Lela's Bistro - Portland

I absolutely love the Thai iced tea! The pho and banh mi are both delicious. I find myself eating here more often than I probably should because the staff is always so friendly.

My husband and I visited for dinner and ordered a noodle bowl with lemongrass chicken, the bulgogi banh mi, egg rolls, and Thai iced coffee. Everything was simply delightful! The dishes were satisfying yet light. The egg rolls were served hot and fresh, and the bread for the banh mi was fluffy with a perfect crispy crust. All in all, it was a fantastic meal.

On my second visit, I tried the banh mi sandwich with tofu, which came with a side of soup. The sandwich was quite small and tasted okay, but it had very little filling. Again, the ingredients were palatable but not impressive, and definitely not worth the $15 cost. It's puzzling because I see many positive reviews for this place; it makes me wonder if most diners have very low expectations or if the quality has declined over time. I don't think I'll return unless they increase the portion sizes without raising the prices, and I would definitely avoid the noodle bowl with the dry chicken in the future.

The food here is amazing! I strongly recommend the Shrimp Pork Roll. It's pretty common to find shrimp roll in a viet restaurant, but it's my personal first time to find BBQ pork in a viet roll, which gives the roll more layered taste. The waiting time is a bit too long. I waited for roughly 20min to get my pho and rolls. In my past experience, pho as a kind of fast food would be served just like Tim Hortons.

Cute spot. The food was bearly Vietnamese. The pho was light like a chicken broth and the noodle bowl was average of not below. Maybe good enough for 23rd but not where I would visit again. Try the burbs for Vietnamese