Ba-Le Sandwich Shop

I come here a lot! It has great food. The only bad thing is that because its so good there are long lines around lunch time (both to order & to pay).

This review is for the service of the foreign workers at Bale At UH Manoa. You guys are so unprofessional and you shouldn’t blame the customer for a mistake you made because you are busy talking to your co-​workers instead of taking my drink order. I can’t believe she messed up on my drink after I clearly told her my order TWICE then she gets mad at ME. Seriously, Im not even going to drink my drink cause she probably spit in it.
I ordered a Thai iced coffee. I said it clearly twice. Then she goes and makes a Thai iced tea. I said «excuse me I ordered a iced coffee.» She goes.“no you didn’t! You said Thai iced coffee! This is Vietnamese iced coffee!” So I was like.“ok…sorry about that…” Even though it’s not my fault.
I used to come here a lot but I’m not coming anymore. I also got food poisoning once from the phở.

Usually I really love this place. Today it was shit. I told the lady I only wanted cucumber, she gave me everything. The bread is usually fresh and crispy, today it was cold and chewy and really gross. I was obsessed with this place but I’m really let down. I might give them another chance but that was very disappointing

I honestly do not see why this place get bad reviews but then again I only get sandwiches here! I always get either a turkey or tuna sandwich on croissant roll! And it always comes out yummy! I also like that they have tapioca and the Thai tea or coffee bubble drinks. And the Aunty at the cashier is always friendly! I love coming her for lunch and getting my sandwich

The environment of this place is chill and lax almost like a bar but with wifi, college students and laptops. This place also has a Manoa Garden here. Not too sure if they had a happy hour over here. I hope they do. The place even has two TVs but they’re usually on the sports ESPN channels so don’t get too excited if you wanted to watch the newest Once Upon A Time episode.
The food is okay here. I usually get the dark chocolate dipped croissants here. I thought that this item made this place special to me. I love it and it doesn’t melt too easily. The best part is that it’s only around $ 1.50. The sandwiches are the same as any other Bale on the island. They have a place where you can get your condiments like Sriracha so all you California people go for it!
The drinks here are pricey but less than that of other bars in town. It’s like $ 4 for a small if you want an import beer. I think I ordered either an IPA or Stella? Forgot but you could end up spending a lot on drinks here and I wish the sizes were bigger for the dollar. If you ask me I would rather go to beer garden down at shirokiya for food and drinks and its Japanese so you can’t go wrong. Other than that this place is okay if you want to pregame real quick.

Best spring rolls in town. LOL

Yummy but a little stingy on the coffee. Good priced sandwiches and paninis are great. Good beer size and price. Good service. Can get over crowded and they do run out of fresh food at night time.

Cockroaches. Be careful when ordering sandwiches. While in line I saw a cockroach crawl in and out of the ham container. Where there is one, there are many. I’m going to stick with home lunch.

Always hits the spot when I don’t want to drive off campus to get phở. Takes card and has decent options. Seen students order a pad thai and ask for curry sauce on top. Banh mi’s are alright. They offer desserts, spring rolls, pupus and drinks.
Takes credit card. Busy during peak student hours.

Aside for cheap and delicious Vietnamese food, this place has a full bar. Right on the campus of the University of Hawaii at Manoa. If you’re 21+ I would recommend that this is the spot to go. There’s cheap beer and it’s a great atmosphere when they dim the lights and give it more of a lounge feel. Oh and did I mention the bartenders are awesome? By far some of the best people to make friends with on campus! So if you’re looking for a place that has good food, or a place to unwind after class make this place your next stop, trust me you won’t regret it.

I am uninspired by this Ba Le on the UH campus at Hemenway Hall. They don’t seem to really put in the right amount of condiments to make my banh mi go. It always seems a little dry and not enough hoi sin or fish sauce along with the daikon and cilantro. Plus, while it’s not their fault, I hate having fish sauce on my hands going back to work. It feels choke icky. I bet no one has ever said «choke icky» ever in the history of Western Civilization. Can get a «first to say» on Unilocal?
I usually get the chicken meatball banh mi on a french roll. The other day, the meatball seemed to have bone bits in it too. I guess the microwave didn’t take care of that on reheat. I don’t know what it is because I usually like banh mi places, but I really don’t like going here. Maybe I’m just being moody and I am sorry to take it out on this one. However, the Ba Le/​Le Tour empire here on Oahu seems to be doing just fine so one mediocre review shouldn’t shut the place down.

Best bale on the island. Only bale I know of that has a bar in it!
The guy who decided to put a bar in a Vietnamese resturaunt surrounded by college students is a genius! This Bale may not be the best place to get bahn mi or phở but after a few drinks it may become the one of the healthier choices to make in dining.
On the other end It would just be nasty if it were burger King or mcdonalds with a bar inside.

I’ve been here on multiple occasions when the food at the cafeterias near the student housing is not exactly what I want, but after eating, I usually ask myself why I came in the first place.
On multiple occasions friends and I have been served items that are not what we’ve ordered, such as my experience today. I received a ham and pâté sandwich with everything (mayo, cilantro, vegetables, cucumber, etc.) when I asked for a ham sandwich without mayo and cilantro. I was so confused with the result that I told the cashier, but to no degree was I helped at all. I was hoping for a new sandwich, but was charged for the sandwich I received.
A friend I’ve been with for dinner once also ordered a turkey sandwich and received tofu, a bit more understandable, but I’m still confused about where «Pâté» was even brought up in my order?!
Many other times I’ve been here I’ve gotten the chicken phở, but the noodles were not all in the water, making them at best, crunchy. Yikes!
The service here is either really nice (cashier during dinner or at the Thai tea and coffee bubble tea station) or really rude to which I am greeted with a «what do you want?» Oh sorry, I forgot food here was served with a side of sass.
It will be a while before I come back here again.

I tried other Ba-​Le in the island & they did WAY better than the UHM Ba-​Le.
Here are the problems & strongly suggested to need improvement:
1. Wrong bread for the banh mi. Correct bread is ALWAYS a baguette. If you want options, sourdough baguette, or any other type of flavor (i.e. garlic flavor). But it HAS TO BE baguette.
2. For the sandwich itself, needs gio. (Viet meatloaf) combine with the usual meats you normally have for the sandwich.
3. For the phở, it’s slightly oily & the broth is missing scents of ginger, roast onions, and star anise spice.
4. Phở is a bit too pricey.
Though, there are some things I do like about your restaurant & you should keep it up:
1. Pricing is acceptable for the sandwich.
2. Sandwich contains pickled carrots, raw peppers, pâté, and butter. That’s good. That’s what a typical banh mi sandwich should have.
3. It’s in the University campus. Very good to introduce Vietnamese culture to the campus & students get to «technically» taste a sandwich that is way better than subway.
Overall, I’m sorry to give you such a low score of 1 star of 5. I do suggest to follow these suggestions stated above to help improve your restaurant.
Hope your business improves in the future.

The place is pretty busy during the lunch hour at UH Manoa. The food isn’t that good but there isn’t much of a choice when you take classes in the Shidler building unless you wanna walk a bit to get something else. Ordered beef phở which can sorta feed two people, nothing special about it. Had a lemongrass chicken on french which can definitely feed one person. The meat isn’t fresh but subway’s isn’t either. I eat it with the sriracha sauce and it is good enough for me. The pad thai is ok but you can get somewhat full off of a mini order that costs less than $ 4.00. Since I hang out at UH often, I may try their curry or some other plate next time.

Bale is a solid choice at UHM. On a campus without many viable food options, you can get a lot worse than the Hemenway Hall Bale. I really only come to Bale when I have specific cravings for pseudo-​not-​really-​healthy food (i.e. spring rolls on rice noodles… yum) but obviously if you’re a hardcore Vietnamese food lover, you’ll probably give this place, like, 2 stars. Personally, I like their Thai bubble tea, and I can appreciate the variety of food choices they offer. Haven’t come here to use the bar, but most of the time it looks like a hangout for white grad students: P
Oh and the cashier with the pink/​blue/​colored hair is cool.

On campus we were heading back to the parking structure when we came across the Ba-​Le Sandwich Shop. It was already lunch time so we figured why not grab food from here.
Not much people. I didn’t know there were separate lines for their sandwiches and phở. Since I had a sandwich the other day I ordered phở.
The beef, brisket and meatball one. They cooked the beef and meatballs on their stove next to the items. They have trays for the phở which they handed over. Difficult, especially when you’re trying not to spill.
It is cafeteria style so there were other fridges that stored drinks and other cold snacks. Other areas there are displays with more food if sandwiches or phở isn’t what you’re craving.
$ 7 for this and it’s alright. Sauces are provided after ordering, along with other sauces.
Outdoor seating is provided. There’s two TVs playing on different channels. Some variation of table and seating. Also a bar area.

FOOD:
Go here for the banh mi and curry, not the phở. Café sua da aka viet coffee is cheap and hits the spot. So smooth, sweet and creamy. Probably a zillion calories per cup.
When I’m really slumming it, I come here for a $ 3.75 pad thai. They pack a styro soup container. The pad thai isn’t pad thai, but it’s filling.
They used to have banh su aka viet cream puffs in their dessert case, but haven’t seen those in a while. They’ve replaced them with parfaits topped with La Tour macarons and tiramisu.
They’ve also got La Tour panins in limited supply here. French, ciabatta and multigrain loaves are for sale all week, but marked down on Fridays.
SERVICE:
I’ve been at the g.d. university foreverrrr and everyone that works here knows me. Wouldn’t be surprised if they start playing the Cheers theme the next time I walk in. I get smiles and «How’s your day/​week/​husband been?» all the time. But when lines get long and blood pressure rises because eleven people are ordering vegetarian phở, there’ll be some straight up mean muggin’ going on. And when the pros are trying to turnover the banh mi line, don’t be offended by the, «HI CAN I HELP YOU!!!». Don’t take the harsh tone personally – unless you were waiting in line 10 minutes and then only started reading the menu when you were up to bat. If this is you, then yeah, it’s personal. (Insert me mean muggin). All that being said, I’d say they’re really good at having someone hop on a second register to relieve the traffic congestion.
AMBIENCE /​LOCATION:
Located just a short walk from Campus Center on the bottom floor of Hemenway Hall.

1.22.13
Looking for something fresh & filling for lunch? Bale’s the place to go! This review is for the UH location but I loved also going to the previous downtown location, which is sadly now closed. (I believe there is a super small location located in a mini mart along Fort Street Mall… but that place feels a little dirty haha).
I usually go with the Chicken Sandwich ($ 4.50) on the original french bread. Their breads are SUPER YUMMY, baked fresh daily. If anyone is interested in just buying their bakery/​bread products they sell their goods on Tuesday’s & Friday’s in the downtown farmer’s markets! This sandwich is just plain chicken (the lemongrass chicken sandwich is also super popular). It also comes with a special mayo/​sauce/​shoyu, pickled carrots and daikon (radish) piled high, and parsley. You don’t want to miss out on this yummy goodness!
At UH it depends what time you go, but the wait usually isn’t long to get your order made. Regardless, its worth the wait for the price and the amount of food you get (it can last for two meals for me) you can’t go wrong!
Unilocal 365 Challenge: #022/​365
Edit: I just stumbled across a Bale in the Remington College eatery place – whooo! More convenient locations to get my Bale on!

I don’t usually go out of my way to eat at BaLe anymore. I see them more as a gateway restaurant into the wonderful world of Vietnamese food. It was, after all my first Vietnamese food experience (at the Kahala Mall BaLe many many years back). Since then I’ve been to, and experienced, many other Vietnamese restaurants, and have seen that there is so much more out there than BaLe.
PROS:
+ The best (only) Vietnamese food on campus!
+ BaLe bread
+ Pupu menu at pauhana time
+ Open later than other things on campus
+ There’s a bar next to it!
CONS:
— Not the best deal in town. It can be kind of pricey for what you get
— Most of the workers aren’t very personable
— They’re like Nazis with the utensils, and sauce cups
— Lines can get long at times
This location is a little different, though, because of the circumstances that surround it. What sets this BaLe location apart from others is that it’s on the University of Hawaii Manoa campus. This makes a big difference because they’ve got a captive audience here, and they’re the only option for any kind of South-​East Asian food on campus. They’ve got the standard BaLe items, like bahn mi sandwiches, summer rolls and phở, but they also got some other hot foods, like curries, noodles, spring rolls, salads, sandwiches, pizza, and chicken wings. They also serve some kind of sweet and creamy iced coffee/​tea drink. I’m not sure exactly what it is because I’ve never ordered one before, but my co-​worker seem to love it.
Another great thing about this location is that it’s open later than the other eateries on campus because it’s connected to the on campus bar, Manoa Gardens. They also have a pupu menu that starts in the afternoon just in time for the after class/​work crowd. I’ve stopped by the bar a few times after work to watch a game on TV, or listen to a band in the courtyard, and I’ve ordered some of the pupus from BaLe.
The service here isn’t the friendliest. Most of the food servers behind the counters seem like they have just about no personality when it comes to serving their customers. The cashiers, on the other hand are usually personable enough, and seem to remember their regulars. The cashiers are also the guardians of utensils and sauce cups. Apparently you have to ask a cashier for it if you don’t want to eat with your fingers, or want to put sauce in something other than your dish. Unfortunately they don’t tell you this until after you pay, and are standing at the sauce station looking for cups and utensils. But apparently if you’re a regular they’ll give it to you when you pay. If not, then you’ve got to ask for it. Can you tell that I wasn’t given any of those things when I paid?
It’s a good option if you’re already on campus, but I wouldn’t go out of my way to come here to eat. Especially with the cost of parking on Campus. It’s pretty much your standard BaLe minus some of the normal variety, but with some extras to compliment the bar that’s in the same room. Check it out if you’re on campus during lunch, or meeting up with someone to watch a game at the bar.