The Rice Bowl is one of the oldest Chinese restaurant in Bangalore and is part of the Southern Star Hotel. Even though the place might be old, but the food served here is modern. The seating is comfortable, and the décor is light. You will find few Chinese antiques on the walls or hanging from the roof. They even play low volume traditional music from China which really work if you are looking for long conversations.
The place is known for its extended menu options when it comes to Chinese dishes and liquor. The kimchi and a traditional salad is served to all the customers as soon as you make yourself comfortable. We even tried the Tequila Sunrise and the Blue Lagoon. Both the drinks were refreshing and smooth. The Tequila Sunrise had different color layeres on top of one another giving it a sunrise look.
We kicked off this experience with the Manchow Soup. The soup had all the flavors possible and was simply delicious. The noodles were fried to perfection. Next, we had a series of appetizers like the Paneer Manchurian, Crispy Fried Wontons, Marla Tofu, American Corn Salt & Pepper and Vegetable Sui Mai. The Paneer Manchurian was in the dry format and you could taste both the sweet and the sour flavors at the same time. Loved it! The Crispy Fried Wontons were deep-fried dumplings and served with garlic sauce. The Marla Tofu was a sweeter version of deep-fried tofu and then tossed in sauce. The American Corn Salt and Pepper were deep-fried corn and then tossed with onions, chilies and capsicum. Liked it but was missing a pinch of lemon in it. The Vegetable Sui Mai are steamed dumplings with a variety of veggies.
For the main course we had the Burnt Garlic Egg Fried Rice, Rice Bowl Noodles. The Burnt Garlic Fried Rice was simply out of the world as burnt garlic flakes were spread over the top. The noodles were great as well. Each were tossed with a variety of vegetables. All this went well with the Mixed Vegetables sauce which had veggies like broccoli, babycorn among others.
The desserts at The Rice Bowl are really to look forward to. We tried their house made Tiramisu, Mango Cheese Cake and Red Velvet Cheese Cake. Each of these cakes were served with the same flavor of sauce on the side. The Tiramisu was fresh and the whole thing came together so well. My personal favorite was the Mango Cheese Cake as it had a thick layer of mango flavor cheese on a layer of biscuit crumble. The Red Velvet was amazing as well. The Rice Bowl also serves a variety of macaroons and chocolates to all customers at the end making things even more sweeter!!
The service at The Rice Bowl was without any complain and the good things here was the fact that the staff members knew about the dishes being served inside out. Special mention for Mr.Brian who personally made sure we had a good time!
The Rice Bowl – Scorecard –
Food/Taste – 8/10
Service – 8/10
Value for Money – 8/10
Ambiance – 8/10
Quantity/Quality – 8/10
Overall Rating – 4.0/5
No doubt a legendary Chinese Restaurant in all respects!
