Like plates, bowls need to fit the life you lead. Do you like to eat pasta out of a wide-rimmed vessel on the couch? Is cereal your go-to midafternoon snack? Do you like the idea of an all-white set to match various table settings or prefer bowls that are the centerpiece themselves? To create a truly thorough list of great options, I surveyed over 50 chefs and recipe developers, home cooks and avid hosts, designers and prop stylists, and Strategist staffers. From there, I narrowed down the selections you’ll find here to be accessible (meaning no vintage china you have to buy secondhand or enormously expensive pieces) and then sorted them into two main sections. The first is smaller-portion bowls, which, depending on the brand or retailer, can be referred to as soup, cereal, or rice bowls (or sometimes have no qualifier at all). These are slimmer and high-sided. The second grouping is pasta bowls and, as they’ve come to be known, “blates”: a shallow, wide cross between a bowl and a plate. (These can hold some liquid, but most aren’t meant for soup.)

It generally makes sense to have both types in your house, but the rest comes down to personal preference. Below, you’ll find hand-thrown pieces that are nice enough to pass down (but will cost you a pretty penny). There are many more basic porcelain all-white bowls that are simple and timeless. Some are designed to stand up to wear and tear, while others may be worth it only if you don’t live with roommates or young kids. Read on for all the expert picks, and if you’re in the market for plates, you can find my guide to those here too.