Unique Dish: Big Bowl of Beef Pho with 10+ hours Slow Brewed Delicious Soup Paired with Generous serving of side vegetables. Food: Good Portion size. Service: Servers are well presented, smiling & polite. Came quickly to us when we raised our hands for service. Atmosphere: Well decorated & Clean. Mall's Toilet is clean. There are no toilet inside the restaurant but there is a toilet about 3 mins walk away in the mall. Great Music at the right volume. Price: Value for $$$ I give it 5 / 5 stars. I highly recommend you to bring your family, colleagues and friends there this week. :) Best regards, Jianfa Ben Tsai 30 years of Restaurant Dining Experience Managed Food Business Worked at 5 Star Hotels read more

Mama's Buoi - slurp - Vietnamese Near Me - Melbourne, VIC

Vietnamese is SUCH a good lunch option and I am never sick of seeing new and interesting versions cropping up around Melbourne. Nor do I tire of puns. So when I spied the neon sign of Mama's Buoi (heh) glowing down Postal Lane (between H&M and Myer) I made a beeline in to try them out. As soon as I saw the menu I realised I had done this all wrong. I came here to dine alone for lunch at a place full of deliciously tempting dishes and cocktails. It's possible I should have come at night, but at the very least I should have come with more diners. The fit out is vibrant and the vibe here is going to be great in summer, with loads of undercover outdoor seating along the laneway. I grabbed a Vietnamese slaw salad with BBQ prawns. Flavours were ok, nothing to rave about and I felt like it was too heavy on the bamboo shoots. That said, there was tons more on the menu that I would have opted for instead had I been there with more people. I enjoyed my experience and I'll be back again to try more. read more

See all

A modernised Vietnamese food at a reasonable price. The Special Pho comes in small for $7 or large $14. A bowl of Pho contains sliced beef, beef balls, tripe, rice noodles and broth. I had the small bowl of Pho because I wanted to leave room in my stomach to try their other dishes too. The broth was average but quite good compared to other Pho I've tried in Melbourne CBD. The broth doesn't seem to contain MSG or loaded with artificial sugar. It does lack the natural chicken sweetness, but I can't complain since it's quite a decent bowl of "modern" Pho for $7. It was a bargain actually. The ph came with a substantial amount of meat. The plate of beans shoots, sliced chilli and lemon on the side was fresh and vibrant. The Hanoi style pork spring rolls with Nc mm (Vietnamese fish dipping sauce). The spring rolls was oily but not as oily as I expected for this style of spring rolls. The filling contained loose mince pork and crunchy veggies. The dish sauce is ok and is not close to the traditional Vietnamese fish sauce. The fish sauce contained chilli paste instead of finely chopped chilli and garlic. Then again it's rare to find a restaurant in Melbourne which serves a good Vietnamese fish sauce. The slaw with sliced sirloin steak was flavoursome, vibrant, healthy tasting and decent for the price. The Roast pork and crackling rice paper rolls with dipping sauce was tasty but I can't get my head around the $8 price tag for 2 rice paper rolls. The fillings including the meat was quite substantial compared to most other pork rice paper rolls I've tried in Melbourne CBD. The Vietnamese iced coffee was disappointing as the coffee was not strong enough, too much cold water which made the condensed milk hard to stir. I suggest avoid getting this coffee till they get it right. But hey it's only $3 so you can always try it yourself. The customer service at this place is excellent during lunch hour. The dining area is outdoors (Postal Lane), and indoor bar area. All of the dishes didn't take long to arrive on the table and were well presented. I'm surprised there's limited vegetarian options. There's two to consider: 1.Vermicelli noodles with mushroom, silken tofu and salad 2.Hanoi style Tofu and mushroom spring rolls I recommend the Hanoi spring rolls, slaw with sirloin steak and rice paper rolls. My suggestions for room for improvement would be to introduce a third vegetarian dish, perhaps a vegetarian Ph. Also work on the Vietnamese iced coffee with condensed milk. Overall, the food is vibrant, healthy and tasty. Great place to eat alone, with a partner or with a group of friends/work colleagues. The decor is modern and inviting. If you have a open mind to eating "modern" (not traditional/authentic) Vietnamese food, then check this place out. read more

See all

Food: We ended up ordering so many dishes to share as everything sounded amazing. They brought the food out a little at a time, which was perfect and everything was delicious. A particular highlight for me were the duck pancakes, which are possibly one of the best things I've ever eaten. I loved the mix of flavours, texture, everything - just yum! Atmosphere/service: Tucked down a cosy lane way, you could be a million miles from busy Bourke Street around the corner. It's casual but not too casual. Service was excellent, from them moving our table due to the rain, to bringing out our food a few dishes at a time as we were ready for it, and hastily clearing away our finished plates to make room. Would I recommend it: Absolutely. Despite being Vietnamese, the dishes aren't loaded with spice. There's a real mix of flavours available, and the menu offers great choices to suit most tastes. read more

Mama's Buoi - Vietnamese Near Me - Melbourne, VIC

After work on a Friday is clearly an excellent time to try this restaurant / bar. Located in the lane way alongside the GPO you could be mistaken for not readily discovering this place but it's worth putting in the effort. On arrival we were greeted by a fun staff member (possibly a manager?) who soon offered us and everyone about a delicious cubes of jelly infused with lychee, watermelon and vodka. Wow! Hope that makes it on the menu! We were just here for a cocktail this time and somewhat regretted having dinner reservation. We could see and smell our fellow customers meals and wow, we will definitely be back for dinner. read more

Mama's Buoi - The menu is designed to look like old photo albums. - Vietnamese Near Me - Melbourne, VIC

See all

PROS Cool, funky place to have lunch and dinner Staff were extremely helpful and friendly Food were vibrant, delicious and full of flavour The sauce that came with the rice paper roll dish was amazing and we wish they would serve more CONS The spring roll was a tad over priced and a tad bland The fish needed sauce and can be over price looking at the size of the fish Stephie & Ken read more

See all

I popped in here looking for a heap and cheerful lunch in the city where I could get a good Poh and chill out Andreas my book. Mamas buoi fit the bill perfectly, they have a great lunch menu $10 for a small poh with Hanoi style chicken with an awesome '6 hour broth'. Lots of spice and tender chicken, you would pop in for again to work up a sweat...they also do a really good $25 lunch special if you dining with a friend. A little Melbourne Laneway gem for sure and you can even get to it from inside h&m if the crowd gets too much! read more

Mama's Buoi - The Hanoi style chicken pho at mamas buoi! Yum! - Vietnamese Near Me - Melbourne, VIC

Wow. What a bitter disappointment since the last time I was here. Came in after a few months of being away and I'm bitterly disappointed with my order of Special Crab Fried Rice. Definitely rice that's been fried, didn't notice the crab part of it, and worst of all the size is not reflective of its $19 price tag! We questioned the staff and they said to speak to the manager, and when he tried to explain it, he couldn't. The steamed rice serving is bigger than this dish. And it's full of broccoli stalks! What?! Someone else from our group of 10 was given subpar customer service by a waiter when they were trying to save a table for the group. She was given a bad attitude when we tried confirming the number of guests. I also shared a plate of the slow cooked pork belly. That was mediocre but certainly tender. Plenty of fat on the surface of the sauce. The ambience is still all right but you can sense a change in the quality of the service. We didn't want to stay back for dessert. So don't bother with this place folks. Life's too short. Time to explore more places along Elizabeth Street. #mamasbuoi read more

Mama's Buoi - Vietnamese Near Me - Melbourne, VIC

Wow what can I say, a hidden gem that packs a flavour punch that has to be one of the best Vietnamese I've had. The spring rolls are to die for with dipping sauce with zing. Great service, reasonable pricing and I must say the bar area looks inviting for a quick bevvie after work with some spring rolls. read more

Mama's Buoi - Amazing - Vietnamese Near Me - Melbourne, VIC

So very very disappointed in our latest experience here. Only giving a 1 star review because I have to give a star to do a review. With an hour time frame we didn't think it would be so very difficult to manage a course of starters, as there was only one other table when we turned up. Our drinks and first course of pate turned up efficiently. That's where all good service stopped. After being told that our meal would only take 10mins, we ordered with confidence. After 20mins, worried glances and very ungracious arm waving at wait staff we managed to get the attention of the shift manager. Only as he was clearing a table behind us. At this point we were told our meals were a mere minute away, as he had just checked with the kitchen. Still no food arrived. In the end I left the table, grabbed our waiter and informed him that we needed to leave within 5mins, and could the food be put in takeaway containers. Yet still the waves of confusion flowed around us. The shift manager turning up shortly after with a round of dishes. The look of disgust on his face was almost priceless. Half our table was sent off to attend the next event as we watched our food be snail mail packed into bags, by the shift manager. Not wanting everyone to miss out on th start of Radical Reels. Upon collection of the bags it was only by sheer luck that we asked for cutlery. As we unpacked our food it was even more devastating to see that items were missing. The pork belly was swimming in a soup. A waste of $160! read more

This little outdoor restaurant in the Melbourne GPO has been around for probably over a year. This is my 3rd visit and the food has always amazed me. You ordered, sip your wine/cocktail/ginger beer n my case and watch the people walk past. The music is kinda rocking which makes this vietnamese place not feel like a vietnamese restaurant, but I didn't mind it at all. Today there was only two of us, my friend had a nice resiling and I had a ginger beer. Between two of us, we had the coconut wrapped tiger prawns in kaffir and coconut lime sauce which had a nice taste to it, but the sauce was quite mild and runny. Not completely impressed with this dish. For $14, there are only 2 prawns. We also have the fried chicken ribs with seasoned five spiced and chilli lime glaze. the chicken was crispy, the batter was nice crunchy and not too much and the glaze was delicious. I seem to always order this dish when I visit Mama Buoi. We had the papaya salad with dried beef which was delicious, but i was expecting it to be more flavoursome, but it is quite subtle in taste. The dried beef have an interesting texture and taste and finally morning glory which is my favourite veggies, I normally have it in malaysian restaurant with sambal but here they stir fried it with garlic and chilli. Its a tad sweet for my liking and didn't taste too chilly. But i still love my veggies, but its a small small small plate (dislike). Finally we finish it off with choc brownie with ice cream. the brownie was nice but a bit dry and in my opinion, the hero of this dish is the ice cream.....yum yum yum. read more

See all

The food and service is so inviting and I really enjoy the feeling of being in a secret location though it is right in the heart of the city. Mama's Buoi was tasty but I found it quite sweet. My favourite dish of the night was the crispy pork and the decorations were really fun as well. For me, the price is on the steeper side for the amount of food you get but it is a fun location to go for a casual night out in town. read more

Came here for the second time recently for lunch with a friend and although we ordered two serves of mixed skewers, we were told 15 minutes later that there was only one serve left. My pic of the skewers is from my first time here & they were pretty tasty. Ok we'll have a salad & share both meals. About 10 minutes later we were told that there weren't any mixed skewers left at all. Huh??? I said we'll just have the salad as time was running out. Finally the salad arrived with complimentary rice paper rolls. So although the meal was quite fresh & flavoursome I can only give 2 stars due to the disappointing service. I would be reluctant to return here for lunch. read more

Mama's Buoi - Vietnamese Near Me - Melbourne, VIC

Loved this place , food was awesome - so tasty. Staff were helpful and friendly. My only downfall was they had ran out of a few things, but this happens. I had the duck crepe and chicken ribs amazing so good and we shared the 3 mains between 4 of us. I ordered the aromatic beef ribs, really good. There is lots to choose from and out of the 4 of us we all really enjoyed our meal. Lots of cocktails and beers to chose from. A little expensive but worth it. I will be most definitely be coming back. read more

Awesome delicious terrific meal - my curry was ----- without words to say it frankly - just go and enjoy please - lovely lane and exquisite dish read more

Stumbled across this place on a week night and decided to get it. We had the banquet and the food was delicious. Warning, do not get the banquet unless you are starving as there was a lot of food. The food was share platters but there was plenty for everyone. The staff was friendly. The other thing to note is that they don't serve coke, only Pepsi. read more

Food isn't super amazing and price fair according to location / presentation of the restaurant. Still needs something amazing to be worth the price. Not very different from something you could get at Roll'd for half the price read more

Love! I went here for a casual dine thinking that it was a run-of-the-mill but still delicious Vietnamese place which, let's face it, we're spoiled for in Melbourne. It is so much more, Nam, one of the owners tries to focus on a specific region of Vietnam and also to distract people from pointing to the pho. The food is simply scrumptious! Better yet so are the cocktails. I have never been to a Vietnamese place that does cocktails but these are some of the finest in Melbourne. Yes, that's saying a bit given what we can get around town but mmmmm! You have to try the pho cocktail for kicks but the passionfruit and lychee ones had me swooning. read more