Pho Le

It’s been awhile since I’ve dined at this restaurant and the soup dumplings are still solid. The dough looked thick, but is actually the right thickness. There were lots of soup in the soup dumplings and this restaurant served it with vinegar with extra thin sliced ginger, perfect compliment! The fish with pickled vegetable noodle soup was just ok. Menu said cod, but it tasted like tilapia, so it was a bit disappointing. The dining room was also stark and not very inviting, the place can definitely use some warmer lights to liven up the ambiance.

Decent service and delicious dishes. Not many employees so if it got a little busy, there was one server trying to help out everyone. But still! Everything got to us in one very yummy piece. The interior is clean but very hot since they didn’t have any air conditioning on. The food was perfect. I mostly recommend the rice boxes because it comes with so much. I tried the Fish filet with bean pepper sauce. It came with the fish, sautéed string beans and cabbage, white rice, and a boiled tea egg. Their soup dumplings look to be freshly made and they’re quite tasty. Their pork and chives buns are also very well made. One hundred percent recommend that you try one or the other. Or both! Last of all, we tried the Shanghai rice cakes. Sautéed with a nice and tame sauce. The rice cakes were nice and bouncy. Now time for my typical COVID comments as of September 2021. Every staff member I saw in there was wearing a mask. They keep the tables evenly distanced and the server is always wearing a mask. Felt like a very safe environment during these times.

Entering this restaurant, the aroma was pungent, more than most other Chinese restaurants. Venturing into the place, it was a musky sauna with a wet atmosphere. Similar to Florida after a downpour and then miraculously sunny. Having to ask the waiter to put the ac on, we received a questioned look, and the smell withered away. The presentation was nice, and the food came out quickly, perhaps too quickly? The food was not impressive nor worth the stay. The pork soup dumplings are below average, lacking flavor, and were full of fatty grease that isn’t found in most soup dumplings - 4/10. The pork chive leek buns are flavorful and fresh with a nice consistency for each one - 7/10. We also ordered beef fried rice, and sadly we were beyond disappointed. There’s no flavor, salt, soy sauce, lacks garlic, but let me tell you, tons of oil, enough grease for John Travolta’s hair in Grease - 4/10. However, after 3 okay dishes, I saved the best for last-shockingly. The beef chow fun was delicious and contained the correct and respectful about of salt, sauce, and oil, honestly overall an 8/10. Side note: the majority of customers seem to do take-out.

I’ve been here three times, food was decent, the first time, the guy which I think was the owner was friendly and courteous, when I was going to pay the old lady was making me signs of ‘no card’ but the owner stepped in and I was able to pay with card (he explained she doesn’t know, ok…). Second time: The same guy was VERY concentrated in his phone, we were standing there waiting for him to notice us, then we just seated in the empty restaurant and it took him a while to notice us 🙄 we should’ve stop going after this but today 3rd time and the waitress 🙄 I know today was busy because the restaurant was full but wow, attitude… When paying and she saw the card on the table: “cash please”, no other explanation no excuse (They just don’t want to accept card. A lot of places do that in Chinatown, even in NJ but then put a big sign saying so).

Overall place is good. Some dishes I like more than others. Soup dumplings are always a nice pick. I like their beef and beef tendon noodle soup. Pan fried pork dumplings and House Fried Rice are always tasty here. Price is reasonable and borders on too cheap for some dishes. They have a VIP CARD that free to apply to where some dishes are at a special price (rotating menu). Love this place especially for takeout. Easily feeds 3-4 for $50 or less

everything is fresh and homemade. especially if you get soup noodles, you get a HUGE bowl for less than $10. all their dishes are authentic and very delicious. i highly recommend trying the scallion pancakes, soup noodles, and a vegetable dish. and if you want a really authentic touch, they also have stinky tofu!