Pho Tám Cali — Restaurant in Lake Forest

If I could only choose two words to describe this restaurant, it would be: "DELICIOUS" and "AUTHENTIC"!

I have been here three times within a week because the food is so good; and I am also eating my way through their entire menu.

Pho - They are the ONLY Irvine-area restaurant that I would say is of the same caliber as the great Little Saigon restaurants. The broth is hot, delicious, and balanced (not salty or sweet)...AUTHENTIC. The meat is high quality with a good meat-to-noodle ratio. They use ribeye (probably one of the few places I have seen use this cut for their rare) and it works so well. The beef rib in their Special bowl is tender, still juicy, and flavorful.

Banh Mi (Classic) - They make it with high quality cold cut meats, cha lua (aka Vietnamese bologna) with pate and pickled vegetables are absolutely on-point; with a dash of Maggi seasoning creates the most authentic tasting banh mi I have had in all of Orange County or anywhere. Though I am more accustomed to the sectioned baguette that most other shops use, the mini-baguette they use is still good considering they probably have to buy the bread elsewhere.

Spring Rolls - Perfectly cooked shrimp (note: no pork) rolled in plentiful greens and not overstuffed with noodles inside. The fish sauce dipping sauce was light and subtle; very approachable. Only critique was that the rolls could have been rolled a little tighter.

Chicken wings - So hot and crispy...perfectly and lightly battered. Yet, they were not overcooked. I enjoyed it even without their dipping sauce (though the sauce was pretty good). Reminded me of my mom's chicken wings.

All of the food is beautifully presented; you can tell they care about every single dish they serve.

The wait staff is always very nice and pleasant. Pretty well run, especially for a newly opened restaurant.

Definitely my go-to Vietnamese restaurant. My trips to Little Saigon are going to be much rarer now that Pho Tam (I think the name is translated as Pho Eight in Vietnamese) is open in...

✨ Hidden Gem Vietnamese Spot ✨

There is a new must-try restaurant in the OC!! You definitely want to save this for later!!

Meet Krystle & Richer Ta, who opened this restaurant in February. I just happened to stop by when both were there. They are the nicest people, who want to ensure an excellent experience for all their customers.

All their sauces and egg rolls are made in-house and all the proteins are freshly prepared with their own unique flavorful marinades.

When it comes to Pho, the broth and the meat are what makes or breaks it. Just from the first sight, I knew it was going to be amazing! The broth is cooked for 24 hours and it comes piping hot. It’s the best homemade authentic Vietnamese pho, very rich but light, balanced and clean umami tasting pho broth. The meat is high quality with a good meat-to-noodle ratio.

Everything I tried… Egg Rolls: Minced pork and shrimp with glass noodles, onions and carrots and their house nuoc cham sauce. Shaken Loaded Fries: Thin and crispy Garlic fries topped with cheddar cheese, caramelized onions and jalapenos, shaken sliced beef belly and sriracha aioli. Pho Tam Cali Special: Thinly sliced rib eye, meatballs, brisket and beef back rib. Comes with bean sprouts, lime/lemon, thai basil and sliced jalapeños. Crispy Pork Belly Banh Mi: Comes with crispy pork belly, butter mayo, pate, cilantro, jalapeños, pickles, soy sauce. Matcha Milk Tea

Tip: get the Banh Mi sandwiches for your next picnic, bridal or baby shower, staff lunch, party or event. You’ll thank me later 😉

Everything I tried was delicious but my favorites were the Pho Tam Cali Special and Crispy Pork Belly Banh Mi. 😍 Can’t wait to go back and try more dishes!

Definitely my new go-to Vietnamese restaurant. 🍜 Give it a try and let me know...

Went to this shop with my kids who wanted Thai iced tea. The lady at the cash register took our order, paid almost $7 with tax for large tea. She then proceeds to make the tea and filled up both large cups entirely with ice up to the brim. I pointed out that I wanted less ice, then she removed the top 25% of the ice very reluctantly. After this the owner of the store came to the lady and told her to not fill the cups all the way with tea which was shocking to me. We got the large Thai tea cups filled only 75% with tea and top 25 % of the cups were empty. This place nickels and dimes people and you will not get your money’s worth of food that you are paying for. Read other reviews and people have commented similar things that they try their best to short change you on the food that they give. I get boba drinks on a weekly basis and usually ask for less or regular ice but never ever have I gotten anything less than a completely filled cup. I want to warn all you boba drink lovers that this shop adjusts the drink amount they give you to the amount of ice in it. If your cup is fully filled with ice only then they will fill it all the way with drink because then they will have to use less drink amount. If you ask for less ice then they will lower the drink amount just so they can save a few cents of tea. This is highly unethical and unfair to paying customers who pay for a large cup of drink and not a...