Mekong River Restaurant Vietnamese Cuisine — Restaurant in Parksville

Tried this place the for first time last week. Only got take out so I can't really comment on the in store service. I called in my order and the guy on the other end asked me when I want to pick up the order. Ok that's different, usually I get an it'll will be ready in 20 mins. So I picked a time of 20 mins giving me plenty of time to get there.

Get in the car, drive to the restaurant and discover it's built inside an old house. The front entry is a screen door with a cute little sign saying to close it behind you.

Inside there is limited seating and it's cozy which I like. I had arrived at the time I said I would and my order was just finished being packaged which is fantastic! Hot and fresh, no heat lamps or the order sitting there getting cold. Awesome.

I had ordered the Lettuce Wrap and Chicken Stir Fry. Portion sizes are great and the veggies fresh and crunchy. Perfect. The stir fry had good flavour and though I like things a little spicier, it was fine. I think I will ask for a little more zip next time!

The front staff are friendly and to the point which I appreciate. Busy place like this it's not hard to understand. I certainly recommend this place if you want something a little different. Maybe try the...

The area isn't known for its ethic food. I was satisfied with this one. It's abit pricier than Vancouver area but it's probably the only place to get quality South East Asian food. I'm sad they don't serve pho.

Updated review: Service is fantastic and they are really busy too. Usually service dies when it gets busy but theses guys impressed me.

Food: Sweet and sour pork. Highly recommended. The pork is soft and tender. It's not too sour and lightly sweetened with a honey like glaze. It more like those really good Korean style sweet and sour than the cheap fast food ones you usually see. Lettus wrap. It's not too salty and was a favorite of everyone at the table. They use bean sprouts instead of the cheap string cracker. Much better quality take off the usual ones you get at other places. Prawn imperial. Noodles are good, it's sweet and salty. The prawns are wrapped in spring roll wrapping with stuff with ground meat and veggies. Definitely worth getting again. Lemongrass chicken. It's not quite the usual ones you get at other places. It's more like a simple grilled chicken with an hint of lemon grass. It's a healthy dish compared to everything else...

I would not recommend this place. It was very expensive for the quality of cuisine. There were very few Vietnamese dishes on the menu, mostly "Chinese-Canadian." We are very open-minded about trying new places, but sometimes it backfires on us. We spent $70 on a meal (family of four including 7 and 3-year old who didn't really eat anything) and we got sweet & sour pork and lemongrass chicken. The pork was tough and not flavourful and it had cucumber in it. Hot cucumber! No thanks. There was no mention of that or even of zucchini on the menu, I checked. The chicken didn't taste bad, but had a processed-type texture. We also ordered a large wonton soup which we couldn't finish, and some steamed rice. When we asked for a to-go for the soup and rice, they only gave us a portion of the soup and added the rice to it! Very poor service there. The waitstaff were friendly and attentive, but overall, we...