When it comes to food, my mother can be a picky eater. It’s a trait that definitely was not passed on to me. Of course it didn’t help that as children, my brothers and I were forced to eat whatever was at the dinner table so being picky wasn’t really an option growing up.
My mother came here from Vietnam long ago. My aunt would arrive later on and was the main cook in our family. She would spend her days and weekends constantly in the kitchen cooking up so many different meals that my ignorant butt never appreciated or wanted to learn about when I was younger; something I’d regret later in life. It was a huge passion of my aunt’s to feed others. Thanksgiving and Christmas meals aren’t the same anymore. She would always prepare meals for friends, visitors, family, everybody without hesitation. To this day, I have friends who still talk about her legendary eggrolls. When she passed, it left a huge void for a good home-cooked Vietnamese meal.
Of all those dishes, there was one my mom missed the most: Bún bò Huế and that brought us to the latest review at Pho Le’s.
===========
6540 E Central Ave
Wichita, KS 67206
316-295-2883
Open Daily: 10am – 9pm
Cash/Card Accepted
===========
If you’re unfamiliar with it Bún bò Huế is a Vietnamese soup with rice vermicelli noodles that are thicker and more cylindrical than your standard pho noodles. Often times you’ll find it with beef shanks, pork patties, ham hocks and congealed pig blood which really threw me for a loop as a kid but I still ate it.
My mother doesn’t eat pho too much around town anymore because she feels none of the places really live up to her standard and finds many of them to be average. So instead she settles on her “go to meal” of Bún bò Huế and in her opinion, Pho Le is the place to go. It’s a place we’ve gone to many times for as well as picking up carryout for lunches with her. I can often times call her and ask if she wants to pick her up lunch and 9 times out of 10, it’ll be that.
My favorite part about the dish is the noodles. They have a thicker more filling texture than what you’ll find in pho. The broth is not as sweet yet still very rich and filling. Undoctored, it’s a little spicier than many Vietnamese soups. It’s really dynamic and different from what many of you are probably accustomed to but in a good way. The appearance and description of it might throw you off but if you can get past all of that, it’s surprisingly very delicious. I’d almost wager that all of you will love the ham hocks in the soup.
It’s something everyone should try at least once to see what they think. If not for me, than the lady who is indirectly responsible for this blog.
But if you are afraid to try it out then they have other dishes like your standard pho or bun as well.
Both are fine options…. I mean unless you’re my mom, you can’t go wrong with pho in general. The pho here is about your middle of the road affair. It’s nothing extravagant but it’s also not bad. I’m a much bigger fan of their bun and my usual order at Pho Le’s.
Admittedly the service there can be a little slow or non-existent if you’re looking for refills. At least it’s that way if I’m going by myself or with others. But if I’m with my mother, the service is fantastic because she spends half of her time talking the staffs ears off about how great their Bún bò Huế is. God bless her.
Here’s their menu:
Happy Dining,
Eddy
To nominate your restaurant or event to be considered for a review, please email us with your restaurant information. We are always open to suggestions.
