yeah, I know I know pho’ or ‘I know the banh mi sandwich’ and those kinds of things. I feel like there’s a need for it.”

The restaurant, 1887 Main St. in downtown Washougal, serves a variety of authentic Vietnamese dishes, including chicken noodle soup, pho, vermicelli noodles and banh mi.

Nguyen said the restaurant “twists” its recipes a bit to accommodate American tastes.

“I found that a fusion or a balancing-out is always the best,” she said. “Just like the way I raise my kids, I try to balance out the American way and Vietnamese way, because I find with each way you have the best.”

Dang, Nguyen and their three children moved from Portland, where they had lived for 20 years, to Camas in 2022. Dang works as a product owner for NW Natural, and Nguyen is a pharmacist for Costco. They refer to Danglicious as their side job — one that comes with occasional pressure but enjoyment as well.

“We’re not going to hide from it. It’s very stressful because we didn’t have any experience before opening a restaurant, and we have full-time jobs and then all the kids’ activities that we need to keep up with as well,” Dang said. “But the thing that makes me feel the most proud is the family involvement with this restaurant. The support from our family and our friends has been tremendous, and we’re just so grateful for it. That’s why we were able to open this restaurant.”

Dang said “everyone in the family helps out one way or another.” Dang’s brother, Don, is the restaurant’s cook and operations manager.

Dang said he and his family members are focused on “community-building” and have received a warm welcome from their fellow downtown Washougal business owners.

“I know that we have a very limited space, but at the same time, I enjoy it when I see people taking their time, slowing down, and enjoying their lives, rather than hurrying all the time,” Dang said.