Pho Cyclo Cafe

BUGS, BUGS, BUGS! I seriously never write reviews but feel compelled to do so after my family’s experience on December 28, 2015. Aside from horrible service (waiting an exorbitant amount of time for a table to be cleared to be seated, barely being acknowledge by our waitress, and waiting even longer for our lunch), when our lunch finally did arrive, there was a small dead roach on the extra plate we had requested to split our children’s entrée. I handed it back to the waitress (after a loud gasp) and she didn’t acknowledge the bug. My husband then took our son to use the restroom and found live roaches in the hallway leading from the kitchen to the back of the restaurant. When I complained about both experiences to a different waiter who delivered our bill, he said that he was aware of the problem and was «working on it.» He dismissed this infestation as a building issue and then left our bill without further apology or alarm. Meanwhile, I’m considering contacting the health department! I used to love this restaurant on 1^st avenue and when I worked in Sodo, I would eat there frequently. After this dining experience, I will never return to any Phở Cyclo establishment. Consider yourself warned! Find clean phở somewhere else.

Not great by OC standards — the Phở Tai was salty and had too much nutmeg and black pepper, but overall was tasty, hot and served quick with a smile from a friendly waiter.
It reminded me of the Korean style Phở you get in Buena Park more that the real Phillip you get in Little Saigon.

I was hopeful when I came into the restaurant. The menu was good and had quite a variety. I ordered spring rolls with chicken and chicken phở along with an ice tea. I got shrimp spring rolls. Had to ask for my drink and would not ever get a refill on my water or tea. After asking for the right spring rolls the waitress was clearly mad at me and this effected my service greatly. Guess I should have eaten the shrimp that I am allergic to.
The food was good but not great. I would not recommend this restaurant.

The food here is amazing. Fast service and a family run restaurant.
If you are looking for an authentic experience and delicious food you should come here!

The food was good and the location was great cause it was within waking distance to the local Keller Williams office I was at. The service was super meh and that’s the reason for three stars. I’d be back but not expect much. Price was right

Stopped here for lunch. I heard the soup was good. Waited a little over 10 minutes until we got menus. Another 15 minutes went by and since no one had taken our order we walked up to the cash register and ordered two bowls of soup and showed them which table we were sitting at. 20 minutes later (45 minutes after arriving!) no food had arrived and we got up and walked out. I think they need to hire some help or something. How hard is it put some soup in a bowl and bring it to our table. fail.

I called 1 minute before closing and they graciously took my order. Phở was fantastic and a huge portion. I live in the area, can’t wait to go back. I was hesitant because of the 3 stars, but it was fantastic and they were so friendly. Glad to have a neighborhood spot in south lake Union!

The location is convenient because it’s a 900ft walk from my building. That being said, I go here because it is convenient. I like their food but I can’t compare it to another Phở Cyclo because I’ve only been to this one. I get the Phở Tai. I like it a lot. There is a good noodle to meat ratio and the small order is enough to feed two. They have been out of the seafood spring rolls for weeks, which is a bummer.
The service is absolutely horrible. It’s like they forget you are there. It’s usually one person taking orders so apparently they are really understaffed. I usually get my orders to go because of that reason.

I only give them two stars because they really try to be better. However, I’ve never found consistency in their food. I only order the phở ga, so I can’t imagine a lot of work goes into creating soup. However, they seem to have difficulties. Each time I eat here it’s a different experience, there’s no consistency with the taste which isn’t the best thing. There have been times where I’ve thought to myself «Wow, this is really good», but todays is one of those days where I’m questioning «What the hell went wrong?» Why is the broth so dark? Often times, I wonder too, if MSG is added to the food. That I don’t know because I’m not familiar with MSG what-​so-​ever. Like others, this place is close to my apartment. I really want it to be good, but it just isn’t. If not for support from other locations my fear would be that they’d be closed.

This spot is so close to our place that I really wanted it to be better. The food was ok-​not bad at all, just not a wonderful as most places here. The service was ok-​I think they were a bit short staffed and in a hurry. Maybe we will try it again if there are no roach issues as reported on here :-/

Just run a search on this page for the word «roach». That’s enough for me.
Update:

Since last time I came to this location, I have been repeatedly disappointed. First of all, out of nowhere, it would be closed on a random day; it has happened to me like two or three times where I drove by it on Friday and there’s no sign posted on the door and return on Saturday finding it closed. Second, the food continues to be sub-​par compared to other phở cyclos… So disappointed…

Note: I have a ton of food allergies, so my reviews are based in part on how well a restaurant deals with that.
I stopped by here on my way from the EMP to the freeway, looking for a lunch place. Lovely inside, very nice servers.
I had a Vietnamese iced coffee and a seafood stir fry dish — the menu said it was made with nuoc mam, so I told the server that I couldn’t have soy sauce or onions in it, and he said they could make it without. It didn’t dawn on me to give him a complete list of foods I can’t eat.
When I got my food, I took a bite and it was delicious — and I thought, «Wow, this ginger is really hot.» Then I realized it had red pepper flakes in it too (to which I usually have a reaction). However, since one bite is usually a ‘well, too late, might as well eat it’ kind of situation for me, I went ahead and finished my lunch. It was amazing.
I was the only person in the café at the time, and it took around half way through my meal for my coffee to arrive, so… maybe I’d take a runner with me next time to flag someone down if I needed anything.
The parking around there is pay on the street (steep slope, not easy to get in and out without help if mobility is an issue) and I think there is parking in the building, but double check. The restroom is down a warren of back hallways and the path is partially blocked by some stored items, so… if you are at all mobility impaired or limited that might be a potential problem.
It turns out there are a couple other locations in the area, so I will try the Bellevue one soon.

Decent food. I just had pork and noodles, but it was tasty.
Only downside: the service. We had to wait forever to get helped and pay our check.
However, they are one of the few restaurants in the area, so I guess you kind of just have to accept it.

Been here a couple times. There isn’t much to eat in the area and sometimes phở sounds amazing. My only issue with this place is the service. Wow, it is horrible. Takes u forever to get your check or anything for that matter. Other than that, the food is good. Your typical phở restaurant. Their broth is good, also comes with a garlicky sauce that u can dip your meat in but I’m a hoisin sauce with sriracha.

This place is close to my house and work, so it’s become a regular for me. It’s delicious stuff.
They are willing to add veggies to any phở and not include any noodles, if you’re doing the low carb, paleo thing. They also have vegetarian or beef-​based broth options available, and I’d highly recommend the going with the beef – not because it’s the best broth I’ve ever had, but because I think the vegetarian broth tastes like canned veggie stock.
There are giant booths there that could fit 6 or more normal sized adults (or 10 – 12 kids, assuming they sit still). What I’m trying to say is that they’re good for groups.

I eat here. It’s close to my office. They serve food pretty quickly and it taste good. This is a short review.

Solid Phở, lots of meat, flavorful broth (most of phở broth are from this mysterious mix that’s sold at Asian markets, but this broth actually tastes made from scratch!)
Wish they have more appetizer options.

There was a roach perched on the top of my tofu bun at lunch yesterday. When the guy took away my bowl he did not seem all that surprised – just kind of disappointed. We left, obviously, and we won’t be coming back, even though this is one of very very few food options within walking distance of our office.
How bad is your roach infestation if they are getting that big, and ending up on your plates as garnish?

This new Phở restaurant has just opened up opposite my apartment so thought of giving it a try. Went here with my wife for dinner tonight but the experience was not good.
The first thing that you notice when you enter is that the décor is pretty nice and a lot better than you would expect at a Phở restaurant. I just wish they turned the heat on when it’s below freezing outside. When they brought us ice water, we requested water with no ice but only got that when we almost finished the meal after 2 reminders. Wait times were very long and service was very poor. The food too was just about mediocre.
We started off with the fresh spring rolls with tofu. There was nothing fresh about them. It almost seemed like they had been made 3 days ago and just been lying around. Absolutely no flavor and probably the worst vietnamese spring rolls in Seattle. The bean sprouts were close to rotting and should not have been served.
My wife ordered the Spicy tofu stir fried noodles with vegetable. These came with no sauce, no seasoning, no flavor and no freshness. The tofu once again seemed stale like it had been fried and was sitting around in the sauce for a couple of days.
I ordered the beef Phở with steak, flank and fatty flank. The best part about this and the only saving grace in the meal was the portion size. The small bowl was actually huge and had a very generous portion of meat, probably the most meat I’ve seen in any Phở till date. That said however, the Phở itself was bland and had no flavor. I had to add lots of sauces to make it taste okish. The beef had some slices that were nicely cooked and some that were way too over-​cooked. Also, though I appreciate the portion of beef, I’d have liked it even more if it had been cut into bite sized slices instead of slices the size of my face.
Overall I’d say the food here was bordering mediocre and the service non-​existant. I doubt I’d want to go here again even though it’s a minute away from home. I’d rather walk a few blocks for much better Phở in Queen Anne or take the bus to International District.