First Look at Ooo LaLa Stone Pho

Make way for a different method of enjoying one of the most popular dishes in town, pho. Ooo LaLa Stone Pho has officially opened at 1415 W. Pawnee in the former Chuyito’s Birrieria space. Vietnamese restaurants are pretty scarce in southwest Wichita, so I was happy to finally see its arrival.

I heard the grand opening was packed and their A.C. went out, but I went a few days later and am happy to report the A.C. was working.

===========
1415 W Pawnee St., Wichita, KS 67217
316-666-3979

Monday – Thursday: 10am – 8pm
Friday – Saturday: 10am – 9pm
Sunday: 11am – 5pm

Facebook 
Cash/Card Accepted
===========

The first thing I noticed walking inside Ooo LaLa was how different the space looked. I loved what they did with the former Mexican restaurant.

As my order was taken, I was told the drinks (aside from water) were mostly self serve from fridges in the corner of the restaurant.

My lunch began with a couple of spring rolls, which I would say were about average. They tasted as if they were premade and sitting out for a while; not sure if that was the case, though. For instance, the meat tasted very dried out.

Next up was my main entree. Ooo LaLa Stone Pho specializes in stone pho as their name suggests. The dish is similar to hot pot. When you order it, you’re given a bowl of piping hot broth that can get up to 300 degrees. Then, you’re given a plate of noodles, brisket, steak rib, rare steak, tendon, beef meatballs, and flank and all the fixings. From there, you can drop whatever you want to cook inside your bowl of pho.

With a name like Ooo Lala Stone Pho, I had to get the stone pho despite its $19.50 price tag. The bowl of pho was pretty big and came with plenty of meat. I particularly loved the steak rib that arrived in the bowl.

As advertised, this bowl was very hot and definitely not recommended for any children. Also, not recommended for people with no patience. I made the mistake of trying to take a small sip of the broth and about burned my tongue. It was as if I were eating pizza rolls straight from the oven.

There was plenty of food to go around and I did not leave the place hungry. I loved the generous amounts of noodles and meat that came with my stone pho. I definitely got my money’s worth of food. The one stickler I had about the pho was I was never able to get a good sense of how the broth tasted due to the heat. My stone pho did a phenomenal job of maintaining the temperature of the broth. Yeti, or any company, could make some good money selling coffee mugs with the stone used in the bowls.

I’m not certain, but I think I could have had the same satisfaction ordering a regular bowl of pho which I will have to try next time specifically to taste the broth at a cooler temperature.

Here’s the menu:

Happy Dining,
Eddy

---

To nominate your restaurant or event to be considered for a review, please email us with your restaurant information.