Big! Rice and Noodle needs some spice
by Sarah | March 8, 2008 | 2 Comments
(votes: 5, average: 3.4) 
Loading ...Big! Rice and Noodle restaurant is open Mon-Fri from 11:30am to 3pm and 5pm to 8pm, Saturday from 11:30am to 3pm and closed on Sunday. It is located at 3917 N College Ave (map) in Bethany, OK. They can be reached at 440-2811.
It’s always a big deal when a new restaurant opens in Bethany. Those of us who work here are pretty limited in eating choices, so we’re always excited to try something new. When Mom and I drove by Big! Rice and Noodle the other day, we couldn’t wait to check it out. Knowing that my co-reviewer, Tim, especially likes Thai food, I told him to go, too, and to give me his opinion. Which he did. So really, this article is a co-review by Tim and Sarah.
First of all, Tim and his co-workers arrived at 11:15 for lunch only to discover the place doesn’t open until 11:30. So, if you have plans to visit, please make note of the hours. Tim was able to review the menu which is posted outside, but then had to move on to someplace else because of time constraints. When Tim returned the next time, he had the following to say about his experience.
Tim’s take: I liked it and I give it the benefit of the doubt for being fairly new. I like the concept and the location. I wish the food had a little more zip to it. It was good, just not over-the-top great. I had Pad Thai and it was smooth and sweet, but usually I like it to have some kick and spice and smokiness in there too, and that was missing. They did provide the hot sauce so we could add our own heat, but that still didn’t quite get it for me.
I thought the place set itself up as a nice dinner location, but not so much a great lunch place. For one, it’s slow because they are trying to keep up with just a few employees. For two, the pricing is more dinner-ish and they didn’t have any lunch specials, which i thought would be beneficial. The plates and glasses and stuff are nice, so they are going for a little “higher-end” experience, which is fine, but they might have a tough time pulling that off in this location. With the college nearby, I’d think they could get a good bit of traffic if they provided something a little more accessible and quick.
A lot of the Thai places around where I live [the Asian district] have lunch specials in the $5-6 range and usually include soup and a spring roll. This place had the Pad Thai at $6.50 or $8 (with seafood) and you have to buy everything else ala carte.
I did like the fact that they had some interesting dishes, like the mango wrap Sarah mentions below. That was good and very interesting. The menu was, overall, pretty unique and I like that as well. The food seemed to all be quite fresh. Sarah says it’s handmade, and I can believe it.
Sarah’s take: The first time Mom and I went, it was slow. The second time I went with my work friend, Beth, it was much faster, but we were the first ones in there for lunch. Maybe that made a difference.
The owners are Naya, Jack and Pat Surasrang, who have lived in the U.S. for 20 years. They immigrated from Thailand, and have owned restaurants in California, Maine and Connecticut. They opened this location in Bethany last November in order to be closer to family, and everything they make is homemade.
Mom and I ordered the mango wrap as an appetizer, which was enormous. We were thinking small, burrito-style wrap, like an eggroll, but this was square-shaped and it was the size of an entire plate. Three or four people could easily have split one wrap. In spite of the size, it was delicious. It was on the sweet side, which Mom loved (she goes running and screaming at the site of one grain of pepper, let alone a bottle of hot sauce). By the time our entrees arrived, we were stuffed. She had the crispy noodles with vegetables and I had the cashew chicken. Again, these entrees covered the entire plate. So, we ended up taking most of it home for dinner that night. We could have easily split these dishes. My take on the taste is the same as Tim’s - it was all good, but it needs just a little spice to kick things up. If you can’t stand spice, then this is your place. They do have two spicy dishes on their menu, but most of the time, Asian food has a little more something to it than this did.
The next time I went with Beth, we each had the chicken fried rice with no appetizer and this time, the portions were better. Again, it was good. It was flavored a little differently than any other chicken fried rice I’ve ever had, but it still needed just a little kick of something.
I’m glad we finally have an Asian food place in Bethany. It will beat driving several miles north to the next closest place. Just don’t go if you’re in a hurry, or if you’re looking for a decorative-type atmosphere, because there aren’t any decorations yet. But maybe this is what adds to the quaintness of the place. Maybe they’re only worried about their food, and not how the place looks. Give it a try and let us know what you think.
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So far, 2 people have responded to this article. Won't you join in?March 8th, 2008 at 9:16 pm
Mild Thai food? Isn’t that an oxymoron?
April 4th, 2008 at 1:41 pm
The pineapple fried rice here is delicious! I’m also a fan of the mango wrap and the coconut fried shrimp!
Please tell us what you think.