Mai Lee Vietnamese and Chinese Restaurant
October 29, 2012 Leave a comment
This lively restaurant has my favorite Pho Ga and spring rolls in the city of Brentwood, MO a suburb of St. Louis.
My good friend Willow Bob enjoying his Pho Ga
I had met the owner of Mai Lee, a nice lady named Lee Tran the previous Friday at the fabulous Seafood City market in St. Louis. I had asked the check out clerk at the market about a different Pho restaurant and the lady behind me in line told me that she too owned a Vietnamese restaurant and wrote down her address on the back of my Seafood City receipt.
I had picked up my friend Kenney from Florida at the St. Louis airport on a Friday and later we met Lee and then chose to go to a Pho restaurant on south Grand Blvd. That was the first of my pho comparisons in what ended up being a visit to three different restaurants. I ordered the exact same pho at all three restaurants within a five day period.
Mai Lee dining room
Mai Lee is located in the upscale city of Brentwood, a St. Louis suburb. This restaurant is near the Galleria on Brentwood Blvd and is behind the Metro Link bus station there. I was able to park inside a multi-story parking garage on the first floor and discovered that there was no fee to park there. Originally being from Chicago, a city of high parking prices, this was a nice surprise to be sure.
I went to Mai Lee with my good friend Willow Bob from St. Louis. We entered this comfortable restaurant and got a warm reception. Very nice! We sat and we both ordered their Pho Ga and the spring rolls too. I ordered a Saigon Beer too.
The spring rolls came and wow, they were twice the size of the ones I experienced at the other two Vietnamese restaurants. The dipping sauce was delicious, tangy and nutty too. Great.
Then the Pho Ga was brought to the table by our very pleasant waitress, Lan.
I really appreciated her smiling and accommodating manner. She was terrific. I had just learned how to add condiments to the Pho and so I added some Sriracha HOT chili sauce and also plum sauce to the Pho. The soup had abundant sliced pieces of chicken and also noodles. Lan brought us the vegetable plate with fresh Vietnamese basil, bean sprouts, fresh cilantro leaves with stems, and sliced jalapeno along with lime wedges. My friend Willow Bob and I put all of the garnishes into our soup too.
Mai Lee Pho Ga
This Mai Lee Pho Ga was the winner. This soup had cheerful abundance to it and I felt very happy to be experiencing it on a Tuesday for lunch. Lee’s son Qui came over and introduced himself. He made me feel very welcome. My friend Willow Bob and I agreed after we left that we just had a wonderful meal and an experience that will bring both of us back there soon.
Mai Lee: Thumbs up. I love the restaurant.
Mai Lee: 8396 Musick Memorial Dr., Brentwood, MO. 314.645.2835
For delicious and fabulo olive oil imported from Italy: