Back last spring, I finally made it to Pho Dai Loi 2 on Buford Highway, after it having been on my list for more than 10 years.  As we were heading home from the airport, I asked my beloved where we should lunch and received a very committed “I want pho.” I punched “pho” into Google maps and I found that we were near Pho Dai Loi on Jonesboro Road.  Off we went.

When you combine quick service, quality food and high volume, you don’t have a recipe for pho, but rather a recipe for pho success.  We arrived late for lunch, but there there was still a steady crowd.  We were seated at a table beside the window, ordered and within eight minutes, food came out of the kitchen steaming hot.  My table mate had simple pho (#13) – soup with eye round steak.

I ordered com bo luc lac (shaking beef) with white rice.

Shaking beef and pho are my litmus test dishes for a Vietnamese restaurant – these both passed the test.  The pho was excellent – a layered broth and, to my wife’s delight, it served with plenty of cilantro and mint.  The shaking beef was not too sweet and it was a plenteous serving.  Welcome back to Atlanta.