Ba Le Vietnamese Food

Got hot and sour phở plus spicey pork and beef phở to go. Daughter had a cold and this hit the spot. Fresh ingredients and very hot. We had it in our hotel and it still needed time to cool. They don’t combine the rice or noodles so it’s all fresh when you eat it. I’m not any kind of phở expert but really enjoyed our meal. I would go there again.

This is probably one of the worst Vietnamese restaurants I’ve ever been to. Why this was rated as one of the best in Maui is beyond me. Tastes like something you’d get from a mall, and a mall would do it better.
Service was terrible. The guy couldn’t even really talk about the food to recommend something.
Lemongrass chicken sandwich (which is supposed to be the best) was so lack luster. Needed something else. It was so boring. And no jalapeños.
The stir fry noodles with veggies had the most boring sauce. Probably with MSG in it. It had no flavor. Veggies tasted frozen and old.
I’d highly recommend skipping out on this place. Not worth it at all!

Just wanted soup and Pupu’s …Easy right. The Bale guy informs me «we closed at8:30 because it was slow». #1 if it’s was slow I am here to spend money to feed three hungry people and #2 if you are closed lock the door, because again I walked through your doors to spend money and eat. Anyway I went to Fabiani’s just down the street and had some excellent noodles. So what is the lesson, if the sun has set and you are hungry do not go to Bale go to Fabiani’s and eat.

Had the lemongrass chicken sandwich. The chicken was good but the bread was dry. I’m spoiled by amazing Vietnamese food where I work, so my expectations are skewed. That being said, it got the job done for a waterfall hike/​picnic we did.

BBQ chicken sandwich was good and French bread amazing. The service was not too friendly.

Gave this place a try but it had many fails: 1. Bread so tough it cuts your upper palate, 2. Missing vital ingredients to be considered a true banh mi, such as cucumbers, jalapeños and decent pickled radish and carrots, 3. Way too much pâté. I suppose I can’t expect anything authentic when the workers aren’t even Vietnamese. They might as well be making hamburgers or tacos or something else.

I don’t know why the reviews are so low, everything tasted really good and flavorful.
Each was cooked really nicely and had flavor.
I have high standard in flavors as well, and it was yum

Food is ok. Not great not horrible. How ever pretty sure a collage frat house is cleaner and the bottles of siracha are friendlier and have more personality than the staff. It’s a shame because it has a lot of potential and there isn’t anything else in Kihei that is similar.

Solid 3.5 Stars, I will just round it up to 4 stars then!
On our third night on Maui island, my husband caught a cold and he really wanted to have some hot noodle soups, so we used Unilocal and found Bale.
At first we were a bit skeptical because we have never been to a Vietnamese place that looks like a Chinese takeout place, and also their Unilocal review was not that great, either.
Given our options were so limited and we were really craving for Phở after having several days of island food, we decided to give it a try. It proves we a right choice, we really really love the phở we ordered!
We both ordered beef phở and the broth of phở was surprisingly flavorful, and was not salty at all. The phở noodle was also cooked perfectly.
I didn’t try other items so I was not sure if the low review came from their items, but I have to say, the phở was really not bad at all. I didn’t expect that I will be able to find this quality of phở on Maui island.
Food is cheap and the best part is you don’t have to tip because it’s takeout restaurant, they have few desks inside you can still eat in.
If I had to pick one thing that I don’t like, I think it is they put an uncovered bucket right by the trash bin and asked you to dump the food and soup you couldn’t finish into the bucket, and it gross me out while I saw the food waste inside of that bucket. But since this is a takeout restaurant and everything is do-​it –yourself and they don’t have waiter, I guess they probably don’t have other better arrangement than putting a bucket there.

My wife is a huge fan of Vietnamese sandwiches so we thought we’d give the spot a try. It’s in a strip mall location so definitely nothing fancy. when we walked in I was a bit put off by an unusual smell. I wasn’t sure I even want to stay, but I’m glad we did.
We ordered Vietnamese sandwiches and an appetizer that definitely tasted much better than it looked
I can’t speak for any of the other items on the menu, but I was quite happy with my Vietnamese sandwich.

I ordered phở and it was bleh. Noddle tasted old and stale, they don’t even have Vietnamese coffee!!!

I ate lunch at that location with my kids. My son mistakenly ate at their Lahaina mall location a second time and regretted that too.
Both kids said their meat just tasted awful.
My fried scallops were fried in oil that was almost rancid from being so overused.
Like they never change their frying oil. That’s not a recipe goof up, and it’s not bad service, that’s just cutting major corners on your food quality, knowingly. Mind you, the place doesn’t look like cleanliness is uppermost on their mind either.
My kids can be fussy at times, but they don’t usually continue making fun of a restaurant weeks later.
Yes, it’s a fast food joint. So what? I eat at plenty of those. Not typically very healthy, but tasty enough, mostly. And I love Vietnamese food.
Was it cheap? No, pretty much regular Maui fast food prices, but with worse quality than anywhere else. For the $ 30 spent, almost anything else on the island would have been better. Walk just 30′ and Maui Tacos will be way better, same cost.

I usually like this place, on Oahu it’s good. Avoid this one… My sandwich had no flavor and the place looked dirty.

$ 6.50 for a banh mi ?! Better be on point! I had to force myself to finish one. I could usually eat 2! But it’s not Cali, don’t expect much!

We have a condo here on Maui and visit 3 – 4 times a year. Ba Le near Safeway has always been on our list of places to grab a good and healthy meal. Unfortunately, this last visit Ba Le was extremely disappointing. We ordered the shrimp summer roll, char sui fried rice and the special samin. We ordered and took the meal home.
The roll was horrible. Only 1 small shrimp cut in half, 1 mint leaf, small amt of rice noodles and so much lettuce it burst the wrap. Of course, they placed the ripped side down otherwise I would have refused it. Also, the bean sprouts were well past their prime.
The fried rice has zero flavor. The only flavor saving grace was the saimin, 2 shrimp, 4 calamari strips, some pork.
Sad to see this place go so downhill. Go to Vietnamese Cuisine in Azeka for great food and better pricing.

Very disappointed to the point I will NEVER return. I have been going here about 2 times a week for Tofu Phở for the past month. Earlier this week I ordered some Phở around 7pm for take out. I get home and they left the basil out of my little baggy of veggies and condiments, and I had a dried up unusable lime wedge. I overlooked it and let it slide.
Today I ordered take-​out Tofu Phở at approx 12:45. The place was super busy, so I waited while it was being made fresh. I glanced in the bag to make sure everything was there before I left, and saw my basil. I get home and open my little baggy of veggies and there is no bean sprouts in the bottom of the baggy, like there is every time. The only items in the bag were basil, a sauce, 3 jalapeño slices and a SHRIVELED up lime wedge. Seriously, the lime wedge had NO juice in it and bone dry. Fortunately I have fresh limes at home so used my own. I open the container of noodles and tofu to add to my broth to find 5 stale, cold and super hard strips of cooked tofu. These looked horrible. I did NOT put them in my soup after tasting a piece to determine it was not good tofu.
Today totally blew my impression of this place. If this place wants repeat local customers, then it better step up and serve consistent quality phở, with quality ingredients, every time. Maybe they are geared toward 1-​time only tourists that wont know any better.
I will not be back. Seriously.

Got rare steak Po… way below quality of Kahului store… this location is kind of dismal– I think they keep the lights off to save money on electricity. I was put off the first time I went in cuz of this, but I finally tried the Po soup my friend recommended at Kahului Food Marketplace, and it was STUNNING! Rare steak, HOT soup. This location the steak looked pale, as if it had been frozen and thawed. Bean sprouts not that fresh, neither was the basil… will not go here again, but I LOVED the Po soup when done well.
Cashier dour too…

When you’ve been in the island for more than 10 days… eating Hawaiian food gets really tiring, quickly. Thus, I had to rely on good ol’ Unilocal to find me some variety during this last trip… and they didn’t disappoint.
Prices… were cheaper than what I’m used to in terms of island lifestyle.
The lady behind the counter is actually Filipino… so be careful what you say if you are Filipino and is speaking Tagalog (speaking from experience here!)
I had the five spice beef but I thought it was with rice but it was with noodles. It was okay… not mind blowing but satisfied the craving /​hunger.
If you’re hungry, you need food besides Hawaiian food… then I suggest this place. Just don’t expect too much else you’ll be disappointed. It is what it is!

Good spot for a quick casual meal.
Large selection of Vietnamese and Asian dishes, all fast food style in this food court next to Safeway. They have inside seating as well as the tables outside common to all this small group of takeout places.
I had a nice chowfun dish, with an abundance of beef. Hot sauces are available at the counter.

While the food is wonderful and the service is usually great, a recent experience at this restaurant may keep me from going again. We eat here on occasion, and my boyfriend loves the BBQ chicken sandwich. A week ago, I stopped in to order the BBQ chicken sandwich for him and the veggie sandwich for me. The clerk asked me if I wanted the avocado sandwich. No, just the veggie sandwich. As she pointed out the other options, I decided to order the tofu veggie sandwich. So far so good. Nice of her to point out there was more than one kind of veggie sandwich.
After paying for the order, I asked a question about the BBQ chicken sandwich i had just ordered. She advised me that I had ordered the BBQ chicken plate lunch. No, I ordered the sandwich. I wasn’t even aware that they had a BBQ chicken plate on the menu. The clerk insisted that I ordered the plate. Ok, no big deal. Let’s just make sure it is the sandwich. She then told me the sandwiches were a few dollars less and to take a tapioca pudding out of the cooler to make up the difference. I didn’t want a tapioca pudding because of the dairy. (She did not offer to refund the difference for her mistake.). She told me to take a juice, then. I did not want the juice.
The entire time I remained polite because I do not like to embarrass anyone or myself.
The sandwiches were completed. She still did not offer to make up the $ 3 difference in price. I had to ask her to refund my card for the $ 3(ish) difference. She was rude and appeared to be inconvenienced by my request and my desire to NOT take tapioca pudding or juice as an exchange.
When she finally refunded the difference, she very loudly said (in front of waiting customers), «Next time, ask for the BBQ chicken sandwich!» I thanked her for the information and told her, «I did.» I was embarrassed, and I left the store with no intention of ever going back.
This was on Saturday, April 27, 2013 around 12:30pm. Hopefully her manager sees this. I may also be putting in a complaint. I have never been a believer in «the customer is always right,» and am often quick to realize where I may have gone wrong, but in this case, I believe I was absolutely in the right.