rice kitchen

a very cute little cafe / shop on clarendon st. it has a touch of authenticity of vietnamese in all their dishes. we ordered a fewdishesbetween the two of us, and we're pretty full after that! generous servings, delicious meat, and excellent customer service! would definitely go again!

the food is beyond disappointment. this must be one of the most tasteless pho i’ve ever had. it tastes like water with instant pho cube. same goes with the wagyu pho beef. though i chose pho because i want to go safe in viet place.
the service is okay though, apart from the fact that they got our maindishesout first before the entree. i don’t mind at all but it’s sure my husband’s pet peeve.
not recommend and will not come back.

my friends and i celebrated the first day of the lunar new year in a vietnamese restaurant located in south melbourne. i was amazed by the foods at @ricekitchen. the menu is not like other restaurants with only vietnamese specialties: banh mi and pho. it also has a variety ofdishesto eat as a meal or a snack. one of my favorites is pulled jackfruit, apple salad with a rice cracker. 😋

thedishesare creative but not overdone. i can still find and enjoy the original flavours. i'm not a fan of beef pho even when i was in vietnam. i go to rice kitchen for duck noodle salad, young rice popcorn and  iced coffee.

best vietnamese in melbourne. really fresh and thedishesi have never eaten food like this. modern vietnamese get the duck dishes. very friendly staff

arrived with a groupon - $85 to spend on food and drinks (purchased for $55).

i did not think to check the menu this time so expecteddishesto be $20-25 and there would be alcoholic drinks, so it would easy to spend $85. we ordered waay too much food for two people. service was lovely, and food came out quickly. 

definitely come here with a group of friends to try out the different dishes.

drinks came first. 
vietnamese iced coffee - flavours were nice but disappointed that it was not freshly made.

house-made coconut lemonade - refreshing, unique flavour.

beef stew with pho - the meat melts in your mouth and carrot was soft. however, the broth was lacking in flavour.

hanoi crab and pork fried rice paper spring rolls - the filling was missing flavour but tasted alright when dipped in the fish sauce.

bun cha pork bao buns - favourite dish. the baos were soft and fluffy and the cha (pork patty) flavours were balanced with the salad. probably would have tasted better if i had eaten them when they were warm (my fault, there was so much food).

grilled lemongrass duck with banh hoi - the meat was dry but when you wrap it up and dip it in the fish sauce it tasted okay. didn't enjoy the salad. it had pickled ginger (japanese style) which isn't vietnamese-like. it would have been better if it was a vietnamese salad such as goi/nom

by this point i thought everything had arrived but there was still more...

rice flake prawn popcorn with salad - this was different. the popcorn had a slightly chewy texture. did not have a strong prawn flavour or many prawns. again, the salad dressing was too strong and reminded me of japanese flavours.

fresh pho rolls with tender beef with daikon, carrot & thai basil with fish sauce - by the time we got to this dish, we were sooo full. the meat was dry but when dipped in fish sauce, it helped. i don't like having to rely on fish sauce to give a dish its flavour, and this was the case; as the spring rolls.

the restaurant is trying to be creative with their dishes, which is awesome but somedishesare missing the traditional vietnamese flavours. 

also, they have reusable takeaway containers which i've never seen before in a restaurant. you pay a deposit and upon returning your container, it is refunded to you. this should be encouraged, especially if you go past the area or to the restaurant regularly. kudos for trying to reduce your waste!

small, intimate, cozy restaurant serving modern vietnamese dishes. thedishesare of excellent quality although one or twodishescan be improved. the soba is refreshing whereas the hash brown is very unique with glutinous rice in it. the sauce condiments that come with mostdishesare top notch. pho can be improved though as it is quite plainn

no better way to end the week than a vietnamese feast at rice kitchen🤤! i’ve always been a critique for vietnamese food and the words i can think of to describe rice kitchen is; explosive flavors🔥, fresh ingredients and a whole lot of love❤️! the 2 must havedisheshas to be the fried chicken and popcorn prawns 🍤😍!

3 pax voucher dinner (4th backed out last moment) saturday night. staff were very accomodating despite booking mix up, my fault totally.
food was fanta-bulous! bun cha pork bao bun, grilled chicken bao bun, grilled oyster sauce ox tail (ranked 2nd), lemongrass duck, lemongrass lamb ribs (our favourite!), banana leaf barramundi, fish sauce chicken ribs (3rd), and wagyu beef pho.
thedishespresented exactly like the pictures in the menu. we had a feast and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. took home unfinished food, too much for us.

wait staff was friendly too, chatted with us, enquired about the food, you could see they took pride in their work.

all in, merits a return visit! and recommendation to friends!