cafe o-mai

just returned home from sunday breakfast - after aunty five's claypot veggie baked eggs, i am stuffed. it was delicious!! the breakfast menu is quite large with something for everyone & very reasonably priced. the cafe was busy & noisy & just right for a bustling sunday morning. the staff are very friendly & efficient & my table of 7 all enjoyed their meals. highly recommended - we'll be back!!

heard about this place and had it bookmarked for ages. came here on sunday and i was def impressed! had the viet omelette and it was just done really well. the nice salty pork was perfectly balanced with the onion, sprout and the rice. wife had the bahn mi and was also done really well. the vietnamese ice coffee was also excellent!!

came in today for some of their famous pho; however the charcoal chicken caught my eye and i tried that. it was really good, juicy yet crispy on the outside, the salad had the perfect amount of onion for me. for entree i had the chicken and mushroom spring rolls- they were pretty tasty.

friends had beef vermicelli salad and a beef soup. they were really happy with their food.

to drink i got the $2 bottomless soda water which was super refreshing with my meal.

will i be back? definitely

the cafe staff were lovely and very helpful. nice food, the vegetarian big breakfast was lovely although it needed more sauce. i would visit again!

yum love having all vietnamese options for breakky. there is often a wait here but worth it. we enjoyed vietnamese iced coffee and the hot pot bowl.

great service, came in on a very busy day and the speed at which they accommodated our table and sent out our orders was fantastic. definitely recommend.

typically busy cafe, waited in line for about 15 minuets as we came at the weekends. i’ve ordered the beef pho, the taste was a bit average. i will try the salads next time for lunch. they start serving lunch at 11:30am.

this is comfortably the best vietnamese/australian fusion cafe in brisbane. the service and vibe is a light in an otherwise decrepit neighbourhood.

i decided to come here after seeing a lot of positive comments . i ordered a combination pho, classical banh mi and brisket banh mi . i came here around brunch time . the cafe started to get busy. the two banh mi came first in a reasonable time; however my pho took a while . finally the waiter came and put my pho on the table without even saying anything . she was the same person took the order as well . later on , i tried to look for a staff to ask for hoisin sauce and chili sauce . i couldn’t get any of the staff attention because they are all busy . so i decided to walk to the counter to politely ask for the sauce . the same lady gave me the sauce without a smile or a word but a very rude attitude . i was so shocked because i just tried to have the sauce to go with my pho . i love the combination of those two sauce together with my pho .
overall , the classic pork roll was just okay . def it is not the best i ever had . the pho broth was light and lack of aromatic fragrant which make pho so special such as the cinnamon , star anise , etc . however , it was a good size of pho with lot of beef toppings and the broth is no added msg . general speaking, the food was decent but nothing is too stand out for me . i do like the decor and the atmosphere but def not the service here . i don’t feel like welcomed by the lady served me in the traditional dress . i feel a bit disappointed with the service

we came here today at 12, and although it was amazing to see so many people dining in, the busyness wasn't really conducive when you have a newborn. we decided to get takeaway and eat in a park instead. we shared a tamarind chicken bun, a bit of everything noodle salad, and green papaya salad, with vietnamese cold coffee and lemon soda. everything was amazing! very very delicious and fresh. in particular, the chicken spring roll that was chopped up in the noodle salad was incredible. so many flavours...if i had to eat just that for the rest of my life, i would be very happy. i hope to return here very soon.

best cafe/lunch in brisbane that i have had. really good pho without an overly salty taste. did try the banh xeo and although the crepe was crispy, filling could have been stir-fried with abit more colour and flavour, dipping sauce did help. but honestly, its hard to get me to order anything past the pho section in the menu. summer or winter its a fav!

my family came in today and we ordered a buddha bowl (as pictured), combination pho and crackling pork banh mi. accompany this with there lemon soda and vietnamese ice coffee.
taste: was really good and flavorsome. however, one thing that was noted was the broth is not as warm as you would expect for a pho. so if it was a tad hotter it would of made the pho much better.
service: bit tricky as it was australia day so things got a bit chaotic. this was to be expected so we were ready to wait. however, when all the stuff came out 25mins later only one thing was missing.. the banh mi. we figured oh maybe come 10 minutes later. no, so i went up and ask myself figuring it might speed up the time but it still took a further 20 minutes which by than my family was done. while, my little sister had to eat the banh mi alone when the family already done. this made her feel sad and rather loss her appetite to eat. no matter how busy it shouldnt take 50 minutes for a banh mi thit of any kind.
resolution: at billing time i told them what happen and as of goodwill they did deduct the banh mi price so that was a kind gesture as noted. however, sadly when waiting nearly an hour for banh mi thit and my little sister who was so excited to have lunch with the family be upset. the deducted amount was just not worth it.

update: after recommending the pho here to my parents, they were also keen to catch up to try it.
once again, another bustling weekend brunch. whilst my parents had the pho, my partner and i tried the classic pork banh mi and the deluxe vegetarian pho.

the banh mi was perfect - lightly crispy baguette with fresh fillings that was not overly salty nor sweet. the vegetarian pho was delicious with different textural soy-based products as well as mushrooms and asian greens. my parents also agreed that the pho was pretty good.

service was great this time around - our food arrived within 10 minutes and our waitress was more than happy to chat in vietnamese with my parents, answering questions about the food and restaurant.

overall, a far more pleasant experience - boosting my score from 3.5 to 4.5. must trys: pho and banh mi.

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went here for weekend brunch. the cafe was bustling - there was a high and fast turnover as people entered and left.

we ordered drinks - red bean frappe and the vietnamese coffee affogato, which were both very nice and not too sweet.

from the breakfast menu, we ordered the regular beef pho and the o mai's veggie delight.

the pho was delicious - southern style, tender meat, and a lovely broth that was not salty nor sweet. it came with condiments of a little-wilted beansprouts, a wedge of lemon and vietnamese basil. although i could spy chilli and hoisin sauce available, these were not brought out with the meal.

the veggie delight was, in contrast, rather average. the poached eggs were actually fully cooked, the pineapple sauce was a little too sweet, and the accompanying mushrooms, pak choy and avocado was all rather simple.

noting the high turnover, our dishes still took awhile to arrive. the table next to us actually received their meals before we got our drinks (20 mins). another 20-25 mins until the pho came out. and then it was at least 15 minutes for the veggie delight.
ambience is casual (and loud). prices are reasonable.

if there was an option to score 3.75, then i would, as the pho is definitely commendable - highly rated in my 'pho list'. however, on this occasion, the service and veggie delight were a bit of a let down.

i am still curious about their other traditional vietnamese dishes, and would love to come back to try their banh mi and lunch menu.

overall, if you can wait, come for the pho!

we drove over to cafe o'mai today on a sudden banh mi craving. this place popped up in my zomato search and i recognised it from lists of well-rated spots i'd seen in the past. it was quite busy with a queue for tables on a sunday afternoon. we headed to the take-away area of the cafe where you can order and pick-up. the bf got a classic pork banh mi and opted for added chilli, as well as some bbq pork rice paper rolls with peanut sauce. i had the grilled tamarind chicken banh mi. i didn't really pay attention to the time but i'd say we waited 15-20 mins for our take-away order. the rice paper rolls got a tick from the bf for their freshness. he wasn't overly fussed with the hoi sin peanut sauce but it wasn't bad. we both really enjoyed our banh mis. the bread was crusty but soft and flavours were great and mine had ample chicken. we couldn't find any faults except that they don't quite compare to the ones at that certain unassuming takeaway shop in darra :) (which, as a bonus, happen to be half the price!). i would like to return to cafe o'mai and try their pho next but i will need to be prepared for the queue/wait.

really good atmosphere. great, accomodating service. good with families with small kids. seems always busy but we seem to get a table every time. food always fresh.