Mekong Cafe

As a physician who frequents Asian restaurants, I came here based on the Unilocal rating. The food tasted okay, but was far from traditional Vietnamese. I had the fried Thai egg rolls and the pork Pad Thai. At 2 AM I awoke with stomach pain and shortly thereafter emptied my stomach into the toilet. I had no other symptoms of illness either before or after this event. It was clearly a case of food poisoning, and I reported it to the Health Department. I assume it was from the pork Pad Thai. If you check the County Health Dept website, this restaurant has had a number of safety violations in the last two years. I would avoid this establishment.

Excellent food, excellent service. Completely family owned and operated, and it shows.

I’m here every time I come to Springfield for business. The chicken rice soup will soothe your soul!

This place gets three and a half stars. I have definitely had better. I started with the fresh spring rolls in rice noodle. They were small, and the peanut sauce was very thin and not sweet at all. I actually liked the sauce, I just was not expecting it. Then came the beef phở. When it first came out, it was the soup only. I had to request the sides and the chop sticks. The waitress was working the cash register and tables. However there were never more than three seated tables while I was there. She was very nice, but seemed very distracted. The phở its self was ok. A little on the bland side. The temperature was hot which was nice. I have had cold phở and that’s no Bueno. I’m guessing there are not many choices in this area, and I was staying at a hotel with no car. If I ever come back I will try it again. It was not bad just not my best experience.

Waited all day because of the good reviews. They said open at 4. It’s 4:30 Friday evening and no one is there. I won’t try again. Would not recommend.

Best Vietnamese and Laotian food in Springfield, never dissapointed and if you come here and something is off like cold rice and or mushy food like one review I read ifyour paying for food say something the staff is great and will fix the problem and perfect the plate. Never be scared to be a customer that speaks up. This place is excellent!

Was okay. I had the crab rangoon and chicken larb. The crab rangoon filling was good but I didn’t care much for the wrap they used. The chicken larb wasn’t like any larb I’ve had before. It looked like the ground chicken was fried. It tasted greasy and wasn’t particularly good. The rice and food were cold when I got it. My friends had the basil fried rice and the crazy beef noodle. My friend said the basil rice was bland and he couldn’t taste anything but onion. The other friend enjoyed his noodles. The service was alright. The owner and staff were friendly. Nothing about this place was exceptional. I thought it was a very okay experience. I would prefer not eating here again. Looks like people who raved about this place had not tasted good Thai/​lao/​vietnamese food before.

I felt like serving size is slightly small, but food was really good! Definitely going back…

OMG!!! All the good reviews are spot on! I first walked up to this place and I thought hmmmm But I had read not to let the outside throw you off. I ordered the basil fried rice and it was delicious! All the flavors were perfectly balanced without anything being added. I am looking forward to cominh back and trying something else. The service was wonderful! U won’t be disappointed!

The Laotian curry noodles is one of my favorite dishes ever – always flavorful, fresh, and delicious. The boyfriend loves the crazy noodles and the cashew tofu. The owners are super nice too.

This is by far the best resturant of its type in Springfield. Go for the soups, and try something off the beaten path. The Vietnamese dishes are their specialties, but the Thai and Laotion dishes are very good as well. If you are looking for east-​asian cuisine, and want a lot of options, look no further.

Mekong appears to be a store front, short order Vietnamese restaurant right near downtown. My wife is reluctant to try Vietnamese restaurants in the Midwest from some lackluster meals in the past, but she was desperate for a big bowl of something simmering, so we took the plunge, and were pleasantly surprised.
Things didn’t start the best with our spring rolls. Limp veg and noodles that were slightly mushy. Wife is selective when it comes to soups. She ordered the lemongrass soup. Her eyes lit up after the first sip, and she emptied the bowl. Said it was some of the best she has had.
I had a mushroom dish with shrimp. Clearly a cut above the Chinese takeout joints. Some care and skill went into the dish, and some fresh, crisp herbs and vegetables.
Parking is limited and not the most convenient, but well worth the hassle. Mekong does a booming lunch business, so expect a crowd. Prices very reasonable and service excellent.

This place is by far the best oriental restaurant in Springfield. The Viet noodle salad is very good. Have not had a bad meal here. Parking can be tricky.

Good consistent Thai food in a town that lacks consistency. Friendly staff. I think that in house is a little bigger serving than carry out however even with having a Thai place within a quarter mile of our house we will drive here to get take out over others. Never had a take out experience where we had a box mystery what is that and had to go back. Not flashy, and not probably a first date place however it is a place where the staff genuinely seems to care.

Food was good, nice service. There wasn’t anything wrong with the food but also nothing that stood out or that was very memorable. It would be a good lunch place if you want to try something new. Older building but the food is still good.

Great service every time we go and the Phở is the best we have found in Springfield. We moved here from the SF Bay area and the fact that we have had a very hard time finding comparable Dim Sum, Vietnamese, Sushi, etc here in Springfield has been a huge issue. The Mekong Café has been the one bright spot so far. We’re still looking though!

I’ve lived in the area for 30 years, and hadn’t tried Mekong Café until today. It is EXCELLENT, and lives up to the 5-​stat reviews on Unilocal. Cashew Chicken and Basil Stir Fry had just the right spice. (We ordered medium for both.). One note: The lunch portions are large! Come with an appetite, or you’ll need a take home container. We’ll definitely be back!
(Oh, and the ambiance isn’t bad. It’s a cute little place tucked off of 2^nd street. Limited off-​street parking is available in the back.)

Ethnic food at it’s best! The Mekong Café’ is one of Springfield’s best kept secrets.
Numerous things on the menu are very tasty, from the spring rolls, to the Pad Thai, Garlic Chicken, to something as simple as the Fried Rice!
Owner/​Cook very pleasant, and eager to please.
Have been numerous times now, and never had a bad experience. Kudos MeKong!

I have to say that of all the Asian places I have tried while I have been here in Springfield for three months Mekong easily wins, hands down, for flavor profile. This place is not afraid to put some kick in their food. Serious flavor. Also, really enjoyable level of heat. I ordered all my food medium and it was definitely at least medium, perhaps a tad over. Loved it.
First time here so I wanted to try a variety of things. We had the fresh spring rolls, ginger shrimp, Laotian curry beef noodles and chicken red curry. Spring rolls were about average, but were large and stuffed with several meats (I think chicken and shrimp?) as well as noodles. Good stuff.
The garlic shrimp was killer. Sometimes places have a light, bland garlic sauce. Not Mekong. The garlic sauce here is dark and super flavorful. Warning, if you arent a fan of onions (like my dining companion) this dish isnt for you. Its full of both white and green onions. Shrimp were large, tender and flavorful. Yay!
The Laotian curry beef noodles were a good surprise. They came out cold-​style with the cold noodles, beef and vegetables all in one bowl with the sauce to pour over the dish. I love this style, but could see how some people might expect it to be more like a traditional noodle dish presentation. The combination of the perfectly-​seasoned beef and vegetables make this dish something Ill crave all the time.
Last dish was the Thai red curry with chicken. This dish was definitely good and would satisfy a curry craving. My only issue was that overall the dish seemed a tad dry. Not the chicken itself, but there was just a serious lack of curry sauce… actually none. So, it was sad times for those of us who like to soak our white rice in curry juice and slurp it up. Is that just me? Flavor of this dish was really good, lack of curry sauce was just a bummer.
Overall the service was very friendly. We arrived in the middle of lunch rush so the place was sort of hectic and the food took a bit longer than expected. I think if you came closer to 1130 or after 1230 it would have been much better.
Mekong is now at the top of my list for Asian in Springfield. Will definitely be returning.

I really wanted to try any ethnic food in Springfield. I knew that LIttle Saigon on Wabash but on my way to it I saw this place’s sign kind of inconspicuously hanging off a nondescript building. After twice circling the place looking for parking I walked in to a quiet, modest little place with one guy sitting there. The menu is a fairly small mix of Thai and Vietnamese, the sign also says Laotian food, but I don’t know if it’s authentic or not.
I ordered the Phở and a Thai iced tea, the tea was okay, served in an extremely tall glass, but stuffed with ice; tasty nonetheless. The Phở was surprisingly good, spiced a little more than I was used to but tasty. I asked for more meatballs, but the guy said he didn’t have any, but did offer me more meat. I think that I know enough about Phở to say that it was served the popular way, with hoisin sauce served on the side to dip the meat in. I like to squirt in the hoisin and the siracha straight into the broth. I didn’t go with the siracha because the chiles they served with it were spicy enough! I ordered a second Thai iced tea. All in all, it’s a good place, I mentioned that I live in Chicago and the owner/​cook said it might not be as good as the Phở in Chicago, but it would give a couple places a run for their money there. A solid 3.5 for sure and worth a repeat visit.