Do you mind if I have a bite while I wait?

Vien Dong is one of those places you’ve probably driven past a zillion times without noticing it. It sits on the other end of the block from the Checkerboard Tavern on East Sprague, just outside downtown, but unless you know what you’re looking for you’d probably miss it.

We’ve eaten food from this place a couple of times during Dry Fly bottling parties (Vien Dong feeds the help) and have totally loved it. So last night Eric, Kegan and I stopped in for dinner.

The restaurant is nothing fancy. Food comes on a mixed assortment of thrift store plates. Soda is served in the can and the building is about two thousand years old, so it has what I like to call … character. Still, it’s bright and clean and home to a steady stream of hipsters, young families, take-out grabbers, ancient locals and trendy first-daters who take seats at the tables (all with matching green chairs) and settle in for steaming bowls of pho and heaping piles of spicy sweet stir fry stuffs with a side of rice.

We started with an order of Spring Rolls and some other kind of roll (deep fried, so of course I chose ’em) and they were divine – fresh and tasty and served with a couple of dipping sauces that only enhanced the flavor. For dinner, I ordered the Lemongrass Chicken. Eric, the Mongolian Beef. Kegan had the Broccoli Beef.

Here’s where it started to get quirky. First, I wanted to wash my hands before digging in. Which meant I had to navigate a darkish hallway where stacks of ready-for-your-next-home-improvement-project front doors stood watch. Then I had to find that washroom that, from the outside, looked like a broom closet with a LADIES sticker slapped on the door. Luckily all the necessary plumbing was inside, and it was a lot cleaner than I’d expect a broom closet bathroom to be.

OK, so back at the table. First comes Eric’s dish. About 4 minutes later, Kegan’s. It was about another 7 before my plate made an appearance. “At least we know they’re making it fresh,” Kegan piped up in response to my “Did they not know we were all sitting at the same table and would like to eat together” line of questioning.

Probably this wouldn’t have been a big deal if we were in for a relaxed evening of chowing down, but we were on our way to an event and had a deadline. And I’m the slowest eater on the planet. So we decided that the next time we visit (and there will be many next times), we’ll be sure to ask that they bring my dish out first.

Or I could just order something and ask them to box it to-go, right from the start, since I’d pretty much had my fill of forkfuls from Kegan’s and Eric’s plates while I waited. I came home with a box full enough for two days of lunches. Hmmm … on second thought, they don’t need to change a thing.

You’ll find Vien Dong at 1730 East Sprague.