The Big Bowl — Restaurant in England

Assuming Big Bowl is an independent restaurant, I'm surprised by their lack of flexibility with regards to their menu? They serve a crunchy fresh salad, with prawns. I don't eat shellfish, so asked if I could please order the salad minus the prawns and how much this would cost? The usual price is £8.75, so I'm thinking £6 maybe £7? The waitress returns to our table to say we can have the salad minus the prawns, but the price is the same??! Why be so unflexible? Not only have they lost £7 on a potential side salad order, but they also have an average review from a regular customer. I also ordered the tofu and shitaki spring rolls. They charge £6 for 2 skinny spring rolls and a dipping sauce. Unfortunately, our serving didn't have more than a fleck of shitaki mushroom? Is this another example of shrinkflation? Sorry to get on my soap box here, but I work hard for my money. Eating out is a treat, so I think customers deserve a fair deal and the best possible service.

I highly recommend Noodles Soup, 37 West Street as a great value, authentic (Chinese noodle bowl) alternative...

[EDIT] I visited again a month later with my family (who all enjoyed the food) and this time, I was handed an itemised bill. I can no longer deny this place a 5 star review.

[ORIGINAL REVIEW] There is a Pho nearby in Brighton, but if you want vietnamese food, do yourself a favour and visit this place instead. This is what vietnamese food should taste like!

For starters: we ordered the summer rolls which were a little smaller than some other places, but that did mean we tasted all the ingredients better.

For mains: I had the bun because I was feeling nostalgic, and my partner went for the pho. And whilst I really enjoyed my delicious bun, I did get food envy after I tasted her dish.

I have knocked off one star because I would prefer to get an itemised bill. We were shown a total that I assume included a service charge, which I was happy to pay for but prefer to know in detail what is being charged.

Regardless of the bill issue, I hope to visit again as a larger group so my family can also experience these lovely...

Easily the best pho I’ve had! Surprised that I’m saying this for pho out of Asia.

I really need to rave about the pho (though my photo doesn’t do it justice):

The soup was a balanced mix of light and savoury, and ended with a subtle sweet taste. I couldn’t even bring myself to add lime and chilli to the soup like I usually do.

Rice vermicelli noodles have a good (QQ) texture, and the beef was tender. Plus not too many ingredients to overcomplicate the dish.

Separately, I also had a taste of the king prawn curry rice, and it was so delicious and fragrant (though maybe could do with a bit less chickpeas).

Prawn and avocado summer rolls are as nice as expected.

Would definitely want to go back if I’m in Brighton.

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Update: I went back for lunch before I left Brighton. The pho soup tasted much lighter and did not have the rich flavours I had at night - perhaps there was more time for the beef flavours to go into the soup at night. Noodles were soft too so I guess its texture is...