BIG BOWL

Wanted to tell you about a restaurant that we love to go and enjoy some good Chinese food. BIG BOWL. It is not strictly Chinese in the traditional form but a contemporary Chinese, Thai fusion cuisine. It is small, but expanding chain and hopefully some of you reading this blog will have access to a Big Bowl. If you haven't tried it out I would strongly advise a visit soon.
On our last visit my husband and I shared the chicken lettuce wraps. This is a delicious dish of finely diced chicken, celery and onion with a hoisin sauce. It is served with crispy noodles and bibb letuce leaves. It is more than adequate to share and could be eaten as a small main dish. I followed this with sweet ginger, shrimp and sea scallops. A wonderful combination of the scallops, shrimp, mushrooms with a sweet vinegar glaze. It was delicious. My husband chose a crispy orange chicken dish. It compromised of ginger, scallions, red pepper and a fresh sweet and sour citrus sauce. Both dishes were served with plain boiled rice, a perfect accompaniment to the dishes. I drank a passion fruit and ginger ale, and my husband had a green tea and ginger ale. The ginger ale is made on the premises and makes for a delicious drink. The chicken dish had a lovely fresh flavour and might well be something I will try on a future visit. We were too full to enjoy a dessert but perfectly happy with what we had just eaten.

Big Bowl has made a commitment to use local and seasonal produce. They use fresh antibiotic free chicken raised on small local farms, and heirloom pork. The sauces are made from scratch, and the dipping sauces are made daily. They have even taken the step of printing the menus on on paper from a small family run paper mill. The paper is made from 100% recycled product and the mill is powered by hydroelectric energy which is 100% clean and totally renewable. They even serve up organic fair trade coffee. At a time when we are all thinking more about what we are eating and where it comes from and also with concerns over energy I think it is commendable that a restaurant make this commitment to it's customers. Not only can I go there to enjoy some wonderful food but also I can feel a little better about choosing a environmentally friendly place. So two good reasons for you to go out and try Big Bowl. Hopefully in the future more restaurants will take this step.