Had dinner at Big Bowl in Streets of Woodfield on Sat. They claim to be a hip 'n funky pan-asian place. Of course, it has the hip 'n funky decor and stuff ... but, the food was not to my taste. The place has a bar area and a seated area. Nice decor but the tables were too close for my comfort. Ambience was OK once the crowd thinned out a bit. The patrons was mostly 20-somethings. They also have a "stir-fry bar". We had called ahead, so the wait was about 5-10 minutes. The wait area was also the lobby and bar-area (i.e. uncomfortable). Negatives: The waiter didn't know that they had Thai Iced Tea which the menu listed as Hibuscus Iced Tea. He also forgot to place our order so we didn't get our entrees for over 45 min (we weren't in a hurry, so it wasn't a problem). The "vegetarian" egg roll had something with the texture of meat. We complained but let it slide since it could have been some strange mushroom. Also, The water was straight from the tap (served in metal pitchers) and had so much Chlorine taste that I decided to get some bottled water. My Kung-pao noodles (hey, it's a pan-asian place - they can make Kung-pao noodles) which was basically wheat noodles with lots of sauce, peanuts was over-done (too much sauce, too much oil). Positives: Good tea. The Jasmine tea was really good quality tea. The wait-staff let us stay without bothering us until we left at 11:45 (they close at 11:00). Good sherbet (probably made there). I'll probably never go back again. I can get the ambience and the sherbet at other places elsewhere along with MUCH better food and water.
Chicago, IL