So, poking around the search stats, I notice searches for “Pho Cali Raleigh” landing here–and, indeed, I seem to be the fourth result in Google.
So let me just state it here, unambiguously–I think Pho Cali is really, really good. It may not achieve the levels of excellence that, say, “The Slanted Door”:http://slanteddoor.com/ aspires to (and mostly achieves), but I’d put it up against the one other Vietnamese place I know well and like–Saigon City, in San Mateo, CA–any day of the week.
It’s a 20+ minute drive for Anne and I to get there, and we find it worth it to go once every couple or three weeks. Our Vietnamese friend, Milan Pham, thinks it’s good. Heck, we’re often the only Anglos in the place.
Have some pho, it’s good for you. And don’t forget to try the avacado smoothie, which, weird as it sounds, is actually a nice complement to the heat of a good dose of “sriracha”:http://www.huyfong.com/no_frames/sriracha.htm.
In fact, the real question is whether I’m going to risk Anne’s wrath by going to lunch there right now, without her.