Photo by Blaine Schultz
Woo Dong at San Dong Express
Woo Dong at San Dong Express
If the architecture of San Dong Express (220 W. Layton Ave.) looks naggingly familiar, your intuition is right. The modest noodle house has long occupied a former Taco Bell on Layton Avenue in the former Town of Lake. In fact, seated at a booth, you can look out a window to the west where right next door the fast-food giant relocated and—efficiently as an assembly line—is filling drive-through orders.
That contrasting image fits; it is the opposite of San Dong Express, whose Mandarin Chinese menu is defined by care and detail. Standbys like chow mein and fried rice mingle with homemade noodle house specialties like Sam Sun Cha Chang (pork seafood vegetable and black sauce) and Kan Cha Jang (beef with vegetable and black sauce.) A nearby group of diners conversed in Chinese and ordered enough to sample a good portion of the menu.
The vibrantly painted red brick arches offer a view of the working kitchen while Buddhas, dragons and Asian decor leave no question where you are dining. On a recent cold afternoon, the Woo Dong ($11.90) (seafood soup with beef and vegetables) was the logical choice for a pleasant and relaxed meal. As generous as it was tasty, the huge bowl of steaming broth featured plenty of San Dong Express’ signature noodles as well as shrimp, mussels, squid and seafood, bits of beef, slices of carrot and zucchini, onion, bok choy and Chunks of green pepper, egg and bean sprouts. Leftovers anyone?
