114790 Sun Jan 25 00:41:37 -0800 2004 13 7 Chicago Area 0 625234 i'm treating a friend to dinner at dong thanh next week. he was fascinated by their egg/club soda drink a year ago and insists on going back for more. had tried their bo tai chanh and felt it was a bit below average. aside from their chow fun, i don't know what else is good there. any suggestions? Sun Jan 25 00:41:37 -0800 2004 0 annie 1 625273 Annie, Titus Wong's exceptional January 2003 post on Dong Thanh motivated me to go both there and Pho 777 for Bun Bo Hue, which I now have at least once a month. I have tried, and enjoyed, all of the dishes on Titus's original Dong Thanh post, and follow ups in the same thread, and even keep a copy of his Dong Thanh posts in my Palm Pilot, along with ReneG's 26th street, Rob's Ice Cream and a few of RST's Tectonic Plate shift posts, among others, for reference. I will link to Titus's post, be sure to read the follow up posts, including Zim's. Speaking of Pho 777, I'd like to put in a good word for my favorite dish there, Bo Tai Chanh (#83). Bo Tai Chanh is lime marinated rare beef chock full of aromatics and served with crispy multi-colored shrimp crackers. Trick is to spoon a bit of the beef into a puffed up shrimp cracker and eat, great interplay of contrasting textures and flavors. Another favorite dish, in an Argyle restaurant that does not get a lot of mention, is Goi Ga at Cafe Hoang. M Eng mentioned the Asian chicken salad in an August 2002 World Eats column and is a dish I find myself returning to often. Goi Ga is a light mix of cabbage, chicken, carrot, onion, bright fresh herbs, crunchy peanut, dressed with fish sauce, lime, sugar and chiles. A nice light, inexpensive, lunch for two when matched with their crisp greaseless Ban Xeo and rice. Enjoy, Gary Dong Thanh 4925 N Broadway St Ste B Chicago IL 60640 (773) 275-4928 Pho 777 1065 W Argyle St Chicago,IL 60640 773- 561-9909 Cafe Hoang 1010 W Argle Street Chicago, IL 60640 773-878-9943 Link: http://www.chowhound.com/topics/show/112099#608385 Mon Jan 26 09:47:40 -0800 2004 625234 0 G Wiv 2 625357 thanx gary. titus's post on their soup noodles was very informative. unfortunately, i'm an embarrassment to my people and cannot eat soupy food. not even pho and my own grandma is one of the cooks at 777! so i'm thinking banh xeo and eggrolls are a safe bet. is their banh xeo pretty much the same as the other restaurants? i ask because the post mentioned turnip and eggs. never had it like that before so maybe it'll be something to try. have you had their goi? is it comparable to your cafe hoang? any other 'dry' food recommendations? and since you mentioned bun bo hue (which i'm not a fan of), i think you might want to try it at cafe hoang. my sister and aunt think that they make absolutely the best bun bo hue on argyle. strange thing about it is that it's not even hot like the ones in other restaurant. kinda lime-y. but my sister claims that the cook or whoever is from the central region of vietnam so it's pretty authentic. Mon Jan 26 22:31:36 -0800 2004 625273 0 annie 3 625424 Anne, I have stuck mainly to soup at Dong Thanh, with the occasional Goi Cuon or Banh Xeo, both of which I enjoy. Dong Thanh has, of course, the usual compliment of rice vermicelli and steamed rice dishes available, I will be interested hearing what you sampled. Possibly there will be other posts in the thread with additional suggestions. Please tell your grandmother she is a wonderful cook. Enjoy, Gary Tue Jan 27 16:21:37 -0800 2004 625357 0 G Wiv 4 625437 awww. i'm sure she'll be happy to hear that. sadly, most of us feel her bun bo hue is mediocre....and it's common knowledge that my grandfather is a better cook! Tue Jan 27 20:29:59 -0800 2004 625424 0 annie 1 625382 Dong Thanh really excels in the soup noodle department. Hu Tieu Bo Sate, Bun Goi Gia, Bun Nuoc Leo, Bun Bo Hue, Bun Rieu, Bun Ca Ri Ga, Hu Tieu/Mi Bo Kho, Hu Tieu Dong Thanh... The goi cuon (springrolls), cha gio (egg rolls), and banh xeo ("pancake") are perfectly acceptable. Or try the xiu mai (pork dumpling). Mi xao don/mi xao mem (fried noodle dishes) are well-executed. If you are inclined to share dishes with your companion, I'd recommend the traditional pairing of Canh Chua Ca (sweet/sour fish soup) and Ca Kho To (simmered caramel catfish). They do these dishes exceptionally well and, at the least, you will greatly impress the owner with your ordering prowess. ;) The Canh Chua Ca is one of my favourite dishes in the city. The broth contains catfish, tamarind pulp, garlic oil, pineapple, tomato, chopped bean sprouts, rau om, and bac ha. [I should warn you that this is very, very *quiet* food.] As for anything else, ask the proprietor. He can recommend a vegetable dish to you. His wife--a brilliant cook--makes a wicked coconut milk-free ca ri ga. If you aren't afraid of bones, make it clear that you want the "Vietnamese" version, not the "American" boneless version. Happy eating, Erik M. Tue Jan 27 11:43:08 -0800 2004 625234 0 Erik M. 2 625400 > [I should warn you that this is very, very *quiet* food.] Erik, just out of curiosity, what do you mean by "*quiet*" food? Not Spicy? or something else? Thanks for the great menu guide - your research and knowledge of argyle and environs is impressive. Tue Jan 27 14:30:37 -0800 2004 625382 0 Seth Zurer 3 625416 The flavouring is very subtle. The dish barely whispers. It doesn't scream for your attention. Like, say, 777's bo tai chanh. Erik M. Tue Jan 27 15:28:51 -0800 2004 625400 0 Erik M. 2 625436 just found out we'll have one more person at the table tomorrow night. this will allow me to test more things out without looking like a pig. :D a meal of appetizers seems like a safe bet. mi xao don too. should i get this with beef or seafood or both? my family really likes their hu tieu xao bo but we're trying to expand our horizon at this point. i'll examine the menu for more interesting things. just still a bit disappointed about my bo tai chanh last time though. will return with a followup of my visit.....including a closer look at that raw egg/club soda drink my friend is so fascinated with. by the way, does anyone know where they serve pho xao? erik m., which argyle restaurant serves the best ca ri ga? a friend of mine wants to try vietnamese curry but since i favor the thai version, i haven't a clue as to where would be best. how does dong thanh's version compare with other restaurants? Tue Jan 27 20:23:12 -0800 2004 625382 0 annie 3 625456 Annie, Is your family from Northern Vietnam? To the best of my knowledge, pho xao isn't on any menu, you have to ask restaurants to make it for you. Regarding cari ga: Dong Thanh's is a favourite of mine, yes. Its markedly different from the rest on the Strip. Tank and Pho Xe Lua make similar versions. Both contain yam and khoai mon (taro). They are quite nice. I wouldn't consider any other establishment a *destination* for cari ga, and I'd suggest avoiding Pho Hung and Dong Ky. Unless, of course, you are looking for the "kiddie" version. You'll find that at Dong Ky. Its like baby food. ;) Erik M. Wed Jan 28 12:00:17 -0800 2004 625436 0 Erik M. 4 625486 okay. hunted down my mother to ask about my heritage. her family is a random mix of french vietnamese from saigon. don't know which region pho xao came from but it's been a favorite of ours for the longest time. will be eating at dong thanh in half an hour. i think my new plan will be to bug any restaurant on argyle into serving pho xao. will see if i come up with anything. was searching old messages to see if i can dig up anything. when i mentioned the 777 bo tai chanh to my mother, she gave me this evil smirk. i read somewhere that the quality of 777 went down. my mom said it was business had been off for the last few months. they 'layoffed' their cooks at random and ask them to come back in a few days. at one point, the gas was cut off cuz the owner didn't pay the bill. so that explains a bit. ok. off i go to feed myself. ciao ciao. Wed Jan 28 19:39:04 -0800 2004 625456 0 annie 5 625524 FWIW, I have never particularly liked 777's bo tai chanh. It has been hyped here extensively, though. And I believe it was R.S.T. that complained about "quality issues" with 777, more generally. Regarding pho xao: Woops. Pho Hung/Hing Kee actually has it on their menu. Pho xao bo, pho xao ga, pho xao rau cai, pho xao bo sate... As I never go to Pho Hung, what did I know? I only know it from Hanoi. You shouldn't have any trouble getting places to make it for you. Erik M. Thu Jan 29 11:28:51 -0800 2004 625486 0 Erik M. 6 625527 My wife and I ate at Pho 777 about 6 weeks ago and were very satisfied with the pho. When we lived around that area, Pho 777 was our favorite for pho, but I got to say I was a terrible chow-scientist in the sense that once we settled in on Pho 777, we did not branch out too much (for pho). I do agree with Erik generally about Pho Hua being not as good, but more for the bad service and general mess of the place as just for the food. (On the other hand, the food court is gorgeous, the service is nice, but the food sucks). Rob Link: http://vitalinformation.blogspot.com Thu Jan 29 11:59:41 -0800 2004 625524 0 Vital Information 6 625579 hmmmm. i can't believe that pho hung has it! we ordered takeout from there 3 weeks ago. seafood chowfun (stir fried wide rice noodles served with seafood and vegetable). was very displeased with it though. used to order seafood chowfun every week when i was in high school (it was just that good!). was complaining about my recent order to someone when i found out that they had changed ownership some time ago. but fyi, i think 'song song' serves the best seafood chowfun on argyle. i can't even begin to describe it. it's just perfection.....but just like the case of dong thanh, this is the only thing i happen to think is good there. don't remember the address for song song but it's just a few doors west of sun wah. but i think i will give pho hung another try. will come back when i get pho xao on the table ;D Thu Jan 29 19:29:41 -0800 2004 625524 0 annie