A Dong Restaurant

Grant loves Asian food - Vietnamese, Japanese, Chinese, Thai, all of it - and me, not so much. But every once in awhile when he's indulged me my burgers and tenderloins, he gets to pick the lunch spot. This last time he picked A Dong Restaurant. Located at the edge of the Sherman Hill neighborhood at 1511 High Street, A Dong has been a Des Moines favorite for all things Vietnamese for years.

You can dine in or carry out and the place is always busy.

The menu is huge - pages and pages of pork, chicken, beef, seafood, pho, and an extensive vegetarian menu. I love that everything is written in Vietnamese with descriptions in English for people like me that don't know much of anything about Vietnamese food. The servers are also helpful for answering questions about all of the interesting menu items.

It's a nice, open space, clean with plenty of tables. We had lunch on a Saturday and it was definitely busy, but we were waited on quickly and our food came out fast and very hot.

Grant started with the spring rolls. Packed full of veggies and herbs, they are fresh and flavorful.

I tried the gourmet egg rolls. Crispy and crunchy, they came with a tasty dipping sauce.

Grant loves pho and ordered up a bowl of rare beef pho. The broth is rich and loaded with flavor, you can just imagine those kettles of stock simmering in the kitchen. Filled with noodles, it's a big bowl of soup that will really fill you up.

The side salad that comes with the pho lets you add bean sprouts, herbs, jalapeno, and lime to your bowl. Grant throws it all in there.

Since I am so not adventurous with Asian cuisine, I had the beef fried rice. It was very good, lightly fried with lots of beef and veggies, plus a nice soy-based sauce added another level of flavor to the tasty rice.

And, of course, if you need to punch it up even more, rooster sauce is on every table.

They do offer beer and wine at A Dong along with good tea and that most interesting of beverages, Bubble Tea, in several flavors. Grant had a Tsing Tao beer with his pho and I had a nice glass of Chardonnay.

Reviews for A Dong are everywhere online - Urbanspoon, Trip Advisor, Yelp - they have legions of fans that will let you in on their favorites at A Dong. 

Let us know what your favorite dishes are at A Dong in the comments. Next time Grant needs his pho fix I might even try something you suggest for a Vietnamese food newbie!

A Dong Restaurant

1511 High Street
Des Moines, IA  50309

515.284.5632

Hours

Tuesday - Saturday  11:00am - 11:00pm
Sunday  10:00am - 8:00pm