Destiny Café
This special little hideaway has been a Hmong establishment since before I was here in Minnesota—over 10 plus years stemming back to my arrival back in August of 1998. Before Destiny Cafe, it was a restaurant tailoring exclusive Hmong cuisines, specifically towards taming the palates of the Hmong people, which included: The simple purplish speckled black sweet sticky rice, to the marinated to perfection and then fried quartered dark meat chicken of the thigh and drummy, to the spicy unique Hmong sausage, and the popular fiery yet funky fish smelling and pungent papaya salad. Secreted inside what many Hmongs know as the Sunrise building in Saint Paul, Minnesota, this establishment has gone through different hands, and most recently, a new hand that would reestablish the Sunrise market as having one of the best pho eateries in town.
Why is that?
Well, this establishment serves a special pho unorthodox to the original Vietnamese soup mixing in an assortment of different proteins that would enhance the soup itself such as: shrimps, chunks of imitation crabmeats, sliced roast pork, tripe, 2 different types of meatballs (fish & beef), sliced Asian meatloaf, tendons, thinly sliced beef, and in addition to the chunks of cooked dark brown spongy-like blood cubes I call blood jell-o.
If you haven’t had a chance to visit this place, you won’t regret it. I’m giving the food 8 out of 10—based solely on their special pho dish—and giving their customer service, in their hosts and hostesses, a lacking 5 of 10. To finalize this in placing Destiny Cafe’s final tally at just a smidgen over the median range of 6.5 of 10.
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Mmm…mmm…good…is all I can say.
Great pho!
This is one of the best pho I’ve ever had! Try it once and you’ll definitely go back again, trust me.
My ratings… for the food, I give it 5 out of 10 and service, I’ll it an 3 out of 10, giving it a total rating of 4 out of 10. There Special Destiny Pho is only special because of the large serving size and I might add that there papaya salad… well let’s just say I’ll won’t get my salad from there ever again. :X
I must say if your looking for cheap Asian food and doesn’t really mind the fact that it’s a restaurant / Ballroom / deli then go for it but i won’t recommend bring someone there for a romantic date.
Yep, can’t disagree… darn good place to eat.
Have had it before, it’s okay, but nothing to clap your hands out loud for.
The food’s great and the waitress is smoking hot. I’d recommend it! Definately deserves a 9/10…….wait, did you want me to rate the food too? hehehe
It’s pretty good!.. the extra large can be a big large, but good for hungry people!.. i would recommend it, but yes, service sucks… the waitress was drinking with another group of people, took forever to get to us.. which i think, hmong places dont know how to service much anyways… so, if it’s the food, it doesnt hurt to go back…
I’m a proud Hmong girl and a proud supporter of the Hmong community, but let’s be honest here. The food is ranked at a 2, primarily because there is nothing special to rave about. It’s typical Hmong food that can be made at home. Service is typical AsiaN service so I would rank it at a 3. Nevertheless I go there in hopes of helping out my Hmong community.
Be honest…this place is a lot better and is a step from all the other Hmong eateries in town. I know it’s a hole in the wall, and the service is “ASIAN”, but this place is getting better. Everytime I’m out there the place is getting more busier and busier and people are raving about their combination pho bowl that’s normally an opposite to what other Vietnamese Pho offer.
The old saying of: “If Hmong don’t love Hmong, who’s going to love Hmong.”
WORD!!!
The old saying of Hmong love? HA!
So stop bashing and start loving!!!