We had an excellent dinner this week at La Dong, a relatively new venture from the owners of Thai Villa. Reading Yelp reviews, I found a small number of naysayers, complaining that it is not authentic Vietnamese, which may well be true, but for us the quality of the food is more important than the authenticity. There is nothing inherently wrong with innovation.
To start, we shared a mango salad with soft shell crab. For the main course, we had bun cha and a tongue stew. The bun cha was one of the best we have had. The tongue was delicious, though it could have benefited from a longer stewing. It wasn’t tough but could have been a bit more tender.
Service was cordial and attentive.
With a bottle of Riesling, the bill with tax and tip was $190.
Robert Rems' Open House 