Dong Nguyen Restaurant

My family used to go here often, but no longer do so I decided to drop in myself for some curry. They serve such a delicious free cup of chicken broth, SO good. I was their only customer and they offered to give me another while I waited for my food. Then I got my chicken curry, it was good! I really hope business picks up for them. Like I said, I was the only customer and there were about three other staff members in there but they were all minding their own business while I ate so I felt relaxed and a bit home-y :)

First time at Dong Nguyen. I can tell this small business has catered the local community for years and is a welcoming favorite amongst customers that return to support them. Their items 1) Hainan chicken 2) Cornish hen with tomato rice 3) beef cube with tomato rice. We opted for two of the beef cube with tomato rice dishes. Each meal came with a veggie broth on the side and a large portion of tomato rice and beef. The beef was on the chewier side but I think was a nice cut. The tomato rice has bits of eggs folded in but was on the wetter side. There was also a salt and lemon on the side as a dipping sauce if wanted an even bolder flavor. Overall, it was filling and a large portion. I can see why it's been around for so many years. Note they are cash only.

3.5 Star. Overall. Good enough for a homey, next-door, quick meal if happen to pass by or grocery shopping in the plaza. But not special enough to go out of my way to dine here. 3.5 Star. Complimentary Soup. Light and refreshing. 3.75 Star. $8 #1 Hai Nam Style House Chicken with Rice Meat is a little dry. Sauce is strong on the ginger and lightly strong on the sweetness. It’s a good dish. But if forced to compare to Savoy’s, sorry Savoy’s is still far better on meat, rice and sauce. 3.5 Star. $8.50 #46 Beef stew with egg noodle soup Not that visually appealing but tastes pretty decent. Beef is fairly soft and chewy for the most part. Flavor is good but not that extraordinary. 5 Star. $3 Plum soda Sprit mixed with salty sour mushed up pickled plum. Not bad. Would order again. Disclaimer: this salty sour and sweet soda is likely not for everyone though.

I like their shakey beef with ketchup fried rice. Good Hainan chicken also. The soup, on the other hand, scares me. There's probably quite a bit of MSG in their food so avoid this place if you are sensitive to MSG.

My favorite Hainan chicken joint. 2017, and the dish is $7.50 w a small bowl of soup!!! This place has been in my rotation for several years.

Quality still the same throughout the years. Service is pretty quick, and prices are reasonable. Famous of their Hainan chicken rice, so be sure to try it here, if you never had it before.

This is the best place for Hai-Nam Chicken; I always get extra sauce! The chicken is always moist. Their paste tomato macaroni is really good; all dishes are authentic. Staff is always friendly.

I love their Hainan chicken, been coming here for years. I used to love their sauce, but now it seems more diluted, tastes like they added some kind of sweet chili sauce. 🤔🙄

Don't forget to bring cash. It's either cash or Zelle. Quick, easy service and takeout experience. Had the same dish - Cube Steak w/ Tomato Paste Macaroni at the newly opened Pho n Mor Annex down the street, but it made me miss this dish from Dong Nguyen. Dong Nguyen does it better imo for the same price. Favorite: Cube Steak w/ Tomato Paste Macaroni $17 (Good portion & comes with complimentary small cup of veggie soup) ***CASH or ZELLE ONLY***

The food is always hot and very good The man and lady who works there speaks cantonese and will greet you upon arrival. Space is small, a hole in the wall. But..if you go, you will not be disappointed. 5/5 stars!

We've been coming here for years, and the food is still consistently delicious! Service is usually very quick and friendly. Bring cash because it's cash only. Dried cornish hen with tomatoe paste fried rice: the chicken was so crispy and perfectly cooked! The chicken is lightly seasoned, but they give you a lemon with salt and pepper if you want more flavor. Cubed steak with tomato paste fried rice: this is always my go-to here. I love the tomato paste rice paired with beef. The beef is seasoned, but it also comes with lemon and salt and pepper, if you want it saltier. I love that the dishes come with a little bowl of soup with some veggies. It definitely makes the meal feel even more hearty.

It has been many years since I last indulged in such culinary delights, but my palate still finds satisfaction in its exceptional quality. Moreover, the service staff were attentive, and the restaurant maintained a decent level of cleanliness, despite its outdated decor.

We ordered hainan chicken rice at Dong Nguyen for to-go many times. It used to be 4 stars quality but now downgraded to 3 stars for me. They didn't give us much chicken meat this time and it was under cooked. Their fried noodle dish was salty and the beef quality was not good. Price was good and portion not small but it was hit and miss. I hope that they will improve their specialty dish (hainan chicken rice) quality.

Plenty of parking and very fast service in this restaurant though make sure to bring cash. I feel like the portion sizes got much smaller since the last time I came here years ago but I still love their hainan chicken plate nevertheless ^.^

I am addicted to this place so I came back twice while i was visiting the area. The restaurant is really convenient as it's next to 168 Market. Food is superb , especially the Hainan Chicken Rice !!! Service is so fast and server's really nice too. Such a clean tiny place , gets busy during lunch.

I'm sad to give this place 3 stars. I've been here a few times way before the pandemic happened. I'd always get the hainan chicken rice and it was amazing every time. I stopped coming after I moved to Hacienda Heights and this restaurant just wasn't really on the way whenever I was on this side of SGV. I had to run some errands and decided to stop by Dong Nguyen since i wanted to support the boba shop next door (Moo Tea) after seeing a post on the fb group SGV Eats. Hainan Chicken: the rice is delicious, just as I remembered it. Lightly flavored with chicken broth. The ginger sauce is yummy as well. The chicken however... although tender and moist, the portion was quite small and most of it was just bones. The portion in general for this dish is just off- takeout box full of rice with very little chicken. There was about 3 pieces with decent amount of meat. Cubed Steak: the tomato rice is good but not strong in flavor. The steak tasted just ok but the portion size made up for it I guess. I took maybe 3 scoops of rice before I noticed a hair hidden inside :( Each dish had 4 slices of cucumber and they came with soup. The soup had lots of green leafy veggies and a very small piece of the end of a chicken foot. If you're not a huge fan of chicken feet, don't worry the toe/claw part wasnt included. Loved the soup :) ...but I won't be coming back for a long long time. It's just not what it used to be. Restaurant is located in a big 168 market plaza. Won't have problems finding a parking spot. Cash & to-go only.

The tomato macaroni with shaking beef (bo luc lac) was so good. I love macaroni in general and the beef was extremely tender. It comes with lime and salt to dip the beef in. We also go the tomato rice with Cornish hen. The hen/chicken was p small compared to the rice ratio. But it was decent. This place is located in a large plaza w a lot of parking. This place is cash only!

This place was my go to spot for Hainan chicken in the 626 area and I have not been able to go to this place in the last couple of years. But when I finally got the chance to go I was disappointed. It seem that they do not do dine in as all the chairs are stacked on the tables. Got my food to go and was excited to eat it and was a very disappointed The chicken hardly had and meat and mostly I was sucking the little meat off the bone. The rice was okay, but the chicken was not great. The sweet sauce did make the chicken any better. I might come back to give them another try but it will be a while before I do so

It has been over 10 years since my original review and with changes in palate, experiences, and my relationship with food over the last decade, I wanted to come back to share that my thoughts about this restaurant have never changed. Dong Nguyen remains home to comfort Chinese/Vietnamese style cuisine. I still get the hainan chicken + pork chop rice combo. Staff still greet me with excitement and warmth. Minor noticeable differences: - The pork chop is no longer bone-in. I've notice in my last several visits that they've started to serve it deboned and cut up. Some inconsistencies in flavor and texture, but nothing significant. - Because of the pandemic, they had to close down the restaurant for some time. This led to a restructure that affected staff and the way the business operated. Once reopened, service was take-out only for a long time. When the business finally introduced dine-in service back to the public, most of the staff did not return. This definitely changed the ambience of the dining experience as the once hustle and bustle of customers/staff and steady sounds of the door chime are now far and few between. While it makes me a bit sad, I'd like to think all the changes in the last few years have shifted customers to adapt to phone orders and takeout and that the business is still flourishing. Please continue to support small businesses like this one. I would be heartbroken if this establishment were to ever close its doors in my lifetime. One other thing that surprisingly has not changed -- CASH ONLY! I'd also like to note that Dong Nguyen and Savoy have very different takes on their hainan chicken dishes and I've grown to like and appreciate them both. So if you are coming here expecting to have what is served at Savoy, don't. Each establishment has its own unique flair. Please disregard my original review, this is my public apology.

French beef with tomato rice is all I get here. And it's consistently good every time. Large portions and a great price. They're also very friendly.

Their HaiNan chicken are the best too 3 I had tried. Very low key and quiet place. But you will love their food.

Service person is nice but the place is old and dirty(speciallly the bathroom). The food are not good here and think then beef are old.

So I was curious because of the Yelp prices and the reviews, but the prices are out of date and in hindsight even according to this updated takeout menu, they overcharged us. Hainan chicken, like other reviews-- lots of rice, but not even a thigh worth of meat. Flavorful though. Beef stew was generous, and so was the cubed beef plate.

Called in an order for 2 cơm bò lúc lắc (shaking beef w/ red rice) around 5pm on a Sunday. It was ready within 10-15 mins. Pick up was quick and smooth (CASH ONLY). Restaurant wasn't busy, there were 2 tables dining at the time. Packaging was good, but lettuce wilted between hot rice and beef during my 25 minute drive home but didn't order the dish for the lettuce so not a big deal. Each plate came with a small cup of veggie soup that was perfectly cooked/seasoned and complemented the meal. The taste and quality of the beef and rice were decent, but there was a slight deviation from the typical Vietnamese dish I'm accustomed to. Maybe the marinade or cut of beef lacked something and no noticeable wok taste. Rice was on softer/moist side and didn't have much tomato flavor. Each plate cost about $17, which felt a bit high although portion size was good. Overall, while it was satisfactory, I probably wouldn't repurchase unless the price is lowered to $14-15 which seems more reasonable.

The Cornish hen and red rice was the most delicious dish. The Cornish hen was moist and the owner was really nice and helped me open the door with the baby stroller.

Great food. Must go if you're in the area. Wish the meat to rice ratio was better. Hainam chicken nice and juicy.

I know there are many options at this diner, but it's really known for Hainan chicken. It's been around for a long time. During my last visit, I don't think they do dine-in anymore. I ordered it to go instead. The chicken is tender and the sauces are good, but the chicken portion is smaller than before. Maybe it's a result of ingredient prices going up, but it left us still hungry. I ate the rest of the ginger sauce plain. We should've done three orders for two people.

I am always on the search for some good Hainan chicken. I was super excited when I came across this place. I came here on a Sunday morning and unfortunately it was take out only. I really wish that information was updated. I placed an order for the Hainan chicken (#1), the half hen plate (#2), and their Shaken beef with red rice (#3). The Hainan chicken was okay. The rice was not as flavorful compared to other places. The sauce was overly salted. The side soup was mediocre. The roasted half hen was alright as well. Their red tomatoe rice was soft and mixed with bits of eggs in it. Their Shaken beef was super salty and there wasn't anything special to it. Also, keep in mind that this place is CASH ONLY so grab some cash in advance!

This place is amazing for bo luc lac!! Its super delicious, the portions are huge and pricing is super affordable for what you're getting. Unlike other places, this place gives such big portion of meat and it's surprising bc it's beef. The beef is incredibly tender as well and it marinated in a flavorful way!! The dish also comes with red rice and a soup. It's so delicious. You can definitely break this into two meals if your an average eater. Indoor seating is not available at the moment, but definitely check it out and get it To go. This place is also CASH only so come prepared.

I've been a regular of this place for 20+ years. Quality never changed and remains as good as usual.

Heads up: Cash only. I've been wanting to try this restaurant for the longest time. I've seen lots of recommendations to come here for the ham and chicken rice. And also a lot of their other dishes. They are located in the CVS in 168 Mark at Plaza on new and valley. I'm very glad I had money on me because they are a cash only establishment which I didn't really do enough research on how much I walked in there was a huge sign that says cash only. I had never been here before so I was looking through the reviews and website to find a picture of the menu and everything was still the same. I ordered my food over the phone before hand and once I got there everything was ready to go. The entire process was really easy and painless. We ordered the Hainan chicken rice, the red macaroni, and the red rice and steak. The flavors were good and the food was pretty good as well. There is a ton of parking since the parking lot is huge so it shouldn't be an issue to find a spot.

Can never go wrong with homemade & authentic tasting dishes. We love the beef cubes steak w/ tomato rice and hainam chicken with rice. Everything tasted so good, so authentic.

*** Take out & cash only *** Since the start of the pandemic back in March 2020, I haven't had any Hainan chicken and I didn't want to order one at Savoy Kitchen because it was super crowded. So I decided to stop by Dong Nguyen instead because Yelp reviews seem to be pretty good. The restaurant is located in the same plaza at 168 Market on Valley Blvd and they currently only accept to-go orders only. I visited this place twice because I only had enough cash for one order of Hainan chicken for the 1st time and had to stop by another time for their signature cubed steak with tomato paste fried rice. One of the biggest things I liked about Dong Nguyen is the turnaround time - I did walk-in orders on both occasions at 7 PM and was able to receive my orders in less than 5 minutes. *** #1 Hai Nam Style Chicken with Rice ($10.50 with free soup): Chicken wasn't as good as the one from Savoy Chicken and there's no white vs dark meat options. The ginger dipping sauce was a little bit too salty for my taste and rice wasn't as flavorful as other places. #3 Cubed Steak with Tomato Paste Fried Rice ($13.25 with free soup): The dish hit the spot, but it was not as good as the one I had at Brodard in Orange County. *** 3.5-star on food, but bump up to 4-star due to friendly, safe (cashier wore mask and made an extra effort to go outside of the restaurant to deliver my order), and EXTREMLY fast service!

COVID-19 Edition Review I can't believe I lived in 626 my whole life and never tried Dong Nguyen...even my dad knows about this place and been here before!! Glad this location has stuck around for so long especially during COVID and glad I got to support a local small business. I ordered 4 items there (roughly around $50 total): the Hainan Chicken rice, Cornish Hen with Tomato Fried Rice, Cubed Steak with Tomato Fried Rice, and the Curry. I think my favorite out of all of them is the cubed steak. I believe if you compare this to other hainan chicken places, you get the best bang for your buck. The portion is pretty big compared to the price you pay as opposed to Savoy. However, I'm not the biggest fan of the bones in the hainan chicken because I know a lot of other hainan chicken places don't serve it with the bones. I also wish they gave more chicken but overall, it was still a good meal because they gave us a lot of the fragrant chicken rice. I actually really like the tomato fried rice, I think it's super unique and it gives the rice flavor as opposed to plain white rice. I think out of all 4 items I ordered, the least favorite is probably their beef curry. It was way too watery for my liking but they did us a lot of beef tendon. The cornish hen in my opinion was alittle dry but the flavor was good. For lunch, I believe they give you a side of soup for every order you have. Don't forget it's CASH ONLY. I would come by more often if it wasn't cash only but nevertheless, I will come back in the future. Support your local mom and pop shops and remember to call in your order ahead of time. Plenty of parking in the 168 plaza but prior to COVID, i'm sure parking is alittle difficult.

Based on other Yelp reviews, we knew we should focus on either the Hainan chicken rice, cubed steak with tomato fried rice, or the Cornish hen with tomato fried rice. BF wanted the beef with tomato rice ($10.25) and I wanted some Hainan chicken ($9). We called in the order and it was ready in 15 minutes. They are cash only, FYI. BF found the beef to be a little gamey and he preferred the same version at Kim Ky more (we ended up going there the next day). I thought the beef was a bit more tough than I preferred. My Hainan chicken rice was light on the broth in the rice. I also spent quite some time separating the tendons and bones from the chicken before I can dig into my dish. The dish overall was okay. In the end, if you want something light in flavor, Hainan chicken rice is the way to go. The beef with tomato rice definitely has more flavor and is more saltier. Both orders come with a side of hot vegetable broth soup, which was a nice addition to the rice dishes. You definitely will be full afterwards! Very easy parking in the rather large plaza that's shared with 168 Market. We took a stroll around the market when our food wasn't ready yet for pick-up.

It's been a hot minute since I've been to Dong Nguyen. So happy it is still around at the end of the year, was a bit worried because of the pandemic. After a few bites in the beautiful parking lot of Almansor Park, (car dining at its finest), hubby asked why I haven't taken him here before. Ordered #1 Hainan Chicken and #3 Cubed Steak with Red Rice Honestly, I think this is the best Hainan chicken in Alhambra Chicken is tender and free range, sauce is good, rice & soup Their Steak with red rice was good and very generous. Could not finish!

The best bang for your buck. They drownnn your rice with beef and sauce. I always have enough for lunch the next day and it is just as delicious the day after. It's CASH ONlY and TAKE OUT ONLY. The family that works here is always friendly and inviting. Sauce is always in the bag.

This place is a staple in the community. Super authentic chinese food. In an area with plenty of choices, this place gives off real homey kitchen vibe. Their lunch specials are exactly what you want when it comes to chinese food for lunch. I usually order the half cornish hen. It comes with red rice and a couple of veggies. It's like fried chicken but super tender. The skin is super crispy and if you squeeze the lemon on it....whewww it is mouth watering good. No indoor dining as expected but open for take out. I will definitely be back and highly recommend this place for any one looking for a great lunch option.

Dong Nguyen is a real treasure in the San Gabriel Valley. Unfortunately due to Covid and the whole work from home situation, I haven't been able to go for my work lunches, but really hope they hang in there! Of the dozens of times I've been there, I've only gotten one thing, #3 the beef cubes with tomato rice. They've got an extensive menu, but The #3 is where it's at and it's amazing. It's to the point where the waitresses always new what we were going to order. The beef is super tender and delicious, and they give you a generous portion, all on top of a bed of really tasty tomato rice. I usually add chilies and hot sauce to give it a kick. They also give you a nice bowl of chicken soup, that sometimes includes a chicken foot inside. I usually eat around that but the soup has a nice flavor. Everyone go and try this place. Beef cubes are a staple at Vietnamese places around town, and you can usually find it at pho restaurants, but nobody comes close to Dong Nguyen.

Social media is abuzz with Dong Nguyen's Hainam Chicken. Naturally, I had to investigate. Called to preorder just before noon and was told it would be ready within 15 minutes. Pickup was seamless. FYI: Cash only. They have the takeout process down like nobody's business. Hainam Chicken -- A mix of dark/white meat sitting on a bed of subtly flavored chicken rice. The pieces of chicken were extremely tender and blended well with the sweet ginger sauce. A friend recommended first deboning the meat and then drenching the sauce with the rice and meat to consume altogether. I can attest to this methodology. Bo Luc Lac -- Another dish people have been praising. It comes with red rice so be sure to let them know of your preference in case you want something else. The cubed meat were insanely soft and tender, mixed with glazed onions, soy sauce and black pepper. It was not overly sweet and the black pepper spice was understated. To add the cherry on top, they give you a generous amount of beef. This could easily be divided into two meals. They also provide you with a cup of soup for each dish. It was a light stock with vegetables and a little chicken foot!

Cubed Beef with tomato rice was a simple but good dish! Service is fast and efficient! A small business worth supporting

I have come to this restaurant ever since I was a little girl for their Hainan chicken rice. Their rice is very savory and the chicken is not dry compared to other places that make this same dish. The ginger sauce that comes with this dish tastes amazing too! My dad would always ask for more sauce whenever he runs out. My other favorite rice dish is the red rice with beef cubes. It is really good. It is a little bit salty but the flavors are there. The dish tastes good with some lemon juice (they give you a slice of lemon to mix with the salt and pepper). Due to COVID, they only do to-go orders.

My recent visit has been disappointing. We ordered the hainam chicken rice. Not much meat in the chicken, one of the plate was very raw chicken, could see blood. I refused to eat and asked to switch, owner insisted it's cooked and refused for a refund or exchange, or anything. Being a nurse, I'm not about to eat salmonella. End up didn't eat it. The other plates also were a bit raw looking. That night I had food poisoning, the next day the whole family had diarrhea and vomiting. I'm traumatized for good. Never coming back. Poor customer service. The place smelled awful as we first sat down, like a sewer smell of some sort.

Hainan chicken is my favorite dish in the world, and this place has one of the best Hainan chicken dishes I've ever eaten. The flavor is on point, the ratio of chicken to rice is fantastic, the sauce is perfectly sweet and spicy, and the soup that comes with the dish is so light and flavorful and feels like home. Service is extremely fast, and the servers are all nice aunties that just want the best for you. I definitely want to come back here to try their other dishes. I love this place so much, and I can't recommend it enough.

Best hainan chicken I've had! Their hainan chicken sauce is by far the best ive tried! Don't under estimate this small establishment, for it is definitely packing with flavor Customer service is great at some point I'd go here so much they knew my name upon calling placing my order, picking up, & dining in

Cubed Steak with Tomato Paste Fried Rice, Fried Cornish Hen with Tomato Paste Macaroni ($30.05): good and filling portions! The steak flavor was on the sweet side so I found it just okay but the portions were pretty good. The fried cornish hen was yummy too. Definitely a decently filling meal!! Important: cash only!!

This is probably my favorite place in all of the SGV for cubed steak w/ tomato red rice (com bo luc lac). I remember my parents getting food from here since I was a little kid, and it tastes just as good as I remember, if not better. Don't let the exterior appearance of this little hole-in-the-wall fool you - you'll see for yourself upon the first bite that quality really matters here. For about $10.25, you get a box packed with delicious and moist red rice, topped with a generous portion of super tender and flavorful peppered beef cubes. They include a little container of salt & pepper for you to squeeze your lemon into, so that you can dip your beef into if you choose. If you don't like the salt pepper mix, just squeezing a bit of lemon over the rice and beef is enough to help brighten up the flavors. It's amazing either way! One box can easily feed two people, but it's so addicting you'll probably want more!

Still one of my favorite places to get shaken beef with macaroni or red rice! Growing up this was the spot and I'm glad it's still here serving yummy food. The Cornish hen isn't dry and still is crispy and full of flavor. Same goes for the shaken beef cubes. I like their red rice but my go to normally is their macaroons with either one of those dishes. Their rice dish always comes with a side of soup which reminds me of home since normally I have soup during dinner growing up. If you love Vietnamese and Chinese food come check out this restaurant. It is cash only so come prepared. Love the owner and workers there everyone's so nice.

Nothing fancy but filling and cheap. My husband and I came for a casual dinner on Friday. We ordered their fried Cornish hen with red rice and beef cubes with tomato macaroni. Both dishes were served in no time along with their complimentary veggie soup. Their Cornish hen was on the smaller side but they do give u a lot of rice. The rice itself didn't have much flavor so I seasoned it myself with a squeeze of lemon and a dab of hot sauce. Overall - it was okay. I preferred my husband's beef. It was tender and much more flavorful. The tomato Mac on the other hand was dry and under seasoned too. Overall - the staffs were very friendly and welcoming... but the food were just meh.

I'm so glad that I found this mom and pop restaurant. I ordered their famous Hainan Chicken rice and it was delicious! I heard their half chicken red rices is really good too and I'm going to try it next time. Staff here is friendly. During COVID, they currently offer take out only. You can either order at the restaurant or through their phone line. I ordered at the store and waited about 10 minutes for my food. My Hainan chicken rices came with a soup which I thought was awesome. They do CASH ONLY! So do bring cash! Staff is really nice here! They are located inside the same plaza as 168 super market.

Of the 3 hainan chicken places I tried, this was my least favorite. -hainan chicken rice: This is the only place that served the chicken bone in, which I usually enjoy...when there's not tiny shards of bone everywhere. The chicken was stringy and bland. It didn't have a good strong chicken taste. The rice was a bit more buttery than the other places we tried. I did not enjoy the dipping sauce that was provided. It was like a gingered sweet and sour spicy sauce...? -satay pork rice noodles: This was not what I thought it was. Bell peppers, pineapple, onions, and pork chunks in a sweet-ish black-ish gravy sauce...is that what satay is...? A gravy? Oops...but even then, the sauce was too sweet for me and everything together was a bit lackluster. Covid guidelines not followed so well...saw the chef without a mask in the back preparing food =T Otherwise the front was fine. With a table to block customers from walking all the way into the restaurant.

Growing up in 626 my parents used to always get Hainan chicken rice to-go from Dong Nguyen. The rice is fragrant and flavorful where I can just eat it alone with the ginger sauce and be super satisfied. The red rice with Cornish hen or cubed beef is excellent too. Personally I love this place over Savoy as the wait isn't crazy and the quality of the good is really authentic. Next time when you're craving Hainan chicken rice, try Dong Nguyen instead.

Almost like a hidden gem. Never knew this place existed until someone recommended me to come here. I've been coming to this plaza for the market that's here even when it use to be Vons, now it's 168. However it is cash only. I always make the drive to another popular location for Hainan chicken rice. My plate had mostly white meat, which I prefer anyways. The white meat was still quite tender and not one bit dry or tough. Only down side at this place is that you can't pick if you want white or dark meat. It comes out randomly. Also comes with a bowl of soup that's quite refreshing. The flavored rice they make with chicken stock could use more flavor, quite bland from other place I'm use to. With a dash of salt helped tremendously. The server came around once to refill sauce but after that you just had to wave her down for more refills.

A lot of people recommended this place for the cubed steak with tomato paste rice so I had to try it! I called to place an order and it was ready to be picked up in 15 minutes. Both orders came out to be $22.35 which is not bad for how much they give you. They also give a side of soup for both orders! I was really surprised how the soup tasted because I expected it to be super salty and filled with MSG. Instead, it was super light and the soup had a hint of ginger which I really enjoyed. The chicken pan fried rice noodles was good! It had the perfect amount of flavor and it wasn't too salty at all. It tasted like any other pan fried noodle from other places. I thought the tomato rice was way too dry and I could barely taste the tomato :/// However, the cubed steak was really yummy. It was perfectly seasoned and it was easy to chew. But overall, the food was decent and I wouldn't mind coming back again. CASH ONLY!!!

Love this place. Grew up coming here at least 1-2 times a month with my family. It's a family owned restaurant and everytime I come, i can recognize 2-3 of the staff since I was a kid and I'm 26 now. It's always busy and seating is very limited but it never stops any asian families from eating here. Theyre known for a lot of dishes but the GO-TO dish ive been getting everytime I come here is their shaken beef with macaroni (mi ong bo luc lac). Recipe never changes. Their filet mignon is never dry. The macaroni is perfectly cooked in tomato paste like the red rice. The lemon salt/pepper complements the filet mignon soo well. Regardless of dine in or take out, they give you complementary soup which is always good after every meal as its light. Tip: Sadly cash only regardless of minimum but just grab candy at cvs for cash back

Food: I got their go to Hainan Chicken Rice. In terms of Hainan Chicken in SGV Savoy is overrated, Mein Nghia in Rosemead is great, Tasty Choice's chicken is better than here but what makes Dong Nguyen good is their winning combination of both, their chicken with their quality aromatic rice. Here the chicken's flavor is on point, the meat is not dry and the skin is smooth and delectable. At some Hainan Chicken spots the flavors of the chicken and rice are distinct: at Dong Nguyen the chicken and rice harmonizes and yields a layering effect in its flavors (very good). Service: Adequate [626 area]. Price: It is affordable considering the dish costs $8 per order. Ambiance: Casual and typical of a mom and pop hole in the wall. Overall: Dong Nguyen is a local favorite that's been in business for over fifty years.

Ordered to go because my usual spot for hanan chicken, Savoy Kitchen was closed on Sunday. The small restaurant is located on 168 Market shopping complex (for you historians, this used to be old Crawford Corner Shopping lot in early 70's and 80's). Got their hanan chicken with tomato rice for $9. While the price is nice and the location is convenient, I've found hanan chicken to be just flatly "okay." The texture of the chicken was good, but way too bony and not enough meat. I was disappointed in the lack of flavor in tomato rice, very bland. Traditional white rice would have been a suitable choice. One sauce deal is boring. In my opinion, Savoy Kitchen is still a better choice for Hanan Chicken.

Hainan Chicken Price: $9.99 Rating: a pretty decent Hainan chicken place. They are also known for their shaken beef and cornish hen with red rice. The Hainan Chicken was salted well and it came with a good amount of meat. I liked their rice. But I did wish that it had more garlic and chicken broth flavor. Overall, it was still pretty rich with flavor. The sauce was a sweet and sour ginger sauce. Service was great! I came late to pick up an order and they redid my order They could've just given me the Hainan chicken order I had, but they must've given it to someone else and patched up a new one. Parking is shared amongst a big plaza.