Where vegans and carnivores can both eat Pho

Dear family and friends of vegans: Isn’t it wonderful to have more places to dine with your plant-based-eating loved ones? Another to add to the rotation is Pho Fresh, a Vietnamese-fusion restaurant at 10673 Coloma Road in Rancho Cordova that opened earlier this year. It had a few vegan options but now has a full two-page separate vegan menu. The Vegan Lover’s Roll—rice noodles, lettuce, bean sprouts, avocado, fried tofu, fresh herbs in a rice paper wrap with peanuts and peanut sauce—is flavorful enough to be a non-vegan lover’s roll, too. The pho is fresh, as advertised, and the broth is complex, herbal and savory. Also on the abundant menu are bao-like Tofu Belly Tacos, potstickers, Basil Popcorn Tofu, four non-boring salads, five kinds of banh mi, six pho noodle soups, six rice plates, six stir-fried noodle dishes, Tofu Mango Dessert, five golden rings—er, crispy faux eggrolls. It’s too early for “happy holidays,” but just fine for “happy pholidays.”