River City Writer

Last night, I had a date, and we went to Doan’s Vietnamese Restaurant (south side location) for dinner. Doan’s has long been one of my favourite restaurants in the city (either location—both are equally good, in my opinion), so I figured that we couldn’t go wrong. It’s also rarely busy—a table is usually guaranteed without a wait, even on the weekend—and the food is inexpensive.

My favourite dish on the menu is the Seafood Sizzling Platter, but I don’t order it often, as it’s one of the most expensive items on the menu (approx. $17). Last night, I opted for the Prawns, Beef & Pork Vermicelli dish. I honestly didn’t even look at the price, but I think it was around $10 or $12. My date ordered one of the Combinations for 1. Specifically, she ordered the chicken combo (Combo A).

Each of the Combo for 1 dishes comes with a small bowl of wonton soup, and a main course of rice, vegetables, and whatever meat is in the combo (beef, pork, prawns, or chicken are the options). Each of these combo plates is about $10. The prawn combo is slightly more expensive at $11.

If you’re not feeling particularly adventurous, the Combo for 1 dishes are a safe bet. They aren’t bland or boring, but they’re not particularly creative or unique, either. They are a safe, inexpensive option for more cautious diners. I’ve been known to order a combo plate myself, from time to time.

While I find that most of the food I order at Doan’s to be quite flavourful, the vermicelli dish wasn’t. I found it very bland, even after adding soy sauce and hot chili sauce to it. The special fish sauce might have given it some zing, but I’m not a huge fan of fish sauce, so I didn’t try it.

I’ve ordered vermicelli dishes at Doan’s before, and had the same problem. I’d much rather order one of the many lemongrass dishes, or the Seafood Sizzling Platter that I’m so fond of. I think I’ll try and remember to stay clear of the bland vermicelli dishes from now on.

I ordered a Tsingtao beer with my meal, which went well. As tends to be the case with beer, if you order a drink from the same region as the food you’re eating, it will likely compliment it well. Tsingtao is a Chinese beer so, while it isn’t Vietnamese, it comes from Asia, and goes well with most Asian food (though, I have a feeling that it wouldn’t work as well with Japanese food). At $4.75 for a bottle, the Tsingtao was a very good price, considering what you typically pay for imported beer in other restaurants.

In terms of service, I have to admit that the south side location is much better than the downtown location. I tend to go downtown more often, just because it’s so close to my apartment, but the service is very slow, and very poor most of the time. It’s rare that I even get my water glass refilled before the end of my meal at the downtown location. The south side location provides much faster, and far more attentive service than the downtown location.

The food is equally good at either location, but the service is better at the south side location. Having said that, the downtown location isn’t so bad that I’d make a point of driving to the south side because of the difference in service.

For more restaurant reviews and information, check out my Edmonton Restaurant Guide.