Vietnamese in downtown Des Plaines

A few months ago, I stopped at Annam Café in Evanston to carry-out some spring rolls and bun bo rice noodle salads to bring home to the far north suburbs, where Vietnamese cuisine is nonexistent. Imagine my surprise to see the place closed down. I had known that David Tran, the owner/chef and formerly of Annam Express in Skokie and (I think) Pasteur on Broadway way back in the 1980’s, was unhappy about the rising rents in downtown Evanston. But still…

So last night, we were on our way to pick up my daughter from the airport, and wanted to find a Vietnamese restaurant, if one existed, near O’Hare. Ah, the wonders of the Internet. Right in downtown Des Plaines, facing the Metra tracks, is Dung Gia, owned by none other than Mr. Tran himself. He certainly seems happy in his new digs, which is a tiny, funky storefront (I counted eight tables and 26 seats) and more importantly, the food is the same. In fact, David’s wife welcomed us heartily and said ‘Same as before? Bun Bo?’ What a memory!

Everything regarding the food, thankfully, was ‘same as before’ and just as good. Banx Xeo, the Vietnamese (with French influence) crepe with crunchy veggies, chicken & shrimp inside a very thin wafer-like pancake, all to be cut and wrapped inside green leaf lettuce, fresh mint, then drizzled with a vinegar sauce, was fabulous. Shrimp spring rolls were solid. And of course, the bun bo (cold thin rice vermicelli with raw bean sprouts, cucumber, shredded carrot, lettuce, then topped with wokked onion and peanut-ty satay beef with lemongrass) was the gold standard in our book. I suppose there are many variations of this simple dish, but we’re used to this one & it’s comfort food to us.

Place was hopping at 6:30 last night, eat-in and carry-out. The Trans deserve to make it here, David’s cooking is too authentic and too solid to not miss. Read a February 2008 article in the Daily Herald:

http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=138627

Besides, there’s a very cool neon ‘Pho’ sign in the window…

Dung Gia
1436 Miner
Des Plaines, IL
(847) 803-4402

I'm glad to hear they're doing well. My office is just a couple blocks from where Annam used to be, and their beef sate soup was probably my favorite Evanston restaurant lunch. They are definitely missed.

grace

A few months ago, I stopped at Annam Café in Evanston to carry-out some spring rolls and bun bo rice noodle salads to bring home to the far north suburbs, where Vietnamese cuisine is nonexistent. Imagine my surprise to see the place closed down. I had known that David Tran, the owner/chef and formerly of Annam Express in Skokie and (I think) Pasteur on Broadway way back in the 1980’s, was unhappy about the rising rents in downtown Evanston. But still…

I spotted this place the other day when dropping off my water bill payment at nearby city hall. I've been wanting to try it ever since. Glad to get this advance report.

Good luck to them in that location. Downtown Des Plaines is not parking friendly, particularly that stretch of Miner Street. Prior to Dung Gia that space housed a Russian/Eastern European deli followed by Joey Tomatoes, an Italian deli. Both of them nose dived due to the limited foot traffic on that block.

I wish Dung Gia well and will try to do my part to support them. The city of Des Plaines should do their part by making the downtown more easily accessible to people with cars to park.

Buddy

I did some work for the Trans' and this is closer to their home as well. I'll have to stop by next time I am in the neighborhood.

BuddyRoadhouse wrote:I spotted this place the other day when dropping off my water bill payment at nearby city hall. I've been wanting to try it ever since. Glad to get this advance report.

Good luck to them in that location. Downtown Des Plaines is not parking friendly, particularly that stretch of Miner Street. Prior to Dung Gia that space housed a Russian/Eastern European deli followed by Joey Tomatoes, an Italian deli. Both of them nose dived due to the limited foot traffic on that block.

I wish Dung Gia well and will try to do my part to support them. The city of Des Plaines should do their part by making the downtown more easily accessible to people with cars to park.

Buddy

there's a lot and parking spaces north of the main street (miner?). i'm not sure if you need validation, though my guess is you don't

jnm123 wrote:Dung Gia
1436 Miner
Des Plaines, IL
(847) 803-4402

Just wondering what the restaurant's name means?
Du~ng Gia` could be Old Du~ng in Vietnamese? Is David Tran Vietnamese first name Du~ng perhaps?

They said it was named for their late parents.

We went here for the past two weekends, and have every intention of going back very soon.

PROS
-The spring rolls are very fresh and bursting with shrimp, lettuce, and mint. They have a tofu version as well for vegetarians.
-Canh Chua Tom (hot and sour tamarind soup with shrimp) also had lots of fresh veggies (including okra).
-The two smoothies we tried, avocado and banana, were great.
-My husband had #56 (pork marinated in ginger) and #60 (beef marinated in garlic lemongrass and then skewered and grilled) and raved about them. #60 really smelled good when it came out.
-Banh Xeo was full of large pork pieces and bean sprouts. I thought it could have been slightly less greasy and more crispy but my husband did not agree. Don't get me wrong--it was still darn good.
-The price was right. We had a smoothie, two appetizers, and two entrees and it came to under $40 with a good tip. The entrees are very reasonably priced. They have a lunch menu until 3 that is even more reasonable.

CONS
-I ordered #48 vegetarian pan fried wide rice noodles with tofu. I guess I had the spicy Thai versions of this on my mind. This dish was not bad, but it was on the greasy side and just kind of bland. The addition of hot sauce helped but I wouldn't order it again. There are plenty of other options for anyone who does not want meat. The eggplant in #48 was tasty so I have the #45 Grilled Eggplant on the list to try.

The restaurant is small but nicely decorated with artwork and collectibles. We went at 8 on a Friday and 8 on a Saturday and parking was wide open in front. It is parallel but for now if you go that late you don't actually have to parallel park--you can just pull in. If you have someone who is not very mobile and you go this late, Dung Gia would be a good option. I imagine the scene is a little different during rush hour.

Thanks for providing a list of PROs, grits. We went last Saturday night and also enjoyed the spring rolls very much. On the other hand, the beefy flavor in the pho broth was way too light, the aroma not very fragrant of all the good stuff that would be in there. But I look forward to going back and trying some of the items you mentioned; it's probably time for us to diverge from pho all the time anyway.

Upthread it was mentioned that the place was hopping; on our Saturday night it definitely was not. Just my wife and I and one other couple in the space of 45 minutes around 7:30. I hope it was just a quiet night.

Anko wrote: Just my wife and I and one other couple in the space of 45 minutes around 7:30. I hope it was just a quiet night.

I wonder if we were the other couple. We were there about 8 and got sat right next to a two top.

I'd like to see this place getting more business too. We are planning to do our part!

I'm planning on take out from here tonight. Does anyone have suggestions other than what was provided above? I'm willing to try anything. Will report back later.

Has anyone been here recently? I've been a few times over the past year and been sort of underwhelmed, but the location is convenient and it seemed like the owner's previous restaurant was well-regarded. I'd be interested in hearing other opinions. If I could find something on the menu that really knocked me out I'd probably hit this place about once a month, but as it is, it's been about once every six months.

I think I got chicken in a clay pot last time and it was chicken in a watery, bland sauce. It wasn't bad but it just didn't have much flavor.

Now if I got off the train there, I'd be constantly pickup up the spring rolls. No problem there.

My wife and I revisited Dung Gia last Sunday for lunch and enjoyed a surprisingly good meal.

We started with #24 - Goi Muc, listed as 'Calamari with lemongrass, celery, cucumber, onion, mushroom and cilantro, served cold'.



I'm a lover of squid and found it to be perfectly 'al dente', tender and flavorful. The lemongrass was bold. The flavors of the veggies were bright and fresh, as was the dressing. All quite complimentary to the squid. So good was the dressing, in fact, that at the end of the meal my normally chili-challenged wife could not let the plate go back to the kitchen without pouring the last tablespoon of dressing on a little leftover rice and downing it, perspiring but happy.

We moved on to #57 - Heo Uop Gung Sot Cam, listed as 'Pork marinated in ginger cooked with pineapple, bell peppers, onions orange sauce'.



Thin strips of delicious pork surrounded with, again, a variety of very fresh flavors that blended well together. The orange sauce had just enough presence and didn't over power the dish.

Of course, we had to have a soup. We chose #36 - Canh Chua Tom, 'Shrimps, lemongrass, celery, tomato, pineapples, bean sprouts with a hot & sour tamarind'.



The broth was both complex and light. Usually I can identify herbs, but in this instance I could not. There was something in this soup that compelled me to keep eating. Very 'morish'. As well, I could not identify one veg and asked our server what it was. It could be my first time eating sliced taro. Delightful (seen in bowl slightly submerged at 6 o'clock).

I said that the lunch was 'surprisingly' good because we visited Dung Gia just after we read about it in the newspaper (see up thread) and perhaps two more times in the past. We've not visited in over a year. We thought that it was good but not great. Perhaps this time we ordered the right dishes, or perhaps the kitchen has improved. We can't say. But we have elevated this local and will return more frequently to enjoy it's offerings.