Nhung N.
Yelp
King Do is a Vietnamese restaurant/sub shop located on Dorchester Avenue. This is one fo my favorite Vietnamese sub shop and my go to place to grab breakfast and lunch when I worked in the area. It is convenient, the quality is better than the competitors in the area, and also because the price is fair.
For breakfast I like to order their Vietnamese iced coffee. The coffee flavor is bold. The sweetener used is condensed milk. They also sell instant packaged Vietnamese coffee. My favorite one is the VinaCafe brand with the tan/gold package. This is if you want hit coffee instead. The packAge contain everything you need, coffee, sugar, and creamer. All you have to go is add hot water. I like to order with my coffee the "banh tieu", which is like fried dough but with toasted sesame seed. These cost 75 cent each so I tend to buy a dozen for my office. They are best when they just came out the fryer. Eat the. While they are warm.
A lot of Vietnamese sub shops also sell to-go meals from the hot food item bar as well as packaged meals, appetizers, and desserts. I think King Do hot food bar serves fresher ingredients and also the food are seasoned better, not too salty.
King Do has a wider selections of spring rolls than Vietnamese sub shops in the area. The most common roll is the "goi cuon" or shrimp and pork spring rolls. They also have "bo bia " which is another type of spring roll but with eggs, peanuts, Chinese sausage, basil leaves, and jicama. King Do also serves the pork skin spring rolls. They have the most variety in terms of options. The rice paper used for their spring rolls are higher quality and also they use fresher ingredients and have better dipping sauces for their different rolls.
My two favorite fried food items is their egg rolls and their stuffed baked bread. Their egg rolls are not that oily compared to the competitors in the area. I often purchased large orders for parties in my office and for at home. They also sell frozen bags of spring roll in the small freezer by the door if you want to buy a larger quantity and fry them at a later time. The stuff baked bread has an imitation crab meat spread which is buttery. This is another crowd pleaser at my office parties.
Their "xoi ga" which is sticky rice with chicken is one of my all time favorite. I usually microwave it for a 45 seconds to one minute to get the sticky rice soft again before eating. The problem with over heating is that you may melt your butter sauce and pate that accompanies the container. This is a good to-go lunch.
Another favorite that I like to order when it is available is their "sup cua" which is a seafood/crab meat soup with enoki mushroom and quail eggs. I live having this for lunch and even sometimes breakfast with a little ground black peppers and hot chili paste. It costs $5 for a small to-go container and $10 for a large to-go container.
I have many favorites and another is their rice porridge with mixed organs which is called "chao long" in Vietnamese. I sometimes have this for breakfast and for lunch. I don't recommend this if you are not a fan of offals or organ meat.
Their rice rolls are also very good. I prefer ones that are thin but most places make these rolls on the thicker side. There are two types, a pork and wood ear mushroom kind and a dried shrimp kind. My favorite is the fried shrimp rice rolls. It comes with blanched bean sprouts, cucumbers, mint leaves, a fried egg roll, and slices of bbq pork patties. The dressing is a Vietnamese fish sauce.
The thing I dislike about King Do's subs is the hard and slightly more dense baguette that is used. I like my baguette softer and airier on the inside. It comes down to preference really when you compare their subs to another Vietnamese sub shop in the area. I also wish they used more pate and butter spread and sauce in their subs. For this reason, their subs tend to be more dry and has less flavors compared to their competitors down the street. This is not necessary a bad thing if this is how you like your subs. I don't recommend their "banh gio", which is a rice and pork dumpling wrapped in a banana leaf. It also has in it a quail egg and wood ear mushroom. The problem with their banh gio is that it does not stay together but breaks apart. When made correctly, the banh gio outer dough should hold together as you eat it. The meat is at the center.
It can get crazy in the early morning hours so ordering can get a little crazy as their is no system really. You have to defend your spot in line and get one of the ladies behind the counter attention when you see they become available to take the next order. They are sometimes to busy to keep track of who came into the store first. This is just a review of their subs and prepackaged to-go items. I haven't dine in and order from their restaurant menu. I have ordered catering for parties. The process is pretty simple and food is ready as promised at the time of pick-up.
