Pho Cali

I got the spicy noodle soup and it was surprisingly good. I haven’t been to many phở places in Montréal but the soup definitely compares well to the ones in Toronto. We came here as we had a craving for phở. you will get some authentic Vietnamese food here as its run by Vietnamese!
Give it a shot if you’re in the area and craving some phở!!!

Very good phở. Excellent pork chops w large portion of flavorful meat for only $ 9. Polite attentive service. We thoroughly enjoyed it.

One of many phở places in Chinatown. Quite authentic. Clean and bright. Quick service. It has been a popular restaurant for many years. I have been many times for phở but today I got a rice noodle dish with grilled shrimp, chicken and beef. Large portion of noodles but the noodles are mostly broken into many small pieces. It is quite dry as well. There was not much mint or basil either. The grilled meats were delicious.
I think it is like most phở places in Montréal, certainly not the best. I feel Phở Bang New York is better in the quality of the ingredients and the freshness of taste.

Simple, straight to the point, they have great plates at a reasonable cost. Don’t expect megaservice, again, this Vietnamese restaurant is simple.
Recommend especially if you’re in a hurry or with kids, no time wasted.

I have been coming to this place for 7 years.
The BEST phở in town, the bouillon is so delicious. They have upgraded their prices, but with the rise of the prices of life its normal. When i came here 7 years ago the small phở soup was 6.25 $ now its 7.00 $.
still the best price i have found overall.
I always take the soup number 2.
Ingredients are fresh and high quality.
Staff always friendly and funny.

My sister is a foodie and she wanted to try out the best Phở place in Montréal. She did her research which lead us to Phở Cali. The over all atmosphere and service was perfect until I paid. As a tourist from the USA I paid with America handing them a 20 dollar bill to cover the whole cost. The person did not inform me that at Phở Cali the American and Canadian dollar is par. At the moment our dollar is 15% more. Thinking that when giving the 20 dollars I included the tip. So the bus boy comes up to me and says «you don’t tip?». That’s when I explain to them to cash in my 20 dollars and collect the tip. He kept on assisting that we tip. I can’t believe he had the guts to come up to me and ask that. I was furious, and gave him 5 dollars Canadian and left. In America waiters make 3 – 4 dollars an hour plus tips. In Canadian they make minimum wage plus tips. I am completely shock, upset and angry. I wont go back!

The soup is taste nothing! and I don’t understand why the boss of this restaurant think his soup is best in montreal… in Chinatown, the best soup is phở bac for me, but restaurant phở bac is not really clean. Phở Cali, it’s only a place for the tourist… not for local people…

The pork chop we ordered as a side dish was excellent. The shrimp spring rolls were fine, although I have had better. The house special phở came in a generous huge portion (we ordered extra large), but this is as far as I will compliment this dish. The phở broth was not as fresh as expected; it had the feel of coming from a soup base or cube, but not authentically brewed.

The phở seemed fresh and was well made with a light but flavourful soup. The meat was delicious, soft, the noodles were soft, the tendons were soft and not at all rubbery.
The reason why it is not getting higher marks is for 2 reasons:
1. Portion size for the price. I hate to compare this place to Toronto, but for what I paid (around $ 7) I should have gotten twice the meat and twice the noodles.
2. The broth could have had more spices and have been more flavourful.
Otherwise, the service was nice and the food came out very fast.

Really like this place! The phở was very nice, I had the small size of number 11. This was the right size for me, the price was reasonable and it was delicious! Definitely coming back here!

Good phở broth and very good grilled pork with salad. im glad we ate there. For 3 people, we have extra large beef bro phở, grilled pork and rice, fresh spring roll and 1 crushed ice bean dessert; came up to $ 29.25 tax and tip included. A must in the area if u want to stay away from tourist trap port Montréal area.

This place is packed during lunchtime. However, you won’t wait very long, because service is extremely fast. Not the place for a long lunch.
I had glazed pork with a spring roll and vermicelli. I thought it was very good. My friend liked the phở. They give you tea and they will give you more if you ask .
Prices are very good. $ 10 or less for both of us. Nothing in the menu is above $ 15.

The phở was kind of overpriced in my opinion. Considering it is Montréal, I shouldn’t be that surprised but I had pretty high expectations for phở. I ordered a spring roll, and it literally was just one spring roll and it cost me 3 dollars. Most expensive spring roll I’ve ever had, and it wasn’t even that great.

Quoi! Je n’ai pas encore écrit d’avis sur ce Phở Cali! Impardonnable! Phở Cali est incontestablement mon premier choix de restaurant vietnamien. Pour un bon repas réconfortant, tant pour l’estomac que pour l’esprit et en toute saison.
On vous accueille avec une bonne tasse de thé. Né vous laissez pas intimider par le menu multilingue. Vous avez le droit de poser des questions. À défaut de né pas savoir quoi choisir, optez pour le numéro 14 extralarge. C’est une soupe-​repas avec du poulet grillé avec une petite sauce. Soyez sans crainte, il n’y a rien de piquant dans le numéro 14. Le bouillon est tellement bon… Pour un peu plus de «puch «, regardez sur la table il y a quelques bouteilles: sauce Sriracha et une sauce de piments broyés. Né pas oublier d’y ajouter du basilic, des fèves germées et quelques gouttes de jus de limes. Le tout pour moins de 10 $!!
Pour ce qui est du décor, simplicité, des tables qui peuvent être déplacées, l’endroit est propre. Les employés parlent français et anglais, ce qui n’est pas toujours le cas dans le quartier chinois.
Pour le prix et le bon goût, c’est indéniablement à recommander.

Best phở on a cold autumn day!
As a pescatarian, I’ve always found the seafood phở a bit tasteless in all these phở places in Chinatown, but cali phở had certainly surprised me!
We shared an extra large grilled shrimp phở, and as soon as it arrived at the table, I could smell the heavenly aroma! After adding in the bean sprouts and basil, the hot soup just tasted so flavourful, and the shrimps are so crunchy and aromatic. The experience was just simply wonderful!

The first thing I noticed was the server. He looked like he hated his job.
Then for the food, it came in 2 minutes, it was so quick! But when I started to eat it, I was disappointed. The soup wasn’t really tasty and there was just a bit of meat that seemed dry and wasn’t really good.
Not ever returning there again!

Close, but no cigar!
I would have rated Phở Cali higher if it wasn’t right next to a gazillion other good Vietnamese shops in Chinatown (esp Phở Bang New York, which is considered to be the best phở place in the area). The phở here is neither good or bad — just plain average, smack-​dab in the middle.
The service is average as well (which is, of course, is based on the standard of typical Asian restaurants). One bonus is that the staff speak both French and English (and Vietnamese as well, I presume), unlike the staff in many of the other restaurants in the area.

Just very average phở, with crappy service during lunchtime, mainly because there are lots of people during that time.
I would probably hire more waiters if I were the owner…

Along St. Laurent in the heart of Chinatown Restaurant Phở Cali isn’t the only Vietnamese available, but the large windows and clean modern interior make for an inviting option. There are nearly a dozen types of phở available coming in four different sizes, an appealing selection of rice dishes plus Vietnamese coffee and everything else expected of all reputable Vietnamese restaurants in Montréal. In the end, I opted for a large bowl of classic phở, the kind with thin slices of raw beef on top.
A warm pot of tea arrived with the menu and even though the restaurant was busy on a sunny Sunday afternoon in March, the service was fast. First to arrive on a small plate was a healthy portion of crisp bean sprouts, several sprigs of fresh mint and a lime wedge. My noodles arrived a moment later in an oversized steaming bowl, inside laid tender slices of beef, still pink in spots, covering expertly cooked rice noodles. Unfortunately, the broth was a murky brown and a bit heavy, not award winning, but passable.
I finished off the noodles and beef feeling satiated but not stuffed. I was obliged to treat myself to a Vietnamese iced coffee. If you’ve never had one, they are incredibly sweet and milky and so delicious. The first sip transported me straight back to Saigon where iced coffee is a way of life.
For about $ 15 Canadian dollars the bright atmosphere and ample good quality fresh ingredients will bring me back. Despite the experience of others, I thought the staff were doing a fine job, fast and efficient.
Overall it was a good value for my money and I’ll go back when I’m hungering for phở in Chinatown.

While the phở was tasty and service was fast, the staff here needs to learn some manners. When it was time to pay up, they saw American funds, scowled and tried to make up their own favorable conversion rates. Their ATM machine do not work with foreign cards either.
I had to walk up to Sherbrooke to the closest bank and withdraw money to avoid getting robbed. I should have went to the Vietnamese restaurant next door.
IFHTP 1

If you’re famished, this Chinatown spot will do the trick on the cheap.
Get their com suon nuong (#19 on the menu), a grilled pork chop and salad on rice. Tender meat, decent sauce. Good-​sized portion, too — you won’t leave hungry. Their rolls appetizer is okay, but overall, you’re in for a comforting Vietnamese meal.
Mysteriously, the staff weren’t willing to combine two tables for a large group, so that group left. The place wasn’t even packed! Go figure, their loss.