Just want to say, living in Northern Virginia, we have some pretty great Vietnamese dining. I'm so spoiled. It's hard to find anything comparable up here in 'Toga/Malta. That being said...I will definitely be back to Mamma's for my Vietnamese food fix.
We ordered the "eggroll" which is not comparable to the Vietnamese spring roll. It's more like what I would expect from a Thai restaurant. It was hot, crispy and great, served with a sweet chili sauce, not nouc mam. I would order this again, 10/10. I saw the "summer roll" with peanut sauce going out to another table, and it looked legit. I'll try it next time. So as far as I can tell, there is not a traditional spring roll with nouc mam on the menu?
I started with the Pho with eye of round. This is a pretty standard menu item for a Vietnamese restaurant. The eye of round arrived pre-cooked, which surprised me. I'm used to the meat arriving raw, and then you cook in the super hot broth.
I'm going to split my Pho review into separate categories. First, the broth. I liked it. It was a little salty and could have had more spicing and deeper flavor. I'd give the broth a 7/10. The rice noodles were cooked perfectly, 10/10. Protein was a bit light...I'd give that a 5/10. So overall, that's a 7 or 8 out of 10.
My friend, who has never had Vietnamese food before, got the chicken Pho. I tried her broth. Her broth wasn't very strongly flavored, and not a lot of chicken meat. The rice noodles looked fine. I'd probably rate that soup a 6/10. Ordering the chicken soup tends to be more of a "I'm new to Vietnamese cuisine" move, the "safe" move. And I totally get it.
I saw some other interesting soups listed...I would love to try the beef stew, next. I hope they will add egg noodle for me, which is what I prefer (to bread). Their wonton soup with homemade wontons looks very promising.
I had fresh lemonade for my drink, which was great. From what I could see, they do a great job with specialty drinks.
Ambiance- very nice! They were busy for a rainy Wednesday night. Typical table and chairs for a Vietnamese place. Service was also nice. Like most Vietnamese restaurants, you pay at the register. I took home my leftovers.
GO to this place, it's definitely worth it- especially if you need to get your "fix" of pho, as many of us do. I will update my review as I try out more of their soups. They even have Bun bo Hue on the menu, which is a great spicy soup for the winter. read more