Đông Hải Restaurant — Restaurant in Garland

This little hole in the wall of a restaurant is 5 stars and (Dim Sum) then some!

Crossed my fingers and decided to bring my wife here for date night as Asian cuisine is always high on her list and our favorite restaurant was under renovation from a kitchen fire. I liked the fact that it is BYOB and figured if we struck out on the meal at least I'd save on cost.

When trying a new restaurant I like to order as many dishes as is reasonable and affordable; I really wanted the Lobster but the market price did not align with the budget we had allocated for the meal in addition to the 4 other dishes we had ordered. In all we ordered the Beef Flat Noodles, Fried Cheese Shrimp, Won Ton Soup, Fried Bean Curd w/ Cheese, and the Bot Chien; there is not one of those items that we did not absolutely love. In fact while we were at the restaurant I had to text several couples to let them know what they were missing out on. The Won Ton Soup is the absolute best that my wife and I have ever had; coming from my wife that is an absolute compliment. We have both separately tried different Chinese restaurants Won Ton soup to compare to this since eating here two weeks ago and were left utterly disappointed.

The service was great, the meal even better, BYOB is always a plus, but the thing that just completely sold me on this place was that for everything we ordered, the great service, the portion sizes, and the BYOB, is the fact that it is absolutely under priced . Our final total, before tip, was $50.50. This is an absolute jewel of a restaurant and I can't wait to bring the in-laws and other friends here. On the group date we'll have the lobster and crab; obviously the Won Ton soup is a no brainer.

Sorry there's no pic of the Bot Chien; we ate...

Today I would like to share with y'all my favorite Cantonese restaurant in Garland. I have been coming here since 2016. The dishes taste the same everytime! Here are my experiences about these 3 dishes that I had. Egg noodles with wonton is delicious 😋 The noodles are kinda crunchy and chewy, just like how I had them in Cho Lon when I was little. Wontons are packed with flavorful pork and shrimp. Highly recommend y'all try the dried version of the dish as well (that is with soup on the side). Fried rice flour cakes with eggs (bột chiên) is one of the staples street food in Cho Lon. I have had this dish in both styles, Vietnamese and Cantonese. I gotta say the Cantonese style is better. Rice cakes are pressed (very important step) and fried to perfection!!! Dipping them in spicy soy sauce with hot oil elevate this dish to another level. Wok fried pasta with cube steak (nui xào bò) is another street food that is popular in Vietnam. The best pasta to make this dish must be the elbows because they are short. Again the Cantonese version of this dish only uses onions and cube steak, while the Vietnamese version will have tomatoes with ground beef. Using the wok pan to infuse and pack every flavor into the elbows is critical for this dish. Dong Hai restaurant did an exceptional job on delivering the original taste for me. The owner is very attentive, helpful, and friendly. If y'all are looking for some authentic Cho Lon or KowLoon dishes, I would say give this place a try. It's also great to support local business like Dong Hai restaurant. The prices are reasonable. Next time I'll have the crispy noddles stir fry...

August 2022: Always friendly and fast service at Dong Hai. The taller gentleman with gray hair always has a smile on his face. Food is always solid. The owner is great as well.

08/29/21: Dong Hai is still only to go. The owner and the older man that works there are both really friendly. Pics in my review is their updated menu.

05/27/20: Tonight I went to Dong Hai and went overboard with my to go order. I got lemongrass chicken, steamed ginger and green onion chicken, salt and pepper pork chops, fried cheese shrimp, water spinach with garlic, and rice cake omelette. They were all top notch. I ate my weight in the food. Lol I also met the owner who typically cooks, but was manning the front door/register. He was really friendly. This place is a gem for real deal Cantonese Chinese food.

04/18/19: Here again at Dong Hai ordering to go food. I had a major hankering for Chinese food once again. Lol

04/04/19: My family and I having been going to Dong Hai for years. It’s a pretty good Chinese/Vietnamese restaurant in the Dallas area. The food is consistent most of the time with a few misses here and there, but nothing terrible. We usually order to go and occasionally eat at the restaurant. The prices are also very reasonable. We order all sorts of foods such as the salt and pepper dishes, vegetables, flat noodles, fried rices, seafood, tofu, etc. We honestly like to mix it up.

I have to say that the tall man who is the main server/cashier with graying hair is always so nice and friendly. He has been at Dong Hai since the beginning and he even understands my so-so Vietnamese. Lol

My pics of Dong Hai are in the...