So in place of the old Nghi Ngan Quan, we now have Mai Kitchen. The food and service is good but I foresee an up hill battle in attracting patrons to this new venture. Yes, the ambience of the restaurant is much better; The new decor is nice and that bloody door bell has been removed. As a reflection of the upgrade however, the portions are now a smidge smaller and the price is a touch more expensive. Where NNQ was cheap and boisterous, Mai Kitchen aims to be more refined. Unfortunately I think this is the wrong place to do it. You might get away with these portions (which are sensible) and these prices (which are fair) any where else in Adelaide; Just not in the western suburbs which are already saturated with cheap and good Vietnamese restaurants. Additionally, the taste and composition of some of the staples of Vietnamese lunch places at Mai Kitchen is a little off kilter. The combination rice, combination vermicelli, beef noodle etc are just a little lack lustre. NNQ wasn’t great either, but it compensated for that by giving you huge portions. Mai Kitchen strength really lies in its execution of less popular dishes. We had a beef stew (bo kho) which was superlative and mind blowingly awesome. It’s worth coming back to Mai Kitchen just for that alone. Whether or not other people actually order these lesser known dishes remains to be seen though. I sincerely hope they do and prove my pessimistic predictions about Mai Kitchen wrong!

Location

Wright Street, Ferryden Park, Adelaide, SA