Big Bowl (Reston Town Center) – Restaurant Review

(4 out of 5 Happy Stomachs)

11915 Democracy Drive
Reston, VA 20190
Phone: (703) 787-8852
Website: http://bigbowl.com/reston

Big Bowl, in general, is one of the better chains around. They serve food made from local organic sources, and are always accommodating for those diners who need special attention. I found this to be true when I was vegetarian, and it is still true now that I must eliminate gluten.

I have been there a couple of times since my big life overhaul, both times I have been thrilled with the results. Just to go over the items I have tried. These were the Malaysian Butternut Squash Soup (Seasonal offering), Shrimp Pad Thai, and a shrimp sauté with veggies and sauce of my choosing. They also had this miso butter roast corn which was made using white miso, making it gluten free.

Every item mentioned was scrumdilioumptios. I wish they would make the soup a permanent menu item. It was sweet and zingy, as Sheldon always says. I spoke with the manager and they have switched to gluten free fish sauce across the board!

The Mongolian BBQ they offer is another way to get a great deal of variety and still be good to your tummy. You get a bowl, select your veggies, pick a type of protein, and choose a gluten free sauce. They will ask you if you want rice or noodles, I would say rice is your safe bet, although it would be interesting to try to see if they will make your dish with the GF rice noodles instead.

For this evening I tried shrimp with button and shitake mushrooms, baby bok choi, yellow and zucchini squash with a ginger and oyster sauce over jasmine rice. This dish was FANTASTICO! The only downside is that they do not have a ton of locations. Other than Reston they only have places in Chicago and Minneapolis area. This is definitely the place to get your Asian fix. It is only 10 times better than PF Changs, which I will never touch again. A girl has to have standards.