Big Trouble — Restaurant in Hattiesburg

My partner and I recently visited Big Trouble, the new local restaurant in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, with high hopes of discovering a gem in our community. While the vibrant decor initially caught our eye, our overall experience left much to be desired.

Upon entering, the inviting atmosphere was overshadowed by the overcrowded seating arrangement, reminiscent of a community dining setup. The tables were closely packed, making it challenging to enjoy a cozy dinner with ample privacy. Unfortunately, this aspect significantly impacted our overall satisfaction with the dining experience.

Our disappointment continued as we sat for a lengthy 20 minutes without any attention from the staff. It took an observant employee an additional 5-10 minutes to notice our predicament and address the situation. The host later apologized, citing confusion over table assignments, and took our drink order. Although our server was apologetic, the rocky start had already tainted our impression of the establishment.

Given our time constraints, we were relieved when our food arrived promptly. However, the relief was short-lived as the quality of the dishes failed to meet our expectations. We ordered the short ribs, beef chow fun, and dumplings, hoping for a burst of creativity and flavor. Regrettably, the beef chow fun was watery and lacked taste, the dumplings were dry with only a modest flavor, and the short ribs were underwhelming in both taste and portion size.

The menu had promised a creative and delicious dining experience, but our encounter left us questioning the numerous positive reviews we had read. It seems that perhaps the novelty of a new and different option in Hattiesburg led to exaggerated praise. In reality, our experience was less than pleasant, and the mediocre food did not warrant a return visit.

While we appreciate supporting local businesses, Big Trouble has room for improvement in terms of service, seating arrangements, and most importantly, the quality of the dishes they offer. We hope that future patrons have a more satisfying experience, but for now, we cannot recommend this restaurant based on our...

I was very excited to try this restaurant, me and my wife made plans to go several times but kept having to put it off. We finally went on a Saturday night and unfortunately were rather disappointed. I had the Tonkotsu Ramen and the chili and lime snap peas (I can’t remember the actual name). My wife had the Bang Bang shrimp poboy and we both had mixed drinks, which were fine. With this being Asian Fusion, I was expecting a burst of flavor and spices/seasonings, but everything was very bland. The ramen broth was extremely bland with a sort of bitter after taste, the pieces of pork given in the Ramen were all unseasoned. The only flavor you could taste from the bang bang shrimp and the snap peas was Chili. At the suggestion of our waiter (who was great btw) I added the chili sauce to my ramen broth for a “kick”. It was a good spice level but due to the lack of flavor in the broth it instantly took over the entire dish and the broth just became chili broth. The saving grace of the meal was the Crab Rangoon dip and the wanton chips; although, it was mostly cream cheese and cheese mix, it was lacking in the crab aspect. Neither me nor my wife are ever one to complain and I NEVER leave reviews for restaurants unless it’s somewhere I really enjoy. I don’t do bad reviews.

Please understand the reason I am leaving this review is with the hope that the restaurant will see this and take my review along with the other bad reviews I’ve seen (almost all of which are about the blandness of the food) serious and make a change. I think the menu is wonderful and inventive, I think it has a lot of potential, it just tastes bland. Maybe the other dishes have more flavor and I will eventually try them as well, but for just under $100 for the meal, I think I’m going to take a break for a while and come back down the road. I sincerely hope that you guys reach your target audience and I hope I can be that if the food is better seasoned...

TLDR: My dining experience was overall pleasant. I had an open mind going in after hearing a lot of hype about this restaurant, but after the meal I felt like this novelty restaurant needs a little more time to work out the kinks. As for restaurants in Hattiesburg go, I think it’s a must try, but it won’t be a staple in my rotation unfortunately. I will revisit in the future once it becomes more settled.

My thoughts: The dishes that I had a privilege of trying were tasty except the hot and sour soup. It lacked flavor. The dish was neither hot in temperature nor hot in spice. The menu seems chocked full of quintessential Asian ingredients, but lacks balance of those ingredients. Additionally, when the menu uses cerebral restaurant terminology to describe the dishes it sets up a certain expectation in the consumer’s mind that I don’t feel it lives up to especially considering the price point. The most egregious display of this would be the buns where they break the cardinal rule of threes when serving appetizers. The star of the night for me was the Koji hot sauce. This restaurant has a unique environment that I think will only strengthen with time. It has the charm of a small Asian restaurant that you may find on a side street of ChinaTown with the sterility of a Panda Express. Overall I would visit again, but if I could pinpoint a weak spot, it would be the lack of identity when it comes to the menu. Is it an upscale menu? Is this street food? Is it Chinese/Japanese/Korean etc. I felt like Jack Burton in “Big Trouble in Little China” while perusing the options: “What the hell does that mean? huh? China is here, I don’t even know what the hell...