Dua

Giving this restaurant 1 star is probably too generous. The star goes solely to the atmosphere and décor, but nothing else. I went for lunch today (Tuesday) and was given a menu that probably had about 30 entrees to choose from. I chose the red curry shrimp and waited about 10 minutes before the waiter came back and said they’d «run out of red curry shrimp.» It was a little disappointing, but he gave me a menu so I could pick something else. Just as I’d chosen something else and began to flag the waiter down, a small cockroach appeared on my table. I wasn’t sure where it came from, but it seemed like it had fallen from the ceiling. I was so shocked, I quickly grabbed my water glass and placed it over the roach so it could not scurry around on the table. I contemplated eating somewhere else, but decided I was not impressed by this place. The waiter came back and I explained to him what happened. He began to apologize, when, all of a sudden, a SECOND roach appeared. The waiter said «oh, yep, there it is.» And grabbed my silverware which was still wrapped in my napkin and squished the roach in front of me. I left immediately, and will never go back.

As far as casual ambiance goes Dua hits the nail on the head. I adore the statement wall covered in blown up antique photos of men smoking opium. It gives the small space a grand feeling. Dinner is served upstairs with a bar on the first floor. My first time eating here was GREAT. The Seafood Nest was the clear winner of the night. As the broth seeps into the noodles they soften and soak up lots of flavor. More seafood then we could eat! I had the ramen and found the spicy miso broth to be flavorful and just salty enough.
We dined here a second time tonight and once again were impressed with the finely crafted noodle dishes offered by Dua. Our group of four ordered a bowl of Raman (spicy miso), Pad Thai, Seafood Nest, and Saigon Beef. All were crowd pleasers.
The only negative is that the service can be spotty. We tried multiple appetizers and weren’t impressed by any of them. My advice, skip the egg rolls/​calamari and get straight to the noodles. Happy slerping!

My roommate and I come here almost every Thursday. They have $ 3 frozen cosmos, a fun & super friendly dj, and excellent customer service. The dumplings are delicious. If you’re dining upstairs, get the waitress with the crazy colored hair. She’s pretty amazing. I cant remember her name but I always have her serve us!

I did not have huge expectations, MoMong was ok but not fantastic. It was lively, the food was good. Well, this new version got many things wrong. First, the biggest red flag of all, there was nobody but one table at lunchtime on Saturday. Second, their patio is not smoke-​free. Then the food came: soggy übersauced lemon chicken which was a big turnoff. No sparkling water. In short we left hungry, my chicken barely touched and quickly annoyed by the smoke from the next –and only– table. Ain’t coming back…

Stepping into this restaurant reminded me of Momofuku Toronto… which partially won me over right away. With a bar on the first floor and dining area on the second floor, and minimalist chairs and tables, it utilizes its space very well. The vibe is definitely Montrose — hip music (there was a turntable for guest DJ’s), questionable wall paper (Chinese opium pipes galore!!!) and chic, dim lighting.
The name of this restaurant is Vietnamese, and its slogan is «Vietnamese home-​cooking,» but the food my friends and I got were definitely not traditional Vietnamese dishes, cooked like they would be at home. Instead, our dishes had Chinese, Japanese and Thai influence. From a glance at the drinks menu, this place also has Korean influence (some kind of kimchi drink.)
I ordered the Basil Beef Curry. At home, we would call this bo kho, and it would be soup based served with thin, flat, rice noodles (similar, if not the same, as phở noodles.) Here, they served udon noodles topped with a cream based curry. It was like eating chicken pesto pasta, but with beef, basil, curry flavoring, and udon noodles. Although I was slightly disappointed at first because I wasn’t getting bo kho, this new Japanese twist on the dish was surprisingly pleasant. Not too creamy, and the traditional flavor of bo kho was still there. This is definitely going to be my fall back dish, if I don’t know what else to order.
One of my friends got the Saigon Beef, which was a sweet, stir-​fried beef with thin egg noodles. I had a bite of it and the sauce was a little too sweet for my personal taste, but that must’ve been a result of the clear Chinese influence on this dish. The egg noodles were clearly not drained well enough, or even boiled well enough, because there was a flour-​y taste to them? The flour that is sprinkled on the noodles to store them…
My other friend got the Spicy Miso Ramen. I didn’t try this but did note that the egg was fried before it was put in the ramen. I’m sure that makes for a slightly awkward taste, when the burnt egg whites turn soggy in the broth…
I’m not striking this place out yet and might it again sometime in the future… mostly because I enjoyed the atmosphere and really liked the Basil Beef Curry.

Montrose Vietnamese spot Mo Mong is now named Dua, having undergone a recent makeover creating a brighter interior with less of a lounge feel.
The menu remains essentially the same but has undergone some modernizing as well thanks to a new chef.
A few of our favorite menu items include the Mango Chicken Rolls, Basil Curry Beef, and the Volcano Chicken. The service is always good. Dua offers a variety of excellent cocktails and a terrific happy hour.
We especially enjoy visiting on a Thursday evening to indulge in Dua’s nightly $ 3 cocktail specials of frozen Cosmopolitans or well drinks. Try the $ 3 Sake Bellinis. While the drink prices are relatively inexpensive, the bartenders are generous with their pours and make the drinks strong. A DJ regularly plays a selection of current music on Thursday nights. Unfortunately, the music can sometimes be a bit too loud for us.
Apart from gaining a reputation for its Wednesday night specials and everyone’s-welcome attitude, this family-​owned restaurant is known as a high-​energy neighborhood hangout with a fun, upbeat atmosphere. What will surely remain intact is the Montrose restaurant’s reputation as a hip, high-​energy, gay-​friendly hangout. Dua is now open for dinner seven nights a week beginning at 5 p.m.

If you are looking for a lively place to have a few cheap drinks on Thursday this is your spot. DJ Joe Ross is live every Thursday evening playing excellent music. The atmosphere is lively and fun and the frozen cosmos are $ 3 a piece, can’t beat that anywhere. After a few drinks, grab a table and order the dumplings or any of the spring or egg rolls. You won’t be disappointed.

I believe that the food that was served was quite good, although some items on the appetizer menu are quite unfairly priced. I went with a friend and i had ordered the steamed dumplings and my friend ordered the mango, chicken springrolls which both roughly cost the same ($ 1 difference): her springrolls were HUGE. My friend was so satisfied with her springrolls. My dumplings on the other hand, even if I was evaluating them on their own merit, were teeny tiny and definitely not worth the $ 8 or $ 9 I spent on them.
Aside from that I ordered what I have always know as braised catfish (I believe it was called caramelized catfish) because I really missed home where my mother would occasionally make it. However, same issue, the size of the catfish was small. Besides that it was delicious, savory, and saucy, so if you don’t mind the size and you love sauciness then i would recommend this.
My other gripe with Dua, is the waiter. When we both sat down I felt like he was very impatient with us, which I found off-​putting and rude. We barely had the chance to sit down and go through the menu before he essentially started bothering us to order. I know it’s his job to get our orders in but normally you give the guests 10 – 15 minutes to decide, and what he did was maybe at most give us 5 minutes and then kept coming back every 3 minutes. When we did ask him about menu items I feel he was somewhat curt with his responses and it didn’t help his case that he didn’t check on us that often so I was thirsty quite frequently throughout my meal.
The other staff members were very warm and welcoming.
Also, don’t be fooled by the «happy hour» it only applies to two drinks and when the DJ come on its very loud, so if you want a quiet dinner, Thursday after 7 is not for you.
Side Rant: Please, ignore the people saying it’s not authentic. I’m not saying it is either, however, its in their slogan that they’re a «FUSION-​Vietnamese» restaurant. Honestly, how could you expect «100% authentic ethnic cuisine» in a restaurant located in Montrose that advertises itself as fusion?!

Cute place, friendly attentive staff. Food just ok. With so many choices out there it would be hard for me to return.

Everything was really good! Duck spring rolls, vegetable dumplings, Bangkok chicken, beef bolouklag was soooooo good!!!

One of our favorite restaurants in the city. We’ve been coning here for more than a decade and love the staff and the food.
Dua is family-​owned and operated and the dishes are taken from family recipes. The menu changes occasionally and there are drink and food specials every week. Original art hangs on the walls, so be sure to check it out, some of it is really excellent. There is an awesome, covered outdoor space for dining. This is a hidden gem that sits right in the heart of the Montrose and Westheimer neighborhood.

I love this place. The people are so friendly and the environment is so relaxing. The food was very good. We had to try the pork belly spring rolls because I have never seen them anywhere else and they were delicious.

This is Mo Mong, as was. The restaurant rebranded and reopened February 2014. The menu is virtually identical, as is the experience overall. They still have local art on the wall for sale, the groovy Buddha Bar music and the cocktail crowd of an evening. The fare is Asian Fusion, pretty tasty and varied.

This was my first trip to Dua. My friend had a coupon for ½ off and we decided to give it a try. We are thrilled we found this restaurant in our neighborhood! (We’re new to Houston and didn’t know about Mo Mong, the previous incarnation of this restaurant.)
We have gluten allergies (literally get ill if we eat it…). Our waitress was incredibly friendly and walked us through both sides of the menu and told us what dishes were safe to eat. She also said if we were patient enough and had time, the chef could even be flexible to alter meals. We really felt well taken care of and safe from gluten.
She did warn us that not all waitstaff are as knowledgable about gluten (She took time to research it a bit.) She said if we came back to simply pass a message to the chef who is also familiar with preparing food for those who are gluten-​intolerant. She also mentioned that soon they will have gluten-​free soy sauce so they can customize the meals without losing as much flavor. She was a rockstar! Seriously.
The spring roll appetizer was enormous — seriously, big enough for an entire lunch.
For the main dish, my friend got the volcano chicken which he ended up taking home leftovers. He said it was tasty. I got the vermicelli bowl with chicken. It was yummy. Not the best I’ve had, but good enough that I would certainly recommend it to friends.
I lived in Thailand for 10 years and am very familiar with SE Asian cuisine. This is pretty good for being in Houston. I’ll defintely be back! PS — I’d actually give 4.5 stars if I could. I reserve a 5 star rating for a noodle shop on the actual streets of Vietnam. :)

Well after my last experience at Mo Mong, I was a little hesitant to give this place another chance. However, I received a coupon in the mail for ½ off entire meal. Who could pass up half off? We went and were pleasantly surprised. We started with the eggrolls, which were honestly just okay. They served them with lettuce and parsley, which I thought was a little odd — but ok. i then had the fried calamari and it was honestly pretty tasty. The calamari was fresh and battered just right. I never thought of eating calamari with rice, but it was a nice combination. My partner had chicken with noodles and they were also good. We both cleaned our plates, so there really can’t be many complaints. Good job with the rebirth of what was once and hopefully now will continue to be a staple in a rotation of places to eat in Montrose.

This used to be Mo Mong. It is now wonderful as Dua. Smaller menu, same wonderful flavors.
Let me be a wee bit more specific: This was, and remains, one of two of our favorite restaurants in Houston. (The other serves Mex Mex and ass kicking ‘Rita’s). The new décor is understated, but better than before. The menu has been pared down to the favorites, but the favorites are still there. The drinks, as always, are wonderful.
Now, this is not a traditional Vietnamese restaurant. We love Vietnamese food and go to a more local phở place regularly. But Dua blends traditional with new favors in a way that delights the senses. One would expect a restaurant of this quality to appear in New York or San Francisco, at a much higher price.
I’ve brought family here, my wife when we were just dating, and business associates. I’ve NEVER had to give any excuses. In my experience, this place has been consistently excellent over 15 years.

Out with the old, in with the new. The old Mo Mong now named Dua, has a fresh new makeover that makes the restaurant feel more brighter and less dark and cave-​like. While the menu stays pretty much the same, it seems more condensed and less overwhelming than the previous menu.
The obvious go-​to menu items are the mango chicken rolls, basil curry beef, and the volcano chicken. The service is great. The drinks are good. Come in on a Thursday night for their nightly $ 3 cocktail specials of frozen cosmopolitans or wells. Don’t be fooled by the cheap price, they make these drinks strong! There is a live DJ that plays music. However, it can be overbearing and really loud. Are we at a club or a restaurant?

My husband and I literally just left and I had to write a review. That is how terrible the food was.
Décor
Absolutely pretty and modern. You can tell the place was just finished, bc the paint was still fresh. They have a 2 level restaurant and did a good job remodeling. When walking in, it is inviting and would make you want to stay for drinks. It is also very clean.
Service
Our server was very nice. Since it is somewhat new, it doesn’t seem as if he knew the dishes very well, so he did not do a good job at explaining. Because I was trying to be specific to let him know my likes and dislikes.
Food
Versus focusing solely on the atmosphere, they need to totally revamp their menu and bring it an authentic chef from either Vietnam, Thailand, or China. I had the Dua Noodle with chicken and it was equivalent to a box meal you would purchase from Walmart and quickly heat up if you are a broke college student with no money. It was soggy, a fake soy sauce that doesn’t seem to be made from scratch, loaded with store cut celery and definitely NOT AUTHENTIC VIETNAMESE RICE NOODLES. The noodles had the texture of spaghetti, not that sticky, yummy goodness that comes in Phở. My husbands was much worse than mine. He ordered the curry beef noodle and it was inedible. He ate mostly from my plate. His noodles were overcooked with a bland thick mayo looking sauce that they call curry. It had absolutely no salt! What authentic restaurant Asian restaurant puts their sauce on top like spaghetti and meatballs?! And in the Dua noodle, it is not fresh shrimp. They are fake shrimp that you can buy in a package from Walmart.
Very disappointing. The owner came to speak with us and she was apologetic and trying to convince us that her food is authentic, not realizing that I’m in school to become a Food Scientist, so I know about authentic cuisine from different countries. The food is not fresh and just slop on a plate. We did not have got pay for the meal, but we made sure to give our server a nice tip, because he was friendly. There would have to be a zombie apocalypse with a shortage of food for me to ever try their food again!

More like 3.5.
The «new» Dua looks like a less loungey Mo-​Mong. Gone are the reds and blacks swapped for sepias and a mural dedicated to opium dens. The menu is much smaller with a lean slightly more Vietnamese.
Our server was far more attentive than servers we’ve had in the past and no bugs in our food. I really liked my Spicy Miso Ramen, though I would have proffered a fried or poached egg over the very hard boiled one.
I kind of miss the old décor, I think it made more sense with the martini list. But, it is making many more steps in the right direction.

Here for their grand opening party :-)
The place was packed!!! A few servers with passed hor d’oeuvres, wine, pretty pink cocktails, lots of minglyness abound! We had a few small bites from the new menu… the tofu spring roll was nothing out of the ordinary but the nem!!! Ohhhmygosh! Super spicy goodness… a slice of pickled ham, jalapeño, and garlic! Sugarcane shrimp was a tasty morsel.
Lots of complimentary goodies and spirits! Reds, whites, an adult friendly boba tea, daiquiris, they are sooo generous!
The music is bumping pretty hard… DJ POLLO ROCKS the house! Cannot write a true review tonight… lets call it a review for this event!
The best part? The legions of dragons that came through to bless this event and this restaurant!!! Wow!
Thanks Viet! Lots of luck in 2014!!!