Pasta, Ramen and Dipping Bowls Reviewed: Four Sizes, Four Jobs

Start with the numbers. The Famiware Milkyway pasta bowls come as a set of four. Each one is 8.2 inches across and 1.77 inches tall, and the title gives the capacity as 33 oz.

That is a wide, shallow shape, closer to a restaurant pasta bowl than a soup bowl. Spaghetti with sauce fits well. Brothy soup is a different story, because 1.77 inches of height leaves little room before the rim.

The brand lists pasta, salad, dessert, ice cream, rice and beans as uses, and that list is about right. For a family of four, four bowls means one each. A dinner for guests means washing between rounds or adding a second set.

The material is stoneware in white with a black speckled pattern. The brand says the clay is fired at 2340℉ for 13.5 hours and calls the result sturdy and chip-resistant. It also says the bowls passed dishwasher and microwave tests at accredited laboratories.

Those are the brand's statements, and a product page can't prove them. The bowls are stackable, which matters, since four wide bowls take real shelf width side by side.

Now the complaint. Of the written reviews we could read, only one was critical, and it is a serious one. A buyer in Canada gave one star and wrote that the underside is not finished, so the bowls scratched their new quartz countertops.

They tried sanding one bowl and it made no difference. One review can't tell us how many sets are like that.

The star breakdown helps a little: about 86 percent of the 1,169 ratings are five stars, and about 3 percent are one or two stars. Still, a rough base is a real risk if you have stone or polished counters. We'd lift these bowls rather than slide them.

The brand promises replacements if pieces arrive damaged in shipping. That covers breakage in transit. It says nothing about a rough base, so don't count on it for that.

Who should buy these? Someone who wants a plain, speckled white set for pasta, salad and rice, and who has a wood or laminate table.

Who should look elsewhere? Anyone who wants deep soup bowls, anyone with delicate counters, and anyone who needs more than four bowls at once. For soup and noodle broth, the ramen set is the better shape.

This is the big one. The Famiware Milkyway ramen set holds 54 fluid ounces in a bowl 8.6 inches wide and 4.1 inches tall. Set that beside the pasta bowls and the difference is height: 4.1 inches against 1.77.

That depth lets broth, noodles and toppings share one bowl without crowding the edge. The set has two bowls, two pairs of wooden chopsticks and two wooden spoons. The brand notes that the wooden pieces are hand-finished, so the color of the spoon and chopsticks may differ a little.

The bowls come in white, cinnamon brown and gray, with a speckled glaze, a ribbed outside and a terracotta base. The brand says the stoneware is microwave, dishwasher and freezer safe.

It also describes the glaze as lead-free and cadmium-free, tested and certified by SGS. Those are the brand's claims, and we pass them on as such.

What do buyers say? There are only 32 ratings so far, which is a small base, so read the praise as early. Still, the comments are specific.

One reviewer who makes pho every week called these exactly what they were looking for. They said the broth, noodles, herbs, sprouts, eggs and protein all fit without balancing on the edge. Another loved the deep shape and the included spoon and chopsticks.

A four-star reviewer called the set great for everyday use and said the bowls are a bit heavier than expected. That is the only real complaint we could find, and it is believable for a deep stoneware bowl that holds this much.

Heft matters in two places. Full of hot broth, a bowl this size is not light, and anyone with weak wrists should know that before buying. In the cupboard, two of these take more room than two ordinary bowls, though the brand says they stack.

Who should buy this set? Anyone who eats pho, ramen, udon or a loaded noodle bowl often and wants the broth to stay in the bowl.

Who should skip it? A single diner who only wants a cereal bowl, anyone sensitive to weight, and anyone short on shelf space. For pasta, a dish this deep is more bowl than the meal needs.

The Silver Buffalo Spider-Man bowl is a different kind of purchase. It is a 20 oz ceramic ramen bowl with a close-up of Spider-Man's face on it. It comes with a pair of matching chopsticks that have spiders on them.

The brand says it is officially licensed Marvel merchandise, and gift-giving is clearly the main idea. The spec sheet gives the size as 5.25 inches wide and 3.75 inches tall, and the weight as 1.2 pounds.

The Famiware ramen bowl above holds 54 fluid ounces, and this bowl holds less than half of that. We would call it a single-serving bowl for a kid or a small appetite. A big adult portion of ramen with an egg and toppings will not fit comfortably.

The care rules are the most precise of the four products, and they are the brand's own. The bowl is microwave safe and top rack dishwasher safe only. The chopsticks are hand wash only, and the product page gives no microwave rule for them.

That split is easy to forget, so if you give this as a gift, mention it. Buyers like it. About 90 percent of the 1,989 ratings are five stars and about 3 percent are three stars.

The reviews we could read are short and happy. A parent says their child eats all her noodle meals and cereal from it. A buyer picking a niece's birthday gift said it arrived well wrapped in bubble wrap, with colors as vibrant as pictured.

We found no written complaints, so the three-star ratings stay unexplained. Who should buy it? Someone shopping for a Spider-Man fan, or a kid who will happily take noodle soup in a bowl with a face on it.

Who should skip it? Anyone who wants a serious ramen bowl for hungry adults, and anyone who doesn't want to separate bowl and chopsticks at washing time.

It also has one printed design, so if the theme isn't wanted, nothing else about it is a draw. For a plain everyday bowl, the two Famiware bowl sets are better value for size.

Dipping dishes are easy to overlook until you host. The Famiware Ocean set has six small oval bowls, each holding 2.1 oz. Each one measures 3.96 inches long, 3.46 inches wide and 0.98 inches tall.

The surface has a wavy design, which the brand says gives an uneven look under light. They come in vanilla white, and one reviewer got the blue ones.

Six dishes is the number that matters. Soy sauce for six people fits, and so does one dish each for salsa, butter, olive oil and ketchup. The brand also lists fruit, candy, snacks, spices and sushi.

At 2.1 oz, each dish is a condiment holder, not a snack bowl, so don't expect a handful of chips to fit. The brand says the dishes are stoneware fired at high temperatures from natural clays. It also says they were tested for dishwasher and microwave safety in accredited laboratories.

The spec sheet calls the material ceramic. Both words appear on the product page, so we'll say only that they are fired clay and that the brand lists them as dishwasher and microwave safe.

Buyers are warm about them. About 85 percent of the 165 ratings are five stars. A reviewer in Australia likes the organic shape and the neutral colors, and says they stack well in the cupboard.

Another calls them exactly like the picture. A third says they are small but cute, which is fair, because small is what they are.

One reviewer uses them as cat dishes and says they work well for their cats. We mention that only as a buyer's report, since the brand sells them for sauces.

What about complaints? The star breakdown shows about 7 percent three-star ratings and about 4 percent one or two stars, but none of the written reviews we could read are critical. We can't say what the unhappy buyers found.

Who should buy them? Anyone who hosts sushi or dumpling dinners, and anyone tired of passing one bottle of soy sauce around the table.

Who should skip them? Anyone who wants a serving bowl for nuts or candy. The set is a table accessory, and it does that job well.