Le Pho Vietnamese Restaurant — Restaurant in Berkeley

I had a misunderstanding with the staff/restaurant, and the way they responded has ensured I won’t be returning here. I ordered through their website for pickup. It was my first time ordering at this restaurant. Under my pho order, I selected the $4 vegetables option. Since it was under the Pho, I assumed it meant extra of the pho veggies(bean sprouts/etc). When I went in to pick up, I asked “is there extra veggies for the pho in the bag?”, they said yes. So I left and went home. I got home, opened the bag, and found sautéed vegetables, not pho veggies. So I called, upset, and told them I was not happy to have to drive the 10 minutes back to the restaurant to get the extra pho veggies that i ordered.

Upon reaching the restaurant, the staff had an attitude, and rudely explained if I wanted extra pho veggies, I would have had to go to the “sides” menu and choose the “bean sprout plate” option.

If I’m ordering online for the first time, HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO KNOW THAT? It’s common sense that if you want to order extra pho veggies, that option would be where I had initially picked it-inside the actual pho menu.

The staff was so rude about it instead of being understanding that a new customer would not know this. On top of that I asked them before I left and as the menu experts, that would have been the time to clarify if I meant the bean sprout plate, or the sautéed vegetables.

There are no descriptions or photos on their online ordering menu, so it is the restaurants fault. I put the vegetables order UNDER the pho, so I think common sense would dictate that I actually meant extra pho veggies.

I won’t be coming back here. I was rightfully upset since I asked them if the extra pho veggies were in the bag before I left. I am not an employee at your restaurant, so if you don’t have descriptions under your menu items, how is it my fault if I misunderstood “vegetables” under the pho item as being the ‘bean sprout plate’? It doesn’t even state that the ‘vegetables’ are cooked or even what kind of...

The people are really friendly and I wanted to like the food, but that was not to be. I only ordered the pho, but if that is any indication, this restaurant needs to fix its cooking or it will die. I hope the manager or owner is reading this and will take action. The pho broth could not in any way be called a beef broth. It looked more like chicken, though weak even for that. The flavor was utterly bland, and lacking the traditional pho flavors of burnt onion, burnt ginger, anise, clove, and good fish sauce, not to mention any hint of beef.

It's not that hard to prepare. Boil beef bones, preferably marrow bones, for a couple of days or in a pressure cooker for half a day, add the ingredients described above except for the fish sauce, cook an hour or two more, get rid of the fat, strain, and you have the broth, ready for fish sauce to be added to get just the right salt balance and the final secret weapon of flavor. Wild fennel is sprouting up around here all over the place now, and the fresh new greens add wonderful flavor for savvy cooks who want to reap the seasonal rewards nature offers up gratis.

Serve with plenty of fresh basil, cilantro, sliced onion and green onion, and sliced green fresh hot peppers for the heat lovers (traditionally, bean sprouts are served with pho too, but I think they detract from the flavor and so I feed them to my dogs, who are very appreciative). So easy, really. Most places around here make nice pho broths (check out, among many others, Phuong Nam, Mekong, and Le Cheval, all in Oakland) but Le Pho...

I've eaten here several times and brought friends. The food is very good. I like the broken rice dishes and the vermicelli salads. I especially like the fresh-made drinks, such as the carrot-orange juice. This last visit made me wonder about the Asian middle-aged male waiter, whom I don't think I've seen before. He hung around the table next to me, where 3 men ate lunch. He asked them whether they worked at a nearby tire store, whether business was good, whether they were working especially hard now, etc. It seemed a little forward. When my bill arrived, I remember thinking about how I'd pay the $22.94 owed. I thought I won't leave $25 because the change would not be enough to cover a tip. I decided to leave $40, two $20 bills. I definitely looked at the two bills (I keep $20 bills together, $10 together and $5 together). The waiter scooped up the money the instant I put it on the little plastic tray. He gave me $2 and 6 cents change. He left, so I frantically talked to a waitress who was eating her lunch. I explained I was given change for $25, not $40. She very nicely gave me $17 to make up for the missing change. Then the middle-aged guy returned and said assertively, "You left a $20 bill and a $5 bill; I double checked.'" I was sure I hadn't made such a mistake, but he insisted I did, so I felt resigned to losing $17. When the guy left out the back for a reason unknown to me, the waitress who had reimbursed me $17 said all was fine and I could leave. If that middle-aged waiter takes your money, be sure you get the...