OoLaLa! Pho & Banh Mi

I was in town for work and was feeling a bit soupy. Looking to get a nice hot bowl of phở I found this place was fairly close to my hotel. When I walked in, it was clean and the lady behind the counter welcomed me with a smile. I made my order and had a seat while I waited for my Combo Phở, Spring rolls, and the banh mi I ordered to take with me. I had to soup and spring rolls while I was at the restaurant and to be honest, it was quite bland and had very little meat. I poured in the Sriracha and Hoisin to give it some flavor. The spring rolls were good and seemed pretty fresh, nice and crispy. The banh mi that I had saved for later was mediocre at best. The filling was meh but edible. Gave it two stars because it wasn’t ‘throw it out’ bad, it just seemed a little flat flavor wise.

Delicious and worth every $. The staff was super nice and the food came out pretty quickly.

Great place for some lunch, clean and healthy food. Very friendly staff, I am coming back for sure:)

I agree with the majority of the positive reviews on here. I just found this place recently and I’ve been back a few times already in just a month’s time. It is just in a very isolated area for business. And I’ve come just during dinner time and it’s almost always empty. I’m afraid it’s going to close down! But if it’s got so many good reviews in just a year’s time, people must be going, so hopefully it’ll stick around!

I really wanted to like this place as it is one of the handful of spots to get my Viet. food fix in the area. OoLaLa is located in a small, quiet line of shops on Route 10 East with plenty of tables to choose from. The lady working behind the counter and the gentleman who came out with our food were both very welcoming and kind to us. My boyfriend and I came hungry for lunch on Sunday so it was disappointing when our food came out after 20 minutes with little to no flavor.
We split a large phở and shaken beef entrée. The broth of the phở was bland so we ended up dousing the bowl with hoisin sauce to give it life. The shaken beef entrée is high up there on my list of favorite Vietnamese dishes… I got caught off guard here as they didn’t prepare it the way it is traditionally made. The ingredients were off and instead of the usual seasoning I expected, it felt like they relied on a generic sauce meant for stir-​fry dishes to give it flavor. Most reviewers commented on their banh mi which may be a reason to give this place another chance, but I’d opt out from ordering what we had during our last visit.

Ok I’m on my healthy kick so I was looking for a flavorful Paleo friendly option. Decided on the Beef & Tendon Phở. I didn’t add the noodles but hey, where is the beef tendon?
The owner was very nice when I picked my order up which I ordered online. The restaurant which said it was 1 mile from my hotel, took me 20min to get to. Welcome to Jersey Route 10! No left turns please! Geez!
Any who, the broth was extremely bland, no depth of flavor, but I was hungry so I ate it. I was hoping for better. And very minimal condiments. A huge disappointment. Won’t be back.
Oh shoot! Maybe because it was Friday the 13^th! LOL!
5-​13-​2016

The phở here is the best that we’ve found locally. The staff is super friendly and make the experience of eating there very pleasant. We always enjoy our meals here and would highly recommend it to anyone.

Very friendly staff. Placed my order online and arrived right when they finished. Hot and fresh.
Banh Mi was absolutely delicious ⁵⁄₅. Chicken wings were good ⁴⁄₅. Overall, food and experience ⁵⁄₅. I’m definitely coming back!

Think Subway meets Phở. Clean and roomy. Very nice staff that helped me with the selections. Standard fare but do look for the chef’s specials since they are not posted on the regular menu. Order at the counter and the food is brought to you.
Summer rolls are made fresh. I chose the ones with shrimp. Peanut sauce was adequate and nicely spiced up with the Sirachi at the table.
Also got the house special #1 phở, small. Noodles, brisket, meatballs. Very mild broth. Served with a healthy helping of sprouts, parsley lime and jalapeño. I prefer basil over parsley so that was a small disappointment.
You know phở. Start with a mild broth, this was on the light side. And individualize it with your own concoction of spice. Sirachi and plum side are table side and soy sauce is available on demand.
It’s a keeper for a quick phở fix. It’s the semi-​fast food version. i would come back but am likely to try more authentic places if they are just as close.
Total price was $ 15 with a can of soda. Pretty hard to beat the value.

Went to this local place for the first time. It was very good. I ordered the chicken phở and was very please the broth is delicious. I ordered the small and was full. My niece ordered the grilled lemon grass chicken with rice. The chicken was delicious. Also another reasonable sized dish. We ordered a bubble tea but they didn’t have any of the jellies they use. Well let’s just say bubble tea isn’t they same without the tapioca or boba balls, in this case the jellies. The music wasn’t loud or inappropriate. The ambience was welcoming and the staff welcomes you with a genuine smile. I will definitely return.

Music is annoyingly loud
The owner is nice, but can be a little pushy. She kept on bothering me if I wanted a beverage. (I intend to drink the phở broth)
Location… Not that great.
The décor is pleasant
The Phở: I could have sworn that the #1 Dac Biet came with tendons, which I did not receive.
The broth, there are various ways to make the broth. Unfortunately, the flavor profile is not to my liking.
The garnishes: no Thai basil. Just extra cilantro. The sciracha and hoisin sauces were watered down.
There worse places to go (the Vietnamese place at Kam Man) and there are a plenty of options in the area they have to compete with such as Lemon Grass and Phở Saigon.

This has become our go-​to location for phở and banh mi since relocating from the west coast. We come here at least once per week.
The phở broth here is the best we’ve found in NJ so far because of its rich beef taste. Our favorite phở combos are the #1 Phở Special and the #5 Rare Steak Phở.
The banh mi and noodle dishes here have frequently made us eat more than we normally would because they taste so good.
The restaurant is consistently clean with with relaxing music to enhance your dining experience.
The biggest draw for us is how friendly the staff and owners are. They always make sure we’re all enjoying our meals (including our 3 year old). It’s this personal touch that keeps us coming back every weekend.

Came here this past Sunday because I was in the area. We were the only customers at the time so the wait wasn’t long at all. I got #1 phở, summer rolls, grilled pork roll and a matcha tea latte. The phở was delicious. The broth was fresh and hot but the noodles were kind of still undercooked. The summer rolls were okay, wish there were more fillings but the pork roll was great, loved the quality of the pork sausage in there. The matcha tea was creamy and with the right amount of green tea flavor. I would definitely come back here for a quick phở satisfaction. The layout of the restaurant is meant to be very fast, you place your order, pay, sit wait and leave your dish at the table. I can’t wait until I try the banh mi!

I thought it was overall pretty good!
I loved the spring rolls but I thought the sauce that it came with was a off.
The Phở that we both got (my wife and I) was really good, the portions could have been bigger.
Overall, I will go back there again definitely!

So exciting to see a Vietnamese place here. I love both phở and banh mi — both of which make up the majority of the menu here. This is more Americanized Vietnamese food, but this area desperately needed somewhere like this place. If you eat a lot of Vietnamese food you’ll notice differences in the phở and banh mi.
The phở is very Americanized for a couple of reasons. The cilantro is on the side, not in the broth. Also no basil (they said it is harder to get around here so they only have it sometimes). :(
The good:
* Banh Mi — we got two, the 5-​spice beef and lemon grass pork. Loved both of them!
* phở broth — it tasted sooo good (even with the cilantro missing).
* Service — we went on a Friday night and they were super friendly and prompt, they brought over our food really fast (around 2 min or so).
* décor — I’m a sucker for good décor and I love how this place is decorated. It feels really whimsical and modern, but still warm.
The bad:
* Hoisin sauce — not sure the brand, but more salty than sweet.
* No basil — :(
* No tripe/​tendon — not in the deluxe phở.
Overall I’ll definitely come here again, it definitely fills a dearth of Vietnamese food. My bf who loves Vietnamese food and grew up eating more authentic food will probably wait to go to a more authentic place because it is missing things he expects in Phở.

Came here for soup. Got the small phở. I was a good size and I got extra bean sprouts. Have to spend over $ 10 to use a credit card so I also got a vietnamese coffee.
The Phở was ok. Kind of bland soup, didn’t have that punch –salty sour meat flavor I look for in the broth. The noodles were perfect. it was just ok.
The vietnamese coffee tasted like coffee with a ridiculous amount of creamer.
The bahn mi sandwiches looked really good though. I will definitely come back to try them. They are also priced very well

After ordering from here several times (and trying most of the menu), I now feel confident enough to write a review. While not the best Viet food I’ve had, this place ranks top for convenience and friendly service. Their food is solid and a good value for the price.
Upon entering, you’ll find a clean, well lit dining area with free Wi-​Fi. I repeat: FREE WI-​FI. you order at the counter and they call your number when its ready, no additional tipping or bussing of dishes required. As for appetizers, the classic summer rolls are always a good call. OoLaLa’s have medium size shrimp served with a tasty, lightly spiced peanut sauce. The other summer roll option, with pork and a crispy fried roll, was good as well but I didn’t enjoy the accompanying sauce as much. The spring rolls are not as crispy as I usually like, but that’s because they’re overstuffed with filling, so these make for a more filling (if not as crunchy) appetizer.
The bahn mi sandwiches are excellent and quite a good value at only $ 6 for the classic. Its loaded with fresh pickles, cilantro, and carrots. The rice dishes, at first glance, seem a little undersized but are a filling portion for the average person. They also come with 2 spring rolls. I had the grilled pork and, while a bit turned off by the inclusion of onions, found the dish well seasoned and enjoyable.
The owners can most times be found behind the counter and are a truly friendly bunch. I have had to wait longer than I would have liked for to-​go orders in the past, but they’re clearly making things fresh and care about the quality of what they’re putting out so its forgivable.
Food alone would have this place closer to 3 stars, but the little extras are what push it over to a 4. If you want a solid Viet meal but don’t want to shell out for a sit-​down dining experience, this is the place. Clean, friendly, attentive service and authentic flavors are easily found here. Additionally, the online ordering system is so convenient and easy to use.

This place is so hidden! After talking to one of my friends who frequents the Randolph area, she stumbled upon this place. We had to try it! Encountered in a 90s looking strip mall (it even has Tiger Schylmann’s karate for crying out loud), it has the modern esque look.
I ordered the Banh Mi (#1), Matcha Latte, and Spring rolls. Matcha Latte: very strong on the Matcha, but that is exactly how I like it. Potent enough to emphasize the taste, but, not too damaging to the rest of my body. This is the first time I’ve ever had Banh Mi; pretty solid! The blends of the sandwich went really well, and it definitely gave me an okay feeling after. However, there was just nothing «WOW» about it. It just seemed like an average Vietnamese sandwich.
The Spring Rolls came out really fresh. If you eat them too early, they might burn your tongue! However, with the sauce they had, it was still pretty solid. I must also say, the service at the restaurant was very nice. It’s a friendly asian man just serving the restaurant along with his cooks. Very grateful for his business on a Sunday afternoon!
Overall, it’s «A-​OK.» I wold come back if I’m craving Vietnamese food and ever in the area again!

This place hits the spot! We almost missed it following our GPS, good thing the wife was paying attention on the road and spotted it right away. It located in a strip-​mall like place atop a hill so make sure you guys watch for it.
The food is what you would want Vietnamese cooking should be. Everything is made fresh and presented well.
We could not say anything less than awesome with each of the items we had.
We started with the Summer rolls which were so fresh and their dipping sauce was the right blend of sweetness with the peanut. Oh so refreshing.
Then we went on to our main course. The 2-​bowl didn’t look much at first, but this dish is just an explosion of flavors. It wasn’t supposed to be spice but me and the wife like spicy foods and asked if they can make it somewhat spicy. The owner/​chef made it just right with no complaints. He even checked in on us if the spiciness was just right.
The Grilled Lemon Grass Pork is just perfect as well. It was filling and each bite is full of flavor.
And all these for around $ 25. Not too bad if I do say so myself. Next time we’re around the neighborhood, we will surely be a repeat offender here.
Good luck to the owners and what else can I say but… OoLaLa!

Place looks fairly new and tucked oddly in strip mall that almost looks abandoned up on hill on Rt10 eastbound. Upon entering, the place looks new, fresh and clean. Sharply modern décor.
Had three in our party and our aim was phở (was going through withdrawals). Place was hopping but our turn was up fairly quick. You can order to-​go or dine-​in (they deliver to your table).
FOOD: Two of us ordered large size phở ($ 9) — disappointed with amount of noodles. Broth was spot on flavorful. Small side dish with usual phở accoutrements — lime, bean sprouts — hmm now that I think of it, no Chinese basil. I passed on phở to try their beef ‘stew’. Tomato based with good amount of beef and rice noodles (odd b/​c this dish traditionally served with rice not noodles and it had more than the phở did).
SERVICE: slooowww. From time of order to delivery to table was 20mins (yes I timed as previous reviews indicated service was an issue). Staff did apologize and I do feel badly as they seemed to work hard to get the freshly made dishes to our table with three employees making and delivering the dishes. I have to remind myself there is a price to pay for freshness.
I really want to give it four stars but being first time conservative.
OVERALL: would recommend as dishes were very flavorful albeit pricier than other phở joints that would give you much more noodles. I don’t think their idea of a ‘large’ phở was worth $ 9 though.