This is a chicken wrap platter my friend Beable ordered. I'm personally much more fond of their shrimp on sugarcane option for the platter, but ordered soup on this outing instead due to the hateful presence of winter.
Overall I quite enjoy Mee Xim apart from their spring rolls. The quality of the food is always high, and the prices are more than reasonable, so it's my current choice when I want good Vietnamese food in town.
We eat here about twice a month, and I regularly order the Special B - it's a hot and sour noodle soup with a tinge of pineapple in the taste. It's absolutely delicious....
While I'd say that Thu Do is the place to go for pho, Mee Xim is the place to go for the variety of Vietnamese dishes. Definitely a good price and good value.
And yes, in terms of the bill, we usually pay at the front as they often don't bring it to you. But, we don't really mind.
Just to clarify the tardiness of the bill, from my two experiences, they don't bring it to the table. My first visit, I also was expecting them to bring it to the table. On my first visit there, I tried to wave down one of the waitresses (in vain) to ask her to bring the bill, before my Phillipino friend told me that you have to actually go up to the front desk and pay there.
On that first visit there, and I was so impressed with how a meal for two cost just under $8.00 (2 'Chicken Broth with vegetables' and one skewer of BBQ Shrimp), that I returned the next week with two other friends. The soup was very tasty, and not just because it was under $2.00
My second visit, my friends and I spent a good 20 minutes struggling to decide what to order; there was so much great stuff in the menu. I especially like how they actually have pictures of the dishes in the menu, which I don't usually find small restaurants like this to have. I had Grilled Pork Chops and BBQ chicken and requested a side of the Black Pepper Sauce, because it sounded awesome. The meal was fantastic, every part of it.
The service was quick and there when we needed it -- it probably helped that we were seated near the desk. The only problem was that the older waitress we had was having some difficulties communicating in English, but a younger waitress was there to help her out. And even though we stayed until 4:30pm to chat, way past everyone else left, they didn't try to rush us in any way.
I will definitely be returning to Mee Xim Vietnam again in the future, once all these crazy university exams are done with.
Yep, if the iced coffee was way to sweet for you then it was authentic Vietnamese. In other words, there was nothing wrong with the coffee -- just your expectations. I'm not a fan of it either. :)
The rest of your experience sounds unfortunate, although one thing struck me. You said, "Finally our bill comes..." In Vietnamese culture it is considered very rude for the server to present you with the bill unless you specifically ask for it. (After a few years of going to Vietnamese restaurants we guessed that this was the case, and have confirmed it since.) We normally just walk up to the cash register when we're ready to pay.
In response to Westboro Sean: I may be wrong, but I suspect that the issue with the coffee was a cultural misunderstanding. In my experience, Vietnamese coffee is always served more as a dessert and is incredibly sweet. It probably didn't even occur to them that you might want to drink your coffee with your meal.
Of course, that doesn't excuse the rest of the bad service, which sounds like it was awful.
Had lunch at Mee Xim this afternoon. It is the 3rd Vietnamese resto I've been to in Ottawa and despite the food being mostly tasty I have to say I won't be back.
Both my wife and I got a noodle dish. Hers had spring rolls and shrimp and mine had shrimp with sugarcane and beef. For an appetizer we had the fresh shrimp/pork rolls. All of it was good-great. My only food complaint is about the cold coffee. It is way WAY too sweet...and this is coming from someone with a severe sweet tooth!
But anyway - my major complaint is with the service. We were seated promptly, but no one came with a menu or silverware for about 5 minutes. Others were seated after us and received their menus, etc. right away. We wrote down what we wanted, but then no one came to get our order. I was finally able to flag down someone after 5 minutes. By this time the tables seated after us had their dipping condiments already.
The fresh rolls came and they were good. Then our dishes came and they were good as well...but my coffee didn't come until half way through my meal after I had to ask for it.
Then we realised...hey...we don't have any water. So I asked for water and they bring ONE GLASS. I was dining with my wife. I mean...this is common sense, I think. So I ask for another glass of water after having to flag down someone.
Finally our bill comes but it's the wrong bill, I have to flag someone down to get the right one.
To top it all off our waitress never said one word to us. Not one syllable.
So, in conclusion - decent food, abysmal service. Honestly one of my top 5 worst experiences. Maybe top 3.
Oh you just reminded me I should really visit Mee Xim again. They're one of the best Vietnamese restaurants in town for sure! That pork chop with black pepper sauce dish they do is spectacular, as is anything with BBQ beef (vermicelli or rice paper wraps).
I go there a little too often. Never disappointed in the food. The price is great too. You can even get the vegetable broth soup with the chinese veges for $1.50. Service is good too.
Spring rolls at Mee Xim leave something to be desired.
They're nice and crispy on the outside, but the inside is filled with nothing but blandness and perhaps a hint of something that might be cabbage. Most of the flavour, if any, comes from dipping it in the fish sauce.
Here's a rather poor photo of Mee Xim's incredible $1.50 bowl of soup -- half finished but still with a good portion of bok choy in it. I'd really enjoy this bowl right now. ;-)
Tender and succulent, served with a tangy and unique black pepper sauce. That was actually the first time I'd ever had pork chops and it definitely makes me want to have them again.
El Brucio
Overall I quite enjoy Mee Xim apart from their spring rolls. The quality of the food is always high, and the prices are more than reasonable, so it's my current choice when I want good Vietnamese food in town.