Mekong Cafe

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  Love the pad thai! Great prices too

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  Posted on 08.12.12 Rick D.

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  Ethnic food at it's best! The Mekong Cafe' 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!!

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  Posted on 12.08.10 Rachel A.

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  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.

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  Posted on 12.03.10 Angela P.

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  I doubt if I'll ever go to Springfield again but if I do this is the place I'll always visit. Fantastic food. Great, funny, gracious owner. A perfect combination. Don't expect much ambiance but the food and service more than make up for the lack of ambiance.

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  Posted on 08.02.10 Ash M.

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  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 Pho and a Thai iced tea, the tea was okay, served in an extremely tall glass, but stuffed with ice; tasty nonetheless. The Pho 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 Pho 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 Pho 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.

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  Posted on 09.22.08 Ted C.

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