Review Van Mai Restaurant - Richmond

Very tasty!!! We stopped in for lunch on a Saturday afternoon, the restaurant was about half full. The service was great and the food arrived promptly. We order three dishes and everything was fantastic, see pictures. We will be back! 🤤

The Tom yum with prawns was incredible, highly recommend with the vermecelli rice noodles... Delicious!! Staff are very friendly and attentive :D Definitley check out for a budget friendly, great meal!

Van Mai is my go to for my Vietnamese fix when in Melbourne and not in Saigon. Minh the owner always makes sure we have a good time and good feed. My friends are now also hooked 😉

Traditional vietnamese restaurant where you can order noodle/rice dishes along with main dishes to share. The chicken Pho broth was good. The dry noodle was seasoned nicely too. However the chicken pieces and the pork pieces in both noodles are tough and dry. Place is a little dark and not the cleanest place around. Food - 7 Service - 7 Vibe - 5 Price - $$

Fantastic food from Minh and his team at Van Mai! The best restaurant on Victoria St Richmond! Highly recommend!

VICTORIA STR-EAT REVIEWS 🤘🏻 Cleanliness: 3 Rather outdated interior, floors look dirty, sticky tables, but clean cutlery and serving dishes.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.

Came here for lunch on a Tuesday, place was really quiet. They have just started offering lunch specials for 15 dollars. Work mate ordered the vermicelli, which wasn't in the main picture on the advert but we then discovered after ordering in small print, it was included. Would've been good if the waiter told us upon ordering that it was part of the $15 lunch deal, I think it is $11 on its own. The chicken salad is great here and I would definitely come back for it.

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!

One of the many Vietnamese restaurants on Victoria street. I’ve ordered delivery from here a few times so it’s good to go in and try. They were a bit slow for some reason that day, normally you get your food within a few minutes of ordering. The pho seemed to have the noodles from the end of the pack, a bit short and broken! However, the flavours were good and the prices are a bit cheaper than most. A good one to go to if you’re down that side of the Victoria St.

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.

Excellent food and friendly staffs. <br/>Fried ice cream and spring rolls are really good and one of the best Vietnamese restaurant I have ever went

My friend and I came here for lunch on a whim and we were not disappointed! <br/><br/>The staff were incredibly hospitable and friendly, our food was delicious and the serving sizes were perfect. <br/><br/>I don't normally go down that end of Victoria Street, but my friend and I agree that we will definitely be coming back to Van Mai. Thanks!

Staff were attentive and food was delivered with thought put into the presentation.<br/>Pork chops were a real winner for me and at such a cheap price I was a little surprised.<br/>San Choi were tasty, only thing I would like is for them to be placed in smaller lettuce leaves and portioned slightly better to eat, but that is me just being picky.<br/>Will be back to try some more dishes.<br/>

This has to be the best vietnamese restaurant in Richmond. I highly recommend coming down here and trying out there dishes. The atmosphere is relaxing and the staff is very friendly. Every dish that came out was spot on.

Food is always good. We stop by on weekends to get the lunch special. One of the best pho’s we have eaten. Highly recommend. The staff are always polite

Any time of the day - one can come in here and confidently order the noodle soup - neither the flavour nor the serving can get any better .. noodle soup with pork in particular

Incredible fresh food, generous servings and at unbeatable prices. The grilled chicken I had was cooked perfectly and the flavours in my rice noodle salad were mouth watering. The staff were also very friendly and inviting. Definitely going back!

I love this place, every time I go to Richmond it's my go to restaurant. I really recommend the wonton and BBQ pork soup, the rice paper rolls and the warm vermicelli salad. Last time I had the pho the broth was lacking of good spices but it was enjoyable overall.

Nice little place at the quiet end of Victoria street; mainly frequented by locals. The restaurant is spacious with 2 dining rooms. Service was prompt and efficient. The menu contains the usual suspects. We had the pork spring rolls, grilled pork with vermicelli noodles, Singapore noodles and a beer and ice coffee. It was ok, the flavours seemed very muted though. $45 for the lot. Worth a visit if you like mild Vietnamese flavours. I prefer the punchy flavours so happy to call this a one-time visit.<br/>

The place where I had the closest to a Portuguese bitoque :p It was the combination broken rice! Pretty good! Boyfriend had pho and it was good as well. The place is nice and the staff was kind and friendly. Just a warning: prices displayed on Zomato are outdated.

Came here for my Mum's bday dinner tonight. <br/>Table of 14.... we had to order drinks and food at the bar... not that this restaurant wasn't table service. There was just no service at our table. Like the waiters and waitresses were scared of us... <br/>food was great... though. <br/>Service was just shocking.

Shared specials and mains . Chicken ribs delicious . Chicken and corn soup yummy .Dessert of banana fritter delicious . Service good . Staff were just beautiful . Coming back.

Visited the establishment over the weekend and will probably never return.The staff are pushy and disinterested and the dishes were just "ok"We tried the Duck Rice Paper Rolls which were thin on ingredients and did not come with a dipping sauce. I thought all rice paper rolls came with a dipping sauce. I asked for BBQ Pork Balls with Vermicelli and received shredded beef instead. Only one drink order was taken besides seeing the staff when the food arrived, they vanished! We expected a further drink order surely.The place lacked atmosphere, a good welcome and service. We won't be going back. There are upteen other places on Victoria St that are much much better and with better attention to detail.

Unfortunately takeaway experience was not great. The chicken cashew was ok but dry. The fried rice was also just ok. However the main issue was portions. Neither container was filled up. I ordered a large fried rice and it was a nowhere near full. If I wanted less I would have ordered a regular and paid less. Same with chicken cashew, container quarter empty. Usually a large fried rice and any main size meat dish at any Viet place in this area would feed my boyfriend and I with leftovers, not this time. Won't be back, the Vietnamese two doors up does much better food and portion sizes at similar prices, which I only discovered after trying Van Mai first so I know where I will be going from now on.

Lovely authentic no frills food<br/>Full of flavour and byo a plus if you want to<br/>Pho is full of flavour - add as much or as little chilli as you can take<br/>Don't just stick to the menu - order from the specials board you won't regret it<br/>Happy grazing

Food is ok... Nothing spectacular.<br/>Nice spring rolls<br/>Broken rice with bbq pork was tasty, yet a bit dry (fish sauce helps though).<br/>Pork balls are tasty but felt a bit chewy.<br/>Service is great.

Vermicelli with veg and tofu $10. Super zesty and light. Delicious, quick lunch in the window seat on a sunny day. Tea was piping hot even when I left. Although this dish didn't require any more condiments, having zero options wasn't ideal.

One of the worst Restaurants on Victoria Street. Food was Horrible!

All in all for a restaurant recommended by US chef and TV personality Anthony Bourdain, Van Mai missed the mark...

Van Mai is another popular Vietnamese eatery along the bustling Victoria Street, Richmond. In my attempt to seek out and try many of the Vietnamese Restaurants in Richmond, Van Mai on Urbanspoon seemed like a very popular place to try. They have a wide selection of dishes to choose from but of course, I had to choose my favourite Vietnamese dish  (or as close to). I love Crispy Chicken with Tomato Rice at Walrus (Springvale) and so my adventure to try out a dish that matches or even possibly tops that dish begins. Van Mai doesn’t have Crispy Chicken withTomato Rice but they do have Diced Pepper Beef with Tomato Rice dish. I absolutely loved the flavour of this dish. The beef was packed full of flavour, it was slightly sweet, nicely marinated and had a pleasant pepper taste that didn’t overwhelm the natural beef flavour.  One little con was that it was a tad too salty but eaten with the fresh lettuce, tomato and cucumber it balanced things out. I pretty much only order Crispy Chicken wi

Beef salad great. Great friendly staff.

Takeaway. I regularly order takeaway rice paper rolls for entertaining at home. So delicious and the staff are always very helpful. Have also enjoyed eating in with the family. No frills but good Vietnamese food!

Really really disappointing. Change in menu sees less choice and the price has gone up. Not a cheap eat anymore. The service was absolutely appalling and over an hour for our meals. Once a family favorite will not be going again. Try Loi Loi's two doors up

Wonderful restaurant. Further down victoria st than most Vietnamese places but well worth the slightly extra trip.

Good cheap food. Very good rare beef salad. BYO wine $4 a bottle. Quite spacious. And not very busy so can probably accommodate a large group with little notice.

Not impressed. Sorry to say was not happy with the service not a lot of people there and they was very slow <br/>entree fried wontons was good fried rice was crap and the chicken and cashew was ok

Van yummy. Hard working Vietnamese couple run this restaurant, I've dined here a couple times and observed how they seem to runabout managing the restaurant and also home deliveries. The Cambodian noodles with soup<br/>Is one of the best versions I've had in Melbourne, the other dishes I have tried are all good but not super yum tastic. The 3 coloured drink also complemented the noodles but you could almost have that drink as a dessert !

We eat here every week. Almost every week our family come to this restaurant either to have lunch or dinner because we live very close to this restaurant. The food here is not the best Vietnamese food but I consider it is good enough for us. I like all the coleslaw, the stuffed chicken wings, the broken rice, the stir fried beef with tomato rice. The price is reasonable like other Vietnamese restaurants. The staff is friendly and the manager is extremely helpful when you have any question regard to the dishes. The environment is suitable for family style with big groups since the venue is quite large. Highly recommended

Quick and Tasty. Ate here last Wednesday. The service was average but the food was tasty, filling and reasonably priced. I will be going back for a quick week night bite for sure.

Great food! Fresh and tasty. Given there are so many choices on vic st, this is well worth a try. Chilled ambience and lots of families (but not noisy). Great service.

My fav Vietnamese restaurant . Try the salt and pepper squid with Vietnamese coleslaw - yummiest ever! Minced beef in vine leaves rock as well. A couple of 888's and you are set!

Viet disaster. This place was recommended by anthony boundaine, im never watching his shows ever again. when we went, the 10 of us, they ran out of their "special and awesome broken rice". according to the food we had i don't think the broken rice would've been good anyway. this restaurant sucked and i wouldn't go back. the food was mediocre and even worse than sapa hills (which my parents and sister like but i'm not a fan).

Little disappointing. place was recommended, but it wasn't good. it wasn't bad, but i wouldn't go back.<br/>if you end up there- salt + pepper squid. that was actually good.

OK food, but certainly not the best examples of Vietnamese cuisine. VM is located on the eastern end of Victoria St Richmond (past Church St) which can be deemed the 'quieter' end. This has an immediate advantage when it comes to parking as we found a park in a side street directly opposite the restaurant. Eager to try some of their house specials and some of the dishes mentioned by other reviewers I ordered the stuffed chicken wings, the combination broken rice, the hot pot of pork belly and barramundi and the Vietnamese sour fish soup which also had barramundi.<br/><br/>The chickens wings were lovely. Nicely fried, stuffed full of flavoursome pork and served with a generous plate of mint, VN mint and lettuce.<br/><br/>The next dish to arrive was the broken rice and the first impression could have been better. I felt the dish was a bit of the sloppy side with overcooked egg, inconsistently coloured pork chop. It tasted fine, but I have had many a better example. The egg pate was noticeably missing too. <br/><br/>The next dish of pork belly and fish in caramel sauce was certainly very impressive to look at when placed on the table with the bubbling caramel a treat in both sight and smell. Intensive in both sweetness and saltyness a dish that truly represents the origins of the dish where poor farmers would eat a lot of rice to bulk out their meals and only have to eat a small amount of this dish as the flavours are so strong.<br/><br/>The last dish that we had was the sour fish soup. From the first sip I felt that the balance of sweet and sour wasn't right. I have had this soup many times in the past and have even made it at home a few times, I felt it could have been better.<br/><br/>The main letdown of the night was the fish they used in the hotpot and soup. I suspect it was from the murks of the deep freezer as both texture and taste reflected a lack of freshness. OK, it is not the 'live' Murray Cod which we have had in Springvale a few times that would set you back 70-80 per dish, but a relatively inexpensive fish like barramundi, I think they could have done better.<br/><br/>Overall the food at Van Mai was decent, but for value and taste, I am of the opinion there are better choices along Victoria St.

Great Vietnamese Food. This friday night my girlfriend and i decided to go to Van Mai for dinner for the first time. Located at the quiter east end of victoria street richmond. Next door is Loi Loi and Ticha thai to name a couple, both of which we have been for dinner many times and they are great. But after having dinner tonight at Van Mai it was just fantastic. Really nice tasting flavoursome vietnamese dishes such as Beef with black bean and vegetables and an eggplant dish which was the best eggplant dish i have ever had easily. We had a soup and an entree of satay chicken skewers which were also nice but the satay skewers were not quite as nice as Loi Loi but nearly. The main dishes in our opinion were better but we won't be able to decide which is better until going back to Van Mai again a few more times. The price was reasonable and the service and food was great. three ticks for Van Mai.

Great Vietnamese. Great place! Love the dishes as they are a lil different from what you usually get. This place i feel has alot of Chinese influence aswell and doesnt focus just on the fresh flavours of Vietnam. MUST try the fish stew (soup). Amazing broth!

Lovely Vietnamese. We tried this place after watching Anthony Bourdain in Melbourne. He seemed to like it and it wasn't as wanky as the other restaurants he visited on the trip.<br/>We had rice paper rolls and the stuffed chicken wings to start - both delicious. I don't like the thick brown sauce viet restaurants in Australia give you with the rice paper rolls, but a couple of drops of fish set them off nicely. Stuffed chicken wings were kind of lukewarm and had a beautiful flavour and texture.<br/>For mains we had a beef salad that you eat off prawn crackers, really nice. Prawns, can't go wrong with prawns with asian flavours. Pancakes you eat wrapped in lettuce were lovely. I think that is all we had shared amongst 4 people it was quite enough.<br/>One of our party asked the waiter what Anthony Bourdain had eaten when he came. He advised us that he had the stuffed chicken wings, the chicken salad, the giant bowl of the family soup and a pork belly with fish dish. He rattled off some more items, but I can't remember them all.<br/>We have to go back for the soup and the pork with fish.

Terrible!. The service sucked! Rice paper rolls were really good and got us excited for our main... we couldn't have been anymore disappointed my girlfriend and I ordered the banh canh and as soon as it came out we knew it would be a let down.. so un-authentic! It had snow peas carrot and broccoli in it???? There was next to no meat and the actual soup tasted weird never going back unlucky!

Our Favourite Place. Friendly<br/>Nice Family People Owners<br/>Accommodating<br/>Delicious<br/>Quick<br/>Always have a table<br/>Great for birthday celebrations everyone loves it

Sweet an Sour soup- Canh chua. The best Vietnamese soup with the choice of prawn or fish. Having with steamed- rice or rice -vermicelli.

Awesome. Food is awesome! Best to go with a big group of mates so you can get heaps of stuff and share :-) Very resonable and the service is alway friendly when we go. Kid friendly and byo - what more do you need?! Keep going back over and over again! The satay sticks rock and spicy beef salad rock among everything else!

Good food, friendly staff. Great food, reasonably priced, great atmosphere to catch up with friends. food is tasty and not too heavy like some places on vic st. will def go again.

Tasty. Perhaps a little pricier than some of the other places on Vic St, but the meals are delicious- clean and fresh flavours. The staff are pleasant, the service prompt.

My fave go to restaurant when I cannot be bothered cooking. Try the country pancake it's the best. The s&p squid is cooked perfectly. Wash it down with your byo or coconut juice :-)

To be honest, not the best vietnamise restaurant, food quality is not bad but quite small serve for the price compare to others. You can definitely get better value food in many others in footscray

Great. The food was great whenever I have... Especially Sour soup and Salted fish hotpot... Waiters r friendly and helpful :)

A great local Vietnamese. Keep on coming back over and over. Service is friendly, food is extensive in range and tasty, cheap prices, a gem of Victoria St.

Bad Bad Bad. Expensive and inauthentic. We should have know that this place wouldn't be great when we entered and there was not one vietnamese person inside. In addition there was a man who loudly announced that the place had great Mongolian beef....hmmm...<br/><br/> We had the salt and pepper squid for entree, was ok, but 5 pieces of squid for about $9, really?! Mains were a soup that was bland with overcooked noodles and some broken rice that was just bland and tasteless with tough meat.<br/><br/>Service was odd, I asked for fish sauce and bought nuoc cham. The only condiment on the table was soy sauce.<br/><br/>Basically anywhere else on Victoria street is better value for money, more authentic and basically just tastes better!

Always friendly service, and staff remember those who make repeat visits. Great food, and very decent prices!

Typical vietnamese. Authentic vietnamese food, very good

Massive selection of dishes. Fresh fast exactly wat u expect on Victoria St!!