Mai's Vietnamese Restaurant

Came here for a nice quiet lunch despite the loudness of the farmers market outside.
Street parking around this time is always difficult.
We had the Vietnamese iced coffee which was strong.
Lemongrass pork chop was moist and also had good char.
Special pho was good.
Broth still felt clean.

I stopped by Mai's because I was craving some imperial rolls over some vermicelli noodles.
From this single experience and from ordering this single dish, I have a few thoughts.
Mai's is a quaint and unassuming restaurant - it has a very old-school feel inside which is common amongst restaurants along Clement.
The service was good and the food was prepared in a timely manner.
I had the "imperial roll and bbq chicken over rice noodle" plate, which came with a single fried imperial roll, pickled carrot/veg and bean sprouts all over a generous serving of chicken and noodles.
The imperial roll was okay.
I thought it tasted good, but the meat inside felt dense and very homogeneous.
The chicken tasted great, especially with the sauce that the plate comes with.
I think if the imperial roll was just a bit better quality, I would have loved it.
However, I was a bit underwhelmed.
It seems like other people have had better experiences with other dishes here, so I am looking forward to being back at Mai's to try out something different.

I'm not sure if other reviewers have had authentic Vietnamese food because the food here seems like the quick and dirty version.
The beef pho broth tasted like the pho powder you can get at the supermarket and didn't taste like a deep bone broth at all.
At least the meat quality was okay.
Ordered the imperial spring rolls and although it was crispy, it was also dry and again it tasted pre-made from the supermarket frozen section.
I'm not saying that is true but I wouldn't want my food to taste like that either.
I came here to try the nem nuong rolls since it is one of the only places in the city that serves it.
It was super dry and overcooked.
And again again it does not taste like they made the meat mixture themselves.
Overall, the ingredients like vegetables and beef tasted fresh but some parts of the dishes tasted frozen.
However, I still had a great time because the lady owner was extremely caring and nice to us.