Central Oregon has so many food carts these days, we wouldn’t be shocked to know that its per-capita spread of carts rivals any other city in the world. They’re a place for budding restauranteurs and even longtime food-industry pros to explore new flavors in a low-key setting.
At Da Nang Vietnamese Eatery, now tucked next to the Deschutes Brewery tasting room, co-owner James Ngo and his business partner Tony Ngo (no relation) aim to cook foods like their Vietnamese moms make – the staple kind of foods that you can eat every day, James Ngo told the Source Weekly. They’ve certainly become a staple for the Source Weekly crew — a mix of vegetarians, pescatarians and omnivores who find ourselves making our way to this cart when we want a solid meal that packs in the flavors.
Da Nang’s menu is simple: choose a protein – steak, chicken or tofu – and then choose your base – rice, vermicelli rice noodles, a baguette or salad. My first sample of Da Nang was the steak salad – bursting with flavors of lemongrass, garlic, green onion and “secrets,” as the menu reads. Part of those secrets involve the addition of nuoc man, or fish sauce, that give meals a savory, umami taste. (A vegan sauce option is also available.) Since then, I’ve delighted in the combos of tofu and noodles or salad, always walking away satisfied and with plenty for a Hobbit-style second lunch later on.
The simplicity was intentional, James Ngo said.
“I think with our research, of just talking to a lot of people we knew in the restaurant industry, in the food industry who we kind of looked up to, they said, if you’re starting out, just keep it simple,” Ngo said. “It’s enough options where people feel like they get to decide what they want, but simple enough where it’s still going to be the outcome that we want.”
Da Nang got its start as a cart in 2014 Eugene, where the two Ngos grew up. In 2021, James Ngo moved to Bend and opened a Da Nang cart at Spoken Moto, later moving the cart to Deschutes upon the move of the Spoken Moto building. The original cart is still in Eugene, currently housed at Thinking Tree Spirits in the Whiteaker neighborhood. The two Ngos also opened a hip brick-and-mortar southeast Asian restaurant in Eugene, called Same Same, earlier this year. Here in Bend, James Ngo said it’s been an adjustment to be away from the busy food-pod scene of Spoken Moto, but that the location at Deschutes still brings in the hungry peeps looking for a delicious meal.
“We’re just riding the wave here,” he said. “The feedback from the community has been good – a lot of regulars, but also new faces.”
This article appears in Restaurant Guide 2023.
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