Rice Kitchen

Small, intimate, cozy restaurant serving modern Vietnamese dishes. The dishes are of excellent quality although one or two dishes can be improved. The soba is refreshing whereas the hash brown is very unique with Glutinous rice in it. The sauce condiments that come with most dishes are top notch. Pho can be improved though as it is quite plain. Food - 9 Service - 10 Vibe - 9 Price - $$$

Along the busy sidewalks of Clarendon Street, it is easy to be lured into many of the flashy establishments at night. Thankfully tonight I was lured in by the simplicity of Rice Kitchen. A clean and bare restaurant awaits, with a lean and health-concious menu that is light, refreshing, and packed with flavour. I ordered the Lemongrass Duck which was served on neat mound of buckwheat soba, finished off with a healthy handful of edemame. The sauce was salty and just the perfect mix to round of the chilli that I threw into the bowl. Definitely coming back. Skip the flashy places. Come to this clean, quiet, comforting bit of paradise.

I went with a couple of friends for dinner last night and it was DELICIOUS. It looks unassuming, but don’t be fooled. I had the freshest, tastiest rice paper rolls and a fantastic spicy beef salad (be warned though, it lived up to its name). Great choices for vegans and veggies. I do wish they had a few more items on their menu (for example the sharing plates looked amazing but they weren’t available as smaller dishes). Will be back again for a bowl of Pho when I’m around South Melbourne again.