Cafe O-Mai

Café O-​Mai is definitely a place to visit for great coffee and some traditional and unique takes on Vietnamese food. I am a big fan of the Banh Mi and the Phat Breakfast. The coffee is on point using Toby’s estate.

Bustling. Big. Something for everyone. Get the bacon n eggs style brekky or traditional Vietnamese brekkies. Watch them prep drip style individual coffees. Fresh juice combos. Sit in, out on the street or out on the back deck.

Café O’Mai is an adorable Vietnamese restuarant tucked away in Brisbane’s south. It has authentic written all over it.
The menu is nothing short of confusing — think 20 loose pages of paper on a clipboard, which have different dishes, specials and prices than the person’s menu next to you.
But, the good thing is pretty much everything is awesome so the confusing menu doesn’t matter too much! The Vietnamese rolls in particular are scrumptious.
Try the Vietnamese lemon soda if it’s a warm day. Perfect mix of citrus and sweet. And, if you dare, have a Vietnamese iced coffee to finish your meal — condensed milk with espresso dripped in served over ice.
Super cute funky place to meet friends for a casual weekend meal.

Café-​O-​Mai dares to do something a bit different for breakfast.
Are you sick of avocado on toast (yawny face) or Eggs benedict (snorelax)? Then drive to Annerley and eat your Sunday breakfast here instead.
Although I confess, after all that hoo-​ha above, I couldn’t really go past the French toast that they had on offer — it was a thing of beauty with a mound of mascarpone, berries, pistachios, and honey. My husband actually went with a Vietnamese option with the Claypot eggs — a delight of chinese sausage, tomato, mushrooms with a tamarind infused dippy sauce.
I definitely need to return to try the phở, as this is certainly a mark of a good Vietnamese venue.
Order the Vietnamese iced coffee which comes dripping to your table, to be mixed with condensed milk and then poured over ice. Oh yes.

I came with a bunch of friends, excited to try this elusive Vietnamese breakfast everyone kept speaking of. And in the end I made the mistake of ordering the same thing everyone else had, thinking, Bahn Mi and Phở, can’t go wrong, right? Wrong. Lets start with the Phở, a mass of overcooked noodles swimming in bland broth. It didn’t help that portions of the beef inside was still red. I let it sit a while, thinking that the broth would eventually cook it, which was an incorrect assumption because turns out the broth was tepid to start with. Not my idea of delicious. Bahn Mi was a pork cracklin sorely in need of more pickled veg than provided. Yes it was crunchy, but it definitely had that underlying sour tang that some pork fat tends to have here in Australia. Would not ever come back and eat here, although would consider a takeaway coffee as that was the pretty much the only thing I enjoyed.

If there is any excuse to have Vietnamese food, I’ll make one up. This past weekend I had the opportunity to try Café O-​Mai with other Unilocalers.
Hui Spicy Noodle soup is what I ordered, it’s hard to find Hui soup on the menu. I had to try it and it’s my first time having Hui spicy soup in Brisbane. I have to say, it was disappointed. This was not Hui spicy soup I remember. There was lemon grace in the soup? It was floating all over and I kept bite on them. It was blend and not spicy at all.
I heard the Phở was good, I will have to try it next time. They also have Banh Mi (different kind of meats) and Western breakfast menu. I like authentic but sometime it’s hard for the Businese if the market is calling for fusion.

Café O’Mai is a new favourite, after having lunch there. I can not believe that I never went here whilst living in the inner city south of Brisbane for a few years. That’s what you get for procrastinating. I now understand why it has a huge following and is popular amongst locals as well as people like myself who will venture out for something great. Google Café O’Mai and you will see that it is one of the most highly ranked/​reviewed places to eat anywhere in Brisbane. Vietnamese cuisine at its best, even though its only open for Breakfast and Lunch.
All my high expectations were met. Great Service, (despite it being really busy), awesome value for money (prices average $ 10 or less, and nothing over $ 22), and delicious food all round.
Having anticipated that this popular Annerley café would be busy, I was sure glad I booked ahead, especially since there was a group of us. So here’s a tip. Definitely book ahead if there are several of you, as you will never get a table, with how busy they are. That’s what makes this little place great too; the fact that they actually take reservations, when it’s not necessary for them, considering their level of patronage.
I’m not sure if I could have still ordered breakfast, but everything on the menu (Lunch & Breakfast) sounds amazing. I dare you not to salivate as you peruse the menu, which, if you were starving like I was, is gastronomic poetry on paper. I went with the Banh Mi baguette «filled with home made chicken pâté, whole egg mayo, picked carrot and radish, slice of cucumber, sprig of coriander, and drizzle of soy sauce» as a «House made crackling pork». I also ordered a serve of chicken spring rolls, just to get me started.
When the baguette arrived, it was perfectly fresh, crusty on the outside and soft inside. I loved the great combination of textures of soft and crunchiness, the crackling hitting the spot. The chicken spring rolls, well, I inhaled that in a few seconds. Perfect. We are usually a loud bunch, when we get together as a group, but on this occasion, Café O-​Mai, silenced us by sheer deliciousness. We all agreed that it was a great spot, and I felt chuffed having picked it! We can’t wait to try this place for breakfast. There’s a non-​traditional breakfast of Pork meatballs in rich tomato sauce with quail eggs served with warm baguette — the Vietnamese equivalent of savoury mince — with name on it!

Sensational little spot but get in early to avoid disappointment. I was there on a Saturday lunch time and the Café was humming … And for good reason. The food is exceptionally fresh and reasonably priced. I had the baguette with tamarind chicken and salad with freshly squeezed juice. The service was also great. Def give it a go

Based on the Beef Phở– I have had better. Not enough basil and no plum sauce to add. But the pork bun at the table next to us looked amazing… So we have to come back:)

This is my favourite café in Annerley. Fantastic, rich coffee; fresh, vibrant juices; mouth-​watering food, and charming service. I always order the vermicelli noodle salad ‘with a bit of everything’ (so light, but so filling!) and my partner loves the phở and baguettes. Ah! So good!
As for beverages, ask for any juice combo you like. I like the lemon soda, which is also made on-​site (like the spring rolls too). The watermelon juice is particularly nice.
It’s busy on the weekend, so don’t be late. They also close at 2pm, so keep this in mind if you’re rolling out of bed later than usual.

A friend had told me of a vietnamese café that do an amazing pork, lemongrass and chilli sausage. This café was Café O-​Mai. I love a non-​traditional breakfast and as well has a selection of six styles of Banh Mi’s for the lunch-​time folk they do a pretty spectacular Vietnamese cuisine for breakfast. Of course, for those who still want a bircher or a poached eggs on toast, they have this too.
We arrived on a Sunday morning and I was surprised that it wasn’t busting at the seams with breakfast goers lining up. Sitting out the front we were served really quickly and I ordered the Vietnamese Iced Coffee (coffee shot + condensed milk). It’s pretty easy and quick to drink so I’d be prepared to either order a few or be ready to have another general coffee (or drink of your choosing). While the chap went for a stock standard poached eggs on toast, I tried their pork meatballs with quail eggs baked in a rich tomato sauce. They were absolutely delicious. They come with a fresh white baguette which is that perfect crusty on the outside, soft and fluffy on the inside.
I’m keen to try their lunch menu. It even makes the (reasonably short) trek to the Southside worth it.