Restaurant Review: Rice Bar
319 Augusta Ave.
416-922-RICE (7423)
Price Range: $10-15 for a complete meal, alcohol free.
Vegetarian | Antibiotic-free | Free Range
Where: Kensington, north end of Augusta
Basic Theme: Choose your own combo rice dishes + organic.
Ambience: Laid back, somewhere between hippy and hipster. I found the 3-D cardboard puzzles of animal heads mounted on the south wall particularly amusing. Rice bar might pass for a Spring Rolls on a $500 interior design budget. The seating&mdash composed of wooden benches and stackable chairs-could leave tender butts uncomfortable, so wear an extra sweater if in need of padding.
Patrons: I certainly brought the average age of the patrons up, at least until eight, when people with more grey hair than I started strolling in. Most of the people there before 8 belonged to the artsie/hippy/hipster segment of the population, singly and in various gender pairings. After 8 a family came in, which widened the age spread to the 3-60+ range.
Food: I had a tasty medium vegetarian stew on wild rice for $9; I could've done fine with the small, as it turns out! Tasty!
I had a mud slide smoothie before my meal, concocted with strawberry, orange, banana and cocoa in yogurt--soy milk & cow milk were also available.
In general, you choose a protein--chicken, beef, shrimp, or tofu; choose a carbohydrate--jasmine rice, wild rice, infused rice, or rice noodles; choose a sauce from about twenty; then pick vegies and garnishes. They also have a lovely selection of rice puddings.
Service: The service was reasonably good, but on a Monday night, the place is only half full. On the plus side, they also didn't make a big deal of me staying here for a long time on my laptop while I was there.
Overall: I dig the place. I picked it because they have free wireless and I was in the neighbourhood anyways, but it's certainly better than my alternative venue (The Fox & Fiddle) would've been.
416-922-RICE (7423)
Price Range: $10-15 for a complete meal, alcohol free.
Vegetarian | Antibiotic-free | Free Range
Where: Kensington, north end of Augusta
Basic Theme: Choose your own combo rice dishes + organic.
Ambience: Laid back, somewhere between hippy and hipster. I found the 3-D cardboard puzzles of animal heads mounted on the south wall particularly amusing. Rice bar might pass for a Spring Rolls on a $500 interior design budget. The seating&mdash composed of wooden benches and stackable chairs-could leave tender butts uncomfortable, so wear an extra sweater if in need of padding.
Patrons: I certainly brought the average age of the patrons up, at least until eight, when people with more grey hair than I started strolling in. Most of the people there before 8 belonged to the artsie/hippy/hipster segment of the population, singly and in various gender pairings. After 8 a family came in, which widened the age spread to the 3-60+ range.
Food: I had a tasty medium vegetarian stew on wild rice for $9; I could've done fine with the small, as it turns out! Tasty!
I had a mud slide smoothie before my meal, concocted with strawberry, orange, banana and cocoa in yogurt--soy milk & cow milk were also available.
In general, you choose a protein--chicken, beef, shrimp, or tofu; choose a carbohydrate--jasmine rice, wild rice, infused rice, or rice noodles; choose a sauce from about twenty; then pick vegies and garnishes. They also have a lovely selection of rice puddings.
Service: The service was reasonably good, but on a Monday night, the place is only half full. On the plus side, they also didn't make a big deal of me staying here for a long time on my laptop while I was there.
Overall: I dig the place. I picked it because they have free wireless and I was in the neighbourhood anyways, but it's certainly better than my alternative venue (The Fox & Fiddle) would've been.