Rice Junkies

3535 SE Hawthorne blvd

Date of Visit: November 23, 2009

Price for 2: $16.50

The first time I went to Rice Junkies I had gotten a thai chicken wrap. I think it was an homage-order to the weird-hippie-burrito place we used to go to in Burlington, VT, because that’s what I always got there. And like the food at the weird-hippie-burrito place it wasn’t really that great. My main complaint people there was too much tortilla and it wasn’t heated up enough to be soft.

So on this visit, I figured I’d give one of the bento bowls a shot. They basically have the option of any sort of bento (basically meat and rice) you could ever want, including a Mexican-style one. After I got done being confused by that option in a very Asian-seeming place (there was even a bit of a language barrier with the ordering process), I went with the gyoza and yakisoba combo. It was hardly bento at all but it sounded delicious.

Jared got a kung pao tofu wrap, which came out a few minutes before my bowl (even though we ordered them on the same ticket.) Unfortunately, it was actually chicken, which they apologized for profusely and quickly re did. But the tables turned as I then got my food before him and quickly doused it in the plethora of sauces provided (yum, spicy peanut sauce.) Basically what I got was noodles with vegetables that provided a bed for 4 pieces of chicken gyoza. It was visually appealing and tasted damn good. No complaints from me.

Once Jared got his correct order he was also happy. The wrap (I kept calling it a burrito and he yelled at me because it was offensive to his deep Hispanic heritage apparently) was “spicy, but not too spicy” and very-Americanized, but overall good. We both left happy and full and the price was definitely right. After this trip I’ll give this place a stamp of approval.

Speed: Quick, but not timed well

Veggie options: Pretty much everything on the menu had a veggie option, except the gyoza