The Bowl Vietnamese Cuisine — Restaurant in Midlothian

I came here with high hopes, but left with mixed feelings.

Ambience: Okay, so being located in West Chester, there's plenty of parking. The interior is nicely decorated and has Vietnamese instrumental music playing in the background, which is a nice touch.

Food: I ordered the sizzling hot pho special in a stone bowl, a blue ocean soda; while my husband ordered their calamari, Bun Bo Hue, and Ca Phe Sua Da (iced coffee with condensed milk). Unfortunately, they ran out of the calamari and failed to let us know until we asked about it later on. Aside from that, we were both pleased with our food. My hot stone pho came with a lot of food! So much so that I couldn't even finish it all. Although it wasn't hot enough, I still enjoyed It. The Bun Bo Hue had more meat and broth, and a little light on the noodles; but my husband (who's a huge fan of that soup) still enjoyed it in the end. The Bo Kho was perfectly made which my sister liked. The eggrolls and spring rolls were good! The iced coffee had a very creamy and sweeter taste than how it's served at other Vietnamese restaurants (which is good if that's your thing).

When we came back for a second time they had calamari and it was good, but didn’t give a lot for the price. I ordered the vermicelli and I thought the portion was right and the meat seasoning was tasty.

Service: The service the first time we went (grand opening day, one hour before closing) was expectedly slow and chaotic for everyone. Came back a week or so later and it was a significant difference. Barely had to wait for a table of 5, got our food and drinks quickly (and correctly) and the manager (I think) even stopped by to say hi and ask how we liked everything.

So much food for the price! Will warrant a return. As long as they can deliver the same service we experienced the second time, this is our new staple and favorite for...

This review section cannot be complete without one from a Viet lol. I mean, I weigh everything against my mom’s cooking.

-The decor, menu, and ambience were definitely created by a business savvy person 5/5

-The food 4/5. The menu has most of classic Viet dishes, easy to see and read. We ordered three dishes that are the staple of Vietnamese cuisine. They are easy to pass, but hard to elevate. Phở, bún bò Huế and cơm chiên (fried rice). Pho broth is 3.5/5, but probably one of the best I had on the east coast. It should be good enough to be standalone; you should not have to add any sauce in it. Bun bo Hue 4/5, the broth has shrimp paste like it supposed to. However, they have the wrong vegetables. It should not be served with bean sprouts. It should be shaved banana shoot or at the very least shave cabbage. Deluxe fried rice was 4/5. Overall, these dishes get 4/5 for me. Mind you, this is probably the most balance restaurant meal I had.

Service 5/5: Host and servers are all respectful. Ordering was easy. Food came out almost instantly. They weren’t extremely busy but still.

Dessert/misc: I got the sea salt coffee. It wasn’t for me. The after taste was too much. My wife likes her coconut boba though.

This is our new Viet spot. Until, they do force...

Tried a lot while I was here! Let's go down the list. Crab Udon Noodle: Huge portion, but it was... just alright. Not the worst thing I've ever ordered, but I wouldn't get it again. The udon was clear and translucent, which has not been the case with other udon I've eaten, and the texture was unfamiliar. The broth itself was much better and more flavorful after adding hoisin et al. Blue Ocean Soda: Sour! I liked it, though. I wish it was stronger (more carbonated) than it was. Also, I was asked if I wanted to add boba or jelly for extra $$$, which I didn't, but I don't know if that's how it's "supposed to come" or not. Fried Wontons: Oddly tasteless. Which is really weird when you consider that... Wonton soup: AMAZING. Super savory, and both the broth and the wonton meat was packed with flavor. Hands down the best thing I ate, and I wished I'd ordered it myself. Just writing this part of the review is making me crave it.

The service was middle-of-the-road: the servers were all courteous, but definitely forgot an order of ours that they had to be reminded of, and were slow with water refills.

Oh, also, it was COLD in there. Luckily it was nice enough that day that we could eat outside. Might want to...