The Rice Pot

Not bad… But not «wow» either. I had a late lunch at The Rice Pot and it was decent. The place was almost empty when I went, and the service was quite prompt and friendly. I had a Spicy Thai Lemongrass Soup, but you couldn’t taste much lemongrass in there. The chunks of veggies were a little cumbersome, though the chicken was decent. It was hot and fresh, but really needed some adept seasoning.

Having been to this restaurant a couple time for lunch mid week, I thought I would give it another go.
Wasn’t very busy (only 2 other tables) but it was also a Saturday afternoon. Got here at 12:30 and was greeted well. They were doing some cleaning, but that didn’t end up bothering me too much.
Ambiance was clean and minimalist (somewhat modern looking décor).
The menu I was presented with was fairly battered around, but was large in selection. There was a loose leaf page added to the front, detailing what was in the various n-​colour branded vermicelli dishes. This was good due to the lack of information in the menu item itself, and obviously a frequent question for other diners.
I settled on the 5 colour vermicelli. Comes with spring rolls, beef, pork, shrimp, meat ball and vermicelli noodles /​veggies.
I always appreciate getting nutritional information, and was disappointed to find out that this restaurant, as is the case with most others, does not provide any.
The meal came out promptly and the food was hot.
It was served with a fork and knife and at first I was a little confused as I normally eat with chopsticks, but the meat was in large pieces that required cutting.
The noodles were dry, chewy and tasted like they were out of a package or frozen, which was similar to the meat. Wasn’t very fresh at all. The shrimp was served on a skewer, but was obviously deep fried from frozen.
Overall, the service was good, but the food quality poor.

The Rice Pad is close to my parents place so our family often goes for dinner. The food is REALLY good. My favorite things on the menu are the soups and the combo plates.
The portion to price ratio is very good too. You get a lot for what you pay for (a lot of tasty food to bet)!
All in all, a very solid vietnamese restaurant.

I was excited to try this location when it opened up on the West End of town. I’ve probably been to it 5 times in the past year with groups of people from work and once on my own as take out.
In a pinch — it will do — but it lacks the seasoning and flair that I’m used to by local Vietnamese restaurants in China town.
Just like their North end location, I find their sauces — specifically peanut sauce for salad rolls and fish sauce for vermicelli bowls — to be lacking in flavor. I also have found their cuts of meet to be a little on the tough side — specifically beef in the vermicelli bowls — more fat/​grissel than I care for.
Their prices are around $ 2 higher per dish than the prices I am accustomed to from Vietnamese restaurants in China town.
Most of my coworkers enjoyed their meals here which is why we’ve returned in large groups — but my friends/​coworkers that really like Vietnamese food made similar comments regarding the lack of seasoning flavor in the grilled meats.

How do you delicious?! R-​I-​C-​E P-​A-​D!
I really enjoyed my lunch out at The Rice Pad. When I first walked in, my eyes were treated to a wonderfully modern asian chic décor. It was really nice.
Our server was super cute! I just wanted to pinch her cheeks! But I didn’t. I thought that might be awkward. But the service was typical of most VIetnamese restaurants — they take your order and drop off your food and that’s all you see of them the entire time. Luckily the food was really good so we didn’t mind.
I ordered the Chicken Pad Thai and it was really good. I have to say, this was even better than the Pad Thai I had at Sweet Mango, putting this dish as the best Pad Thai in Edmonton (thus far). It was delicious. And the portion was gigantic! I got three meals out of it!
My boyfriend had the Five Color Vermicelli and he gave it ⁸⁄₁₀. And trust me, this guy knows his vermicelli. He’s the unofficial Vietnamese food critic of Edmonton. I tried his dish too and it was really good. I’d have to agree on the ⁸⁄₁₀. His portion was big too. He usually complains about being hungry at the end of his meal when we go out for Vietnamese food but this time, he was completely satisfied.
The presentation of the food was great too — as you can see from the pictures. Everything was really good.

This is the west end location of The Rice Pad, which has had a restaurant on the north side for some time. The menu is quite extensive, and full of Chinese and Vietnamese goodness. There are noodle soups, beef and chicken dishes, vegetarian items, and just about every combination of rice and noodles you can think of.
We started our lunch with an order of green onion cakes. Two huge cakes were served to us in a large soup bowl. The cakes were light and crispy on the outside, but soft and chewy on the inside. Excellent flavour and texture.
I had grilled beef on noodles with spring rolls. The beef was thinly sliced and grilled to perfection, albeit a bit on the smoky side. This smoky flavour and smell penetrated the noodles as well. It was not bad, just a bit exaggerated. Otherwise the meal was great — a goodly portion, lots of noodles, and the veggies were crisp and fresh.
My companion had ginger beef. Although there is a ginger beef on rice, he opted for the meat straight up — I guess he was in a beefy frame of mind. The portion was huge — he could barely finish it — and the ginger beef was extremely crispy. He said he prefers it to be softer, but I think that is a matter of personal taste rather than the quality of the meal.
With a spacious interior and friendly service, The Rice Pad seemed to be hopping with business. The staff there were extremely talkative, with several of them asking us how we enjoyed our meal, and encouraging us to come back. If I find myself shopping in the west end again, I just might.