Le Mēkong — Restaurant in Montreal

The restaurant is beautiful and all the staff were lovely. Really nice service, and you could tell they liked working there. The portions are also very large.

Unfortunately, the food was not great. I found it bland and it didn't taste like Thai food. I don't plan on even thinking about coming back. Should we have stuck to the Classics menu and ignored the specialties? Then again the server said he loved the dish I ordered.

I read so many rave reviews, so I'm sitting here wondering if I ordered the wrong things... But at the same time, there shouldn't be so many wrong things to order. Only one dish out of five rose above "okay".

The Larp Kai (chicken salad) was a real miss. We get papaya salad often at other places, and wanted to try something new. We didn't specify spice levels, because we didn't feel we had to in order to get a decent amount of heat in a Thai restaurant... Sadly there was no spice at all, and the flavour as a whole was really bland. Its just chicken, red onion and lime. I tasted cilantro in just one bite, definitely no mint or grilled rice flavour involved. I was hoping for something herbaceous and fresh and light, and it was a real let down.

The imperial rolls and the sauce were decent enough flavour wise, though I wish the sauce was amped up a bit. The filling was surprisingly juicy, but the wrapper felt a little thick and a bit tough and lacked the shattering crunch you crave from an imperial roll.

The pork sausage was our favourite dish. Nicely browned skin but still very juicy inside, and the seasoning was very nice. This one actually tasted like Thai food. My only frustration is that the sausages are on a bed of delicious, crispy fried onions and whatnot, but they are nearly impossible to get in your mouth (too long, and somehow difficult to cut in half) and the plate is too flat and narrow to scoop them up easily with a fork or cut them, so I just ended up with a bunch of crispy bits all over the table.

My partner ordered the Douchi Beef, which we agreed was nothing special.

I had Jiaoyan Youyu (fried calamari). Once again I was frustrated by the plating. The calamari pieces were very large, way too much for one bite. Cutting food is no big deal, but cutting food that is in a very deep, curved bowl is not fun (and I destroyed the crunchy coating on the squid doing so). This dish was nothing to write home about either.

If I'm being honest, every dish except the sausage made me think of Chinese take out. The kind of Chinese takeout you order because its "pretty good" and it'll hit the spot at 1am when everything else is closed. And there's nothing wrong with that kind of food, but its not what I expect from an expensive Thai restaurant.

I've never cared or thought much about music in a restaurant before, but the music here was noticeably boring (I didn't know such a thing was possible). Repetitive trendy trendy repetitive beats.

Cocktails were also just ok. The Thai cocktail just tasted like a regular mojito, which surprised me given the ingredients - lots of chopped thai basil in the drink, but the flavour didn't come through. Was it muddled at all? And again, zero spice from the spicy galangal syrup. The Khmer was also a letdown, just a sweet pineapple drink with no balance and no ginger coming through.

Again, the service was really really nice. So I feel bad writing this. But the food was that much...

Great experience at Le Mekong. The place is very clean, with neatly set tables. Our waitress was friendly, smiling, sociable, and very helpful. Thanks to our reservation, we didn’t have to wait long for a table.

The food was excellent. I started with the Mekong soup, which came in a very generous portion. It was packed with white fish and a variety of fresh ingredients, with just the right level of spiciness, perfect for anyone who enjoys a little kick. For the main, I had the fried rice with chicken and grilled pineapple, and it was amazing. The rice arrived piping hot, perfectly cooked. The combination of chicken, sweet pineapple, and spices was a beautiful, well-balanced blend of flavors.

My only concern was the smell. When you leave the restaurant, the scent of fried food stays on your clothes, which suggests the ventilation system could be improved.

I recommend this place for anyone looking to enjoy authentic and delicious Asian cuisine...

The ambiance of the restaurant is undeniably inviting, with a cozy atmosphere that sets the stage for a potentially delightful dining experience. However, the dishes were somewhat disappointing. The beef douchi was overwhelmingly salty, overshadowing any subtlety the dish might have had. The dry vegetables on top didn’t add much, and the bok choy was difficult to chew—likely due to being either overcooked or too old, which made it rather unpleasant.

The curry, while initially promising, was dominated by an overpowering peanut butter flavor that masked the other spices and ingredients. Additionally, the small spoon kept slipping into the curry, which added a bit of frustration to the experience.

On a positive note, the waiter was good—attentive and friendly, which helped improve the overall experience. With such a pleasant ambiance and solid service, it’s unfortunate the food didn’t live up to...