Restaurant Review: Fire Bowl Cafe

Gluten-free Asian options used to be hard to come by when the only option was the old school Chinese buffet, full of Americanized glutinous floured, deep-fried treats.

Now there is cropping up the new breed of Asian-fusion style cuisine that caters to a "healthier" palatte, or at least a lighter one.  Thick syrupy sauces and deep fried rolls are replaced by lighter sauces, genuine rice noodles replace starchy wheat noodles and fresh rolls.

In particular, they seem more open to catering to the gluten-free lifestyle thanks to those lighter sauces and rice noodles.

The Fire Bowl Cafe is one of those places.  It is relatively close to where I live and since I found out they offer a great gluten-free menu, it has been my go-to place for a nice plate of Asian.

Please note that the following pictures were of take-out!  If you dine in the presentation is much better!

Stir fry your way with chicken + flat noodle + ginger white wine sauce

You walk in and peruse the huge menu, then ask for the gluten-free menu options and are pleasantly surprised by the many options.
A great gluten-free selection by my standards.  Many of the things available on the regular menu are also available on the gluten-free.  Fire Bowl also thrives on flexibility and can customize and tweak your preferences to get a plate you will truly enjoy.
For this visit the hubby chose a Stir-Fry Your Way, customizable with your choice of gluten-free noodles, your choice of meat and veggies and your choice of gluten-free sauce.  Since hubby is very considerate he always orders something GF so I can sample his and he can sample mine.  He has good instincts and I almost always enjoy what he picks.
Sometimes however I am in the mood for something lighter.

Spicy coconut soup

 The spicy coconut soup was first introduced to me by my aunt.  Contrary to the name and despite the "one flame" heat rating, it doesn't taste very spicy at all to my palette but rather pleasing, warm and silky smooth.  It comes with sliced shiitake mushroom and chicken, cilantro and some green strip thingys which I think might be green pepper.  It also comes with a lime wedge which definitely gives it a citrusy kick; in fact I rather enjoy it with two lime wedges.
I want to order a vat of this come winter and just snuggle in.

Summer rolls with a side of ginger white wine sauce for dipping

In addition to the spicy coconut soup I also enjoy an order of summer rolls.  Since the peanut sauce that accompanys them is not gluten-free, I ask for a side of ginger white wine sauce instead of the peanut sauce.  It's something that you have to specify and they usually give you enough for both your summer rolls.

That is a trick I learned from a kind and wonderful employee at the North Austin location; when we ordered our summer rolls and she took initiative in suggesting a side of the ginger white wine sauce to dip them in since the rolls a bit dry and hard to swallow on their own.  We heeded her advice and haven't looked back since.  

The sauce is so good I could drink it!  (Two different plates both featuring the ginger white wine sauce, can you tell we are nutty for it?)

It really makes the whole summer roll much more pleasing, easy to eat and tasty!  It's not spicy like you would think ginger is but it is light yet rich and flavorful, just salty enough to enhance but not overwhelm.  Plus they give you enough so that each bite can be nice and juicy.

Something I didn't know about the company is that was actually founded in Austin and they are working to open more locations in Texas and Colorado!  Texas and Colorado, two places close to my heart!

For Fire Bowl Cafe locations and to see their gluten-free menu click here!