Vien Dong (82 Good Days in Tacoma: Mo Pho)

Sorry. Could not resist. Before our trip to Terry's Berries yesterday, my friend and Lincoln District resident took us out to lunch at Vien Dong, a popular Vietnamese place on 38th.

If you've never spent any time in this neighborhood, you're missing out on one of Tacoma's most interesting districts. The streets are filled with huge Asian markets and authentic Vietnamese restaurants. Vien Dong is one of the latter, they serve up some of the best (and by far the largest) Pho I've had around here.

(child's head in background for perspective)

This is some serious soup. This will cure what ails you, and probably some things you didn't even know you had. We all chose the chicken version this time. (Tacoma Mama's trying to give up the red meat.) My daughter worked her way through a small for about 40 minutes and still only got about half way there. The little ones shared a rice noodle and egg roll combination and barely made a dent, I ordered the Insanely Large Large and Courtney did just fine with the small.

Their pho comes topped with a spice I could not identify, but I can testify to its apparent gluten-freeness. A huge plate of bean sprouts and herbs came for the whole table to enjoy. I would have liked some serranos and more lime wedges, but then again I probably could have asked for them. We were too busy with the child-wrangling and the soup slurping.

Their menu features plenty of rice and rice-noodle dishes in addition to many varieties of soup. Some do come with egg noodles or breaded and fried, so choose carefully if you're avoiding wheat.

They've got great hours: Monday-Saturday 9 am to 9pm, Sunday 9 am to 8 pm. I hope to put up their menu and some others I've collected after I get the Christmas pages going later this week.

Vien Dong Restaurant

3801 South Yakima Ave

Tacoma

(253)472-6668

dining, Vietnamese, Vietnamese map, Lincoln