Always fantastic. Every time. My friends and family go to for tremendous food and consistency. It doesn't get better for value and clean fresh food authentic style. read more

I love this restaurant! It is definitely one of my favourite restaurants to go to. I enjoy the food so much and the people are lovely. read more

If you haven't already read one of my reviews about my favourite Vietnamese restaurant, Mekong River,then this is basically a repeat of every review, I may have left in the past. I would say I have eaten at least 50 meals either dining in or take out. From day one I have ordered the same meal every time the Vietnamese Crepe. It looks like a large omelet but it's made with the Panko batter and is stuffed with chicken shrimp bean sprouts, and bamboo shoots. Smother it with the peanut sauce that it comes with and you will be waiting eagerly for the next time you order the same meal friends and guests that I've eaten with all agreed that every dish they have ever ordered is cooked to perfection! read more

Amazing! Always a favourite place to go for dinner when we are in Parksville! The ginger chicken and seafood crispy noodle bowl are to die for. We will be back! read more

It's not Vietnamese food. That is the most important thing for the unsuspecting customer to know. It's Chinese-Canadian, and it isn't even good Chinese-Canadian. I should have walked out when the owner/waiter told me they didn't have Pho. However, I decided I'd give the food a try anyway. The menu had a few Vietnamese dishes on it, so I ordered the Lemongrass Chicken. It was awful. First off, it wasn't Lemongrass Chicken. It was two grilled chicken breast halves slathered in Teriyaki sauce. There was not a hint of lemongrass to be found, nor was there any garlic or fish sauce any other spice or herb that one finds in Vietnamese food. Second, the sides were equally bad. It came with a scoop of cold steamed rice and some almost-raw steamed cauliflower, broccoli and carrots, also cold. Just plain, vegetables, no sauce, not cooked enough to eat. I have to say, this was one of the most crushingly disappointing restaurant meals I have ever had. Bizarrely, the locals fawn all over this place but I suppose they've never had Vietnamese food before. I went in craving a bowl of Pho. I left knowing I'd never, ever go back. read more

I am totally surprised I haven't written a review for Mekong River. I literally come here every single visit to the area and have been coming for over 10 years. The food here is Vietnamese but not a pho house, rather more on the entree side. The flavours are excellent and are slightly adjusted for the North American pallet but not in a bad way. The crispy seafood, chicken or beef chow main bowl is a must have. Their spring rolls are perfectly cooked and not greasy. The curries are so tasty as well. The service has always been friendly and prompt. I feel a little biased because of all the years we have been coming here and we have made friends with the owners, but the truth is you can't go wrong here and if you're craving Asian food and are wanting some different in Parksville this is the place to be. It does get busy so I would recommend a reservation. read more

Mekong River - Crispy chicken chow main - amazing - Vietnamese Near Me - Parksville, British Columbia

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Yummy yummy in my tummy, the salmon was perfecto and yummy. The service was amazing as well they gave me lots of extra napkins and other stuff, when I asked them to turn the a/c off they did, it was yummy food at it was just cool to be there, I will come back yummy yummy peace out homie FART FART FART FART FART FART FART read more

my gosh what a Gem. fantastic food. highly recommend. excellent food, very friendly people. way to go guys read more

Good tasting but odd. Feel it is "Viet Thai Chinese Canadian" Fusion?! Enjoyed it, I did! but my tummy was confused. Stayed down, always a plus. Food was cooked great, pleasant looking and smelt wonderful. Tastes noted above. Service was stellar and attentive. Decor was fun, inviting and clean! Will be back to explore more! read more

On our way to Port Alberni we made a slight detour to Parksville and saw this Vietnamese restaurant. Went inside and looked at thier menu and as usual, was looking for pho. NO pho on the menu! A Vietnamese restaurant that does not serve pho!? But why tbe 5 stars? The food was damn good! The curry was one of the best curry I ever had. The spring rolls were meaty and the chow mein has that phad thai-ish taste. Yummy goodness! Excellent food! No wonder they drop the pho :-) read more

Mekong River - Scallop Curry and rice - Vietnamese Near Me - Parksville, British Columbia

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Wonderful family owned restaurant. Not only incredibly welcoming and kind, but the Spring Rolls, Hot and Sour Soup and Crispy Chow Mein were so amazingly flavorful with fresh ingredients.. read more

Mekong River - Crispy Chow Mein. The noodles are incredibly good and fresh as were all the tasty bits inside. - Vietnamese Near Me - Parksville, British Columbia

Had a wonderful last minute dinner at this place because, well nothing else but Smitty's was open! But it turned out to be a nice suprise. We got 3 dishes, the scallop curry, chicken lemongrass and tempura banana with chocolate and ice cream. The scallop curry was amazing! So creamy, sweet and spicy and the best part, there was a ton of scallops! The lemon grass chicken was nice but we're used to the yummy sweet vinegar sauce and salad that normally accompanies it. Instead it had cauliflower, broccoli and carrots that seemed to come out of a frozen bag. The dessert was just as you expect, yummy fried goodness with ice cream whip cream and drizzled with chocolate. The service was pleasant and fast. We'd come again to try new dishes! read more

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My favourite Vietnamese restaurant anywhere. I've probably eaten food from there 30 to 40 times. I've eaten the same dish every time the Vietnamese crepe. I've never had even an average meal there. The PHAN family are wonderful people, mom and dad in the kitchen cooking away always smiling. Go eat there you will not be disappointed in the food. read more

Great Vietnamese food and good service Owner operated and they are from Vietnam so they know what they are doing read more

The food and service was excellent. We had both the spring roll and a soup appetizers and they were delicious. Main courses that followed were great too. The history of the family run restaurant I asked about from the waitress was a good story of family pulling together to run a business. They excelled in this endeavor. Authentic Vietnamese are the lead items to try of the menu. We will be back is a common phrase, but for me it holds true! read more

Decent curry, not usually a traditional Vietnamese dish and not as flavorful as other Thai curry dishes I had, but still delicious. The veggie hot pot was good too, but the veggies lacked flavor and seasoning with just sauce thrown on top. I recommend requesting chili garlic sauce. read more

Mekong River - Veggie Curry - Vietnamese Near Me - Parksville, British Columbia

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Their wor wonton soup is really good...huge...enough for two. Awesome take out...they are usually really quick.

Let me preface this with I eat a lot of curry. Curry is one of my favorite things, because it can be so many different things. The first thing I ask any waitress, is what their house specialty is, or what they do well. Usually I get a non committed answer. This time I didn't. She told me that their curry would be the best I've ever had. It wasn't the best curry I've ever had, but it's a close second. The flavors are properly layered, the heat is mild at first, but grows and builds to a nice medium heat. I had the seafood curry noodle bowl, because all their seafood is brought in fresh every two days. There were a few nitpicky things I didn't like about the dish though. There were 5 shrimp, 2 scallops, and 1 small piece of salmon. More seafood. Especially for a dish I'm paying $21 for. There was a good amount, but it needed more. It also needed more veggies. 3 mushrooms, 5 small pieces of broccoli, 2 hunks of carrot. More veggies. Great amount of noodles. It desperately needed the crunch of peanuts for texture. Realistically this place is 4.5 out of 5. But it's closer to 5, so there you go. I would eat here again. read more

Mekong River - Seafood curry noodle bowl - Vietnamese Near Me - Parksville, British Columbia

My wife and I went to this restaurant this evening (April 6th 2019) based on the positive reviews. We had a most unusual experience that caused us to leave after extreme rudeness of a server. We entered the restaurant and was told by a female waitress to enter and select a table. We proceeded as instructed when another server (male) asked us rudely "what are you doing?" Chastising us like children. We said we were sorry, but the other waitress told us to enter, he abruptly said "no she didn't" in a shockingly rude fashion. I don't know if he was burned out, having a bad night, or just basically a rude employee with an attitude. It would have been humiliating for us to stay after being treated so rudely. Needless to say, we promptly left. We will never return here again. read more

My girlfriend and I came to this restaurant looking for pho soup. Disappointed to find out pho soup is only offered on there lunch menu. My girlfriend and I ordered the same meal, the chicken coconut curry. We were both happy with the meals and that's why we gave this a 3 star rating. Did not get a 5 star rating due to the man waiter was very short with us to the point we thought he was rude. The girl waitress was nice. The menu to me didn't seem like viatmanease, there are hot pots and chow mein etc, it reminds me of Chinese restaurant. I would try it again. read more

Mekong River - Vietnamese Near Me - Parksville, British Columbia

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Mekong River was amazing! We were driving from our hotel craving Vietnamese food then we found Mekong River. My favourite dish was the crispy chow mein. The bowl shaped noodles filled with veggies, beef, and sauce were both crispy and soft so there was a good balance between them .We also ordered the curry chicken (non spicy) and lemon grass chicken. Both were delicious. For dessert we had the deep fried banana, it was really good. What a great way to end the meal! The service was great. The staff were very friendly. The owner Thien (pronounced "teen")is probably the nicest. And the food, again is probably one of the best! The building was kind of old, but don't judge a book by its cover! Next time we come here from Vancouver we will definitely eat here again! read more

Mekong River is a revelation. After shooting for two months in the Parksville, Qualicum area and sampling many local restaurants, Mekong River ranks as one of the high points. An unassuming building and entrance give way to an intimate, immaculate and tastefully spare interior. Service was pro, friendly and courteous. When asked what the "top" dish was, the server offered a variety of choices assuring me all were good. After settling on the tamarind soup and deep fried prawns it occurred to me that this place was something special. It eventually filled up with families and seniors on a late Sunday afternoon. As it turns out, the owner Thien and his mother have been serving the Island authentic Vietnamese cuisine, drawn from family recipes, for some twenty years now. They don't do sandwiches and only offer pho during lunch. This isn't the cheap 'n quick, fast food, in-and-out version of Viet. Instead it's all hand made curries and they incorporate local seafood into their dishes. Open seven days a week with take out the Mekong River is crazy good, reasonably priced (my three item & iced tea bill was $31) and a must when in Parksville. read more

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Lovely Vietnamese place in Parksville. We had the Vietnamese springrolls as an appetizer. They were really good. As a main we ordered the seafood chowmain and the wor won ton soup. Both were very delicious. read more

Mekong River - Vietnamese Near Me - Parksville, British Columbia

Probably about time for an update review. What can I say about a consistently wonderful establishment, except that in the intervening time we have become regular customers, have never been disappointed, and have frequently departed from the tried and true menu items to the point that almost each item is now in that category. Chef continues to amaze - the expertise exhibited in imparting flavour is rare in these here parts. In short, wonderful! read more

Whenever I'm in Parksville I stop at MR - definitely the best Vietnamese food on this part of the Island. The interior is nothing to get excited about - booths with reed matting on the wall and bamboo try to give it a SE Asia feel - but the service is excellent (friendly, attentive, fast) and the food fresh, flavourful and authentic. Their Spicy Prawns are so good it's worth driving 150 km to get them. read more

Mekong River - Vietnamese Near Me - Parksville, British Columbia

Oh such a great place! Great food. The place to go in Parksville. Vietnam coffee! Need I say more? Ok, coconut dessert to die for! Easygoing atmosphere and great service! read more

I loved the Chicken Curry which was very flavorful! I asked for it to be extra spicy and they did a great job. I also ordered a wor wonton soup which wasn't to the same standard. The broth was watery and the wontons wrapping was so soggy and texture-less it was almost falling off the wonton. They were also rather flavourless, almost woody tasting. I did appreciate there were some flat noodles and lots of fresh veggies. I ate the veggies and tossed the rest. read more

Waitress had attitude was very bitchy! Had bar clothes on! The restaurant was dim,dusty and a portable air conditioner blowing in the middle of the restaurant! The restaurant smelled like human soup. We looked around, looked at the menu and told the waitress we changed our mind. To make a long story short we never ordered and never would come back. The air condition and dust and who knows what other organism living in that place is horrible. read more

Their food is ALWAYS good. Fresh, ready when you order. Proper precautions in place. I keep going back again and again and tell everyone who hasn't been there to try it. Love this place. read more

Wasn't sure about this place until I read Yelp reviews. We came in here and ordered pho soup , curry chicken , and chicken chow mein. Love the crispy noodle bowl that the chicken chow mein came in. The pho soup was very tasty and delicious. Service was really good and I would definitely come back here again when visiting read more

Well....if you are an Asian who is familiar with Pho, Chinese food any other Asian food, this place is a huge turn down. More geared for Caucasian customers with desire to try something different than Western food. This restaurant wouldn't have a chance to survive in Richmond or Vancouver area. The ingredients are very fresh and healthy though with lots of vegetables and big chucks of meat and seafood in many dishes. No Pho served. No Pho for a Vietnamese restaurant?? You will enjoy the food if you don't have much experience with Vietnamese/Chinese food. read more

The menu was more Chinese than Vietnamese to us. We shared our dishes. They went from OK to wow! The wonton soup broth was very weak, more chicken flavor would have been better. The wontons were large, shrimp wrapped with pork in the wrapper was delicious. Lots of vegetables- heavy on the broccoli. Vietnamese spring rolls were good. My husband thought they were more like egg rolls. The "traditional stewed ribs" were very much of the Vietnamese style, excellent. The best dish was lamb curry. We got medium heat for the curry. There wasn't a speck of this left. The lamb was very tender the sauce with onion and spices was a wow! We had a lot of broccoli! We took leftovers home and made another meal. The place was clean, nicely decorated and quite busy. read more

We were in town for one night and found this great restaurant. The waitress was very helpful going over the menu with us. We ordered the Crispy Chow Mein and Hot and Sour Soup. The portions were huge. Everything was fresh and tasty. We got there 20 minutes before closing time and the place was packed, some tables were just ordering. The staff were totally friendly and not upset at all about having to stay late. The whole experience was enjoyable. If we ever come back to Parksville again we will return to this restaurant. read more

Food was flavorfully spicy (not merely hot) and serving sizes for entrées were filling. No complaints with service or facility. Eight vegetarian entrées provided good variety of options. read more

Mekong River - Vegetarian salad roll (missing a couple bites). - Vietnamese Near Me - Parksville, British Columbia

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Not Vietnamese foot Stay in parksville for 9 days and want to try all different restaurants. This one rate #6 on Yeld. 3 starts is for the food. Appertizer is great. Then lemon chick is little dry but passed. Tofu veg hot pot is health and beef chow main is yummy. The waiter should not get any credit. He is a nice guy ( maybe he is the owner) especial to white dudes. Never showed up second time after our main dishes up. No water and drink refill checking. Dude, could you please look while you passed by. At lease give me knife to cut the lemon chicken. MY wife said he is busy and never mind. Maybe he does not like Asian. I can't do anything about my Asian face. Oh the waitress is always with a happy face. Too bad we did not get her service. For sure will tip her more than 19%. We were in Pacific Prime last night. Foot is Okey too but awesome service. They were so busy but always came by and appolized for our order. Hey, we r on vacation with time. No big deal. Bangkok Tai food might be better. The owner is a great guy. Always gentle smile. Food is the best and price is so low. read more

We have only been here once but all four adults in the party were very happy with both the food and service here. Atmosphere is also great. We arrived late, about 5 mins to closing on a weeknight and we were expecting to be told 'take-out only' but the owner allowed us to stay with good humour and we were very grateful since we had just finished a long bike ride. The flavours were rich and colourful, everything was cooked properly, no soggy veg or tough meat just tender and tasty. We all will remember our meal here and we will be back! read more

Went w the family. Curry chicken, chicken chowmein, salad roll and salad wrap all were very good. Curry was as good as I've had it anywhere. Parking lot full when we left so must be popular read more

I've had lots of Vietnamese in my day. Pleasantly surprised to stop in at this place with my family. Excellent lemongrass bun, hubb had the stewed pork ribs. Everything was super yummy and the waiter was great! read more

What an unexpected delight when we saw the servings and menu. At one point one of the owners stopped by our table and visited with us. Such a friendly and very like able person. Our dinner was great to the point that we, my wife and I, needed a to go box and enjoyed it even more the next day. Thank you for your attention to the customer. read more

My wife and I stumbled upon this little gem. We had the Curry Chicken and Crispy Chowmein. A win win for sure. Busy little place with great service from friendly staff. read more