Rice

An amalgam of oddity and fare, it through me and took me by surprise.
I definitely enjoyed the service, atmosphere and food. Intrigued, I will hopefully make a return visit for an attempt at deciphering the codex.
Sit outside if permissible.
One caveat, it’s cash only which in todays day and age tells me it’s either mafia owned or they’re ripping off their staff as well as too cheap for the fee a credit service will charge them.

Je vais vous étonner mais chez Rice, on mange du riz. :D
Plus sérieusement, ça se trouve juste à côté du Brooklyn Bridge, c’est donc une bonne alternative à Grimaldis où une file d’attente d’une heure est à prévoir ! Mais passons.
Chez Rice, l’ambiance est intimiste avec des lumières tamisées et des teintes orangées. Par contre, j’ai trouvé l’adresse dans le Guide du Routard et nous étions ainsi entourés quasiment que de Français (niveau dépaysement 0) !
Le principe du restaurant est de choisir sa variété de riz puis son plat. J’ai opté pour le bol de riz le plus simple proposé: avec haricots rouges, sauce tomate un peu épicée et un pot de crème fraîche histoire d’adoucir les saveurs. Et c’était vraiment délicieux ! Simple, copieux, et bon, je n’ai rien d’autre à dire.
Et j’ai aimé le fait de manger avec des baguettes.
Mais bon, mes camarades n’ont pas aimé autant que moi leurs plats, peut-​être plus originaux (avec du lait de coco, etc), et ils n’ont pas apprécié le fait de manger avec des baguettes (en même temps ils né mangent jamais de sushis les vilains !).
Bref un excellent rapport qualité/​prix (mais il me semble qu’ils né prennent pas la carte bancaire), une bonne ambiance, des serveurs avec le sourire et des plats savoureux, je suis conquise :).
NB: possibilité d’emporter les plats

For a restaurant as comparatively «upscale» as Rice is, I was confusedly shocked at just how stingy they were on Saturday night. Here are the facts:
1.Cash only, but Rice is happy to throw an ATM surcharge fee on you, so you can take out cash at the restaurant.
2. Napkins were literally paper towels… ripped in half. If this was an attempt at adding «charm» or a «rustic» feel to the place, it fell very flat.
3. Jerk Chicken was $ 11. I got six. They were tiny with almost no «caribbean spices» on them. Had to drown it in thai chili garlic sauce to enjoy them.
4. It was my roommate’s birthday. At the end of the night, without warning, she brought us a cupcake, which was incredibly dry. She didn’t give us an option to choose otherwise, then charged us $ 7 for it.
5. Waitress told us that it would be smarter to purchase a pitcher of mojitos, as we’d get 4 glasses. Glasses were half the size of the single mojitos, if that. Definitely not a good deal.
Will likely not go back or recommend it to anyone, which is a shame… if nothing else, that thai chili garlic sauce was delicious.

I’ve been to Rice a few times now and I am happy to recommend the restaurant to all my friends.
The restaurant is trendy but informal. Try to get a seat in the cute outdoor patio. Service was casual but attentive and friendly.
This restaurant has one of the most eclectic menus I have seen. They ratatouille, Mexican, and Indian appetizers! Menu had plenty of vegetarian options.
The different foods complemented each other. Everything I had was delicious. Drinks weren’t bad either. I recommend this place for lunch and dinner.

Working in DUMBO definitely has its limitations when it comes to food choices. You can burn through everywhere worth eating in just about 2 weeks here.
I’ve been dying to go to Rice now for months based on my co-​workers continuously talking about how good it was. The problem was, that everyone stopped coming here when Rice’s food inspection grade dropped below an «A». Well, I don’t care — and decided to go it alone today, and I’m sure glad I did!
Rice is located in a cool, brick building which translated to the same look on the inside. Very raw and warm feeling with cool lighting and a nice outdoor patio.
The service was great. Friendly, helpful, and energetic! Also a win for dropping a bottle of ice cold water at each table… I’m a huge fan of that!
I decided to try one of the dishes they are known for: vegetarian/​tofu meatballs with black rice. The server suggested that I get both sweet and spicy sauce on it. OMG, it was sooooo delicious! The rice was perfectly prepared. A slight al dente texture that paired extremely well with the soft, sweet and spicy meatballs. A slam dunk dish!
I’ll be definitely coming here more often. Luckily, the «B» on their door doesn’t scare me off…

Cute little restaurant with affordable dishes!
My friends and I walked into Rice just before the dinner rush, so the restaurant was pretty empty. We were seated outdoors in the patio, which was super cute.
I ordered the Chicken Satay with red rice. I was a little surprised to see the amount of rice for two small chicken satays, but the flavor was wonderful. I just wish the ratio of rice to entrée was a bit more evenly distributed. Two small chicken satays were not enough, so I ended up eating my rice alone with the peanut sauce that came with the satay.
Food wise, I would give Rice three stars. However, the server was friendly & the ambiance was wonderful which deserve four solid stars.

I dread writing bad reviews but Rice has compelled me to do so.
This is squarely based on the horribly dreadful service I’ve received there twice now, with the last one forcing me to leave the restaurant before I was served my food. Honestly, I’m becoming incensed just thinking about that experience so I’ll just say to the owners (unless it was the owners that did this to me) that they’d better teach their staff how to not ignore their customers. Pay attention to your hungry patrons and don’t bring their food and leave it two tables away from them, then go to the patio to deal with someone else. I’ve never been that offended by service, and I’ve had some pretty ‘ishy service in my lifetime (yes Lichee Nut, I’m talking about you!).
I’d avoid Rice like the plague it is. That’s a bit dramatic, I know, but that’s how serious their bad service was for food that’s repeatedly just okay.

Nice spot, affordable, fresh and tasty and at least feels pretty healthy. The tofu meatballs were pretty good, but I was surprised by the very soft tofu inside – fully silken, runny tofu. The phở was alright, not the ost flavorful broth, but fine, not something I’d ru back for, but I’d like to try some other things on the menu. They were out f the dessert we wanted, roasted pear with rice pudding, so we got the kheer, but it wasn’t my favorite – lots of funny bits in it, the rice was a little hard, and it didn’t haves much cinnamon, cardamom and vanilla as I like. The ginger lemonade was refreshing and clearly had fresh ginger, but wasn’t very lemony. I guess overall I’d agree with theeople who y reveres a lack of flavor. Still, as I said, fresh and not objectionable. Nice outdoor patio, and lots of indoor seating, too.

Would give it a 4 but the service was mediocre… the wait for a drink should never be 20 minutes.
Try the Dim Sum vegetable it is soooo good. We ordered the tofu Pad Thai very good. WARNING for those who can’t handle spicy foods don’t order or just ask to eliminate the pepper from the dish.
Try the basil cocktail. It’s outstanding!
The décor is relaxed & comfy. I even dug the damn restrooms. Not a must go but it was nice.

I’ve been to their Manhattan location with the same organization I went with yesterday. There were 12 of us so we had made reservations. I was the first one there and I was early. However, I wasn’t sure whose name the reservation was under. Thankfully, it was under the name of the person who sent out the original Facebook message.
By the time everyone arrived and was seated it was about 15 minutes from the reservation time. They let us linger a bit before asking us what we would like. I ordered the jerk coconut wings with Bhutanese red rice. When I was asked about the type of rice I would want and made my selection of Bhutanese red rice, I was reminded the red rice was one of their «special rices» and there would be an extra charge. I also ordered my first Mimosa ever.
The food took about 40 minutes top come out. The wings were very good with toasted slivered coconut on top. The wings also had a great combination of spices which quite surprisingly tasted close to authentic jerk chicken. The rice had great texture– a little more texture to rice than I’m used to. I wasn’t sure if that’s how the rice is or if it’s how it was cooked. There was a fresh salsa place right under the chicken. This served as a welcome cooling element to the spicy wings.

Let’s start with the good parts, as I want to try to be positive… I really liked the narrow, cylindrical glassware that the various seasonings were in. They were really pretty. The fact that I had to use way too much of them however, clouded this.
Reason? Everything was really bland. Miso soup, bland. Shrimp rice balls, bland. Pad Thai, bland. Other people seemed to like their food, so I guess I was just unlucky. But still, really disappointing.
The service was pretty good. Our waitress was really nice and helpful. And they were good at refilling water. Accommodating the parts of our party that came late too.
It’s cash only, which is annoying. And they charge an automatic gratuity for parties of 6. If they took credit cards and didn’t have an automatic gratuity, they would have gotten more money from us, but it’s their (bad) decision.

Découvert au hasard de notre promenade et aidé par Unilocal,nous voici assis à une table de ce petit restaurant fort sympathique et joliment décorée. Les responsables sont vraiment cool et on y a très bien mangé. Pour nous français, cela faisait du bien manger un plat moins calorique que ce que l’on trouve habituellement sur NYC. Nous nous sommes régalé du début à la fin.

Where to begin? Chicken Salad in a tea cup for $ 6? How about some tea-​smoked salmon with a fistful of miracle whip?
Cute location and décor, dismal menu and service. Price per item is cheap but if you want to actually get filled you are looking at not such a great value.
Service is seriously lacking also. Overall it was a disappointing experience.

Place is off the beaten path in DUMBO. I was served by Ashley for a Sunday brunch with 4 other people. The unlimited mimosa deal for $ 25 is not bad, especially when you figure its bundled with an entrée and an a starter.
Ashley is my girl anytime I go there! I would defintely recommend getting there early as the place will pack out later on. We stayed about 5−6hours, chatted with Ashley, befriended her, and got pitches of mimosa well past the 4pm cut-​off.

You know you’re a foodie when you’re going to a museum filled with food photography. You know you’re a foodie when you do extensive research of an unfamiliar area of NY to find a place to eat.
Plans change, and sometimes you have to go with the flow. That’s when I came across Rice. I saw that it was a Thai restaurant, so right then and there I was somewhat already sold. I browsed their menu online and I was all in. I had already picked out a few key items that stood out, but I should know by now not to do that, as there is always a special menu that throws me off guard.
Prior to the food exhibit, my girlfriend and I needed to refuel. We arrived at the restaurant on a Saturday afternoon around 1 PM. The eatery was busy but we were able to get a table right away. It was then, after being seated that the brunch menu was presented to us, a menu that was not online. This always happens. Leticia has also put so much faith in me now that she trusts me to order for us as we spilt everything. But I was at a crossroad with a few dishes and needed some input. Decisions were made and it was go time. Prior to placing our order though, we were brought two complimentary scones with a lime meringue custard like dipping sauce. At first glances the scones looked flakey, nicely toasted and dusted lightly in powdered sugar. The scones were warm, buttery and flavorful with the mini raisins added in. Nothing beat a bite when it was dipped into the custard, the coolness of the lime played up the buttery flavors.
What I loved the most about this place was that it was mexi-​thai fusion. What a good mix. We ordered one appetizer an arepera, one item off the brunch menu, chilaquiles and one entrée, thai coconut curry with tofu. The arepera was not your standard but still a knockout. The best way I can describe it is like an arepera pizza. The arepera was then topped generously with cheese, grilled corn and a dust of paprika. The arepera was on point too, it was how they are supposed to be made and not with the yellow cornmeal! It was served up with a spicy sauce if you wanted to add a little heat.
The chilaquiles, wow! I was with my foodie friend, per usual, and she knows authentic Mexican food and she said this dish was done up right! The tortilla’s were cut into more of bite sized pieces, and while they had a little fry to them they were a little soggy but still had a crunch to them. Having them be a little soggy also made it easier to get on your folk. While the primary player of this dish was the tortilla chips, there was also a fried egg with a side of guac. And of course you know those tortilla chips were glamed up by a handful of cheese!
Our other entrée was one of my go to’s, thai coconut curry. I love curry and I love coconut. Almost all of their entrée dishes come with rice, hence the name of this eatery. They have about 6 different kinds of rice to choose from. I almost went with a standard but then the black rice with edamame and roasted garlic really caught my eye. I hadn’t really dabbled in black rice before, but the grain is a little longer and it’s almost cooked al dente, at least to me. It had a different taste, one I think I could warm up to if I had more. When added to the curry sauce though, it made everything better!
The restaurant is decorated with huge bags of Rice, it only makes perfect sense. It’s not that big of a location and the tables are a little on top of one another. The staff was attentive and helpful when it came to picking a rice! This joint is cash only so remember that! They do conveniently have an ATM machine right outside. I also thought everything was reasonably priced. Good size portions but more importantly really delicious! Note, had I seen the grade pending sign prior to dining here I think I would have called it off. Hopefully it’s for nothing major!

You can always judge how trendy a place is by the following:
1. How unconventional the bathroom is. It took me way too long to figure out how the door worked/​where the toilet paper was hidden. Weirdly-​shaped sinks are a bonus.
2. Specialization. They often specialize in one random thing, and work really hard to procure the most obscure versions of that thing in existence. Black and red rice? What’s wrong with plain old white or brown?
3. Décor. The weirder/​more striking, the better.
That being said, this place is definitely very, very trendy.
The prices were pretty decent though, for such a trendy place. The food was… interesting, to say the least. Not great, but not exactly terrible. I would call it «unique». My «Indian chicken curry» contained raisins and bananas (?), but sadly not much chicken. Or curry, for that matter: there was no spice to speak of. The side of «mango chutney» was more like mango jam, and I wasn’t sure what exactly I was supposed to do with it. Mix it into the rest of my fruit and rice dish, maybe? The flavors were interesting and different, though I would not necessarily go so far as to use the word «good».
At least the food here comes in small, relatively inexpensive ($ 9) portions (or ~$ 12 for the large). You can try it if you’re feeling adventurous and want something you’ve never tasted before, or if you’re a pregnant woman with cravings for random combinations of flavors.

I really have no idea what people are complaining about. I’ve never had a problem ordering online or by phone and getting delivery (people are probably full of it that are writing of any bad experiences).
their rice is spectacular, delicious and well presented. dishes are gorgeous and tastes amazing. I’m a vegetarian but i had their chicken back when I wasn’t and it was superb. great selection of teas (red fujian and black chai are amazing) as well as soups (butternut squash was some of the best I’ve had including my own homemade).
don’t listen or buy into the negativity and just try it for yourself :)

Delicious watermelon juice and grilled corn (with some type of cheese dusted on top, very tasty!)
Thats where my positive review ends, slow service, food sounds great on paper but fails to deliver.
If I were to ever go back there it would be to grab the corn and juice for takeout and run.

The richest chocolate cupcake in Brooklyn* lives on the dessert menu at Rice, at least for the time being. I want to eat one every day for the rest of my life and not get an ass that looks like the richest chocolate cupcake in Brooklyn, but there are always consequences to every action so bring it on.
Rice achieves perfection in its portion size** (get the small), variety and pricing. I don’t know the formula, but when you take the amount of main dishes and multiply that by the different rices, it probably equals around 7,812. The Chicken Satay is excellent, less spicy than most and the peanut sauce is perfectly blended. The Indian Chicken Curry is also a great choice mixing yogurt, raisins and bananas with chicken and mushrooms. Chicken Lemongrass Salad — good. Beef thai salad — good. Rarely have I not liked something here and with your choice of about seven different rices, you can change your meal every single time you come here and never be disappointed.***
BONUS — they have online ordering, delivery and takeout and the service at the restaurant is friendly and quick.
DOUBLE BONUS — Seriously, the richest chocolate cupcake in Brooklyn is like a Hostess chocolate cupcake, but one that was made by Billy’s, then there are some sprinkles I think and chocolate lava all over the top and onto the plate forming a small, glistening pool of hot chocolate lava that your cupcake is just quietly sitting in. Fortunately for me and unfortunately for the rest of my body, my daughter is the one who made this find, selected it and now must suffer through me talking about it all day and all night until it disappears from the menu and I cry.
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* That is really what it is called.
** Read this as control.
*** Unless you are just one of those people who is always disappointed about everything. Like when your Dad got you exactly what you wanted on your birthday and you were upset that he did not know of the thing you thought of last night in your dreams. Yeah, you may be disappointed at some point.

Well, the night started very well. friends until we decided to go to Rice in DUMBO. Mind you this was around 9pm on a Saturday night. The first hostess was about to seat but we got bumped by a family with a baby. That’s fine since they were there prior to us. She said 20 minutes which seem reasonable so we decided to wait out in the outside bar adjacent to it.
40 minutes passed and we decided to check back in again only to find people were being seat as they come into the door. I asked the host which actually greeted us the first time where he acted completely clueless and went to get another server which had the nerve to say the wait was 10 minutes where the place was ¹⁄₃^rd full. I repeated that is was unacceptable and unless ‘all’ the empty tables were reserved we would happily go else where if they didn’t need the business. We were then promptly seated.
The food took way too long for 3 entrees and 2 appetizers. The food was fine but by this time we were so hungry anything would have been good. The only saving grace… our waitress who was funny, and wonderful through out the meal.
Would I come back to this location… no…would I go to the NoLita one probably. Maybe it was Dumbo maybe it was the full moon outside but the general attitude to the area I can live without.

If you’re planning to eat at Rice, you should be the kind of person who is good at imagining combinations — here’s the test: chicken satay tastes best with _​_​_​rice? If, like me, you chose green rice because you liked the sound of it (rice with cilantro, parsley, and pignoli), you could be wrong. All of this to say, you need to know how to navigate the menu, and how to pick a winning combination.
We started with the shrimp dumplings which were relatively tasteless (we inhaled them due to intense hunger). I was impressed by the portion size (six dumplings per order) but much less impressed by the taste (perhaps these dumplings would have more flavor and texture if pan-​fried.)
Onto the main course: The satay (in a unremarkable and overly thick peanut sauce) and green rice was not a winning combination; the veggie meatballs with Lebanese rice, however, was a far tastier marriage. Neither was impressive enough, though, to warrant another trip to Rice.
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As other reviewers note: cash only (ATM conveniently located at restaurant entrance).

I’ve been a big defender of Rice for years… YEARS… but my last meal there was embarrassingly undefendable. I still think the items I regularly order are delicious (veggie meatballs
asian slaw, mescal salad, and eggplant maki) but the brunch service at this location is as poor as the mirror placement in the bathroom.
My friend attempted to order the scones, but the waiter informed him we would be receiving them free as an appetizer so there was no need to order them. Cool right… well it would have been cool if we had ever received them. After asking numerous times throughout the meal, the waiter finally brought them out AFTER OUR CHECK, aka: the opposite of cool.
Much of the food showed up with haphazard timing and inevitably cold. We had to repeatedly ask for the side of bacon that we DID actually order

My Frittata with greens and cheese in sweet chili sauce was cold… like the melted cheese on top had congealed into a ridged blanket encasing my also cold eggs.
Only the Chilaquiles with fried eggs
and the Poached eggs over arepas with hollandaise
arrived in a palatable fashion.
I also attempted to order the Pullman toast with honey and peanut butter, which as you can see from my previous brunches here
comes with this ridiculously supple white creamed honey and smooth as silk peanut butter, or at least it use to. This time it showed up with just the peanut butter, a total dry-​city combination. When I asked for the honey, per the menu, I was brought regular golden sticky stuff and the waiter looked at me like I was a loon as I tried to explain the honey I really wanted, which I never got.
Rice, I still love you, but your brunch is a disaster…