Mao

Have been meaning to go back to this Mao for a while. When I had it before, it was lovely-​had a beef stir fry kinda dish. Went back last week and was quite disappointed.
I had spring roles to start which were nice enough with butternut squash. But the main really let me down. I had pad thai but it wasn’t great. The chicken was a bit chewy and very little of it. It’s put me off to be honest so doubt I will be back. If I wanted a bowl of noodles I would have bought a pack of kooka.

The lunch bowl was delicious and great value. But I would question the «Leinster Nutritionist» recommended meals considering they are lathered in sauce and don’t serve brown rice? Perhaps it needs to be updated. However, I will say again that the food is delicious so you can sacrifice interior design.
The open air and standard furniture makes the going out for food quite impersonal and empty. There’s no charisma, no personality to the place. when the food arrived within 5 minutes of ordering, we both remarked that it was like a Thai fast food restaurant.
Although it isn’t exactly a warming and personal dining experience, Mao is ideal for those who are hungry and want their food, fast! Great service and very attentive staff. With the standard of unique, quirky and healthy options becoming more and more prevalent when choosing somewhere to go, I wonder when I’ll be back to Mao?

Mao used to have the luxury of being one of the only Asian fusion chains in Ireland, and people loved it (myself included). But I now feel that It doesn’t compare with other Asian fusion competitors (Wagamama’s comes to mind).
The service was dreadful and the waitress seemed really angry, almost throwing our food and drink at us. I had the only vegetarian option on the menu, veg sweet and sour. which consisted of a bowl of veg, hardly any tofu in a watery liquid attempting to pass as sweet and sour sauce. The OH had chili ramen which was pretty standard, nothing to write home about. The bill came to about € 30 for two mains, one alcoholic drink and one soft drink, which I thought was a bit ridiculous.
Mao need to stop charging celtic tiger prices and develop a flexible menu (ie. in other competing Asian Fusion places, you can order any meat dish and sub in tofu. no questions asked). Polite waiting staff wouldn’t go a-​miss either.

Decent place to get noodles or rice. Quality of ingredients is fine. Some of the tastes are a bit strange to me and while I have eaten here a few times, I have yet to find the dish. Also, the service is always a bit weak. The servers are trying, but appear to be overstretched each time I am there. Worth a quick stop in, but don’t make a special trip for this place.

Thought I would try out Mao for lunch as they had a sign outside advertising lunch.
It’s quite a large restaurant so the place looked quite empty for lunch. It’s also quite dark in there, making it more suited to an evening meal.
At the moment they are doing what they are calling a «lunch bowl» menu. Things like Thai green curry, vegetarian curry, Thai chicken among other things available for € 8.75.
Also on the lunch bowl is Pad Thai which is what I went for. Quite tasty and a decent comfort food on a rainy Dun Laoghaire day. A little skimpy on the chicken and prawns though.

I had Mao yesterday for dinner, the first thing that suprised me was when I ordered it was ready in 15 minutes! now if that’s not good service I don’t know what is!
I ordered the chilli squid for my starter and the Hong Kong chicken and rice for my main course. I strongly recommend both, they were delicious.
the thing that really didnt give it the full 5 stars was the fact that it was 75 € for 4 ppl! now that’s pricey! but to be honest was worth that money!
great meal all together and will defiantly revisit!

I haven’t always been a big fan of Café Mao and I tend to avoid chain restaurants if I can but I came here for lunch on Sunday with a group of friends and really enjoyed it.
I ordered the Bang Bang chicken which was delicious and the portion was huge.
I think the menu overall is on the pricey side and it isn’t the most authentic Asian food I have ever tasted but I would struggle to find fault with the food I had on Sunday.
The price of some items would put me off trying them but if I return I already know what I’ll be ordering!
Not a bad option for a quick and tasty bite if you’re hungry in Dun Laoghaire.

J’ai aimé ce restaurant pour l’accueil qui y est fait, mais pas seulement !
La cuisine est très bonne, les plats asiatiques ont été quelque peut retravaillés, ce qui nous offre une vraiment bonne expérience gustative !
Le cadre est très sympa, et la vue sur la cuisine toujours un gage de qualité.
Les tarifs sont un peu élevé, mais reste dans la moyenne pour un restaurant Irlandais.

So you’ve walked the pier and feel like you deserve some grub, head up to the Pavillion, right opposite the ferry terminal and among quite a few places to eat is Café Mao. Mao bills its self as asian fusion cusine, it really is varied, being a mix of; Thai, Malay, Japanese and hint of Indian foods.
Although they’ve a couple of branches throught Dublin, this is probably my favorite. The main room is funky and bright and especially good for lunch on a Sunday, great if its busy as the place handles crowds very well and is very kid friendly.
The portions in Mao are generally huge so make sure your hungry. I can heartily recommend the nsai goreng-​which also comes in a smaller lunch portion-​chicken satay, five spice and Malaysian chicken are also great and the Naan garlic bread will have u full up too. The staff are generally always fast, friendly & helpful, esp if your new to the menu. They also cater for Celiac’s and have a new recession busting menu.
Even better is sitting outside on a nice day, something we don’t get to do much in our damp little Island.

Yep, I am definitely a fan. We chose Mao for a Saturday night bite and were not disappointed, a large café with plenty of seating and a smallish menu but we enjoyed it thoroughly. We started with the roast pumpkin spring rolls with plum dipping sauce and the chili squid, plentiful and well presented, tasty, hot and the service was quick. Popular with the locals and tourists, families and trendy young things (like myself)
Asian fusion it definitely is, a mix of chinese/​thai/​indonesian cuisine… lovely!