Phenomenal sushi and amazing Chinese food. Super strong cocktails. Highly recommend read more

Rice Valley - Gracenote Finale and Spider Maki - Chinese Near Me - Newton, Massachusetts

During this Coronavirus quarantine, our family has been patronizing local restaurants for take-out, many we've never tried before. Based on reviews, we decided to try out Rice Valley yesterday. While it wasn't BAD, it certainly was disappointing. Undercooked and smallish dumplings, overcooked and dry salt-n-pepper shrimp, overly doughy and heavy chicken fingers and fried shrimp, sparse and bland crab Rangoon and blah General Tso Chicken. The egg rolls were awful, dry and small like freezer case rolls from the supermarket. Some high points were the fried rice and lo mein, and the scallion pancakes. We felt everything was overpriced--both for quantity and quality. Down the street is Zheng Garden, which we tried last week. EVERYTHING was much better (except the scallion pancakes -stay away), and less money. read more

Definitely a higher quality Chinese food place than your average. The food is very good and prepared better than most other places I've gone to. The Wok is still the gold standard but Rice Valley can be my backup side piece. One thing worth noting is that a few times I've been here and had their scorpion bowls with my now wife, we had to have a friend come pick us up they were so strong. I went here more recently and they seemed to have been toned down but the other two times I'd gone in the last year and a half just sharing one and a half almost knocked us on our asses. They recently opened up a sushi bar inside the restaurant and while it isn't bad it isn't destination worthy for sushi either. If you're coming here I'd come for the Chinese food and leave it at that. They do that very well and I think they may be working through some growing pains with their endeavor into sushi. But again, take your time with the scorpion bowls, it could have just been a strong mix when we first went here but better to pace yourself so you don't have to make yourself leave in a cab. read more

Went here for birthday drinks. Ordered the Scorpion Bowl. The service was terrible: no one to be found =poor service! The drink was sub-par! All juice and very little alcohol! I don't know how this place stays in business with a staff that is not putting their customers as their number 1 priority! read more

Had been there years ago and had been meaning to get back. Went with my wife and son for a late dinner. Restaurant was sparsely populated at around 9:15pm on a Saturday night (there was a boisterous bar scene in the small bar area.) I ordered a zombie and got what I generously call a "high ball" glass (it was more like an extended shot glass. It was the smallest Zombie I'd ever seen. What a rip-off! I also expected some sort of tropical glass for such a drink.) On top of it, the bartender royally messed this up - it was the WORST zombie I've ever tasted. The waiter did take it back with no issues and I ordered something else. Chicken fingers are among the best I've had in a while (very hot, tasty and crunchy with moist chicken.) The boneless spare ribs, ordered well-done, were just OK and a bit dried out even for being ordered well-done. Chix fried rice was just OK and the five fragrance shrimp was also just so so. (My wife and son liked the meal more than I.) Service was pretty prompt, but cold. I would not rush back. read more

Been a customer for many years, ordered take out again last night and was very pleased once again. My regular order is the scallion pancake, general gau's chicken, then some combination of the chicken fingers, mooshi, or lo mein - half peking duck on rare occasions. When I order with a group I have never heard a complaint with any menu item. Only times I have experienced more than an 20-25 minute wait for pick-up is around a holiday or other major event, which speaks to how popular they are (and rightfully so). I have seen many restaurants unfortunately lose some quality during the pandemic, I haven't seen that here. Actually, since I don't spend as much time in their neighborhood as I used to, I now often drive out of my way to get their food since the quality of a similar restaurant seemed to drop. Rice Valley has been a "comfort food" staple for me and I hope it will remain one for years to come. read more

Luncheon special with crab rangoon? I think so! I support Rice Valley's rangoon, which are the right mix of gooey, crabby, crunchy, and yummy. West Newton is not exactly a shangri-la for lunch time dining, but this place will hit the spot. Choose from 20 or so lunch plates with choice of soup, one appetizer and steamed or fried rice, in the neighborhood of $7-8 dollars. They also have paper table cloths that list funny chinese cocktails. read more

Our second time recently. The food is outstanding and service/selection top notch. Had great PP platter. Everything made in house from scratch ingredients. Hot and Sour Wonton soup is worth drive. How does anybody not already do this? Entrees were the chicken with mixed vegetables over noodles, BBQ beef and pork fried rice. The Mai Tia drinks were made with fresh fruit and great. Service great and hope to be back soon. read more

This place is my go-to for Chinese food, but I drove by a couple days ago and noticed the huge sign announcing that they were serving sushi now. I decided to stop by and try it out with a friend (clever sign by the way, gotta love puns). I didn't think they'd be able to fit a full sushi bar into the dining area but they did it and it looks amazing. The sushi bar is very aesthetically pleasing and is well lit. Bravo! As for the sushi, I ordered The Dark Knight, Donnie Darko, and The Spotless Mind. All of them were spot on and delicious, especially the Spotless Mind with the lightly seared salmon on top. The waitress was extremely attentive and nice and the overall experience was just great! Will definitely start making more frequent trips back here for the sushi and the Chinese food. The sushi bar was a great addition! read more

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Low mall quality food at gourmet prices.

I thought the food was slightly expensive for what you got. However, I liked the fact that upon leaving, I didn't have the "heavy" feeling in my tummy that you do after going to some Chinese restaurants. I think it's because the dishes were light on the sauce. I ordered the scallops with beef dish, which I was delighted to see came with veggies. However, I didn't enjoy the scallops, I didn't think they did anything special to them and would just get the beef next time. I enjoyed the General Gao's chicken, which was a slightly different recipe to what I was accustomed to. A good place for an occasional treat. read more

We used to frequent this place for the mai tai and apps, and for the occasional takeout and lunch/dinner till they raised their prices. Stopped going until my son needed a place close by. At 6pm restaurant was empty. Food was okay, overpriced for average portions. read more

Why ask a person there food allergies and still cook the food with what they are allergic too? Waste of my $ and it could have made my child very sick or worst. My son looked forward to eating the food cause it's not something he can eat all the time. Never ordering from here again read more

Rice Valley is one of the nicer, slightly more upscale Chinese restaurants in the area. Take the negative reviews about the waiters here with a grain of salt, I've always found them polite and approachable. I have witnessed other fellow diners being rude and condescending at the slightest misunderstanding, which obviously sours communications (especially since some waiters' English isn't perfect). Respect goes both ways. The food is light, healthy, and tasty, which gets major brownie points from me. For example, instead of canned baby corn, they chop up real cobs. They also have a steamed option for many of their dishes, which are thankfully not bland. For health reasons, I at times try to avoid the fried batter dishes, and I really like their steamed versions here. The portions here are large, as they're meant to be shared family style. The noodle and rice dishes are my go-to's for take out when I have guests over. Same goes for the classic protein dishes like beef with broccoli and chicken with cashews. I have tried most of their specialty dishes and appetizers, and have enjoyed them all. They come out sizzling hot and hit the spot. The sizzling mongolian beef and peking duck are a must here. I don't even remember how many times I've ordered them. I also love that the restaurant is open during Christmas and New Year's. However, it does get very crowded as it is one of the only restaurants open in the area. I would definitely recommend this restaurant to anyone craving good Chinese food in the area. read more

One of the best Chinese food restaurants that I've been to! We recently started coming to this restaurant and it's just right! The Shrimp Lo Mein is amazing! I also have to say, the sushi guy that is there makes the best sushi so, if your in the Newton area and, want some sushi, I recommend you come here! read more

Ordered take-out tonight from rice valley, and was really disappointed with the quality of food. I ordered the general gau's chicken and crispy sesame chicken, and the bill was ~$30 plus a $4 delivery fee. Food arrived 75-80 minutes after placing the order, and consisted of two containers of cold chicken. $34 for two normal-size take-out containers of cold, not crispy (actually soggy), heavily breaded and drowning in thick sauce chicken, with no sides other than a fortune cookie. I hate writing bad reviews, but the food quality was awful and prices are absurdly high for what you get. Wouldn't recommend, and certainly won't be back. read more

Great food for the price! Wonder food. Staff needs to bE a-bit more attentive. Aside from that the food is wonderful

They accidentally delivered someone else's food in addition to my food, of which I opened thinking it was mine. The delivery driver then called me shortly thereafter telling me he was returning to deliver the food to the correct house. He arrived at my door and after repeatedly letting him know that it was unethical, disgusting and probably illegal to take this food back out of my house and delivery it, he chose to do so anyway. I will be taking my business and my health elsewhere moving forward. read more

Average at best. Clearly the chefs have little or no passion for their jobs otherwise I really think that they'd try to make an effort to churn out better tasting food. The chicken dish I had was very dry and blend, along with the rest of the meal. A real shame really because the location is ideal and there's a ton of street parking. The rice was well cooked though and redeemed them just a bit and the service was pretty good as well. As far as prices go, they are aren't bad but I'd much have rather paid a little more and get a higher quality food served to me. Oh well... read more

Boston has some of the worst chinese. Really it is pretty bad. Rice Valley was a nice change from the places where you cannot tell what kind of meat it is deep fried in all the goo. We ordered crab rangoon, shrimp fried rice and sesame chicken. Crab Rangoon Good, hot, could have used a little more crab but overall pretty good and not too greasy! Shrimp fried rice Delicious. It did not taste chinese however. It tasted very indian. I swore I could taste curry. It was great but not what I expected. Sesame chicken I could eat this every day. Perfectly fried, great sesame sauce and all white meat! I loved this dish. The service was quick and the waiter was attentive. The tables are super close together and some huge italian family was seated all around us yelling at each other. It was not romantic but I think this is a great option for a fun dinner. They have a fried duck and a whole crispy fish I really want to go back and try. Parking is easy and the location is great. It was yummy and we will be back! read more

Extremely Disappointing. We have been coming here for ages and always found it very reliable. Not fabulous but steady and generally good. Today we ordered the chicken with cashews and it was awful. More than half of it was giant chunks of celery and a good part of what was left was green pepper. When I opened it I was sure it was the wrong dish. There were maybe three cashews in the entire thing, most of those in small broken pieces. Worst of all it was swimming in what looked like soup, a completely tasteless brownish sauce with zero flavor. I would never return to have this dish again, absolutely terrible, tasteless and not worth half of what I paid. read more

I love this place so much!! the staff are so nice to us and the service is so quick! every time me and my family go there we take a seat at the same table every time (our favorite table) and the waitress that serves us remembers how we like our food cooked! i always love how fresh and aromatic the food is and there is virtually nothing bad on the menu whatsoever. whatever i order i always know it will be amazing and my family will love it too! 5 stars without a doubt!! read more

There are not a lot of good chinese food options in the Brighton area where I live. The majority of places are meant for late night drunks, and it only tastes good past 2am!!! While I can't lie and say I don't eat them, I would never order them for a real meal before the wee hours of the morning!! Rice Valley, on the other hand, only a few minutes from Brighton in Newton...is my fave chinese food in the area. I have only sat at the bar or done takeout. Each time my food has been ready very quickly. The boneless spare ribs are SUPERB! They taste like they are coated in brown sugar, and taste better than some pricey Chinese food establishments in Brookline or outside the city. They are literally, THE best. Everything else I have tried here has been awesome as well. Prices are definitely reasonable. If you are craving Chinese and in this area, I definitely recommend giving Rice Valley a try. read more

The food, service, and environment was amazing. The staff were so friendly and the food was super yummy! I will definitely be coming back to Rice Valley, and I also recommend this restaurant to everyone! read more

Solidly expensive and terrible. First of all, the food doesn't come with rice- why on earth does Chinese food come with no rice? You have to pay extra and they don't let you know ahead of time. The food is tasteless and best, the scallion pancakes were soggy, the tofu dish was kind of like sloppy joe meat with tofu in it? On the plus there were lots of vegetables in the chicken dishes. In all - Weak weak weak. Everything was weak. read more

The STEAMED dumplings were the best thing I have eaten all week. The FRIED dumplings were also very good, but the steamed is where it's at. The sesame chicken was delish, and the Mongolian beef was good. Overall they have great STEAMED dumplings, and combined with the chicken it makes a great meal. read more

Veggie lo mein is my typical go-to dish when I get Chinese food. I ordered from Rice Valley for the first time and instead of the veggie lo mein that I ordered, I just got a bunch of lo mein noodles. Not one veggie in sight. Not a scallion, celery, or bean sprout (what I find are the typical veggie lo mein veggies) in the entire container. Just noodles. Did I just pay $9.50 for a bunch of noodles? Also the fact that the white rice is $1.75 and comes in a small container makes it bit overpriced. Come on, it's WHITE RICE. It's cheap. You can give me a big container for $1.75 and you're still making a large profit margin. The scallion pancakes were the only good part of my meal. They were thick, chewy, and not too greasy. They came with the typical dipping sauce which was also tasty. My search for a good Chinese take-out place in Newton continues... read more

Mixed reaction - hot & sour soup was fine ... and the moo "shi" pork was good ... it was spicy, just as advertised. However the: - chicken "fingers" with sweet & sour sauce were mediocre at best, and pot-stickers unexceptional read more

Unacceptable to call sushi rolls after Holocaust movies. "Schindler's List" is totally inappropriate, and "Life is Beautiful" is questionable at best. I get the old movie theme, but...come on. read more

Horrible!!!!!!!! I liked this place but it dove in quality. We ordered sesame chicken and there was NO chicken. Just fried breeding. Stay away. 1 star is too generous. read more

Love this place. It's our go to for Chinese Food. We've brought friends and family here and always have great service and excellent food. The bean pot is amazing, the hot & sour soup is second to none, crab rangoons are freshest possible and the Mai Tai is always spot on. See Summer at the bar, she's great! read more

I get the sense that this is a local place where people go to get their favorites, and that's okay. But the thing is, I've been to local places that are local favorites, that still make good food. I've even reviewed a few places like that. The location is nice, the decor is okay. The service was fine. But the food was bad. The crab rangoon barely pretended to have any crab flavor. My sesame chicken was drowned in a really aggressive "orange" sauce, and had a desultory handful of sesame seeds tossed on top. My wife's crispy angel hair with shrimp was nice and crunchy, but completely bland. Large portions, but extra mediocre is still mediocre, so it's still overpriced based on overall experience. This seems like the sort of place that is coasting, food wise, because no one else has entered the neighborhood and offered something better. Just not worth eating there. read more

Very impressed with this place! We live in the neighborhood (recently moved here) and were in the mood for Chinese food. We had seen Rice Valley, but never went. After looking at its Yelp page we decided to give it a shot...and it was great! To start we had steamed dumplings and crab rangoon, beef teriyaki & chicken fingers. Loved the steamed dumpling (labeled ravioli on menu). For our main meal we went with our simple Chinese food favorites, general gao chicken and lo mein. The lo mein was a favorite for sure. We both got mai tais to drink...thumbs up! The atmosphere was warm, clean and inviting. We will be back! read more

I like this place. It's certainly a hundred times better than its predecessor Golden Star. Pretty much your standard Polynesian-style Chinese restaurant. They handle groups very well, my lodge has come here a couple times and we got very good service. They do all the basic entrees reasonably well. They're not particularly creative and most of the dishes don't really blow me away, but you get your money's worth because they're using fresh, quality ingredients, not mushy canned vegetables like Golden Star used to serve (here's a tip for any aspiring restaurant owners: when the carrots are in tiny little cubes, customers can tell). However, there was one dish that DID blow me away: the House Special Fish Filet. OH MY GOD IT'S AMAZING. The cod tasted like it was swimming in the ocean an hour before they cooked it! read more

Absolutely love Rice Valley. Been coming here for years for takeout, Sushi and love stopping in the lounge for the Mai Tai. They keep churning out awesome Chinese food staples during the stay at home order. Fresh food and super friendly people! You can go for a Pu Pu platter one day, Sushi the next. read more

I agree with the Kristine M this was the most bland, dry, tasteless Chinese food in the area. And how could I forget the overpriced bill. We had the Pu Pu Platter. Oily Chicken Fingers, Dry Spare Ribs that tasted like they were deep fried to be reheated, Spring Rolls made with just cabbage and a few shreds of carrot. To preface the following review, house specials should be the best dishes a restaurant can offer, because they have taken extra care and time to perfect the dish. What a disappointment at Rice Valley. Mongolian beef that was a house special but tasted like an afterthought. This was suppose to be spicy, but instead we got something that tasted like someone dropped some ketchup in for sauce. Yuk! House special fried rice that was white rice with a little salt added bits of chicken, small shrimp, scrambled egg, and peas (that were undercooked). I usually give a place a second try when they don't meet my expectations, but when a restaurant can't get their house specials right something is definitely wrong. STAY AWAY! read more

Sad I used to enjoy the food here.Reasonably priced and good quality.Two days ago ,I did take out ,Shrimp & lobster sauce ,Beef mushroom chow yoke and rice.The shrimp & lobster sauce 80% liquid very little meat ,a total disappointed.Mushroom chow yoke ,loads of mushrooms ,little beef .What a disappointment .Great place once, lousy now.They must be cutting corners ,don't bother with this place . read more

We get takeout from Rice Valley pretty consistently. We've tried all the other Chinese food takeout places in the area, and while some of the others are cheaper, Rice Valley has better food, often give you a larger quantity of food, and has been totally hassle free. I love that when you order General Gau's Chicken for takeout, they give you a full takeout container of the chicken and chili sauce, plus a separate box full of steamed broccoli. A lot of places toss in 2 or 3 stems of broccoli, or they take up half the main container with broccoli and skimp on chicken. But Rice Valley is very generous with both! read more

Sushi offerings are brand new as of Fall 2017 and NOT It included in this review. This is our go to takeout Chinese. Sauces are made from scratch and knife work a nice done on fresh vegetables. Szechuan Chicken with Peanuts sauce is light, fresh and full of flavor. That dish is how I measure my Chinese kitchen quality. That or duck tongues...its always a judgment call. read more

Top notch Chinese restaurent . Highly recommend to try it out . Very good experience with staff , professional and pleasant .