I’m not a big fan of quinoa so I went for the Soba Noodle Bowl with Chicken. Besides the noodles and chicken, the bowl has spinach, napa cabbage, roasted mushroom & onions, sesame seeds, cilantro and an umami soy-miso broth.
As usual with entrees at Panera, the bowl comes with a side. The bowl did have good flavorful ingredients. Honestly I thought the chicken was a bit of an odd pairing – I think maybe seafood, shredded chicken or even the funky meatballs I get in my Pho would be better. I’m sure they use the chicken because it goes on sandwiches. The brother had a lot of flavor – needed a little salt. The overall bowl though – good flavor, lots of variety in textures. I was still a little hungry after – but I liked it.
They have videos on their site and one is even about the giant spoon – honestly that’s one of the things I didn’t like. The spoon is too big to even eat with and eating long noodles with a spoon?!? Not so easy.
The other thing to mention – right now if you have a Panera card and go to their website – you can get $5 off a bowl! If you log in to the site and go to this page – watch broth bowl three videos – you’ll get a pop up notification that $5 off a bowl has been loaded to your card! Then if you watch the other 3 – you’ll get another reward of a free drink! I have no idea how long this offer will last – so get it while you can!
**UPDATE** Since this post has been so crazy popular – I created a Copycat Recipe so you all can make these at home! Check it out here!
LnKay says
I tried this today and would not recommend it. The broth was bitter with a level of spicy hot that was just too much for me. With no warning. There was no indication that the broth would taste like burned Tabasco. It could have been wonderful, but the broth just overwhelmed the other flavors.
FoodHussy says
thanks for your comments – this is one of my most popular reviews – i didn't love them either…
Black Canary says
Honestly the lentil quinoa bowl with egg was probably the worst food I've ever tried. I felt like trying something different and have never been displeased with anything on Panera Bread's menu before. Maybe the soba noodle is better but I definitely didn't care for mine. I waa hoping it would be spicy but it tastesld pretty bland aside from the lemon slice they put on top. Gladly I ordered something for backup.
FoodHussy says
Haha – I love that you shared this with me – seriously! Sometimes hearing about people's bad food experiences are way better than all the good ones!
Food Hussy says
Hey there – I made a copycat version of the recipe – and it's not so spicy and not so bitter – i hope you'll check it out! thefoodhussy.com/2019/01/recipe-copycat-panera-broth-bowl-with.html