Mama’s Buoi

The idea of this place is good, but unfortunately they just aren’t able to come through with the goods. Australian/​Asian fusion of food has worked really well in the past, but this restaurant seems like their chef couldn’t cook either of those cuisines very well.
There’s too much sugar in every dish. The duck curry had 5 tiny slices of dried out meat in it; the «chicken ribs» seemed like something from Pizza Hut; and the duck pancakes were a mush of hoisin sauce and pineapple.
With a few exceptions, Crows Nest seems to be full of restaurants that promise high quality food but are unable to deliver.
Would not dine here again.

The food is a western version of Vietnamese foods. Too expensive for what it is really. Nice outdoor eating area, and nice staff.
Sneaky 10% surcharge on Sundays. Listed in the fine print of the last page of the menu. A bit of a shock, and in all honesty I will not be returning.
There are much better Vietnamese placing in the neighborhood. First time there= last time there.

This place is becoming our gotofor great Asian lunch. Fresh lots of flavours and good service.

Great quality ingredients but not a great authentic Vietnamese taste. I love Vietnamese food and my absolute favourite lunchtime meal has been the bun bowl. Mams Buoi are average in speed of service for an Australian restaurant and slow for a Vietnamese one when ordering this dish. The wait was not completely worth it — it was missing some flavours and textures — the reason I am so addicted to this cuisine.

Nice Vietnamese in Crows nest right off Willoughby St, nothing fancy but casual and convenient.
Food is good and price reasonable for Sydney. Quantity is just fine. They have a little terrace outside with heaters and shades.
Service is also nice.
Good for unplanned lunches and dinner dates.

I always see people in here, so assumed everything would be great. I was so disappointed! The food was mediocre, and the server messed up the order not once, but twice! (drinks and food) The place wasn’t even busy and we were a party of two, so there were really no excuses. If this was the only Vietnamese option in town, the food is okay enough to satisfy that craving. However, I should have heeded the advise of other Unilocalers and passed on the Phở. Don’t make the same mistake I did– save your $ and your appetite for something else. With other Vietnamese options nearby and much better service, I will never be back here.

Had been eying this newcomer for a while, but sadly we were disappointed on the night.
Service was pretty patchy, as was the food. After reading some reviews on here we selected carefully, but although my spring rolls were OK the rest of the meal was a disappointment. The mixed skewers were pretty dry.
We’ll give it another try however.

Any Tieng Viet (Vietnamese) speakers think this restaurant name is as funny as I do? Buoi is Vietnamese for Pomelo, a type of large, sweet grapefruit. It can also be used as a slang word for big breasts. I read this as ‘Mama’s big titties,’ rather than a play on Mama’s Boy. Also if you change the tone on Buoi you’re saying penis in Vietnamese.
Food is better than the usual Vietnamese fare you find in Australia and they have some Viet beers, including 333. Service is okay, the wait staff could be a little better trained on the menu perhaps.

I decided to try Mama Buoi during my lunch hour because of all the good reviews it was receiving. Being lunch time, I expected there to be a long line. But to my surprise there wasn’t. That probably should have immediately sent red flags flying.
The Phở was bad. You can’t call yourself a Vietnamese restaurant if you serve bad phở. I think most Vietnamese restaurants would make better phở than Mama Buoi even if they deliberately tried to make bad phở.
Stay clear. Only go if you really need phở and you live really, really far from a half-​decent Vietnamese restaurant.

Like many people I’ve walked past Mama Buoi’s whilst I’m in Crows Nest and been interested. Recently some of our good friends recommended we go there and it’s simply amazing food.
If there was such a thing as the top places in Crows Nest to eat, then Mama Buoi’s would be on that list.
Things I love:
— Pork Fried Spring rolls. They are listed on the menu as the «Hanoi-​style» ones. If you don’t order these I’ll slap you.
— Morning Glory w/​Garlic & Chilli. Delicious veggies.
— Lemongrass Curry Chicken on the bone. Don’t let the «on the bone» fool you, they actually don’t serve it with bones… I think it just means how they cook it… but anyway this is one of their tasty curry options.
These are the three things we’ve ordered every time we’ve been and they have been consistently excellent.
On my last visit someone sitting next to me ordered the ‘Mixed Skewers’ and it took all of my self control not to reach over and snag a few. They look really good and I’ve got that down as a must try next time I’m there.
Things I didn’t like:
— The Phở. Both the missus and myself disliked their version of Phở as being too sweet. This was an experimental order where I remember specifically saying «all their food is amazing, I bet the Phở is good too». I don’t think I’ll be trying any of their Phở variants.
— Possible slow service? This might have been a one-​off but on my second visit the staff and food was really really slow. They apologised and explained they’d just launched a new menu and were still trying to perfect it — but almost everyone at tables around us were longing for food to come out. The food was great when it did, but that night in particular was quite slow.
I’ll definitely be back, I’ll definitely order some new menu items to try other things… and I’ve snapped a copy of their menu so I can order takeaway.

Crows Nest has been crying out for decent Vietnamese for years and I’m very glad that Mama’s Buoi has filled the breach.
Although many of the items will be new and strange to LNS locals, I’d suggest just ordering randomly and taking whatever comes as an adventure. The pork and lemongrass on vermicelli with pork spring rolls were delightfully aromatic. The thit kho caramelised pork belly fell apart in the mouth.
All washed down with bitter Ba Ba Ba.
It’s hard to get in here on a Friday or Saturday night and service in these times is lax at best. But things seem to be looking up and becoming more disciplined as they iron out their teething problems.

Being I have been here three times in the last week how could I not review Mama’s Buoi.
Seriously good food, I cannot go past the vermicelli salad with chicken, but have heard awesome things about the pork with crackling version too. Make sure to tip the bowl over to get all the good sauce coating the delicious salad if you get takeaway. Definitely the new favourite. And placed perfectly for a trip across the road to Kürtosh for a cake chaser

Have heard a lot of good things about this place.
I only realised last week that they were in Crows Nest! So of course even more reason to try it.
We arrived about 1.30pm and the place wasn’t too packed, i thought it was like a takeaway place but no you get to sit and look through the menu and then order.
For starters we got the BBQ chicken rice paper rolls and the lightly fried pork spring rolls! Both of these were delicious! And we didn’t have to wait long
I cant remember the exact dish name but for mains we got the pork belly and the beef tender strips — Both came with fresh shallots, crispy spring onions and fresh chilli’s!
I also tried the house style made iced coffee with milk, has more of a coffee flavour and not sweet, i assume this is what they would mostly have in Vietnam (One of the places on my bucket list i need to cross off)
Staff were friendly and prompt. Overall, the 2 entrees, 2 mains and 2 drinks came to $ 56 which i thought was pretty cheap!
Great first time visit, will definitely be back again. Someone suggested the Peking duck but alas i didn’t see it!