Cyclo
“They spinach dumplings are great and their curry fried rice is one of my favorites.”
“The pho broth is excellent, it's made with oxtail and even the chicken pho with oxtail broth is surprising great too!”
“It's from the same owners as TUK TUK, and personally I like the food at CYCLO better, though TUK TUK has a better atmosphere for taking a date to.”
Cyclo
Takes Reservations: Yes
Delivery: Yes
Take-out: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Bike Parking: Yes
Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
Good for Kids: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
Price range.
$$ Price range $11-30
8 reviews
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Overall, I like the atmosphere and I would come back for the lunch menu BUT I wish they would cut down on the salt. Everything is overly salty except for the Pho and the quail egg fried wonton which I loved. I totally would come back for the Pho and quail egg fried wonton. I would also come back because it's the cleanest Vietnamese restaurant I've been to in Queens.
The broth for the Pho was very "ching" which I guess in English would mean clean or clear. I noticed how "ching" it was upon the first sip of the broth. They took a lot of care to skim the broth.
The traditional Banh Mi and grilled pork chop was so overly salty that it was making my mouth and lips hurt, I am not exaggerating. I was having a hard time eating anything with pork in it. I had to drink a lot of water. If it wasn't for the overly salty food, I would have given Cyclo a 4-star review. The pickled daikon and carrots were bland; I barely tasted the pickled-ness. I don't know if the pork was too salty to taste the pickled vegetables or if the vegetables were not pickled long enough.
I want to try the brunch menu. but I would ask them to cut the salt down or add more sugar onto the soy sauce to cut the saltiness. It was unbearable to me.
It's been a LONG while since I've had pho (a year?!), so I was excited come to Cyclo with a few girlfriends yesterday. We shared a plate of the spicy hot wings and each ordered our own entree.
Spicy hot wings: spicy at first taste, but the peppers don't linger on your tongue. Very moist!
Beef pho: Cooked with bok choy (never had bok choy in my soup before!). The broth was very sweet; my friend described it as tasting almost "herbal". Very unique and unusual, but it just didn't do it for me. I ended up packing most of it, and throwing it out when I got home.
I'd probably wouldn't get the beef pho if I ever came back here!
There are not a lot good Vietnamese restaurants in Queens. Some are OK like the one in Elmhurst but most are just average.
Now that I have eaten at Cyclo, I can say that they are great!
I was free this past Monday and I knew I wanted to go to Cyclo for their lunch special. The two of us actually order more food than usual because we wanted to try an item in each category: appetizer, sandwich, pho and a main dish!
Quail egg dumpling- surprising good- 4/5
Banh Mi Sandwich- delicious filling; I would have liked more pickled veggie- 4/5
Pho- clean broth and flavorful- 5/5
Grilled Pork Chop with Pineapple salad- two large pork chops, marinated and grilled just right. Small pineapple salad and large scope of white rice made is great meal. Rated 5/5
Yes, two of us ate everything for lunch!
They have a weekend lunch special also which I plan to try! Don't call it BRUNCH cause they don't serve alcohol with it.
Cyclo is a Modern Vietnamese Restaurant located in Long Island City, Queens in New York City. It is the sister restaurant of the famous Tuk Tuk and specializes in Vietnamese comfort food (Banh Mi sandwiches and Pho noodle soups).
I was recommended to this restaurant by my "Yelp Dad" (Rich W). At Cyclo, there is a weekend menu, so I decided to order the Com Thit Nuong (which contains grilled lemongrass pork and fried egg over rice with lime fish sauce and pickles on the side). Delicious with no complaints!
Significant other ordered the Clay Pot Vietnamese Stew Beef. Both significant other and I thought the stew beef was dry, so we would probably not recommend anyone to order this.
ENJOY!!
This is one of my favorite restaurants in LIC. The wait staff is always super sweet and the food is superb.
My ultimate favorite dish would have to be the ginger chicken clay pot. The chicken is always cooked perfectly and I love the ginger sauce.
My other favorites are the spring rolls, shrimp summer rolls, and pho beef.
For drinks, their bubble tea is very delicious and the bubbles/tapioca is cooked perfectly. Not too soft but not too chewy.
I am always craving their food and am always getting takeout!
Please note $10 min for credit card charges
This is a small but pretty spacious Vietnamese restaurant. The appetizers were really excellent especially the fried quail eggs which were crispy on the outside and soft almost creamy on the inside. The fried dumpling were not at all oily and very savory and delicious. The main entrees wete a bit underwhelming in comparison. The main entrees although authentic none of the flavor profiles reallt stood out. vienamese beef stew was very savory and filling. The chicken lemongrass seemed small in portion and the chicken was a bit on the dry side. The waitstaff is very welcoming and constantly checked on how we were doing and if we needed anything. The waitress also refilled our water without asking which was much appreciated.
Came here on a Friday evening for an early dinner. Came into a practically empty restaurant. Seated immediately and we had the whole staff serving us.
Drinks are very good. Both the housemade ginger soda and taro bubble tea were delicious. Left us both wanting seconds.
Though I'm not a fan of Viet food they had a plethora of selections that should appeal to most. You're bound to find something that you like.
She got the chicken pho with oxtail broth. She was in euphoria after eating that. And I loved my Bon Mi Gha (Viet sandwich with chicken). The only criticism was the shredded chicken was somewhat dry and took away from the overall excellence of the meal.
Definitely found my go to Viet place.
Alas, despite the good reviews, even from my Yelp buds Rich W. and Sally W., Cyclo was a disappointment for both sis and me. The space itself is beautiful, intimate, comfortable, clean and inviting. The staff ranges from courteous to warm and cordial, always efficient. The price, reasonable. But this was definitely Vietnamese food modified for American tastes and not in a good way we liked.
The meal started off fine. The shrimp rolls we had were fresh and tasty, the dipping sauce flavorful. Then it went downhill. Sis did not like her grilled lemongrass chicken with vermicelli at all. It was a good portion, but she said the chicken, without any sauce, was flavorless. It was indeed fresh, cooked well, but sis said the lemongrass flavor was absent, despite the name. Maybe they just ran out of it and hoped their customers wouldn't be so discerning. Also, sis noted that it was chicken breast, white meat, a concession to the gwailo. Real Vietnamese grilled chicken, sis complained, should be red meat, pounded thin and marinated in spices before fired up. Sis didn't read the menu correctly, I notice now, so we can't blame Cyclo. The description was Grilled Lemongrass Chicken Breast in Vermicelli Noodle Salad. Sis said it tasted just like chicken thrown on top of a grill, with no seasoning at all, too dry. She also said the usual mix of fresh herbs was notably absent. My tilapia with red curry in a clay pot fared better in the spice area. But as if the cook missed out on Halloween candy as a child, and was compensating, the amount of sugar in the curry was excessive. At one point the sauce was beginning to taste like syrup and I was happy for the rice, though I wished they had given a larger potion. Maybe they read Sally W.'s review and went the opposite! But the entree didn't seem like a genuine clay pot meal dish, as if the rice was just added to a bowl, along with the fish and sauce. The side of Yu Choy was fine, cooked well. Sis gave her meal two stars. I gave mine 3. Mine was tasty, just too sweet. I rounded it off to three stars, in case the cook had a really off night.
Cyclo is such a pretty restaurant that I wish the cook would have more faith in the allure of well cooked traditional Vietnamese food. I don't doubt they could attract my customers then Perhaps they are catering to a less adventurous gentrified customer in that area and have enough. I wish Cyclo luck. For sis and me, we would prefer authentic Vietnamese not found here.