Pho Le Vietnamese Restaurant

Main signboard

2 weeks back we decided to patronize a certain vietnamese outlet that we've breezed past numerous times but had never entered. It was along the street near our house where we conduct our weekly grocery shopping.

Main entrance

Eventhough we only eat out on weekends, sometimes it does get frustrating to decide where to eat. The lack of cuisine choices in Sydney doesn't help our cause. We always aim to try something new, something fresh and something delicious. ;p

Excuse the quality

We forgot to bring the camera so all the pictures here are taken with my N73 camera phone. Daytime pics are still acceptable but the night ones leaves plenty to be desired. ;(

Neat looking hanging ornament on the wall

Simple seatings

The one word to describe the interior is "simple". There's not much ambience or music going on, it was just chairs and tables lined up for the customers. We arrived at about 5.00+ and there was only another table occupied. We were privilleged to have the owner's son serve us. ;p

Duck Noodles Soup

The GF ordered this dish, accompanied by thin kue tiaw. The serving was so gigantic we ended up sharing this and "tapau"ing my order.

I wasn't expecting heavenly cuisine because my previous encounter with Vietnamese food left me swearing never to touch it ever again. It was 2-3 years back and the taste was so horrible.

However I was pleasantly suprised that it didn't taste as bad as initially expected. At least the duck was tender and huge and cooked to the right temperature. The broth wasn't superb but it was at least decent.

The GF however had plenty to comment on this dish. haha. She claims that it was horrendous and should never be produced to see the light of day. Every mouthful she puts in her mouth is followed by a vehement "pui".

Pork Chop with Broken Rice

We ended up "tapau"ing my broken rice. I enquired with the owner's son what is "Broken Rice". He explained that broken rice are damaged rice which doesn't meet manufacturing standards.

I think Vietnam used to be a poverty stricken country and food was scarce, so rice (regardless of whole or broken) was a prized commodity.

Does that mean broken rice is lousy rice that's thrown away? In that case he would have gotten his rice for free, why would he charge me $9.00 to eat disposed rice?

The "Broken Rice" taste bland and slightly like oats. Thai Fragrance rice taste so much better, although it costs RM 70+ for a 10kg pack after the petrol increase. The dish comes with pork chop, ommelette, salad and some thin slices of XXX that taste slightly like "Tang Hoon".

Overall I don't like Vietnamese food. It's not that the food is bland or lacking in taste, I think our taste buds just dislikes it. We'll try in another 2-3 years, maybe we'll have a change of heart. But for the time being, whenever I stroll nearby Pho Le Restaurant, I will cross the street and turn away, for fear of losing my appetite. ;p


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