cafe o-mai

what a lovely establishment! as a vegetarian, this places ticks all the boxes. they have a wide range of tasty and inventive vege options, unlike other breakfast places that tend to offer only pancakes as their vegetarian dish. i've had the claypot eggs, vege pho and sweet corn fritters and will definitely be returning to try more!

cafe o mai has friendly and attentive staff, a relaxed atmosphere and hotcoffeetoo. it's a favourite.

thanks for yet another wonderful breakfast this morning, cafe o mai!

great food, drinks and dessert. love the pho and the banh mi thit and vietnamese icedcoffee:) would definitely recommend. good customer service also

great pho, as good as we had in vietnam recently, vietnamese icedcoffeewas great too, will be back again without doubt.

the pho and bahn mi were both great in flavour. the vietnamesecoffeewas excellent. the service was friendly and quick and the vibe at the restaurant was conducive to conversing. overall a great choice for breakfast and will definitely return to try more of the dishes on offer.

missed the nice crackling pork bahn mi here so checked it out again.
arrived at 07:00am and i occupied the first table of the day.
ordered a flat white and a traditional bahn mi (they did not have the crackling pork version).
amazingly, the banh mi came first to the table. it looked great with generous portion. however, first bite reviewed the let down texture of the baguette although its outside was still crispy. that might due to the baguette was not fresh because too early for the day😥. having said that the fillings were great with appropriate heat from the chilli.
needless to say, the toby estatecoffeestill kept its consistent good standard👍.
rating: 4.5/5
previous rating: 5/5 july 2021; 5/5 aug 2020; 5/5 may 2019; 3/5 mar 2016

good service and goodcoffee! i will be back for sure !


-----24 may, 2013-----

good service and goodcoffee! i will bd back for sure !

wow. this is now my favourite cafe in brisbane, just go, don't hesitate. for the hungover amongst you i suggest the claypot eggs, a mug of tobys estatecoffeeand a fresh juice. the only question at this point is "was i an idiot for not coming here sooner", possibly the most rhetorical question i've ever asked myself all things considered.

wifey had a huge bowl of beef pho for $11 which seemed good value when compared to most other cafes i've been to.

run, don't walk, to cafe o-mai, you will not regret it. or maybe you will, as merely going there disturbed your otherwise busy schedule of punching puppies and lighting fires.

really fantastic, the owner doing really good things for the brisbane food scene and deserves the accolades. bun bo hue; really well done, authentic with a great flavour.coffeeis great and the range of fresh juices are terrific. well done cafe o-mai - awesome

i would definitely recommend cafe o-mai to anyone looking for a delicious place to have lunch but wanting something a little different. i had the vietnamese cold dripcoffee(if only i could have that everyday!) and the muesli. the smells from the kitchen smelt wonderful and everyone’s meals around us looked amazing! can’t wait to come back.

jan 2020 update:
came back again and tried their grilled meat a bit of everything vermicelli bowl. boy was it delicious. you see the guy on the charcoal grill making it for you on the spot. so tasty!! but downside is there are heaps of flies around as it is another semi open concept restaurant.


saw many good reviews raving about this place in annerley. came on a weekday for brekkie, so didn’t have to wait for a seat. great open concept with air conditioning inside as well (for those who hate the brisbane heat like me). i had their classic banh mi (viet sub). it was pretty good with fresh ingredients inside, but had a little too much bread to ingredients ratio. i’ve heard good things about their roasted pork roll though. slow drip viet icecoffeeis always a must (even for a non-coffee drinker).

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 icecoffeewas also excellent!!

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

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 coldcoffeeand 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.

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.

........................................................................................
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 vietnamesecoffeeaffogato, 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!

food gets a rating of pd - pretty delicious - great varied menu with a bit of something for everyone, all able to be washed down with some half decent plonk. service is excellent, friendly but they get double points for being family and kid accommodating.

it's a real joy to have a neighbourhood joint, with decent food andcoffee(and wine) that doesn't cost the earth but will allow me to bring buggalugs in the pram without feeling like the queen of inconvenience.