Big Bowl

Good food. Good service. Friendly staff.

The only reason I'm giving this restaurant 2 stars is because our server was friendly, the decor was fun and the homemade lemonade was really good.

As far as Asian food goes, this might be good for someone who has a dull palette because all the dishes were uninspiring, lacking majorly on flavor (SIMPLE stuff too, like needed a little salt/pepper) and poorly executed.

We started with a few of the specials (NOTE: Specials should be SPECIAL, right?) like edamame potstickers which were served with a side of micro greens. The micro greens were dressed great and were the best part of the meal hands down. The potstickers were soggy and mushy. When some natural greens were the best part of the meal, that's a little sad.

My boyfriend ordered the Pho which was akin to a chicken noodle soup more than a traditional bowl of Vietnamese soup. No spiciness, no oyster sauce, no sriracha.

We then had the Shrimp Summer Roll which was sliced like sushi and had a great presentation, but the peanut sauce was not very good at all. You're better off checking out an authentic Vietnamese place and trying their peanut sauce (Le Colonial down the street had us practically licking the plate!)

From there my boyfriend had the Spicy Cashew Chicken which was not good. It was fried and lacked flavor. The white rice didn't taste Asian, more like Uncle Ben's.  It was a little spicy, but only when you took a bite with a chili pepper. There was no overall general scrumptiousness.

I ordered a pin noodle and tofu special. It looked and tasted like food you eat when you're sick. It looked grey like the Chicago sky in the winter. It was visually unappealing and tasted bland. The bottom of the bowl was a hodge podge of noodle ends, sprouts, broken up tofu and "sauce" which reminded me of porridge. I was disappointed.

When we left, we were not told thank you or goodbye by the hostess, as she was busy texting on her phone.

Overall, I'd rather eat at Panda Express. At least it delivers on a minimum expectation level. This place missed the mark too many times for one meal. I won't be back.

Menu can be a little intimidating on the first visit. Not your typical Thai restaurant ...Menu has something for everyone. Wait staff is extremely friendly and attentive.