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Target 3: Pho Le
Address: 220-633 Main Street (map)
Phone: 604-608-2891
Menu: Page 1; Page 2; Page 3
Price: $5.10 small pho; $6.00 large
Condiments Photo

Visit date: December 5th, 2006
Visit time: 3:30 PM

–ratings–

Jason’s ratings (#15 rare beef and tendon) –

Broth: 6/10
Beef: 2/10
Noodle: 5/10
Condiments: 5/10
Other factors (service, atmosphere, etc): 7/10

Jason’s total: 5/10

Dan’s ratings (#17 rare beef and brisket) –

Broth: 6/10
Beef: 1/10
Noodle: 4/10
Condiments: 5/10
Other factors: 7/10

Dan’s total: 4.6/10

Total Score (averaged across both raters, all variables) = 4.8
Quality per dollar (based on large pho) = .80/$
—

Description from Jason:

After a day of taxing financial business in Gastown Tuesday, The Fishman and I were ready to continue the phodown. After contemplating another trip to Kingsway or Main, we happened upon Pho Le, a place we had passed before, but always on our way to Phnom Penh

From the exterior, this restaurant seems like your typical pho restaurant: brightly lit, white walls, and tables decked out with all the usual accoutrements. What Dan and I did not expect was the worst pho experience we have ever had.

We always begin a pho tasting with an unadulterated first taste in order to get an idea of the pure taste of the broth. Pho Le was actually okay in this respect – fairly meaty, but cut nicely with a sweet aroma. It wasn’t the best broth we’ve had but it was pretty good. The condiment plate was also pretty good featuring hot red chilies, fresh basil and a mountain of crisp bean sprouts. Unfortunately, that’s the last time we’d use a positively valenced adjective in describing Pho Le.

Hiding under that broth was a clump of noodles that was nearly impossible to disentangle and begin eating – I honestly have no idea how these noodles became melded together, but they were and it was highly annoying. Worse, however was the rare beef, which tasted like it had been sitting out much longer than it should have been. Further, the rare beef was about 50% fat, which made it very difficult to eat. I expect a certain degree of fat on my brisket, but I prefer the rare beef be mostly fat-free. The Fishman’s beef brisket, on the other hand, was adorned with an unholy amount of fat, literally consisting of about 10% actual meat. That’s not to say we were happy about the small amount of meat we received – all of it tasted slightly off. It was taste we were only able to wash away by abandoning most of our pho and heading down to Phnom Penh for some quality beef and fried squid.

That’s really all I have to say about this joint, the message being quite clear: not a good choice for pho. I’ll let the Fishman take this one home:

“I can count on zero fingers the number of times I have walked out on a meal without finishing at least 90% of it, but this pho inspired me to leave after barely touching it. It was about the worst thing I have ever been served at a restaurant… I finished even the Steamrollers burrito; at least that seemed unlikely to make me sick. DON’T GO TO PHO LE EVER. Under any circumstances.”