I really hate to be THAT person that gives a bad review. But when it warrants it, I just can't help it. We chose Rice House because I had heard from several people in the area that this was hands down the BEST Chinese restaurant around (family members included).
After a long Saturday, the hubby and I headed out for a late dinner. The restaurant was about half-full with the empty tables still with the last guests plates there.
We were seated after a few minutes of standing in the doorway. The waitress took our drink order promptly ... but the service was a bit rough after that. With a Thai/Chinese combined menu, it took a few minutes but we ironed out our orders. It also took a bit for the waitress to return to take our food orders. She kind of seemed lost.
I ordered the steamed dumplings as an app and the Pad Woon Sing with Shrimp (which is "Bean thread noodle stir-fried w. eggs and variety of fresh vegs in sweet soy sauce") for an entree. The hubby got steak on a stick as an app and sesame chicken as an entree.
If we were rating on appetizers alone, this would have been a 3-star review. The steamed dumplings were hot, flavorful and I loved the sauce to dip in. The Steak on a stick tasted off and were not up to par when compared to other steak-on-a-sticks.
Then, the entrees came out. The sesame chicken looked good but the rice served along side it was only about a cup's worth if that. This is called the "Rice House", right? The Pad Woon Sing just looked so not appetizing on the plate. It looked like dog food almost, slop at its worst. The shrimp were hidden by the noodles and sauce.
Then we tasted the entrees - the Pad Woon Sing was edible but extremely salty (I mean wow salty) and repeated on me all night into the next day to the point were I thought I was going to be ill.
The sesame chicken was disgusting. Most of the pieces served contained grizzle, not even real chicken meat. And the pieces were over-breaded, causing the chicken to not even cook properly. The chicken itself was drowning in the sauce to the point were it was no longer appetizing ... It was gross. Hubby ate his rice and left half of the chicken behind.
The price for two entrees and two appetizers came out to over $37, which is extremely expensive (can you say overpriced much)? This is North Port, not Manhattan. Not to mention the food quality is so subpar you should pay people to eat it not charge them outrageous prices. I will definitely NEVER return here or recommend it to anyone I come in contact with. Stay away, far far away. read more