Rice Queen

Upbeat trendy vibe, good people watching, solid dishes & drinks, would be an excellent spot for a date or a «girls’ night — woowoo!!!», but the music is REALLY loud (loses a star for that).

Thunder Road on tap! Crappy plastic decos and plates. Fun place tho’ and lots of sharing plates. Cheap and cheerful — can’t go wrong with salt and fat — deep fried food. Same formula as many places these days — Rice Paper Scissors, Kong etc. Go in a group and enjoy the atmosphere but don’t expect Michelin star food.

I’ve been to Rice Queen for lunch it’s great. At night however, not so good. The DJ plays music just loud enough that you have to raise your voice over a small table to hold a conversation. The wait staff have a too cool for school attitude and forget the reason they are employed is to wait on tables. We saw a couple of punters get up and leave with menus still open on their table, which isn’t a good sign. After an interminable period of watching the group of cool kids chatting and ignoring us we understood why, not even a jug of water on the table or can I help you. So rather than waste more time we left. The maitre’d was good however, very helpful and she did a great job making us feel welcome. I’d go back for lunch, dinner is a bad trip.

Faux Asan cuisine at best. They’ve spent entirely too much energy on creating a very funky ambience with live DJ, fantastic wall art and interior but ultimately it is a restaurant and the food is definitely below par. Wont go there agian.

What an amazing restaurant. We were looking for something Asian walking down Brunswick and I saw this place from across the street. It looks super fun. And it was. A great feel when you walk through the door and greater by the very friendly staff. And the food… Wow!!! The flavours are just incredible. We shared a few of the starters including the prawn toast — that was beautiful. A must place to visit in Fitzroy!!!

Great salads … We had all, and enjoyed them all … we had patio table and loved the fresh air g/​f free friendly

Stumbled across this one while wandering Brunswick, unsure of what we felt like for dinner. Such a great space– with it’s array of rainbow colours, hanging lights and lanterns which transports you faraway, to an undefined Asian country.
Ordered pork and prawn dumplings with their black vinegar dipping sauce from the Smaller dish section as I wasn’t too hungry. Unfortunately– would have loved to have had an empty stomach for this place. Great because it comes pan fried or steamed (my pick and it was delicious)
Friend got one of their chicken curries– specifically the Sri Lankan Kiri Hodi which had a range of vegetables such as broccoli, baby corn, potato, snake beans and curry-​absorbed pieces of tofu. Great as it came with steamed rice on the side. Definitely a sharing dish– we couldn’t finish it.
Would love to come back with more friends to be able to share in the cool atmosphere and to try their drinks menu from the cool bar we saw to one side of the room.

I dropped in for a drink after visiting a few other places on Brunswick St. I tried their Dark Negroni which I wasn’t a big fan of – I’d much rather a traditional negroni. It was a little too sweet for my taste and lacked some of the flavour provided by the Campari of a traditional negroni.
Despite ordering a drink that didn’t quite meet my expectations, I thought the venue itself was appealing. It’s a large space decorated with an Asian feel. For example, there’s lanterns hanging from the ceiling, there are several fans on display, there’s plenty of red, and much more.

Fantastic place to come with a hungry group of friends. The $ 30 ‘me so hungry’ menu is great value. You get 5 dishes chosen by the chef plus sides.
Cocktail list is good too. Can never go past their great Singapore sling.
Menu favourites include caramelized pork bites, pan fried pork dumplings, beef rendang curry & penang kuay teo (a seriously tasty flat rice noodle dish).

Rice Queen on Brunswick street serves up great Vietnamese food. Great service, fun environment (can be noisy but that didn’t bother us), excellent fresh tasty food — we had a delicious fresh duck salad, soft she’ll crab on vermicelli noodles, a fish salad, build your own pork lettuce tacos and a very good lamb curry. Alcohol was ok, not great but the food and service make up for it. Overall, exceptional value — a few at our table had a 5 course feed me style menu for only $ 30 per head. We’re going back soon.

Cool setting, good seating for groups of 4 – 8, totally let down by food quality, an oddly limited menu, and atrocious service.
The Korean tacos are my favourite on the menu, but twice when I’ve been here they’ve been out of them. The san choy bao is passable, but come with a small amount of lettuce and extra lettuce costs $ 2.50(!!)
Prawn toasts and chicken skewers are OK but pretty boring. They have three curries but you could go to pretty much any other Asian place in Fitzroy and get a MUCH tastier and cheaper dish. The char kway teow and kung pow are decent but in the same boat.
The service is just absolutely terrible. Last time I was there, we literally waited 20 minutes to get our (bottled) drink order delivered after sitting down, and then the same thing happened with our second round order. I get that they make fancy cocktails, but you shouldn’t ever have to wait 20 minutes for a few bottled beers. They have a good amount of waitstaff, but they appear to make a sport out of ignoring attempts to flag them down. Several times now, out of desperation, I’ve had to walk over to the bar to make simple requests for drinks or sides. I have repeatedly had requests for sauces or sides forgotten by the waitstaff.
Which is a shame, because it has great décor and a really cool vibe. I still go here with small groups because it is one of the better mid-​range options on Brunswick Street. It’s frustrating because they could be a neighbourhood favourite of mine with just a little more attention to menu, food quality, and service.

I stumbled into Rice Queen whilst crossing the road!
Very strategic, Rice Queen!
How can I resist the mannequin standing outside dressed in cheongsam with chopsticks in her hair telling me to eat rice!
So I walked in and quickly realised this is a restaurant come bar.
There’s apparently karaōke room at back? Smoking seatings by the entrance, bar area with high tables and seats and restaurant area rear of venue and near the kitchen.
The deco makes you feel like you’ve walked into your raunchy Asian aunt’s pad. With red lanterns, fake flowers, booze filled wall and spicy cooking smell from the kitchen. It was wonderful!
Food
We tried the mini banh me, one with pork another with lobster.
At $ 5 and $ 10 a pop, these buns tasted amazing but a total rip off.
The Korean inside outside lettuce wrap (called something like ssssmmmmhhhsssww) were around the same price and we tried one with crispy fish.
The KFC — Korean fried chicken were winner of the day. Get the plate of 10 because they are better than finger lickin good. But only if you like it hot! Coated generously in five spice powder, they are fried with shallots and whole chillies.
Mmmmmmm
We wanted desperately to try dessert but felt rather robbed at this stage so decided to leave it for a planned night out.
And this is what it’s great for, lots of fun for a girls night out I imagine.
It probably doesn’t help that the service was very «I’m too cool to be friendly whilst serving you»
But Rice Queen cooks well. And if she is anything like your raunchy Asian aunt, she probably makes a mean cocktail too.

I walked in with the idea I was going to st Jude’s for the first time. The staff seemed like they were flat out and said they were booked out but still managed to find us a table. Had entrees of lamb skewers and spring rolls and they were both to die for and reasonable priced. And mains of beef and ribs. Which were amazing as well. Didn’t like the salads too much, but that is probably because of my hate for coriander. All in all it was amazing though and I’ll be going back tonight

The Rice Queen was a bit of a Smith Street institution with it’s live music and table tennis set up. It has moved across to a new location on Brunswick Street (taking over the old St Jude’s Cellar space) opposite the Fitzroy Nursery.
There is a new chef with a revamped menu. Now there is Wok, Grilled and Salad sections. The selection has easily doubled in size. The vegan and gluten free options still remain on the menu which is handy for our vegan and vegetarian friends.
I tried a few vegan options including the lat fried sesame gyoza crisps with white miso smoky eggplant sauce and pickled cucumber for $ 6. It was certainly an interesting dish with some strong flavours. I quite liked it myself but my friend found the miso sauce not to her liking. On a seperate trip I tried the an choy bao of stir-​fried tofu, water chestnuts, shiitake mushroom and snake bean, which was a very tasty and well presented dish (and a bit of a steal at $ 6).
For mains we tried the Shredded papaya salad with dill, bamboo and bean shoots, shallots and caramel peanuts, Spicy sweet potato curry with tamarind, coriander, toasted coconut. Served with roti and the Horfun noodles, red onion and baby corn, coriander and tamari. The papaya salad is a nice mellow contrast in comparsion to the other spicier dishes. You can get it in starter or mains size. The sweet potato curry was a filling dish with some lovely roti to soak up the sauce. The Horfun noodles were fairly standard fair.
Coconut lime cheesecake with mango was considered delectable by my vegetarian friend, and I must admit I was drooling in envy. I tried a vegan version of the Pineapple granita, tropical fruit and vanilla condensed milk. It was a nice dish but I suspect is better with the condensed milk. None of the desserts are vegan but most are gluten free.
The only disappointment for me with the change of venue and menu for Rice Queen is the change in floor staff. Regular faces seem to have moved on and I didn’t find the staff as friendly as the old staff. The new décor is as fun and funky as the old venue, but I miss the lounge area where you could hang out and watch a band. the new venue has a karoke room which will appeal to some (not me), and a smoking area out the front (but note, you can’t get food out there only drinks).
All in all, I’d still go to Rice Queen but I’ll probably drop it from my weekly dining schedule and just save it for the occasional cocktails and dinner.

As a fan of St Jude’s, the restaurant that used to be at this location, maybe I’m not going to give a fair review… or maybe I will. One of my friends claims this is the best Asian in Melbourne; I think he needs to get out more. That’s not a slight against Rice Queen, really, as much as it is a criticism of my friend’s limited scope for comparison. Put simple, this is a fun little Asian fusion joint that serves up tasty dishes and cocktails. My friends and I shared a selection of dishes — in particular I recommend the eggplant and the eel salad (that was a surprise hit) — all of which were tasty… actually, no, the spring rolls were nothing to write home about but then spring rolls rarely are. The cocktails are nice and strong, mainly classics with an Asian twist (Kaffiroska, anyone?), but a little too sugary for my taste. I found my own in the Gina’s Grapefruit, in which the tartness counteracted the sweetness nicely. The vibe is as hipster as you would expect on Brunswick Street, but not prohibitively so. As far as this sort of cuisine goes, Rice Queen probably wouldn’t be my first choice but I certainly wouldn’t say no if someone else suggested it as a dinner option.

Rice Queen is a beautifully set up bar and lounge restaurant on Smith St. This is a must on a Sunday night where they play some great music, you can bring some friends, play some board games (yes, board games), or pool and enjoy some great cocktails, international beers and have a great evening.
One of my favourite places to go where the Steak Sandwich is the BEST I’ve ever had! Big call I know but they cook some mean meals there where the ambiance of the place is amazing. It’s perfectly relaxed but cool and comfortable as well where there’s so much to like about it. One downside might be no smoking area but with it being such a nice place to hang out in, you don’t even care!
Rice Queen would have to be my favourite place to go on the street. I really love it!

Ahhh the ‘Asian Fusion’ of restaurants, Rice Queen is sometimes a hit — and sometimes a miss.
You will find a mix of Thai, Chinese, Japanese, Malaysian, and Indian dishes on the menu which opens up your night out to suits many individuals tastes.
We’ve come here on a few occasions and its strange because sometimes to food is spectacular and other nights the food is well… bland.
The service is speedy and the atmosphere is really something else.

I’m always a little bit wary of restaurants that serve up lots of different types of Asian food. I can’t help but wonder, Jack of all trades, master of none? You know, can’t decide what you do well so do a little bit of everything and hope for the best.
Well, the flavours aren’t terribly authentic but they are still quite delicious in their own way. I mean, if you wanted a really authentic plah som tum, you wouldn’t come here. However, you would come here if you wanted something delicious and Asian-​inspired to eat, in a setting that’s fun and stylish, with fantastic cocktails and even live music on weekends.
I’ve been meaning to try their laksa on $ 10 laksa night Sundays (I’m not even sure if they still do this), but have yet to take the plunge. My expectations are low — not many eateries in Melbourne, not even Singaporean or Malaysian ones, have mastered the laksa. I’m hopeful though.

So it is a strange little place, this Rice Queen. Hidden upstairs, looks like a warehouse, has a great lounge feel nonetheless, complete with a piano and pretty good drinks!
What they’re really best for are the random specials nights.
Thursday? 2 for 1 drinks. Makes the tasty stuff way more affordable.
Sunday? $ 10 laksa. Spicy. Coconutty. Chicken or Vege.
Monday? $ 1 dumplings. Pork or Vege. SUPER good dipping sauce.
If you go on a Friday or Saturday the live music and fun atmosphere will be great for getting your friends in the mood for a fun night of drinks and dance and unintentional ab workout from the laughing.
Not fancy or perfect, but certainly FUN and cheap when you hit it right!

Despite the fact that this is the only place I have ever returned a dish — I am going to go ahead and say the food is pretty good. OK so there was one glaringly horrible dish on the menu in my view but everything else I ate from Rice Queen was absolutely delicious.
So what was it that made me return a dish? Well I had ordered a fresh seafood hotpot — which came out in all it’s sizzling goodness, with prawns, fish and mussels looking fresh and lustrous. I took a bite and something wasn’t right. I informed the waitress that the seafood tasted off so she took my dish away. She returned a few minutes later to inform me that I was wrong about this — their fish had come in fresh from market that day. I said I begged to differ and she said that the reason I thought my food was disgusting was because the sauce was made out of Sardines! Honestly who puts Sardines in with fresh seafood.
But rest assured this was just the chef trying to do something new and getting it wrong (at least in my view — I absolutely hate sardines). The paw paw and chicken salad was absolutely delicious as were the spring rolls I tried.
So if you are looking for some fresh Asian Fusion food with a modern twist then check this place out. The dining space is quite cool. Just make sure you enquire whether the chef has decided to slip a few cheeky sardines into your dish before you order.