Mi A Dong

16175 Brookhurst St
Fountain Valley, CA 92708
(714) 839-2286

General:

It was that shrimp fritter thing that compelled me to come here.  Observing the pictures, I decided that roast duck and shrimp fritter were the way to go.

This is one of those places where you have to stir your noodle thoroughly before you eat because Mr. A Dong is either too cool or to lazy to do it.  The fried garlic oil and oyster sauce are located on the bottom of the noodle. Or maybe they just leave it to the patron's imagination?  The generous accompanying garnishes come on a separate plate: bean sprout, long cut chive (gu choy), and shredded lettuce.  You pick what you like and stir them together with the noodle.

I like this place for a couple reasons:

1) Clean.
2) Bossman Mr. A Dong (he goes by Andy) is actually cool (I joked about it in the paragraph above). I am a single-tasker and I can't be distracted when doing something.  I was in the middle of ordering my custom order (see below) when Wifey Queen Bee distracted my concentration and insisted that she wanted the shrimp fritters, too.  So, I forgot to mention "kho/dry" at the end and my order came "nuoc/soup." I owned it because it was my fault but I was unhappy about it. There was a bit of back and forth fuss between me and her because of that.  Mr. A Dong noticed it and came and asked me "what's wrong?" I told him the situation and I admitted it was my fault and I wanted to order a new one "dry."  Mr. A Dong said not to worry about it and the made a new order for us.  The wait staff also smiled and told me "why didn't you just tell me?"  Later when we were paying for the bill, Ladyboss Mrs. A Dong apologized, too, for giving us the wrong order.  Wow, 3 times of apologies for my fault.  This was beyond my wildest imagination for customer service in the area.  Really cool.
3) The food itself, at least some of it, was unexpectedly great.  Curiously absent last time, the pork crackling appeared tonight fortifying the flavor profile to the better.  However, this raised another question: would their food be consistent?

Going back to the food, I told Queen Bee to order her Mi noodle with Vit Quay Roast Duck but she didn't listen to me.  She ordered Mi A Dong which was the equivalent of Dac Biet House Special.

Details:

Mi A Dong, kho: dry small yellow noodle spiced with oil infused with pork crackling and fried garlic. Clean tasting and subtle as the crackling was not overpowering the dish unlike at My Vi Mi Gia.  Spicing was a bit to timid for yellow noodle so the flavor profile was straight forward and a bit monotonous.  Toppings on the noodle included sliced pork and crispy chicken leg.  Toppings in the soup included surimi, fish balls, liver, and shrimps. Please see my previous review for the soup and garnishes.  It was pretty much an okay noodle, not flawed yet not exceptional, at 3 stars.  No story here.

Roast Duck Small Yellow Noodle (Mi Vit Quay), dry, add Shrimp Fritter: since spicing was simple, the taste was also monotonously straightforward oyster sauce and fried garlic oil: pretty average.  Yet, it was not pretentious with much oil or msg, either.  The opposite to Mi La Cay whose noodle was superb and toppings are so so, A Dong's noodle was so so and their toppings, at least the one I chose, were good.  Roast duck was Lien Hoa quality, quite good. Its flavor profile was sweet with mild saltiness and five spice overtone.  Fried shrimp fritter (Tom Chien) was crunchy with mild saltiness. Soup was quite interesting.  The flavor profile was more like beef pho's soup with a lot of sweetness flavor and gaminess nose.  Yes, there was pork bone and shrimp flavor in the soup, but was there also beef bone?  I rated the noodle 3 stars and the toppings 4 stars.  So, 3.5 stars for this combo. 

This is the story: I had been contemplating about this imaginary dish at this joint.  I thought that they had a good roast duck and a very light spicing here: "hmm, what about a dry ho fun big rice noodle with roast duck and shrimp fritters?"  So, I custom ordered it (not in the menu) and I turned out correct and got a dish exceeding my expectation.

Hu Tieu Vit Quay, kho (not in menu): dry big white ho fun noodle with roast duck and extra shrimp fritters.  The noodle had just enough oiliness and saltiness. There was just enough of pork crackling (tep mo) flavoring without overpowering the dish. There was also a fragrant fried garlic overtone.  In addition, the jus from the roast duck dripped to the noodle with some sweetness and a hint of five-spice herbaceousness.  Shrimp fritters added some texture. All these worked wonder here.  This was THE BEST DRY HO FUN I had ever tasted in the greater LA area: it was almost perfect.  It would have been perfect if the soup had been better and the noodle had been home made.  5- stars.

Before you call me crazy,check my reviews. I am a Mi & Hu Tieu Eater/Rater.

Roast Duck and Shrimp Fritter Big White Noodle, dry

Mi A Dong, dry

Roast Duck and Shrimp Fritter Small Yellow Noodle, dry

Roast Duck Big White Noodle Soup, wrong order