I needed dinner. As do most people. Rice Queen sounded pretty cool, so I decided to have a nice meal here on a relaxing Saturday night.
See, I pass Rice Queen everyday to and from Uni and every time I pass by that place, I feel drawn in because of the amount of people waiting outside. This is classic me assuming that the food here is good. When there are people clumping around something, there will be good food. Or cheap food. Whatever.
It being an Oriental Bar and all, I expected well.. more asians. To my surprise, there were none. And then there was me. LOL. But all good, no hate on who God create. I was just surprised that's all.
The atmosphere when you walk in is pretty chill. Lots of chinese, japanese and korean memorabilia on the inside, hanging on walls. Even the plants.. asian- like. Very true to the theme of the place. Pretty cool I might say. It also had a western feel to it. Mainly because, well, everyone inside were caucasians and there was a big bar on the side which is sooo what you won't find in Asia.
The food, was needless to say, pretty good. I wouldn't say it was authentic Asian cuisine, like the ones you'd find back home (for me), but still, pretty good for something you'd find in Melbourne.
We started with their Korean Fried Chicken. Crsipy chicken ribs which tasted like cayenne overdose (good thing). I liked how it wasn't oily. Also, the onion bits were delish. The mint sauce was unnecessary though. The ribs were nice just on it's own, but that's just me. Some people like their sauces.
Seven spice crispy chicken ribs tossed with onions and dried chillies. Served with mint sauce ($8 for 5 pieces, $15 for 10 pieces)
Slowly after, our mains arrived. We had their Pad Thai, and Salt and Pepper Chicken Salad which was on special. LOL totally almost wrote "which was on sale". HAHA.
Their pad thai was tasty. Then again, you can never go wrong with pad thai. The noodles were a bit sticky, so hmm.. yeah. Their chicken salad tasted pretty alright too. Crispy chicken and some greens. Nothing can go wrong, really. Although the sauce kind of reminded me of Yee Sang which you can get in Malaysia. Weird. Reminded me of home for a second there.
Right: Pad thai noodles (chicken, vegan or vegetarian) with chicken, egg, peanuts, bean shoots and spring onions. ($17)
Left: Salt and peppered chicken on a bed of bean shoots, mint and coriander. Dressed with soy and sour sauce. ($16)
After having the mains, my friend and I decided to try their desserts. They were very well described on their menu and it was just way too tempting to deny. Needless to say, the steal of the night were the desserts.
The pandan sago was delicious. Because of the coconut sorbet on top, some of the sago pearls were a bit frozen which made the texture of the sago just.. ah, it was a party in my mouth. It was also well-complimented with the gula melaka and crispy, toasted desiccated coconut. Definitely a MUST TRY.
Pandan sago with coconut sorbet, drizzled treacle, crowned in lime syrup. ($9)
Probably named wrongly because the 'treacle' should really be called Gula Melaka in this context, and I didn't taste the lime syrup AND they forgot to mention it was sprinkled with toasted desiccated coconut. Urgh.
We also had the coconut cheesecake which was very nice. You could actually taste the cheese in this one. Which I like. The texture was so smooth it was unbelievable. After passing through the smooth top, you hit the crumbly pastry below which is just heaven. Very nice dessert. Although if you're watching your weight, probably skip this one. The cheese in that is enough to clog everything.
Coconut- Lime Cheesecake with mango ($7.5)
Didn't taste like mango. Awks.
Despite the 'errors' in the desserts which ticked me a bit, I had a good time. Amazing atmosphere and good food. All in all, a very nice place. I would love to come back again.
7/10
389 Brunswick St, Fitzroy.
VIC 3065
P: 9419 6624
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