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Mekong River

4.1 (56 reviews)
Open • 4:00 pm - 8:00 PM

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Crispy chicken chow main - amazing
Paolo M.

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.

Scallop Curry and rice

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 :-)

Crispy Chow Mein.  The noodles are incredibly good and fresh as were all the tasty bits inside.

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..

Scallop curry
Rebecca S.

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!

Veggie Curry
Ashley B.

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.

Seafood curry noodle bowl
Tee E.

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.

Anthony F.

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.

Rusty D.

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.

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

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Nori Japanese Restaurant - Relegation Roll

Nori Japanese Restaurant

4.3(175 reviews)
19.7 km
•$$

We were vacationing on Vancouver Island and came here for dinner when in Nanaimo. We had made…read morereservations a few weeks prior to our trip and I would highly recommend making a reservation if you plan on coming here. The restaurant was packed and the kitchen was hustling. There were so many beautiful and creative dishes passing by our table all night long; if I lived here, this would definitely become one of my regular places to go. The service was quick and friendly. The food was incredible; really fresh and presented beautifully. We had met up with a neighbour who had moved to the area and we ended up staying until the place closed. It was just a lovely evening overall. I would definitely recommend Nori for delicious Japanese cuisine but be sure to make a reservation!

=== 1. VERDICT/VALUE If you've a hankering for Asian…read morecuisine in Nanaimo and there's only one place you could go to, Nori should be one of your top picks! Good food, good service, and in a place with good vibes. === 2. FOOD When dining at lunch, the lunch specials offer incredible value; each option includes 4-piece California roll, small green salad, 2-piece gyoza, 2-piece prawn tempura, a miso soup, and a side dish ("okazu") of the day. Some thoughts: - The portions are decent even if you're hungry! - The prawn tempura (at least today) feel more batter than prawn. - The okazu (at least today) was fried - a fancy spring roll - which is interesting as side dishes in Japan in this context are often fish-based?). - Overall, the food quality is good. Buta Shoga Lunch Special ($22) Shoyu, ginger-marinated pork on rice - a good heart-warming combo as any! Sashimi & Sushi Lunch Special ($23) 6 pieces of sashimi (salmon and tuna) and three pieces of sushi (also salmon and tuna) make this lunch special one of the healthier options on the menu. Chashu Miso Ramen ($18) My little guy loves noodles, even if it comes in piping-hot pork bone broth. Depending on your little one, kids 6 and under in age may need a grown-up to help finish this dish! === 3. SERVICE The place is POPULAR and so be prepared to wait. One the most recent visit during lunch, we were lucky to slide in fairly quickly and the servers were fairly prompt and professional. === 4. ENVIRONMENT It's basic, yet has a modern open-view environment with a view of the bar/kitchen from across the restaurant. It's similar in vibe to its sister restaurant nearby (Horang) but the service is better and diners with small children will find more appealing seating options here. Wheelchairs and baby strollers would fit just fine and your chance at finding a place to park in the shopping complex lot outside is pretty decent!

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Nori Japanese Restaurant - Inside

Inside

Nori Japanese Restaurant - Miso Soup

Miso Soup

Nori Japanese Restaurant - Wasabi Caesar & Saki

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Wasabi Caesar & Saki

Sushi Ryu - Ubuild Bento Box

Sushi Ryu

3.7(29 reviews)
20.0 km

This was our second time eating here, we had mid expectations. We ordered two bento boxes to share…read more The deep fried components tasted like old fryer oil. Which was 90% of the bento box. When we told the waitress we didn't like it she took it away and just brought us our bill without offering us anything else. There was no discount or compensation. We left hungry and sad.

Before ending our camping trip, we stopped by this cute Japanese restaurant before our ferry. The…read morerestaurant is very spacious and clean with modern decor. There wasn't a lineup when we got there, so we were seated right away. Their menu has lots of options of different rolls, udon, sashimi etc. Because it was lunch time, we ordered some bento box. I ordered bento box A with California roll for my daughter, and chicken udon for myself. My hubby ordered some sushi taco, and a Ubuild bento box. The food came pretty slow, which was strange. There wasn't a lot of customers when we got there. The bento boxes were pretty fresh with good portion. The sushi taco was a little yummy, however, the deep fried seaweed is on the greasy side with lots of batter. I was a little disappointed with the chicken udon, it was pretty standard and the chicken was pretty soggy. However, nothing beats a hot bowl of soup in a rainy day. Overall, we still enjoyed our meal. Not sure if I will go back, but I'm glad we got to experience it.

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Sushi Ryu - Front entrance of the restaurant

Front entrance of the restaurant

Sushi Ryu - Sushi pizza

Sushi pizza

Sushi Ryu - Salmon hako oshi

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Salmon hako oshi

Mekong River - vietnamese - Updated May 2026

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