Le’s Banh Mi — Restaurant in Honolulu

I ordered the roast pork and lemongrass chicken bahn mi, with a ice coffee combo. $10.50 for the sandwich alone, $5 for the coffee combo $15 thus 50 cents saving with the combo before taxes.

I am a big bahn mi connoisseur, and bit picky with my bahn mi, so take that as part of the review.

Overall the bahn mi was good, I liked the amount of meat and vegetables,particularly the nice amount of cilantro they put in the sandwich. The jalapeño pepper was just little under the heat I wish I had, but gave it a little kick initially.

Now the picky park, I usually like BBQ pork for my bahn mi, and that’s not an option at this place. The “crispy skin roast pork” didn’t seem very crispy to me, and the roast pork isn’t as good as bbq pork on a bahn mi. Now that’s just my option.

The lemongrass chicken sandwich(I never order chicken for myself) was actually pretty good. I liked the lemongrass chicken better than the roast pork for this bahn mi. If you are like me and likes Bbq pork, don’t expect the roast pork to satisfy your cravings.

The bread was pretty good, but I think the crust could have been little better.

Over all, not bad, above average bahn mi in Honolulu at a price that’s fair for Honolulu.

The Vietnamese iced coffee was not the best I’ve had, but good.

I like the indoor and out door seating option here.

Will I got...

This place is by far the best banh mi shop on Oahu and probably the best across Hawai'i. First, every sandwich is made-to-order so don't expect your food to come out immediately like how most vietnamese delis often are, but I promise it's worth the wait. Second, the menu is quite small. There's essentially only four main items, that being the Saigon Special, Roast Pork, Lemongrass Chicken, and Lemongrass Tofu/Mushroom. Personally, I consider this a good thing because it focuses on perfecting a few things rather than having ingredients sit around for items that aren't as popular. Third, the cost per sandwich was $11.50 each. Seeing that we live in the most expensive state and a subway sandwich will run you up to $20, I think it's a reasonable price. Lastly, the vietnamese coffee is very strong but still great. My favorite vietnamese coffee is at Bella Banh Mi Cafe in Liliha which is a close second for my favorite banh mi shop on Oahu but the difference isn't by much so you can't go wrong regardless. The hard truth is that good vietnamese food is hard to come by in Hawai'i. This is obviously a subjective opinion but being from California, I'm used to all asian food being a certain type of way and most of the food here has disappointed me over the years. Le's Sandwich is one of the few exceptions and I'm so...

Quick visit here to grab a Saigon special. Totally worth it! Overall: 10/10.

Food: 10/10. Best bahn mi of my life. The pickled carrots and perfectly seasoned meats, the crunchy but not roof-of-your-mouth-destroying baguette, and the gentle spice made me wish I'd bought 3 instead of just 1. I walked 2 miles back to the hotel from here and it was completely worth it.

Atmosphere: 10/10. Le's is located on the 3rd floor in a combined business building. On the third floor, there are a decent amount of seats and it's quite clean and renovated (other pockets a little less so). It seemed like a very good place to enjoy a collection of food from around the complex-- there was also a cookie shop and sushi place too, so you could easily graze for a few hours. Note that there are bathroom access codes at each business (I didn't use the restrooms so can't comment on quality).

Service: 10/10. Clearly a family owned business and the love and care they put into my sandwich was clear. I was blown away by the quality of the ingredients, the combination of flavors, and the cleanliness of the storefront.

Overall, loved it. Will...