The Big Bowl in Brighton and Hove

Incredible value for money with an interesting menu and well executed food. I was impressed the menu had beef tendon for a great price and it added incredible depth of flavour to the soup I had. Overall very pleased with the value for money I had and the incredible flavours.

Sleezy business practises. 10% service charge already on the bill but waitress will ask you for gratuity. Happened twice that I know of, and probably every time I’ve blindly tapped my card I’ve been paying double service. Shame, because it’s the only place to get good Pho in Brighton.

Lovely and quaint little restaurant with good value for money.

Consistently good, amazing flavours and friendly service! Prices are very reasonable too!

The food here is delicious and the staff are so welcoming, I love this restaurant so much but recently found out that the service fee is not distributed among the staff… that is what a service fee is for! It’s such a shame when you find a lovely independent restaurant but they are still exploiting the staff. I will continue going to the restaurant because i love it and will remove this review if the staff start getting their hard earned tips!

Delicious Pho, good size, really enjoyed! However we felt it was overpriced and an 12.5% service charge

Delicious Pho Bowl and prawn curry with fresh and tasty ingredients and generous portions. Beef very tender but could have been smaller slices for the chopsticks! The salted Vietnamese coffee was delicious. Seemed a bit pricey with 2 mains and 2 non alcoholic drinks totaling almost £40.

I love this place! I've tried both dining in and ordering online, and it's always amazing. The food is authentic, with good quality and fresh ingredients. Highly recommended!"

absolutely scrumptiously delicious veggie pho. broth was so tasty. tofu had the best texture ever and was super flavorful, and i loved the radishes! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

📍@thebigbowlbrighton I’ve been wanting to try this place since I typed in “pho” on deliveroo. I thought we only had 2 pho places in brighton 😂 I did pick this up as it was far cheaper than paying service charge fees on deliveroo! Hugee portion for £13.50. Finally a place that reflects the portion and pricing 💪🏽 📸 •beef pho, £13.50

Simple menu, very tasty food, great service and some lovely gin and tonics! I’ll definitely be going back.

The food was good. We ordered pho and it was delicious. Highly recommend making a reservation or you will have to wait for a table. Bonus is that it is dog friendly. The service was good as well. However, when we were paying our bill, the bill stated the 12.5% optional service charge, but the server told us that we had to pay an *additional* tip because the service charge is not part of their tips. This left a poor impression on us because the service charge AND 10% tip means I paid 26-27% on top of the menu price. Please note, I normally do not have a problem with service charges but the server said that is not part of their tips and guilted us into paying above and beyond. The numbers: 2 x Big Bowl Pho = 13.75 plus service charge and tip we paid a total of £34.90. Please keep this in mind if you are going to dine here. It is cheeky and I would rather have the restaurant pay the staff fair wages than guilt the customers to pay 25+% over and above the menu prices.

As a Vietnamese Australian living in the UK, the flavours and price are really nice and nostalgic. Lovely service and wonderful time.

Having been to Vietnam about 10 times, I found the food at big bowl to be very authentic and absolutly delicious. We had a take away, which we ate a few hours later, and it was very reminiscent of being back in South East Asia.

I thought the food was delicious. Had the summer rolls, Vietnamese chicken wings to start and they were so tasty. Very happy with those. Then had a pork bun noodle thing and that was incredible too. My girlfriend had a tasty pho, was lovely. Lovely atmosphere too. Just go.

Fantastic Pho soup. I rekomended

I could bath in the broth!!!! I have a slight addiction to south east Asian food and was recently disappointed with a trip to a chain pho restaurant. This place has restored my faith in uk (Brighton) Vietnamese food. The service was pleasant, quick and efficient. The food was amazing!!! I had tofu and mushroom spring rolls with peanut sauce which were crispy and flavourful - the sauce being made a bit more 🔥 with the sriracha on hand. I then had the house special prawn and tofu pho. Prawns were perfectly cooked - not rubbery and the broth was deep and rounded and pepped up with the extra chilli and mint to the side. I was having a day to myself so the window seat to watch the world go by was also appreciated.

家门口的一家饭店，我经常来吃。美丽的服务员非常体贴，在我嚎啕大哭——因为我的宠物死了之后为我递上了餐巾纸。

Nice little Viet place that we came across! Fancied a soup noodle to warm us up on a cold windy night and it hit the spot! Got the big bowl which was a good portion and the summer rolls which was tasty! Definitely would go back again!

Big bowl of beef pho…….Perfect for a windy cold evening!

Amazing food, amazing staff, the pho is a must try! A little hidden gem in the city centre Recommend!!

They’re dog friendly! 4 of us and our four-legged friend were all welcomed inside by the lovely staff. The service was friendly, quick, and helpful. The food and beer was all delicious! We loved that there were Vietnamese beer options! Pho was great, loads of flavour and plenty of meat and noodles. The summer rolls were also delicious.

In London this would be a 2. Soup was so salty I drank 1 liter of water from now. King prawn taste like the Iceland one. No tap water. Stuffs was chatting louder than us at the back & unprofessional service. Shocked.

Lovely staff and great vietnamese food!

Great food Some of the best Phô in Brighton Also recommend their Bun and Vietnamese iced coffee (coffee is very sweet), and their home made lemonade 🍋 Staff are friendly and helpful

Popped in for quick lunch and the food was DELISH plus friendly and fast service. Recommend to anyone (especially the Hanoi Pho)

Food was really good. Fresh and tasty. Service fast and welcoming. I had to cut one star as I didn’t like the toilet. Spider nets in the corners!

Vietnamese is one of favorite cuisines and The Big Bowl did not disappoint! Had some wings and shared the prawn salad to start. Both very good. They do the salad without Peanut which was ace for our.group with nut allergy. The Big Bowl main of Beef pho has that clear tasty broth, well cooked noodles and fresh beansprouts and chili sides. Hanoi and Saigon beers available too. Top marks. Clean facilities too, with attentive service. Prices competitive too.

I found this through the reviews on Tripadvisor. I thought the food was very good we had chicken wings and summer rolls to begin followed by pho. It’s not a fancy restaurant but if you want delicious food then I would recommend

The best Vietnamese restaurant in Brighton

Authentic Vietnamese cuisine. Kind and polite service. Prices are reasonable. Love the chicken curry and pho

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 to Big Bowl 🥣

I dropped by at the big bowl afew days ago and had a very pleasant experience. Fast and friendly service and very satisfying food too, i ordered the big bowl pho, and some spring rolls, afew Vietnamese beers later i was ordering some wings too ! It was pretty quite when i visited but thats ok with me... thanks big bowl !

Delicious food, lovely atmosphere with very attentive wait staff.

I went for 'The Big Bowl' and I'm glad I did. The meatballs are amazing. The soup is on the sweet side but you can add lime juice and it'll be perfect. Super tender beef - you know it's a proper pho when the beef is cooked in the the broth upon serving. 👍🏼

Food was delicious and fresh. The summer rolls we had to start were quite small, but the mains were generous portions. Friendly staff and quick service. Low key casual atmosphere.

Order the house special, you'll thank me later

After traveling internationally, we were looking forward to some "comfort" food as pho is a weekly meal in our household throughout the year. Unfortunately, the house special left something to be desired. I found all aspects of the meal to be bland and lacking from the broth to the meat balls. Tbh this might be the first time ever that I've left any beef or meatballs in my bowl.

Nice little Vietnamese joint that has a variety of Pho's and soups 🍜 The staff are young and friendly. Only downside I had was I felt the wooden seats were a little uncomfortable. But that's probably because I'm too tall for their furniture 😂

A simple menu but delicious! We had the vegan tofu and mushroom spring rolls, steak pho and spicy tofu chicken special. All very tasty and will be going back to try the rest of the menu. Recommend booking so you don’t have to slurp noodles at the window table being looked at by passers by!

Amazing as always! I prefer this placer over "Pho" in the lanes!

We went to The Big Bowl before going to a gig. It is quite small and more like a cafe than a restaurant but reservations were available on their website. We both had the bun (one with BBQ pork and the other combo i.e. pork and chicken) and both were fresh and very tasty. We had 3 bottles of beer and the total cost was approximately £36 so very good value. If we are in the area again, we would happily return.

This place is definitely a hidden gem. They serve really authentic food and they have lovely staff. I was excited to have a traditional Vietnamese coffee for this first time since my trip to Vietnam. Would definitely go again!

Really enjoyed our meal at The Big Bowl. Food was great and the service was quick and friendly. Only negative was that they accepted cash only (sign out front and cash machine nearby, but I would have liked to know in advance). Would recommend!

I have been there few times and I can say it is one of the best Vietnamese restaurants I have ever tried. Although food is so simple it is also full of flavour and reasonably priced plus portions are quite big. It is defo authentic Vietnamese cuisine, the owner it is in fact from Vietnam. The big bowl is very clean which is not that common for small Asian restaurants nowadays so this is another good point to pop over. Not ideal for big groups but I would definitely recommend to any travellers solo or group of 2-4 people.

Lovely and generous bowls of food with a reasonable quick service but booze expensive as are soft drinks served in cans. Food freshly made and small and bijou.

Food was Amazing,wait was only about 10 minutes service wasn't mad they were pretty nice and respectful. The toilets aren't very clean though,there's cobwebs everywere

Top Pho! My favourite in Brighton

Rất là ngon, sẽ quay lại nhiều lần. Recommend mọi người đến ăn vì giá cũng hợp lý

Simply incredible food and great value

Absolutely delicious. I had the veggie pho with jasmine rice on the side, and my friend had the veggie roll bun with classic wings. The veggie broth was so, so delicious, I wasn't expecting to love it so much. The veggie rolls were also unexpectedly very delicious. Polite and friendly wait staff, too. Really nice little place. Will DEFINITELY be taking other people there

Great tasting and authentic Vietnamese Pho. The grilled pork chop with rice is also nice. Be sure to try their Vietnamese coffee, and I like it with ice.

Food is fine, service is bad, order takes so long, the table came in 20 minutes after me got the food before me, always out of prawn crackers whenever I come, how about just cross it out from the menu? The waitress has no common sense, giving a four seats table to one or two people, afterwards there are no table, got refused to get in as there is only a 2 seats table left, and we have got 4 people. What a joke.

Absolutely delicious! Whatever they use to coat their Vietnamese classic chicken wings should be bottled and made available for sale…! I also had the Hue beef noodle soup which was a treat - haven’t had one that good since I was last in Vietnam, which is high praise indeed. Not a bad price point for the quality and quantity of the food either - will definitely be back 🤤🤤🤤

I was asked to organise a dinner for a group of well travelled managers where I work with 5 days notice. Worried that the Big bowl had misunderstood the booking - 2 x 12 people because the drop down menu did not go beyond 12 I visited and saw how small the restaurant actually is. However, they explained they'd allow us to pretty much take over the place last night. Everyone was very impressed with the quality of service and food. Never having visited Vietnam I couldn't say if the food was authentic but it was delicious and pleased the Asians in our group. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend the Big Bowl. Very nice people, very reasonable prices, capable of dealing with large and small parties simultaneously. Really very impressed.

Beautiful food and lovely staff. The lady who served us (unfortunately didn’t catch her name) was very pleasant and accommodating and talked my partner through the menu and made recommendations. We went for mushroom spring rolls which were gorgeous, one tofu pho and a vegan chicken hot broth. Tofu cooked to perfection. Pho was the best we ever had! Highly recommend.

The food is great and healthy. Staff friendly and helpful.

Very yummy aromatic soups... LLLLARGE portions, attentive staff.

This is great little cocktail bar in Brighton which offers are huge selection and always seems to have special offers on. We've been here many times, and often take friends when they're visiting. It's a well priced, and easy go-to. They have a mobile juke box so you can add your own tunes. It's got a party vibe on weekends, but we like it because it's small and unpretentious.

I booked an area at Shuffle for my birthday last weekend. Its a lovely little bar, great staff, lovely little outside area :) but I was disappointed with the music. I think there needs to be a lot more choice, its what brought me to your bar and it was actually the only thing that left my disappointed. Just thought I would give this constructive criticism as everything else was great :)

The deco of this place is amazing, nice wooden tables and good size garden with seats and heating. Nice selection of cocktails and good classic songs on jukebox. Cocktails are good value for money.

Have been here a few times with friends on a couple of trips to Brighton and had a great time. The cocktails are really good and reasonably priced (we went on a Fri night so they were £5 each). I think it is a great idea that you can choose the music through their jukebox. Would definitely recommend!

We went to The Big Bowl before going to a gig. It is quite small and more like a cafe than a restaurant but reservations were available on their website. We both had the bun (one with BBQ pork and the other combo i.e. pork and chicken) and both were fresh and very tasty. We had 3 bottles of beer and the total cost was approximately £36 so very good value. If we are in the area again, we would happily return.

쌀국수 먹고싶어서 평점이 가장 높은곳이 있어서 갔다왔는데 진짜 너무 맛있습니다.. 고명에 스테이크 볼 같은거 있는데 너무 맛있고요 베트남에서도 먹어봤는데 현지 맛이랑 거의 유사하고 너무 맛있습니다 브라이튼에 오게되면 꼭 가보세요

All of the food was delicious. PHO is amazing. Definitely a 10/10. I ordered the big bowl bbq pork great Vietnamese food, friendly staff.

We stopped here for lunch on a windy and wet day.. it was the perfect day for Pho - to include their Pho was really good with great broth! Their Vietnamese hot coffee was also very tasty and hit the spot.

The radish wasn’t cooked probably and also the coriander was sticking with rotten one though the pho was not bad.

Went to Big Bowl with a couple of friends and we all had a really lovely time! We all had different dishes, and all three of us were saying how good they were. We're definitely coming back again soon to try more of the menu!

Delicious, home made Wietnamese food 😋 Highly recommended 👌

Came down to Brighton for a day trip as a family of 4 and was pleasantly surprised when we stumbled across this The Big Bowl. Coming from a Vietnamese family background I was very impressed by how authentic the food tasted. The crispy spring rolls are a must try! I also ordered the combo bun which was delicious with very well marinated meat and flavours, it was also a very generous portion size. We finished off with their lychee and black sesame ice cream which gained approval from both my partner and the kids. After the lovely meal we took a leisurely stroll towards the pier to explore the beach and arcades.

Great Vietnamese food, friendly staff.

The only authentic pho in Brighton. The broth was very tasty on it's own even without sriracha/hoisin sauce.

We visited today and were all so impressed with the welcome and the quality of food served. Two of us went for the summer rolls starter, I had the yummy smoked salmon and avocado with peanut dip. The crispy chicken was a hit with our teenage faction. For mains, we all had a different variety of pho and everyone was utterly satisfied. If you’re not sure where to go, I would definitely recommend checking out this lovely family business.

Very delicious and authentic! The price is also reasonable.

[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 vietnamese flavours.

The PHO is AMAZING. Definitely a 10/10. Ordered beef pho and king prawn pho. Restaurant has really nice minimalist interiors. Staff is lovely. Going back soon to try other items on the menu!

I visited Brighton for the day and decided to reserve a table for dinner at The Big Bowl. The food was very good and coming from a family with Vietnamese heritage, I can certainly say the food is authentic and most importantly, tasty! Service was on point and the decor was fresh and modern. Would definitely recommend!

We had a brilliant dinner here. We had spring rolls and summer rolls for starter, beef pho and vegan chicken pho for mains, and lychee sorbet and black sesame gelato for dessert. The starter was so fresh, and it came with delicious dipping sauces. The main dishes were so tasty, full of flavour and the best pho I’ve ever had! The desserts were so refreshing and finished off the meal perfectly. The service was exceptional, and the atmosphere was really lovely. The restaurant is really beautifully and thoughtfully decorated. If you’re vegan, the staff are more than happy to tell you about the great range of vegan options they can offer. I would wholeheartedly recommend this restaurant! If only we lived nearer; we’d be there every week!

Nice food, little bit expensive

Best pho in town, firm noodles and excellent broth

Delicious freshly made Vietnamese food with plenty of authenticity. Friendly service and no long waits.

I was looking for a Vietnamese restaurant in Brighton and this one meet my expectations. Delicious food and friendly staff.

Very friendly staff and the food was great! My family enjoyed so much. Would definitetly come back!

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. __ 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 chef-dependent.

Lovely cosy food, I had the Hanoi rump steak pho which was flavourful and warming but watch out for the green chilli, it nearly burnt my tongue off! However, this was a fabulous meal on the first evening of Autumn, that my boyfriend and I really enjoyed, among the peaceful and homely atmosphere. The homemade lemonade was also very tasty. Will come again :)

Went there with my family and had a fantastic experience. Food was excellent, staff was very nice and helpful!

Great tasting, authentic Vietnamese food. I had summer roles and beef pho and my partner had BBQ pork bun. All of the food was delicious and despite there being so many restaurants to try in Brighton we are planning to eat here again when we go back in September.

Great Vietnamese experience with fresh tasting food. Summer rolls and chicken wings were good.

Very good food, lovely staff and simple menu. Went with my family and we just had a fantastic experience. 5/5.

Excellent! Combo bun was a delight. Compliments to the chef

Wow, this was the best Vietnamese food I've had in the UK. Absolutely delicious, great place (with AC!), friendly staff. If I lived nearby I'd come every week.

We had a wonderful time. Staff was very friendly and we felt very welcomed. The place was nice and has a great vibe. The food was amazing. I had pho Hanoi Rump Steak and Summer rolls and oh boy. The broth was so good, steak was excellent and best summer rolls I’ve tried! Can’t wait to come back for more!

5/5 never eaten pho so fast, loved the service, food and everything. Definitely gonna visit again soon.

Visited Brighton yesterday to take part of the Pride Parade. After the parade we were looking for a place to eat and stumbled on this little Vietnamese food place. Had the spring rolls and the Big Bowl Pho... Everything was really delicious and the service was good. Definitely a place to visit.

Just had an amazing bowl of pho with great service. The restaurant has a beautiful interior and an overall great vibe! I would highly recommend for couples, solos and families and people who enjoy Vietnamese food! I especially enjoyed the chicken wings along with the beef pho!

Amazing food, kind staff, beautifully plated food! Near the beach and other cute shops. Great vibes & great food✨Highly recommend!

Had lunch with my daughter. Loved the raw spring rolls with salmon and avocado and we both had the beef Pho. Everything was really fresh and flavorful and prices are very reasonable.

We really enjoyed the delicious food, made from fresh ingredients. We also very much liked their home made lemonade. The staff were friendly and service minded. The restaurant is small with a few tables, we were planning on having dinner but they were fully booked. Instead we enjoyed lunch, twice!

It’s quite good pho but beef quality was not so good The best Vietnamese restaurant in Brighton btw

Lovely Food , Combo Bun is my favourite. best Vietnamese restaurant in town.