Big Bowl Fresh Chinese and Thai

Tonight I rounded out the weekend with a third Thai restaurant, Big Bowl Fresh Chinese and Thai. Many people immediately dismiss Big Bowl because it's a chain and chains can't be good. Well, don't be fooled- some chains do it right!

To start, my dining companion and I enjoyed Thai Beef Lettuce Wraps (seared tender beef, thai herbs), which is absolutely delicious. It comes with peanut sauce and although it isn't spicy (I'll live) it has so much flavor and the beef is so tender. I would highly recommend it.

My companion ordered Chicken Pad Thai (Thailand's famous dish, ours has the clean bright taste of fresh lemon and herbs with rice noodles, basil, eggs, sprouts and peanuts - mildy spicy), which we both love! It is a very dependable choice at Big Bowl and anyone who loves Pad Thai would love their version.




I ordered my usual, Panang Chicken Curry- extra spicy (chicken, light peanut-coconut curry, peas, snow peas). I order this dish almost every time I'm at Big Bowl...I actually ate curry once on Friday and for all three meals on Saturday, so I wasn't sure I'd be able to have curry again...but I just couldn't resist!! This curry is less sweet than most, which I love and has an extremely rich flavor.

Big Bowl's service was great and the ambiance is almost always nice (sometimes the kiddies at Roseville can get a titch noisy!). When it comes to chains, Big Bowl is at the top of my list!!

Decor: Nice ambiance...even if it's in a mall!

Prices: average ($10-15)
Spice level: No scale, but they do a good job!

More information:

Big Bowl Fresh Chinese and Thai

1705 Highway 36 W.
Roseville, MN 55113

http://www.bigbowl.com/