I came across Mama's Buoi by chance when I was doing some last minute research looking for Vietnamese restaurants for our recent trip to Sydney. After reading countless blog reviews, I was determined to try Mama's Buoi out! I must say it was quite a mission finding the restaurant, it is located on Devonshire Street in Surry Hills, so we assumed it would not be a long walk, but it actually took over an hour to get there from the CBD! But it was totally worth it - so happy to have found this gem! Mama's Buoi serves Vietnamese home-style dishes ranging from Vietnamese grills, hot pots, soups, summer rolls and salads. They also serve beers, cocktails and a range of T2 teas (the lemon and ginger flavour is soothing and delicious). From the menu, we ordered the Goi cuon rice paper rolls with prawn and pork ($8 for two rolls, cut in half), the Lemongrass pork/pork spring rolls vermicelli noodle salad bowl ($14), the Coconut tamarind curry ($14) and the BBQ chicken slaw (also $14). The rice paper rolls were yummy, but the nuoc mam dipping sauce on the side was the highlight! My sister had the coconut tamarind curry and she said it was very spicy, but had a wonderful flavour. The lemongrass pork vermicelli was almost perfect, but lacking sauce (ended up putting the rice paper rolls sauce on top!). Finally, the BBQ chicken slaw - succulent chicken with a fresh and and delicious slaw, accompanied by the most amazing rice crisps! All the dishes were fantastic and we all agreed that this was due to the fact that all the spices and herbs were perfectly balanced and everything tasted so fresh! As for the layout and décor, well it is very cool and modern. Loved the stand out giant mural at the back of the restaurant saying "Con co thuong me khong?" translating to "Do you love Mama?". The fit out is wonderfully bright, the menus are pretty and best of all, the kitchen is open, so you can watch the chefs do their thing (the smells are heavenly!). Overall, dining at Mama's Buoi was a great experience - friendly staff, fresh and delicious food and nice atmosphere... now just gotta start planning my next trip over! read more

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A higher end vietnamese restaurant. We came here on a saturday night at around 5.30pm and it was empty (probably the calm before the storm). We tried fried spring roll, chicken curry and duck curry. Food was definitely overpriced (especially for the spring rolls! $9 for two spring rolls?!), but it was good. It's not memorable but it's decent. I will definitely order the duck curry again. Overall a great place to have a great meal with your family and friends but dont expect authentic Vietnamese food! read more

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I went here for dinner and loved it. The restaurant is decorated in an intimate/hipster style, cozy and fun. We ordered two pho soups: one with beef and the other one with chicken. They were both really good even though I found that mine had too much beef in it (hard to believe anyone is ever saying that)... I was literally searching for the noodles. We also shared the school of fried prawns with a zest of lemon, spices and red onions served with a salt and pepper dipping. The waitress was very fast, forthcoming and friendly! Great experience, good food! read more

Mama's Buoi - Beef and chicken pho soup - Restaurants Near Me - Surry Hills, NSW

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A lovely casual Vietnamese restaurant located in Surry Hills near Central Station. The atmosphere has a good vibe to it. There is bench seating, communal seating as well as some booths. It is quite cosy but has a lovely feel to it. Service was swift and attentive. The special piggy menu looked tempting but stuck to my guns and had the To Bun (Vermicelli Noodle Salad Bowl) With Lemongrass Pork With Pork Spring Rolls was tasty and full of flavour. Good ratio of noodles to salad to meat. The dressing was zingy enough for me and added a great flavour to the salad. Iced coffee was nice too. read more

Mama's Buoi - Restaurants Near Me - Surry Hills, NSW

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Very nice Vietnamese restaurant, I've been there just once for a meeting and it was delicious. I had the coconut tamarind curry which was just awesome. Creamy and very tasty, right amount of spices. The staff also is very friendly but the place is very busy, especially during lunch time... and they don't let you book if you are less than 6 people. So I suggest to go there quite early if you want to secure a seat :) Prices also are affordable, even if a bit higher than other restaurants for lunch time. Also, they don't let you split bills which is very inconvenient if you are in a big group... they can do better regarding that ;) read more

Went with a group of girls dinnert. Had a ton of fun. Food was fantastic. I definitely recommend this place for a casual group of friends. Very relaxed vibe. Close to city. We ordered a lot of food and wine between 8 ppl was $30 each! Very reasonably priced in a group/share. We were also able to get a booking at short notice. read more

Mama's Buoi - Restaurants Near Me - Surry Hills, NSW

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This restaurant (now a chain) is focused on churning out as many dishes as possible, turning over as many customers as possible - and their profit-hungry motive is smack bang in your face. Zero concern for its customers. Upon entering the "restaurant", I was surprised to see it was, in fact, a small, cramped, dimmed space, with the next table centimetres away from us (more appropriately described as a canteen). We were sat outside on an overcast evening and were told that if it rained, it was too bad because the inside was full, and that we would have to finish eating in the rain. As for the dishes, our group of 5 agreed they were very average. Vietnamese cuisine is promoted as healthy and light, and while Mama's Buoi gave this impression, I knew just how unhealthy my vermicelli salad with lemongrass pork and pork spring rolls was - overly salty, over-seasoned spring rolls wrapped in deep fried pork fat in place of spring roll wrappers. Would not come here again. read more

I tried the beef salad it was great. I will definitely come back a lot of other dishes I like to try. Good service. read more

The card situation is very inconvenient. They don't split bills so you better bring cash. Especially if you come with friends. Food is average for the price. You can get same value for less money. Chicken curry is good. Rice plates are small. read more

Yarrrrm. Impeccable service, hipster decor, very cosy and snazzy Vietnamese good at reasonable restaurant prices. We ordered the: x Lemongrass curry chicken 8/10 mmmmm so fragrant. Chicken wasn't that tender, but the curry was amaze. x Fried market fish 6/10 very meaty generously sized fish though a bit on the dry side. You NEED to drench it in the Nuoc Mam Cham sauce it comes with or do what we did and dump it in some curry sauce. x Thit Kho 6/10 decent but definitely not the caramelised pork it's meant to be. I've had better and cheaper. read more

Phenomenal food but overpriced and they are not client friendly. They won't allow two people to split a bill with their own credit cards. Sad. It was great until the end but that dumb behaviour means no return business. read more

Have been to this place a number of times now. Apart from the pho, which I find to be a little bland, everything else is great. So far, I've tried: beef pho, beef pho with tripe and beefballs, chicken ribs with chilli lime, crispy pork belly with morning glory, and rice paper rolls. The chicken ribs and pork belly are absolute must order dishes. They are so flavoursome, you're left literally licking your fingers. Delicious. read more

We had booked the latter of what we had thought as being two evening sittings. We were a little early but the table was free so was sat. Unfortunately just after ordering dessert, we were told that the next booking was coming in 10 minutes. Not a particularly nice way to end our night. We rushed dessert to pay to leave. Food wise there was some lovely selections. I must admit, our table didn't order all traditional Vietnamese from the mixed Asian menu so maybe they do Vietnamese particularly well but overall it was slightly better than average food. Price wise, with alcohol, we paid $50 each for 3 courses for 6 adults which I think is reasonable in Sydney. Ambience was lovely. Service needs improving but not the worst. read more

If you're looking to starve, come here. The food is absolutely disgusting and you will 100% leave hungry. The service is horrible and nothing is good. I would rather lick someone's feet after walking barefoot in the subway than having to eat here. A burnt chicken nugget from McDonalds is luxury compared to this....Ridiculous. read more

People have been right, food very average and not worth the money that we paid. After had their salad been feeling thirsty while afternoon, seems they added MSG in it?! read more

A friend had booked this place for an early lunch at 12.00pm. I arrived a little early at 11.50am, I went to enter the restaurant, there were two other diners behind me. It was raining very heavily outside, a waiter shouted they were not open yet and asked us to leave. There was no reason for this, we could have easily sat inside as they were not doing anything that would have stopped us from waiting quietly. As it was, they had a table and chair outside so I sat there, got rained on and waited. When I re-entered I was greeted by a waitress who said she had not realised I was a customer as she had watched me wait outside and then she started laughing....... I would have walked out then and there however I was meeting three friends. The food was fine, however the service really did not get better. Not very friendly at all, and it wasn't busy but we were kept waiting for everything. Sydney is full of so many amazing options with wonderful service, sadly this is not one of these places. read more