Yes :-) Jennifer's review (Apr 30th 2006)

Until tonight I had never eaten Vietnamese food. And really I didn’t have an excuse. Lana and Theresa, who teasingly ask Remi if he wants purple polish with every pedicure, praise their native cuisine. “It’s like Thai food, but less spicy,” they say. I could eat that. We all know I love my Thai. But could I betray Linnie’s? It wouldn’t be betrayal. Would it? It is Vietnamese food, after all. And because of her Spokane Teacher’s Credit Union commercials I feel I personally know Spokane’s Queen of Pho, Kim Do. I could do this. I could do this and get away with it.

But it had to be takeout. And it had to be early in the evening. Imagine if we’d been spotted? (Hey, it’s happened.) I’d never get over the guilt. At Kim Do’s we were warmly welcomed into the split level U-District restaurant and given savory cups of tea while we both blindly looked over the menu. Unlike most ethnic menus, I had no idea what I was ordering. My memory was jogged by vaguely bad “What the pho?” puns. What should I order? Would it be good? Would it be authentic?

Before we could finish our tea, the cha gio (Vietnamese egg rolls), com heo xao xa ot (marinated pork and rice), and bun heo xao xa ot (marinated pork and rice noodles) were piled in a plastic white bag and ready to go. Lemongrass permeated the inside of the car and tempted our tummies as we made the slow, snow-laden trip home. Honestly, we had no idea we both ordered pork until we opened the Styrofoam containers. As always, ordering the same thing is completely against the rules. Nonetheless, the slightly spicy thin slices of pork were moist and tender. My rice noodles complemented the sweet and sour sauce and the cool julienned cucumbers were a nice counterpoint. Given the chance, I’d definitely sneak into Kim Do’s again. And now I can tell Lana and Theresa I had a bite. We just can’t let the Linnie’s ladies know. Shhh.

Yes :-) Remi's review (Dec 20th 2005)

It is Kim Do. And it is good.

I have never been to Vietnam, so my take on what traditional Vietnamese cuisine tastes like comes solely from the ladies who do my pedicures. Yes, I’m secure enough in my masculinity to admit that. Anyway! According to them the food us supposed to be fairly bland, something which wasn’t the case at Kim Do. This was some spicy stuff. Very spicy. So was it authentic?

Honestly I don’t know, and I don’t really care all that much. Other than when mocking people who like Taco Bell I’m not really a purist, and I know “traditional” is a highly relative term anyway. The important part was that it tasted good. The pork in my heo xao xa ot (apparently that translates to “marinated pork with lemon grass”) was tender and full of flavor. And it was not like the spices were overpowering or anything; the flavors were well balanced. The the cha gio (think egg-rolls) also made for a good side dish, piping hot, and not overly greasy.

So no, I don’t know if this was traditional Vietnamese cuisine. I do know that I had a tasty meal, however, and in the end, that’s really all that matters.

Yes :-) Dan's review (Feb 3rd 2007)

Kim Do is the only Vietnamese restaurant I’ve eaten at. I liked the food although I have no real comparison. The staff was great, but there was a cheap feel to the furniture. I’ll definitely be back.

Yes :-) Ryan's review (Mar 24th 2008)

Kim Do was the first Vietnamese restaurant I ate it in Spokane. Since then I’ve been to the others in town and I can say that Kim Do ranks at the top. I enjoy their rice dishes (basically combined with lettuce & meat of your choice) but I must say that Kim Do serves up the best beef pho in town. I get their regular beef pho minus the meatballs but I ask her to make it spicy, perfecto. The tendon, tripe, and beef strips are spot on with the broth kickin’ major butt. Recommended!