Le-Le M.L.K Restaurant — Restaurant in Tacoma

They are liars. Let's start with that. I went in thinking I might try some of their Pho, only to see the price was twice as much for half as much pho as the place right next door. Well, they got me in already, so let's see if anything else sounds good. Ahh, sandwiches are decently priced... So I order a BBQ Meatball sandwich, expecting a meatball sandwich with a slight vietnamese flair thrown in, such as the garnishes and the sweeter flavors of a vietnamese sandwich.

I get my sandwich and a 6 oz cup of water. I look at my sandwich. I flip the sandwich around a bit. I look at it again. I ask the waiter over and ask him "Is this the BBQ meatball sandwich?" He says "Yes" and walks off... Okay... Well, huh. The sandwich is a normal vietnamese sandwich by the looks of things, complete with slices of cucumber, rectangular slices of meat, carrots, etc. Let's take a look at those meat slices again. I'm not sure what makes a rectangle a ball, but the waiter assured me this is a meatball, a BBQ one at that. There is no sauce to speak of on this sandwich other than the white sauce that is normal for a vietnamese sandwich. I take a few bites, it's good. Not what I ordered, but good I guess.

Get about halfway in and suddenly my mouth is on fire. Apparently right in the middle of it they mixed in a sauce mixed with chinese mustard. Lots of chinese mustard. I downed the water to save me from this, and was outta water before getting the flavor gone. I look to the waiters clearing the table next to me and ask about getting some water, but they're too busy clearing the table to give me any mind. Now, I understand, tables need to be clean and all, but there were 2 parties in this restaurant at the time, me, and a group of ladies still deciding what they wanted. I then started to pick apart the sandwich in front of them, ate the meat, and a bit of the bread without sauce on it to try to dull the burn. I got up to pay as soon as one of the waiters was behind the counter because I wanted to leave this place that badly.

While paying, I asked if he could pass on a suggestion to the owner. I calmy told him that the BBQ Meatball sandwich needed to be renamed. He asked why. I started with explaining the lack of meatballs, to which he responds "Oh no, we cut the meatballs up." Many things pass through my head here including the fact that the pho has circular balls of meat as an option and they actually use them uncut for it... and the fact that at best they cut up a meat ovalloid for my sandwich. Knowing I'd get nowhere, I went to point 2 "That wasn't BBQ, there was no sauce of such and it would have been sweeter and tangy if it was. This burned my mouth." He doesn't seem to hear me and ignores me as he hands me my change. I leave...

So, one of two things happened. 1: Their BBQ Meatball sandwich on the menu means something entirely different than logically imaginable. 2: They gave me the wrong sandwich hoping I wouldn't notice and then insisted on making it out as if this was the correct sandwich when shown proof otherwise.

Neither one pleases me at all. Service was horrible, the menu lies, and the food was while mostly pleasant, way too spicy for a food item that...

Le-Le's is a Asian Fusion Restaurant (Thai & Vietnamese Cuisine). Le-Le has amazing service, the Staff there was welcoming & helpful. I really appreciated the young lady that was there today my Mother had Major Surgery & is in a neck & spine brace. The Waitress/Greeter was so accommodating and helpful with the extra little things that we needed 5 🌟 Service. There is Dine-in, Take-Out, Delivery (Uber-eats, Grub hub ect...) Mask are required for dine-in & pick up due to the "Rona", hand sanitizer is available (if you forgot yours), Le-Le's was very clean & they cleared tables swiftly after guest would leave. Time to talk food portion size is a sufficient amount for the price. On a Rainy spring Washington Day I got the Tom Yum Soup (Hot & Sour Soup) with Coconut milk & Bahn Xeo (Saigon Crepes) it was what I needed on this chilly wet Wednesday. The portions were larger then I expected I shared the Crepe with 2 other people & we still took left overs home. Besides good portion sizes the food was Amazing the blend of flavors was perfect. They have many items to try on the menu & so far Le-Le's has never disappointed with a wonderful Staff & Delicious foods 5 🌟 Food. Parking is street parking on MLK so you may have to walk a little depending on the time of day it is & believe they may be done with construction work in that area but who knows we'd have to ask the construction wizards who trick us constantly 😆. There is a parking area on 11th which is about 1 1/2 blocks walk that I know of. If you haven't tried Le-Le's give it a Go it's a tad pricey but what isn't these days & portions size is worth it. I give it 5 🌟's. The only complaint would be parking but I found a space smack dab in front of Le-Le's so No complaints this way. Once the Tram runs thru MLK access will be even more convenient. It was a Souper...

Until recently I'd had good experiences, but on June 21st 2024, that changed. I ordered a noodle bowl and my colleague ordered a banh mi and in both cases the cucumbers were rancid. I also ordered wings and ate some before discovering that plate was tainted as well. The waiter indicated we could replace our order for the main dish but not the wings because we had already eaten some. I replied that it didn't matter, if any part if the dish was rancid. I had to stand my ground before management relented. When you serve a rancid dish you should offer at least one complimentary one to re build customer faith. That wasn'ta remote possibility for them and never came up.

This was a bad experience and tells me they are not inspecting produce before serving it. Beware of the cucumbers there and consider Pho King two doors down instead. Never a bad experience there.

Finally at least six tables remained uncleared around us and the waiter took a break eating lunch, looking at his cell phone and never cleared those tables up to the point when we departed. We had to choose a smaller table because all of the bigger ones remained uncleared. Just neglectful...