Mai's Vietnamese Restaurant — Restaurant in Township of Langley

What a bad experience.

For starters, the owner or manager did not even say “hi” or any form of salutation upon our arrival. I noticed she did the same with others, in an almost empty restaurant, at 6pm on a Sunday evening.

Once directed to our table, this same person (again, I assume the manager or owner) simply dropped the menus. A bit later, she came asking if we wanted something to drink. Honestly, I was a bit surprised, as Vietnamese restaurants usually bring you a small pot of HOT tea and a couple of small cups. I said: “sure, do you have tea?” To what she answered “ok, two teas”…

A bit later, while inspecting the menu, we realized that the prices were around 20% more than any other Vietnamese restaurant in Langley. We thought: “maybe the portions or the flavours are better than others”. Shortly after, the same person came to ask us “are you ready to order?” And upon noticing we were a bit hesitant to respond (we were inspecting the menu again to point her to the items we noticed we may like from the menu) she said “ok, a few more minutes, because …..” (pointing somewhere, like saying I am busy) and left, leaving us perplexed.

We were about to leave when our tea arrived. One full cup and another perhaps at 75%. Again, we thought: “ok, maybe they do refills and not the pot style tea…”. We thought would be rude if we left, so we stayed. The same lady came back, took our orders and left.

15 min or so passed and my plate arrived: A chicken Vermicelli, brought by a really polite gentleman. I tried the first bite and it was COLD. Then I touch the bowl with both of my hands and it was really cold. Again, a bit surprised. Once we noticed this same gentleman passing by, I politely asked him if this plate was supposed to be served cold. He check the plate and apologized right away, taking the plate away and saying they will re-do it.

5 min later (20 min by now) my wife’s soup arrived. LITERALLY, with three slices of beef (brisket) and three pieces of tripe. Ridiculous for a $15 soup, compared to MANY other restaurants in Langley.

Then, my plate came back and the gentleman who served our food made the whole difference for this experience. Very polite, apologetic, with a great smile on his face. Unfortunately, the other lady that I have wrote about above made this experience very bitter.

However, no one, ever, came to see if we needed something, to ask if we were doing well or how was the food tasting.

Upon finishing our food, we approached the counter to pay, my wife took the bill and we noticed that we were charged $1 for each of our teas … another surprise. $2 is nothing, but it was surprising. My wife mentioned that it was the first time we were charged for tea at a Vietnamese restaurant and this lady said “we started charging for tea 6 years ago”. I responded “oh, ok… my cup was not even full…. It seems like that was enough of an excuse for her.

I could have complained about her way to treat clients, or her (??) staff (noticed the tone used with some other employees) or the cheap serving, but we did not want to ruin our evening. We were tired and we chose not to go to our favourite Vietnamese restaurant (Langley Vietnamese Cousine) so we left our tip (just for the gentleman who served our food) and left.

Not even a thank you after we paid…

I guess the higher prices are because they give you cloth napkins and they need to spend money on washing them. Other than that, the prices and the service do not justify the effort to stop by. Not even the taste of the food was better.

Do yourself a favor and support any of the many other restaurants in our neighbourhood. For us, it was the first and last time that we visit this place.

To the manager (or owner): learn about how to treat your staff and your clients. A bit of politeness, a simple “sorry”, a smile or a thank you comes a long way … particularly if the clients are whom your business depends on.

And I guess I will receive a not very polite response to this comment. After all, they do not seem to care that their rating keeps dropping,...

I am very picky when it comes to Vietnamese food. So much so that I barely ever go to Vietnamese restaurants in the lower mainland. But on this day, I was not the designated driver and my buddy that was driving insisted on eating at “Mai’s Vietnamese Restaurants” in Walnut Grove Langley. I pouted the whole way there.

When we got there we were greeted by an absolutely lovely young lady who was not just nice, she was funny too. She also turned out to be our waitress 🌟✨🌟. Right from the beginning to end this young lady nailed her job and made every wait staff I have thought was on the awesome trail before - look like an Amateur. She always made sure we had tea, and our food came out in perfect timing. That’s not all that made her great - like I said nice and funny. So I have to say the service at Mai’s is way above standard. 5 stars just for service.

What about the food? Because honestly, that is why we go out to eat - food. It was spot on perfect. The calamari was perfectly tender - which means fresh and cooked to perfection. I could have eaten that appetizer to myself. But sadly, I had to share 😞. So onto the main - I had the Vermicelli. You can have your vermicelli with a choice of 6 different proteins. I chose 🍤 BBQ Black Tiger Prawns. 😋 Mai really does know how to cook. They too were also tender and fresh. I know what you’re thinking. Pfft so she can cook a prawn to perfection…😑 I cannot tell you how many times I have eaten at restaurants and this was always messed up. Usually cooks overcook prawns. Not Mai. Mai made them perfect. So again 5 stars for food! ❤️❤️❤️

Now on to the little bits. This restaurant was exceptionally clean. The portions were large - I could not finish my entree. The price was on the low end - very reasonable. The only thing that made me sad - no Bon mi. But the rest of the menu totally made up for it!

Thank you Mai for changing my mind about Vietnamese food in the Lower Mainland. I live in Burnaby and I will drive the extra 31km when I want to eat...

We didn't have high expectations for Mai's. Mostly, this was because Mai's is not located in a hotbed of Vietnamese culture or activity. I thought my expectations were confirmed when the menu was English only. I'm happy to report Mai's far exceeded our expectations.

Service was prompt and friendly. The waitress welcomed us and invited us to choose a table. She recieved our order and the food arrived a short time later. Follow-up to check on our satisfaction was not intrusive and came as we were early in our meal. She seemed to be the only waitress and there were several tables, so her attention was welcome as we would have forgiven slips in such a busy situation.

The food was excellent and authentic. We have sampled the hot and sour soup, the chicken curry with rice, the noodle bowl, and the vegetarian spring rolls. The only dish that I would not repeat is the vegetarian spring rolls as they were not to my taste. Prices remain reasonable and portion size is filling.

Decor is typical, with simple tables and chairs. Everything was clean and comfortable. My only criticism is the washroom, where a good scrubbing would help. The hand towels were empty, which is not acceptable. However, that was a moment in time and quickly addressed.

If you're in Langley and craving Vietnamese food, give Mai's a try. It's tasty and economical. A perfect...