After reading the rave reviews, I decided to make the trip from Philly to NJ to check this place out. I’m honestly baffled by those who compared it to Ba Le in Philly—there’s just no way this place matches up to Ba Le’s standards.

First, the pros. The location is convenient, right across from one of my favorite Asian supermarkets, with plenty of parking out front. The store has a few small tables to sit inside. The store itself is clean, and the staff was attentive and ready to help. Like a lot of mom-and-pop spots, they had a variety of items on and off the menu, which we took some time to review before placing our order.

They had a good amount of crispy pork belly on display, which naturally caught my eye. I inquired about the combo meal, priced at over $13, which includes rice and an extra charge if you choose crispy pork as a topping. However, I wasn’t in the mood for rice, so we went with the #1 and #2 banh mi. The #1 comes with crispy pork and grilled pork, and the #2 has grilled pork, bologna, and pork roll. Both sandwiches tasted pretty good on the first bite, but things quickly went downhill.

Now, onto the cons. For the #1, which was supposed to have crispy and grilled pork, I found only a few small pieces of crispy pork, drowned out by an overwhelming amount of grilled pork (cheaper cut of meat). After a few bites, the crispy pork was practically nonexistent—the ratio was way off. My bread was crisp on the outside and soft on the inside, but my husband’s #2 banh mi was over-baked, making it too hard and overly crunchy. It was surprising, considering we ordered them at the same time.

Another issue was with the drinks. We ordered a Vietnamese coffee and a large sugar cane juice. The large sugar cane cost nearly $8. When we got our drinks, both were packed with ice. I figured the ice might melt by the time we finished eating, but even after 30 minutes, the sugar cane juice was still filled to the top with ice. I noticed a table that has just arrived a couple of minutes earlier with a medium-sized sugar cane juice that had much less ice, so it felt like we paid extra for just more ice. Also, they advertised it as fresh sugar cane juice, but it had a sour note, suggesting it was mixed with something else. I typically let things slide with smaller businesses, but this felt excessive, so I asked the staff about the ice. Surprisingly, I was told that if I had asked for less ice, they would have charged me more! They did eventually replace the drink, acknowledging how unreasonable it was to charge more for a larger size as it was mostly ice.

Overall, I’d say keep your expectations low. If you’re a fan of Ba Le, stick with it. While this spot is convenient if you want a quick bite, don’t expect consistent quality or standout flavors. It was a decent stop, but I’ll likely skip it next time.