As the only Vietnamese restaurant in Ames, Le’s Vietnamese Restaurant is responsible for educating a city on the cuisine of an entire culture. Can Le’s live up to the challenge? The Daily’s daring diners dove in and found out.

Atmosphere:

AL: Despite a few paintings on the walls to help disguise the gaudy interior, the dining area of Le’s looks a bit too much like a nursing home cafeteria for my tastes. The map of Vietnam under each table was a nice touch, but it wasn’t enough to distract from the mediocre food that was placed upon it.

ER: Le’s took one huge strike for being located in the Colorado Junction building. Ames would be better off if the building was blown up. The building takes the word “rustic” to another level. Things didn’t get much better when Aaron and I entered the restaurant. Everything was a fleshy salmon color that reminded me immediately of a hospital waiting room. I wasn’t impressed at Le’s attempt to woo me with its atmosphere.

Service:

AL:Le’s was incredibly fast, which was nice, considering I didn’t want to spend any more time in the Colorado Junction than necessary. Our server was very friendly and courteous, explaining several menu selections for me and picking up empty plates quickly. Too bad the menu didn’t match the service — Le’s could’ve been a decent dinner.

ER: The egg drop soup arrived in less than 30 seconds and the meal in seven minutes, which is fast and exactly the way I like it. Our waitress nailed our order, which isn’t saying much, since we only had two things. But any time the order and the food aren’t screwed up, I’m happy. Overall, the service was pretty much what you expect from any restaurant. The biggest problem I had was how the menu was written. On the front of the menu was a sticker with the house specials; the problem was, it didn’t explain what was in the house dinner special. Leaving a hungry reviewer wondering what he just ordered is pretty risky.

Quantity/Value

AL: A giant plate of rice does not count as a large quantity of food. While my plate appeared full on first glance, a closer look showed four shrimp, a small pinch of shredded beef, and a mass of rice, lettuce and cucumber on the perimeter. I may have left the restaurant full, but only because I ate my entire pile of rice in an attempt to remove the bland taste of the main dish from my mouth.

ER: Le’s was a bit pricey. In fact, Aaron and I both stuck to water so we were able to leave a tip. I ordered the house dinner special combo without any knowledge of what was in it. To my surprise, my meal was lined with rice crisply covered in beef, chicken and shrimp, mixed with a lot of veggies. There was also a side of rice. The meal cost me $9.10 after tax, which upset me. A meal that costs that much should come with more than three shrimp. I did receive a large amount of food besides the lacking seafood, though. I would rather go to Cocost and spend $5 than the $9.10 like I did here. I did walk out full and with a doggie bag, which I might let sit in the fridge until I forget it was from Le’s on a late Saturday night.

Quality/Taste:

AL: Bland, bland, bland — no other word can describe my meal at Le’s. The egg drop soup, which I had hoped would have a bit of egg flavor to it, required a pretty generous dousing of salt and pepper to salvage. Once the main course arrived, I thought the boring meal was over, but I was completely wrong — my measly four shrimp tasted like they’d been blanched, my beef was dry and tasteless, and the surrounding rice and vegetables were about as exciting as rice and vegetables get. Even the included sauce, which was nice and sweet, couldn’t salvage the experiment in dull that covered my plate. Although I’ve been to Le’s before and really enjoyed it, this trip was a complete disappointment.

ER: The combo was smothered with a sweet teriyaki sauce. So smothered, in fact, you might say it was suffocating. The sauce is about all I tasted. The beef and chicken pieces were cut so thin, I didn’t taste the favor of the meat. The plethora of veggies in the meal were cooked quite well, especially the broccoli. It wasn’t grainy and soft, which is just the way I like it. The egg drop soup might have been the biggest downfall of Le’s. There was no flavor at all and it was way too runny. No one likes a runny egg drop.

Final Say:

AL: 1 of 5 forks

ER: 1 and 1/2 of 5 forks