Cycho’s Buffalo Wings

I have a secret messy delight. It’s a passion that I harbour with love, indulged in only now and again. But I love it.

Wings. Buffalo wings with blue cheese sauce, to be exact.

So, when I hear that Cycho’s has opened a permanent restaurant, I’m delighted, as well as intrigued. We love Cycho’s wings, but how will he make up his menu, and what new items can we try?

The Gold Coast dining public is already familiar with Cycho’s. Owner Cyrus Platon wowed us with his buffalo wings when he founded the brand four years ago at Miami Marketta, adding a food truck a year later to feed the masses at truck meets, events and concerts.

Cycho’s new restaurant in Australia Fair Metro in Southport is bright and sassy, decked out in orange booths and black railway tiles. The wall of history in photographs documents Cycho’s beginnings and, together with the huge luminous mural of Cyrus and his food truck on the Goldie, adds a talking point to the décor.

Cyrus and his wife Hanzel may have flown around the world as flight attendants for Qatar, but they’ve brought their rich international hospitality background back to the coast to enrich our food scene.

World influences can be seen in their new menu which features the flavours of ten different countries. Of course, wings are the main destination of our flight path as we indulge in a gastronomic journey around our favourite holiday destinations – Italy, Japan, Korea, Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines, Cyrus’ birthplace.

With everything except ‘All You Can Eat’ coming in under $20, Cycho’s menu is both tasty and affordable. The mainstay of the menu, wings are served in a bunch of combos, but they’re well backed up by burgers, bao, hotdogs and loaded fries, as well as a number of special deals and combos.

Mouths and fingers dripping we debate our favourite flavours, deciding that the new Vietnamese and Fili Adobo wings (Cyrus’s Filipino-inspired flavour) are up there with the previous star, traditional New York Buffalo style.

Okonomiyaki or Gangham-style loaded fries promise a treat for cold winter days, and there are vegetarian and gluten-free options as well as a kids’ menu. A licensed venue, there are three beers on tap, wine by the glass or bottle at reasonable prices, and shakes.

With Metro heating up again and vacant spaces now leased, Cycho’s sits between Kubo’s Filipino cuisine and a well-known Yum Cha operator, about to open beside it.

Cycho’s alone is a drawcard for locals to come in and indulge their wing passion. Together with other operators, the area will hopefully become an attractive food destination, our own little AsiaTown.