It's always interesting to go to an "ethnic" restaurant in a country other than your own, although this one barely counts since it's in a heavily touristed outdoor food court right near Museum Island. From the outside, it definitely looks like any other mass-market Vietnamese restaurant with plentiful seating and a pixyish waitress buzzing around with her electronic order pad. But there is no doubt you are in Berlin and not Hanoi when it comes to the execution. Emphasis is placed heavily on heavy portions and the use of a knife and fork. Apparently I have the proper girth to eat here. I ordered the Summer Rolls (Zwei vietnamesische Sommerrollen) for 3.90 Euros, which had the familiar cucumber slices, lettuce, cold noodles, and prawns with two dipping sauces, one peanut of course. They were good enough flavor-wise, but I was honestly surprised how haphazard the execution looked on the plate (see photo). The more interesting dish was my entree, the Crispy Duck with Mixed Vegetables in Peanut-Coconut Sauce (Kross gebackenes Entefleisch mit kurz gebratenen vitaminreichen Gemusestreifen, in einer Erdnuss-Kokosmilch SoBe gegart...geez, that's a mouthful) for 10.90 Euros. Even though duck strikes me as more Chinese than Vietnamese, there was certainly plenty of it, nicely tender and sliced evenly. However, the idiosyncratic part of the dish was that it was prepared like a schnitzel with fried bread crumbs rather than the glazed roasting you would expect in a Chinese restaurant stateside (see photo). I'm not really complaining, just thought it was weirdly tasty and probably even more fattening than it had to be. But the other girthy customers didn't seem to mind as they were eating their Germanized Vietnamese dishes with gusto and a huge mug of Carlsberg. FOOD - 4 stars...big, hearty Vietnamese dishes, the Bavarian way AMBIANCE - 3 stars...nice spot for people watching on the outside, paper lanterns dominate the inside SERVICE - 3 stars...the waitress moves like a roadrunner and speaks English with ease TOTAL - 4 stars...East-meets-West seems to work here read more

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My wife, my son (13), and I chose this for its close proximity to our hotel because we were super tired from walking all over Berlin. For the purposes of this review, I would like to point out that I am a chef and TLDR is at the bottom. We ordered the Prawn Summer Rolls for our appetizer, the Saigon Duck and Prawns for 2, Saigon Duck and Prawns for 1, and the Nishiki 11 sushi platter. The appetizer and our drinks came out rather quickly and were rather enjoyable. The sauce that comes with the rolls is a hoisin sauce that I believe had extra soy sauce added, I didn't care for it, but the peanut sauce I asked for instead was downright delicious. The 2 identical soups that came with the Saigon Duck and Prawns for 2 was also really delicious, it tasted of fresh herbs and very moist (trust me, you can dry out poultry in a soup) chicken with vermicelli (glass) noodles. The 2 Miso soups that came with the Nishiki 11 were not palatable to my wife and I because it tasted too strongly of dashi and I could not detect any white miso while also thinking it was bland/watery. This usually occurs when someone uses a mix or powder for the whole soup and uses a stock (dashi) instead of water. The sushi with the Nishiki 11 was not remarkable and tasted exactly as expected. Now on to the main dish: Saigon Duck and Prawns. This is a crispy duck dish that is supposedly accompanied by spicy grilled shrimp. The duck was okay at best and we ended up only eating about two-thirds of it as the rest was way overcooked and tough. The prawns were inedible. They were split completely in half, butterfly style, but the only thing holding them together was the tail. They were so completely overcooked, they had ZERO flavor. I couldn't taste the seasoning and it didn't even taste like shrimp. I believe that the only way this could have happened is if they pre-cooked the shrimp ahead of time and then leave it on the grill too long. I mean the shrimp we had in our rolls and sushi was completely fine and not overdone. Now I don't know if it's the fact that we were tourists or not, but after apprising the waiter, they said this is how 'it was always done'. TDLR; Don't eat here. They overcooked shrimp so bad that I'm afraid their other hot menu items are horrid. read more

Best Pho in Berlin. Being in Berlin, I had beer and bratwurst over two days. Being a "sinophile" I was starting to crave something spicy and Asian. I was delighted to find Shi Mai essentially t the base of the "communication tower". What a delightful find in a charming city. Vundebar ! read more

Restaurant Shi Mai - Best Pho in Berlin. - Vietnamese Near Me - Berlin, BE

I know I'm in Berlin & had Vietnamese food. All I can say is the best Vietnamese / Asian fusion food I had in such a long time. I remember being in Sydney and the Tom Yam Gai was out of the world, but this place surely made my stomach happy. I couldn't have enough of the soup!!! I also ordered the Vietnamese glass noodles which hit the spot. I'm actually happy that I came here. Yes the location is in a row of other restaurants, but just try it you won't be disappointed :-) read more

Restaurant Shi Mai - Tom Yam Gai soup - Vietnamese Near Me - Berlin, BE

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The restaurant was clean and cute, and the waiters were very nice. I ordered the Bun Cha Hanoi, which was enough for me. We also ordered the wantons and egg rolls. The wantons were crunchy and not too oily, and the eggroll that I tried was not soggy and had a nice texture. There was also a wide assortment of drinks, most of which looked really good. I ordered the jasmine strawberry drink, which was cutely presented and refreshing. read more

We went here because it was literally right where the aquarium ended and my kids were starving. It was a close race between this spot and the other option in the same building, but this won out. The staff was nice, bathroom was clean and they brought our order pretty quick. They had a lunch meal thing for the kids with a juice box and foods they would be interested in. That worked out well. Mine was also tasty. I thought the prices were a bit high but I guess it's convenience and location I paid for so I'm alright with that. read more

We ran into one of the worst behaved employees that I have ever experienced. Consistently he takes his mask off indoors and is not far from us. When confronted simply that he should wear his mask, he gets angry and defensive and states "it's impossible to wear it at all times", meanwhile the waitress serving us was perfectly compliant and was not taking her mask off. He then said we can change tables (to avoid an employee of the restaurant!?), and said that I can go call the police if I want. After this exchange, he STILL had no shame or responsibility to the customers and was still consistently not wearing his mask. It was a disgraceful experience and his colleagues did not confront him or just tell him to do the right thing, even after hearing our complaints. read more

So, you are walking around Berlin doing the tourist thing and you realize you are hungry. You figure you are probably going to be stuck with some sub-par, overpriced tourist grub and resign yourself to eating what looks like some terrible chain 'Asian' food. Was that just me? Happy to report that Shi Mai is a shining oasis in an otherwise uninspiring area for food. It looks questionable from the outside and has the requisite over-large 'all Asian' menu, but this place is a little gem. The service was quick and helpful, they have menus in English if you havent picked up enough German yet, and the food is pretty dang good! It was a cold, blustery day so we started with soups (glass noodle and Tom Yum). The flavors were spot on and they were filled with fresh veg and quality meat. Moved on to a Vietnamese glass noodle dish and some duck curry. Both were very good. Came out fairly quickly, with hot, fresh ingredients. No complaints here. The decor inside is nice and there is plenty of seating. Servers speak English and are happy to help with suggestions. I dont think you can go wrong with anything here. Quite a find! read more

Pretty much a tourist trap. Expensive for what you're getting, not that good to begin with. We got the chicken fried noodles and spring rolls. The noodles were bland and the spring rolls were fried, not fresh. To top it off, the server brought me out a dirty plate and then proceeded to switch it out for a clean one after he had set it in front of me. The vibe was just a little bit off. You can get better fusion cuisine for cheaper if you walk around off the beaten path a little. read more

Staying in Radisson Blu to be honest I was skeptical but we had a great meal. Great apps and sushi and mai tai ! Great way to end the day! read more

Really enjoyed the chicken pho here! The atmosphere, service & food were great and it was very affordable too! Would go back! Nice Casual environment with long tables and some short ones, like Wagamama. read more

My sister and I shared the pho. It was good. The restaurant shares its space with a really touristy American food diner. I liked it, but there was nothing really special about this place. Clean and good service. read more

Went today for a quick meal as i was looking for sth healthy in this touristic area we decided for vietnamese. Of course they have lots of very good looking fried dishes but also healty alternatives. It was really really good and tasty , the portions were good and the price well normally expensive for this area but not horrific. Has a grilled shrimps plate with lots if veggies and noodles. The summer rolls were a great appetizer. All in all very tasty and i can only recommend this place. read more

Very good food from Vietman, at an affordable price. Cosy athmosphere on the outside site. Good service. Real value for money. read more

Pretty good crispy duck and wonton soup. The duck slices were tender and really crisp, while the salad had a sweet and sour Asian vinegars rye of some kind, tasted good with the duck. The wonton soup came in a huge bowl with fine, thin pieces of beef and heaps of delicious noodles. Only thing I missed was that it should have been a little bit spicy. Quick service and polite staff, the mango lassi was surprisingly good! A good place for a decent meal read more

Not usually a duck fan but the crispy duck with red curry sauce was pretty awesome! Surprised with the quality being right by the museums in a very touristy spot but highly recommend it if you like Asian food and are in the area! read more