Cyclo — Restaurant in New York

Came here for the pho which I was craving. Had the pho ga, i.e., pho chicken. It was bad -- I very much disliked it, who knows, maybe even hated it.

The pho noodles were alright, the broth was meh, but....

Oh boy the chicken, the chicken was just terrible. I highly suspected the chicken was simply reused from a different dish, meaning, it was made primarily for a different dish, and then they just used it in the pho. The chicken in true chicken pho is only lightly marinated, if at all. But this chicken was rather strongly marinated, too salty, and overall just had a flavor profile that did not belong in chicken pho. To a point where it seeped into the broth, thereby also kind of ruining the broth.

Furthermore, it was dry -- yes it was in pho soup but still -- and kind of crumbly. Honestly if someone strongly claimed that this was just Costco rotisserie chicken I probably would have believed them.

Yes, there was a lot of chicken! More than the pho noodles! In retrospect, it is probably a red flag!

I ate all the noodles, and left just about 80% of the chicken (and took a photo). This was unprecedented 🤣 -- I almost always leave nothing behind from a bowl of pho 🤣, and sometimes just the broth if there's too much of it.

Overall the pho was kind of a 1.5 ⭐ for me.

The summer roll with shrimp was meh, at best 3 ⭐ -- though I've become accustomed to meh 3 ⭐ summer/spring rolls in unauthentic Vietnamese restaurants. Is this place authentic? I don't know and also don't care because I don't have a reason to come back anyway lol

So putting the two together, they kind of averaged...

With the caveat that the east coast is by no means an area with consistent Vietnamese food, this restaurant still misses the mark. The Pho broth was far too sweet and lacked the strong aromatics of cilantro, anise, and black cardamom nut. My personal favorite, Bo Kho, was listed as a beef stew with egg noodles, which, on its face, should have been accurate enough, but when I ordered Bo Kho, the server didn't know what I was talking about. Not exactly confidence inspiring. Or she may have not expected a white guy to know how to say the name of the dish in Vietnamese. Either way, the beef chunks were small and dry, the broth tasted very similar to the Pho broth (which is not a good thing), and the egg noodles were too thin and undercooked.

We saw banh mi offered at $12 per sandwich, and from looking at other tables' orders, they looked enormous. Whether that's good or bad depends on what they taste like and how full you want to be but I've always seen them as smaller snacks, and offered for $4-5. At that price point I hesitated ordering one.

The restaurant was very loud on a Saturday for lunch, as they've made zero attempt to dampen sound with decor. The metal chairs scrape on the floor like nails on a chalk board.

Overall, service was adequate, servers were very nice and attentive. The menus were really cute too, well executed and attractive. But don't go expecting standard Vietnamese fare - Head to Baxter St just south of Canal for NYC's closest approximation, and...

On a recent visit to this Vietnamese eatery, I sampled a trio of staples aimed at testing both depth of flavor and consistency. The grilled pork vermicelli arrived with a well-executed foundation—the rice noodles had the right bite, and the fresh herbs and pickled vegetables gave the dish its much-needed balance. Unfortunately, the grilled pork itself was aggressively salty, overwhelming the more delicate components and throwing the dish off balance. It’s a misstep that’s hard to overlook in a dish that hinges on harmony.

The clay pot rice was more successful. The meat was tender and flavorful in combination with the rice provided a satisfying, steady base to the more flavorful components, a comforting dish done well. The beef pho, too, was pleasantly surprising: the broth leaned peppery, adding depth without drowning the palate. A word of caution on spice—go light on the jalapeños unless you're truly chasing heat.

A vegetable side dish offered a welcome contrast, fresh and well-prepared. However, the sauce it came with proved divisive. While I found it palatable, my dining companion found it overly sweet, detracting from the natural flavor of the vegetables.

Though the kitchen hasn’t quite nailed consistency across the board, there’s promise here. I’ll be returning to try the bánh mì—an item that might better showcase the kitchen’s balance of bold flavors and restraint. For now, this spot shows potential, even if it still has some...