Mean's Vietnamese Cafe - Whangarei

Solid option with a broad menu for Vietnamese in Whangarei. We’ve been traveling for some time and hadn’t seen Vietnamese on in the last year, so it was a welcome treat! We ordered the pho ga, and the vermicelli noodle salad. The vermicelli noodle salad was a bit on the oily side, but other than that it hit the spot.

Full house on both visits over 2 weeks, this speaks for itself. Servings of food, on each visit, for different items were generous, piping hot and close to what to expect … except mint leaves.

I was really looking forward to having some pho on a rainy winter day. It was less full than I've usually seen it in here, but didn't see anyone working tables so I ordered at the counter. Staff was friendly and was easily able to make a substitution in a dish. I received a tasty soup within a few minutes. I'm not sure I'd call it pho, however. It tasted like a European onion chicken broth soup without any of the traditional pho seasonings. I tasted no anise, cinnamon, fennel, coriander, cloves, or coriander. So, that was quite disappointing as we've had the lemongrass chicken before and that was quite good. Table looked like it hadn't been wiped in hours as well, which wasn't the most appealing, but I'm guessing they were just short-staffed.

I hear here almost every time I go through whine, food is always delicious! (pork belly vermicelli never disappointed! My girlfriend had the spicy beef Vermicelli and the chicken kewers and she said they were the best they ever had thanks!

Really good food with reasonable prices. Can not vietnamese cuisane anywhere else, but it would be hard to compete. Being busy, so sometimes food and drinks are delayed. I wish there were more vegetables on the dishes I fought by ordering a salad to go with. But it's a big feed with two nets. Half a salad would be great.