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Cyclo Vietnamese Cafe - Chandler
March 04 , 2004 by Mystery Reviewer
Cyclo
1919 W. Chandler Blvd., Suite 2
Chandler, AZ 85224
near the SE intersection of Chandler and Dobson
(480) 963-4490
Hours: Monday * Thursday
11:00 a.m. * 9:00 p.m.
Friday * Saturday
11:00 a.m. * 10:00 p.m.
Closed daily 3:00 p.m. * 5:00 p.m.
Closed Sunday
For the uninitiated, the Vietnamese Cuisine at Cyclo presents an opportunity to broaden their food horizon with fresh, exotic and surprisingly inexpensive fare.
Owner Justine Duong appears committed to providing Chandler an up-scale version of the inexpensive, yet delicious, traditional Asian restaurant. An ever-expanding menu offers a great selection of appetizers, traditional rice dishes, noodle soup and noodle entrees at very reasonable prices * no main dish is priced over $8.00. The menu identifies the spicier and vegetarian dishes.
Cyclo sets itself ahead of other traditional Asian restaurants with the use of
fresh noodles in every dish, except egg rolls. The noodles in the main dishes
are lighter and more succulent than dry noodles and beautifully complement
sauces and crunchy vegetables.
Cyclo also samples new appetizers. My companion and I were lucky enough to try a crunchy Wonton filled with beef in a soy-style dipping sauce, as well as a
lobster and duck spring roll with a light lobster-style dipping sauce. I reluctantly tried the latter, since I'm not a duck fan and found it surprisingly good. The smoky duck flavor blended nicely with the buttery lobster and was expertly finished with the mild brown sauce.
Our waiter Bob patiently answered all questions. He and the efficient staff kept dishes coming to our table and the water glasses filled.
We started with the Grilled Spicy Beef Salad -- a generous portion of cooled,
sautéed beef and onions dressed in a spicy sauce served over red-leaf lettuce. The tangy, sweet sauce nicely offset the meaty flavor of the beef, which worked well as filling rolled into the large lettuce leaves.
Pho Xao Ga, Tom Thai Lan (Thai Chicken Breast & Shrimp over Big Rice Noodles)was nothing less than fabulous. A traditional dish dressed in a lightly spicy sauce and tossed with Thai basil and carrots satisfied completely. Fresh rice noodles were fat, but didn't overwhelm other ingredients; the basil added an anise flavor, giving the dish a gentle complexity.
Pad Thai (Spicy Noodles stir-fried with Shrimp, Tofu, Egg & Peanuts) is made with fresh, angel-hair rice noodles. Reminiscent of its traditional Thai cousin, except Cyclo's version has a slightly sweeter sauce.
The dessert menu included Mango/Coconut Sticky Rice, ($4) and Jasmine Crème
Brulee, ($3). We tried the crème brulee. A subtle taste of jasmine tea was pleasant and the dessert had a lighter, more pudding-style texture than its English counterpart.
Conveniently located on the southeast corner of Dobson and Chandler Boulevard, Cyclo also offers take-out. Whether you stay-in or take-out, put Cyclo on your list as a favorite, new Asian food restaurant * I did!
