A Dong

Ok, so the name is a little funny, but it's the name for Vietnamese currency so chuckle a little and then think of it that way.  And the food is so good, it doesn't matter.

Anyway, I just love A Dong that is located right near Methodist Hospital at 1511 High Street in Des Moines.  It's very easily accessible not far from the MLK exit off of 235.

The best adjective I have for the food at A Dong is "fresh".  Fresh vegetables and herbs are incorporated in every dish from Pho to Bun to rice dishes and stir fry's.  My favorite thing to order is #29.  It's the Bun (vermicelli rice noodle salad) with lemongrass chicken.  Lots of fresh lettuce, bean sprouts and cucumber with rice noodles and lightly sauteed lemongrass chicken.  So simple and healthier than most Chinese or Thai dishes that are sauce and calorie laden.  Not that I don't like those, it's just refreshing to have such a fresh, tasty meal sometimes.  #29 is pictured to your right.

They also have great Pho, which if you aren't familiar with the very traditional Vietnamese meal, it is rice noodles with your choice of meat in a broth also served with lots of fresh sprouts and herbs.  

I've incorporated some menu photos for you because the menu is hard to find online and they have over 100 menu items!  

They also have some Chinese rice dishes on their menu, but we go for the amazing Vietnamese items.  They use white meat chicken in all of their dishes and the beef has also been of good quality when we order it.  There is nothing worse than mystery meat.  You won't find that here unless of course you are looking for it...You can have most meals made with Vietnamese meatballs, duck, pork or fish meatballs.  I haven't ventured there, but if you have, let me know how you enjoyed it.  Most meals can be made vegetarian as well.

Prices are most reasonable and service is usually pretty quick.  The restaurant isn't much in the ambiance area, but it is clean and the food more than makes up for it.

They don't have a separate kids menu, but meals are big enough for sharing and the atmosphere is definitely family-friendly.  Perfect for the whole family but nice enough for a date-night or friends night-out.  A great place to try something new!