Cyclo Vietnamese restaurant — Restaurant in Strongsville

I wanted to like Cyclo, I really truly did. A new, non-chain, non-fast food establishment is an exciting prospect. And I will try Cyclo again, I promise, under the presumption that they are still working through new restaurant kinks.

But unfortunately the only word I can use after my first visit is disappointment.

Food first. I ordered the two items Cyclo seems to highlight as specialties of the house - the Cyclo rolls (chả giò cuốn, a fried spring roll wrapped in rice paper with vermicelli and herbs) and Seared Steak Pho (referred to in the menu as Phở Tái Xào, but using the wrong noodles and with fully cooked rather than rare beef as is traditional with Phở Tái Xào).

The Cyclo rolls had clearly been prepared long before I ordered. That’s not uncommon. But they weren’t stored properly having dried out severely. The spring roll inside had an extremely dry and mealy filling, that no amount of more timely preparation would have helped. But the big problem was the rice paper wrapper. So dry it was no longer at all sticky, and had a texture akin to edible Saran Wrap. The dipping sauce accompanying the rolls seemed promising. Something different than the typical peanut sauce offered in stateside Viet & Thai restaurants. I thought it might be Cyclo’s house version of nước chấm. Maybe it was, but unfortunately it was tasteless. At least it served to moisten the dry rolls.

The Seared Steak Pho was better. But not better enough to be a signature phở offering. The broth was nice, but a bit too subtle for a beef broth. Obviously beef phở broth shouldn’t be a strong French consommé, but I expected more flavor than it offered. The subtle but dominant flavor element, taking a while for my palette to discern, was star anise. My biggest complaint was the lack of beef in a dish of phở served in a US setting. It was an authentic serving had I been in Hanoi, or DaNang, or HCM, but not in Strongsville. No more than 10-11 bites of meat in the dish. Ample noodles, thinly sliced onions, and cilantro, with basil, bean sprouts, jalapeño, lime, and sauces on the side. But, only 2 jalapeño slices and a single, small, dried out lime wedge. The sauces - housin, sriracha, and chili oil - were spot on.

Beverages. This is the somewhat weird thing about Cyclo. There was no beverage section on the food menu offering typical non-alcoholic choices, and even though the accompanying drink menu was apparently more extensive than the food menu, it only offered a handful of non-alcoholic mocktails. Very extensive beer, wine, liquor, and cocktail choices though.

Service - friendly and attentive. The only bright spot of my visit.

Atmosphere - I do not recall what existed in this location previously. Seems like it must have been a sports bar offering sports bar eats. Because that is what Cyclo feels like. It is overwhelmingly dominated by the physical presence of a bar taking up fully ⅓ of the establishment’s floorspace, dividing the restaurant into two distinct halves with large flatscreen TVs showing primarily sports everywhere you look. If you didn’t look at a menu, you would be hard pressed to guess they were serving Vietnamese food instead of standard sports bar fare. Plus, they seem to emphasize their extensive alcohol offerings far more than their food.

The Cyclo rolls, pho, and an iced coffee I had to beg to order came to a bill of mid-$30s, including tip.

Like I said, I will try them again, ordering less common items to see if they might offer redemption. I wish I could be more positive and glowing....

Our experience was overall great. The menu was rather large and has a lot of different offerings, from pho to rice and noodle dishes. We tried a banh mi, and bowl of pho, and a a stirfried noodle dish. All items had generous portions and were fresh and delicious.

The bar menu was great too. They had an excellent selection of craft beers that rivaled any bar in the area. They also have an above average selection of Bourbon and an average cocktail menu.

The place has plenty of seating and a lot of room. It felt a little understaffed for a Saturday evening, and this resulted in slow service at times. I hope this is just a growing pain and improves as the customer base does as well.

We will defintely be returning to explore more of...

Our First visit: It was great to see Anna and Tieu, the owners of Cyclo. They were our favorite servers at Mekong in Sandusky. It was obvious that Chucky influenced them. The Seared Steak Pho was delicious. The perfectly clear broth was fragrant and Flavorful. The chicken wings were perfectly done, steamy hot yet crispy with a fish sauce glaze. The Grilled pork with fried rice was perfect. Service was at its best with Anna at the helm. Overall I would give them high marks for food and service.

Beer selection and Bourbon choices are exceptional as well.

The old Cleat’s space with that sport’s bar vibe will be difficult to overcome without a major renovation. Here’s hoping that happens...