La Dong
La Dong was on my list for a while because I wanted to try some different Vietnamese flavors. The menu was quite appealing because there were things on there that I wanted to try since there is a sparseness of Vietnamese flavors in Manhattan. Even though there typically is a crowd outside, it’s quite easy to make reservations. I made a 5:30 PM for 2 reservation on a Friday without issue.
Ambiance & Service
The interior was decorated with a lot of Vietnamese ambiances. There was plenty of red and street food lighting and decor.
The service was extremely fast. When we ordered, the food came out in less than 5 minutes. We were basically done in less than an hour, and my partner was an extremely slow eater. They definitely rushed the food out. Also note that when they bring the credit card kiosk, it charges the tip after tax. Make sure to pay attention to all this even if you feel rushed by the server.
Food
The complimentary shrimp chips came with shrimp paste. There was nothing really exciting about this. The shrimp chips had a familiar crunch, and the shrimp paste was salted.
The Vietnamese Iced Coffee ($8) was pretty good. The coffee was pretty roasted, and the cream was a nice contrast.
The Sugarcane Shrimp ($16) came with shrimp paste loaf on sugarcane skewer, red lettuce, fresh herbs, and plum sauce. This overall was pretty good. The shrimp paste loaf was spongy, and the sugarcane skewer was a bit of an aesthetic. When you gnaw on the sugarcane after eating the shrimp, it had a nice sweet flavor to it, though it was somewhat sparse.
The Summer Roll Shrimp ($14) came with a soft salad roll with fresh greens, vermicelli, and spicy cream sauce. I felt there was a lot of greens, and definitely not enough shrimp. If you want something that’s very crunchy with a lot of vegetables, then go for this.
The Bún Bò Huê ($26) came with rice vermicelli, slow cooked brisket, pork sausage, pork hock, blood cake, shrimp paste, shallot, scallion, and cilantro in a spicy lemongrass broth. The lemongrass broth definitely had some exquisite flavors and some peculiar tastes. All the other medley of proteins felt like they were just layered into the soup. The rice vermicelli noodles were quite thick. Overall, I felt this was decent.
The Cá Ri Súòn Bò ($36) was beef short ribs curry and came with tender braised short ribs in Vietnamese yellow curry, baby potato, star fruit, and coconut milk served with toasted baguette. The curry flavors were definitely very prominent. The short ribs were tender and tasty. The baguette was soft with crispy edges. The bread didn’t soak up the curry well, and perhaps they should have included additional starches to soak up more of the curry.
Overall Impression
La Dong was a decent Vietnamese restaurant in Flatiron. The food overall was just ok, though it’s quite popular amongst locals. I don’t think this place deserves a special visit. If you’re open to trying out some Vietnamese dishes that includes typical pho, you can check this place out.
Yelp & Google Jabs
We started with our favorite drinks with complimentary crisps and umami dipping sauce; we thought that was a nice touch!
This Yelper went pretty overboard with their review, and the dipping sauce was not really full of umami. It simply was just some shrimp paste.
The food? Honestly, some of the best Vietnamese I’ve ever had. I’ll definitely be coming back again and again. Highly recommend!
It’s really interesting to see some of these Yelp reviews as they speak very highly of the food here. I feel many of these reviews are not genuine or they don’t have a low bar for the food.
Revisions
- Sep 12, 2025 - Initial revision.