Van Mai Vietnamese Restaurant

Discovered Van Mai through Anthony Bourdain’s visit and have been a regular ever since. Consistently great food - the Vietnamese dishes are the best on Victoria Street. The highlights are the rare beef salad, the chicken pho and the salt and pepper squid. Avoid the tourist traps at the other end of Victoria Street and make your way down a little further to Van Mai.

Best Vietnamese in the city, especially if you’re looking something besides pho. The stuffed chicken wings are yummy.

Probably the best spring rolls on the street. Generous with the Vietnamese herbs. Excellent tender thin beef in the pho but a bit salty for my taste. Great iced Vietnamese coffee too and the staff are very friendly.

Great lunch deal and food was delicious. Best spring rolls along the street and the Pho is better than most

When I go to a Vietnamese restaurant I want it to serve Vietnamese food not Chinese food. When I order a pork and prawn pancake I want pork and prawn in it not just bean shoots. I should have taken notice when an Asian restaurant only had a table of 4 boomers talking about their trip to Thailand because it's similar. The atmosphere was ok. Probably more like a 2 1/2 stars than a three.

Beautiful food. The $15 lunch special is amazing value. The beef pho was perfect and the spring tools with an abundance of lettuce for wrapping was palate perfect. Must visit Vietnamese while in Richmond.

Lunch special is worth the money. The server (also the owner?) was very nice and polite. Will go back.

Always a pleasure to eat here. Great service, great food, reasonable prices. What more could you want?

It was the best! All of the dished are just so tasty and wonderful. The restaurant is nice and clean, all staff members are very friendly. Very good location. I cannot wait to go back there! In Richmond, just go there!
Thank you for the dinner!

Went for the lunch deal, 15 dollars for an amazing lunch. Highly recommended! The Pho was huge and very yummy

Mediocre at best. Slow service, at least 20 mins between courses. Rice paper rolls were mostly just rice and very boring. Left the place hungry.

Good price with good taste as well. I ordered broken rice with pork and the portion was large. More than I expected honestly.

The modest price of the meals matches the quality. I ordered sampling tray of appetizers and was underwhelmed by the quantity and quality of the food. The mains were good, I had the broken rice special. The real kicker is that the food took much longer than I expected for a casual Vietnamese restaurant.

Always great food, friendly family run business who's owners still remember me from when I was a teenager - I'm 40 now and only go back every couple of years but they still remember me like an old friend

Stopped by for a quick meal, and had the Lunch Special. The spring rolls were truly delicious (one of the best we've ever had?), while the Pho was a great size, and went really well with the lemongrass-chilli paste!

VICTORIA STR-EAT REVIEWS

Cleanliness: 3
Rather outdated interior, floors look dirty, sticky tables, but clean cutlery and serving dishes.

Service: 3
Fast service, drinking water provided on table (but not served), not overly personable.

Food Quality: 3
Food tasted fresh, Pho was very basic (which I love!). The beef in vine leaf was very tasty. Satay Tofu was average, rather bland. Very authentic Vietnamese. But just lacking that little extra.

Price: 4
Prices are cheap but mid-range for Victoria Street. Pho is $12 (only one size), mains are $15-$20 and entrees $9ish. Dinner for two: two mains and one entree was $35.

Fabulous Vietnamese restaurant that has a wide range of dishes that aren't too expensive. Really liked the rice paper rolls plus the vegetarian spring rolls delicious. Plus the beef pho was excellent. Expect the usual tea or ask for the usual choice of drinks. Staff were extremely helpful. Food comes to the table quickly and efficiently. Everything is fresh and deliciously tasty. This place gets busy, popular with locals. Takeaway available. Dietaries catered for. Wheelchair friendly. Kid friendly. Pram/stroller accessible. Reasonable parking.