Sea Dragon

Being Vietnamese as a child you were dragged here for ALL your relatives celebrations, weddings to be exact. I haven’t been back here since I was a young teen. I’m glad some things never change. So many of my childhood memories are right in this restaurant. The food was great, I was really surprised. Great family style eating.

Have been coming here for the last 20 years. Hearing rumors they are closing at the end of January. Best to get your Sea Dragon fix in now!
Authentic Vietnamese food… here’s what I usually get:
Canh chua — sour/​sweet soup
Shaken beef — tasty beef dish
Hu tieu ap chao — panfried rice noodle with beef/​broccoli
Crawfish fried rice
Salt and pepper crawfish
Razor clams
Catfish in a claypot with caramel sauce
I’ll miss you Sea Dragon…

Okay… so, we got here about 1 hour before they closed. We were the only two folks in here so we were kind of hesitant to order, but it was getting late and we were getting HANGRY. My friend and I ordered sesame chicken and short ribs. They were all out of short ribs but the waiter, Tu, suggested this sliced beef, caramelized onion, and potato dish. Oh. MY. Freaking. GOD!!! Everything that came out was incredibly yummy. I mean… this place is a hidden treasure. The breading on the sesame chicken was light and crispy. The potatoes in the other dish were crispy and in a delectable sweet sauce. Wow was all we could say the whole meal. Everything was made to order. Folks, you need to try to this place. It’s hidden in the strip mall area, but well worth it. And our waiter was awesome. We will definitely be going back here for more dishes.

It’s HARD to find vegetarian food in TX :)
So, was glad to stumble into this place.
Had their king oyster mushroom & tofu dish and loved it. Really nice mix of the silkiness of tofu and chewiness of shrooms. Pretty healthy too!
My companion had chicken with cashews and said it was decent. Service was quick and polite.

This is my experience as a frequent luncher because my job is close by:
The lunch has slowly declined to the point of «I won’t be back.» First, they were a pretty decent lunch buffet for about $ 8. The fare was standard but would fill you up in a pinch and was pretty good.
Next they got rid of the buffet, but offered a good portioned lunch that was better quality for around $ 6.50-$ 7.50. Great food and a cheaper price to boot. I went there the most for this.
Today I went in and they had raised their prices significantly and cut the portion size down with no noticeable quality improvement. If I’m going to spend $ 10 a plate for lunch, I’m going to a better quality restaurant that i might have some leftovers for.

Damn give me some of that beef and potato. I keep coming back here for that goodgood. I think about it every day and dream about it every night. It is my sole purpose in life to continue eating this gift God has given us.
Service is decent considering the typical party size. The quality of the food is always very satisfying when ordered from the menu, but not always so with the buffet. Portion is definitely large and filling. Unfortunately I ate it too fast to remember to take a picture. It was that good.

On the weekends when I come here, they are usually serving dim sum, but we always order from the regular menu. We usually order the sesame chicken, walnut shrimp, Chinese broccoli with beef, canh chua (sour soup) and crawfish (when it’s in season).
The service is mediocre. The food is usually very good, but the last time we frequent here, the food presentation and quality were not up to par. The sesame chicken and walnut shrimp were soggy and greasy. The Chinese broccoli with beef and crawfish were overcooked.
I heard from a friend that there was a change in management recently. I really hope that doesn’t mean the quality of food will change. If so, we will not be back.

I give this place a four stars for service. The waiter introduced me to a new drink plum water which I never had before. The décor was great and I found it relaxing. Looking forward to spring rolls and the egg noodle combo. He tried to talk Me into a coconut drink when I asked how it was. I will try it next time I come!

Eat here if you want maggots in your food. I am not kidding.
When I tried to send the food back, the waiter SCREAMED at me I ordered this dish and I had to pay for the dish.
I told him there were bugs in the food and I didn’t want it.
He then wrapped it up and put the box on my table with the food.
I was charged for my maggot stir fry.

Check out their fry fish. It’s huge, crispy from the outside and soft in the inside and serves with veggies, noodle, and Vietnamese sauce (depends on which one you like: fish sauce, soy sauce…). They also have so many good food. Service is sometime slow due to their busy hour. But still is a good restaurant to come back

I’ve been coming here for years. So many memories in this place. From weddings to birthday parties to big family gatherings this place has always came through for me. Food is good. If I ever move away from Austin I’ll always remember this place.

Faaaccckk. I want this in my city! Came here with my High school buddy and it was Superb! Not overpriced like other chinese restaurants.
Crawfish was $ 6/​lb and very tasty 4.2÷5
But the best part had to be the Peppercorn Lobster!
I mean the best lobster you can have. I cant even eat regular lobster anymore. It has to be hongkong style everytime. Ginger green onion fried WHOLE lobster? What else do you want? It was so good that i didnt even eat my white rice! Lol

I come here at least twice a month for Vietnamese food and crawfish (when in season). The Vietnamese food here is quite good and there are some items you can’t find anywhere else (and I’ve lived in southern CA for a few years).
Crispy pork intestine (ruot heo chien don) — appetizer I will get every time
Jellyfish salad with shrimp and pork (goi sua) — the fish sauce makes the dish
Chao tom (I’m not sure of the English translation for this) — it’s ground shrimp rolled onto a sugarcane stick and grilled. Wrap it up with veggies and thin vermicelli like a spring roll with two sauce options.
**Beef and potato — best ever! just try it
Crispy pan fried flat rice noodle with seafood and veggies (hu tieu ap chao) — this gets addicting also
Canh chua nha trang — Vietnamese seafood hot and sour soup, my parents’ favorite
Canh chua ca (catfish hot and sour soup) — also good
The service is hit or miss, it is an Asian restaurant. We usually come here early around 5−6pm so it’s not too bad.
I don’t recommend coming Sat evening unless you call ahead to make sure they are not serving a wedding.

This place is a joke.
1. Walked in to a sketchy, empty restaurant with tables, chairs, and a stage. Yes folks, no décor, no music, nothing. Just an outdated mob style meeting place.
2. I asked if they still had the buffet. The man said no, it ended 4 months ago and then asked if I was going to eat here or what.
I was with my boss and begged, no, pleaded, … no, demanded that we leave and go somewhere else but he wanted to stay here. I guess my punishment for making him pass up all known restaurants on the way.
3. We were seated and given menu’s. We asked for water only and that was immediately brought to us. As I looked down at the menu, I noticed that the table linen’s on the other side of the glass was dirty, very dirty, and I saw a few pieces of hair. A baby gnat also found her way to my table.
4. After 10 minutes, I summoned the closest waitress. She came over to take our order. I stuck with General Tso and my boss ordered the Pork Spring Rolls and Pineapple rice. The waitress asked my boss if he wanted beef, chicken, pork, or combo and he replied combo. After a few minutes the waitress came back and said «he said no so what else do you want to order?». WTF are you talking about lady. Then she explained that she meant that whomever the head hauncho guy is, said no. I didn’t realize we asked a question, we chose from what was offered, but fine. So my boss tells her, okay, let me cancel my whole order and place a new order. He then orders the sesame chicken meal.
5. Our food comes out, piping hot, and I’m like yes, they’ve redeemed themselves! But I see the evil spring rolls. My boss tells the male waitress that he cancelled that order and he is not paying for them. The male waitress says something to the female waitress who took our order and she comes over to the table to tell us that we ordered the rolls, and she said something along the lines of okay whatever, and I think I started losing it.
6. The general Tso chicken was okay. crispy, not too much breading, and the rice was just right. After one bite, the female waitress comes over again to talk shit about what he didn’t say.
I will nev-​a, eve-​a go back to this place to eat. I don’t know how in the hell this place earned past 2 stars but I won’t be back to find out.

I can’t believe I haven’t left a review here yet. I’ve read through some of the reviews on here and they are less than stellar. I, however, love this place. They have authentic cuisine that my parents make. It might be because they are from the same region so there’s a bit of … kinship.
Some of my favorite dishes:
Chao tom — Grilled Shrimp Wrapped Around Sugarcane
Canh Chua Ca — Catfish In Hot And Sour Soup
Ca kho to — CATFISH SIMMERED WITH FISH SAUCE (Caramelized fish)
Ruot Heo — Crispy Pig Intestines (:-D for the brave)
Goi Sua — Jellyfish salad
That’s my go to dishes, it changes depending on my mood and sometimes when things aren’t available.
My most recent visit was for their crawfish! Monday — Wednesdays, it’s $ 5.99/lb so my friend Quyen B. and I went to enjoy our crawfish. It is definitely made the asian way instead of that cajun way, very garlicky, I love it. It’s not overwhelmed with butter (which I like sometimes) but for that price, it’s hard not to eat a few lbs. :)
And then we got the Canh Chua Ca. Oy, too much food. :)
About the service, I love their food so I’m a bit more relaxed with the service. I know that sometimes we have to ask for our drinks/​water to be refilled. It’s like, the service isn’t given here, it has to be asked for. I understand this and so I ask for a million things. :) Extra rice, water, extra veggies. I have to say that I deal with that service for the delicious food. If they ever improve on that service, I guess my experience will be even better. If service is a priority to you, then you might want to look elsewhere.

We called to confirm $ 5.99 crawfish and they charged us $ 7.99. should have never come here. The server felt so bad because it was the manager who we talked to and he was not acknowledging the mistake. The food was not good, service was obviously bad due to the management. We will never be back.

Long overdue. I’ve gotten the luxury of trying Sea Dragon when my parents came to visit. Food is always better when it’s shared, and with that, we were able to try a bunch of different dishes. The server boy was very punctual and respectful of our group (of 10). Some dishes were a miss, but most were a hit. In order of favorites.
1) Bo Ba Mon– 3 courses of succulently prepared meats. To be wrapped with assorted fresh pickled veggies and leafs in a thin soft rice paper. Dip in fish sauce or plum sauce as needed. We had meatball, meat wrapped in leaf, shrimp in bamboo stalk. ⁵⁄₅.
2) Crisped rice noodle stir fried with assorted proteins. ⁵⁄₅.
3) Salt/​pepper/​scallion lobster. ⁵⁄₅.
4) Shaken beef. Red, sweeter than I am used to. ⁵⁄₅.
5) Kung Pao chicken. ²⁄₅
6) Chicken and sprouts in some kind of orange sauce. ²⁄₅
7) Fish hot and sour soup. ⁵⁄₅.
8) Crunchy squid. ⁵⁄₅.
*Disclaimer: Please show waiter these pictures to verify what you want to order. I don’t remember the proper names of a few of them!*
I am returning purely to become a regular orderer of the Bo Ba Mon. 3 courses of delightful meats, and a great wrapping adventure with your table-​mates. I recommend this for ice breakers!
Solid solid variety of foods. Make sure you give it a try if you are craving some authentic chinese food!

My first ever dim sum.
I felt a bit rushed to order. The soup cart arrived after the wonton carts.
I will go again. I want to try the lobster special!

I use to come here a lot with my friends bc I loved their beef cube salad! Also they had the $ 20 double lobster special.
It’s been half a year now. I decided to go visit yesterday. So on the beef cube salad, they’ve cut down the portion. Not as much beef anymore and they no longer put mushrooms on it. Also the double lobster is now $ 40. A lot of the prices went up and food quality went down. I also ordered fried tofu. However it came after I was pretty much done with all my food. I think they forgot bout it so they rushed and the tofu was very undercooked. I’m a fan of fried tofu so I know what that is suppose to look and taste like. It wasn’t yellow on the outside. They rushed so there wasn’t even a spoon on the plate. The inside is very mushy and soft just like undercooked tofu. Very disappointed.

This establishment WAS pretty special when it offered a lunch buffet but since they stopped offering the buffet it is just another chinese restaurant with no discernible benefits.
It’s just meh.