Mekong — Restaurant in Northern Ireland

Did the restaurant change the chef? Are we eating the same dishes? We booked this restaurant after reading many reviews (cancelled other restaurant booking) but were met with huge disappointment. What the hipe was about the food here? I am an Asian and my husband had been living in Vietnam and Tailand for years. We didn't expect authetic dishes, but delicious and flavorful food. Thst was all. The shaking beef was so tough that we couldn't possibly to chew it. When the waitress offered to take it back or tell the chef, my husband who doesn't like any confrontation or unpleasantness, said everything was fine and tries to swollen them down. But he said it was just way too tough. The chef didn't season the beef with salt either, so you have to rely on the sweet sauce. And the bone marrow fried rice was nothing special either. We love fried rice and often order them. We had a really nice one at a Thai restaurant at Killarney.

Even worse the shaking beef is £30. My husband was shocked. We had an amazing lunch at Artis which cost £30 for 2 courses. They were well seasoned complicated innovative dishes with various ingredients and sauces. And it only cost £30 for a starter and a main course.

The phad Thai noodles hasd no much flavor. The worst we have ever had. Except Chilli, don't the chef use other spices for the noodles (I don't eat chilli, so asked them not to add chilli.) I am not a good chef myself, but if I sauteed anything with oil, salt, soy sauces and garlic, all the dishes came out tasty. So it is hard for me to understand why the chef can cook a dish without much flavor.

The mushroom spring roll has only one piece of mushrooms and didn't taste as good either. The only thing good is the fried tofu we added to our Phad Thai. It didn't need the sweet sauce either. But just a little salt or sauce.

All in all, a very disappointing dinner. we regretted to have cancel Lemon Tree restaurant for this. The 3 servers were nice and sweet, but gave us a free desert to compensate the tough beef. But the entire dinner was bad. I am writing a honest review hoping the chef seasoning the food better and not serve tough tasteless beef. Not all the sauce has to...

Pros The food here is outstanding. My partner and I ordered the bao bun, chicken wings, Panang curry, pad Thai and tender stem broccoli. There wasn't a single thing that wasn't delicious. The servers working there are very friendly, cheerful and check in regularly to make sure you're happy. We had our orders placed within minutes of sitting down and there were no delays getting our food. As soon as the starters were cleared, we were getting our mains. The portions look tiny in photographs, but they were actually huge. We were both so stuffed, we couldn't even think about dessert. The price was extremely reasonable considering all the food we ordered. It was cheaper than Mandarin Palace, Martha's Vineyard, etc, despite the food being the quality you'd expect in a fine dining expensive restaurant. The decor is cute with movie posters for various anime and some beautiful murals on the wall. Everything was clean and spotless. There wasn't a speck of dust to be seen anywhere, not even on the windowsills.

Con Getting a booking can be a challenge. We rang several times over the course of a couple weeks, but no one ever answered the phone. Their website directs your to message then on Facebook to book a table, but their FB redirects you to some booking site that requires you to sign up for an account and provide your credit card information ahead of time. The restaurant is quite small and does get very noisy even it...

Hands down one of the best places I've ever eaten in Northern Ireland! These guys really know what they're doing and deserve heaps of praise. Three of us went for dinner Saturday past and despite the power going out during our meal the front of house staff and kitchen staff excelled in delivering a perfect experience. We shared various dishes from each course. The flavours were balanced perfectly and each element of every dish cooked to perfection. The passion these guys have for food shines through in every morsel. The service was incredibly attentive without being intrusive or stuffy. A very warm and friendly bunch of folks.

I should also mention that their cocktail game is bang on the money too! Far too easy too drink more than one should haha

If you're reading this and considering eating here, just do it! You will not regret it!

Thank you to everyone at Mekong, we will be seeing you again very soon!...