Pudding On the Rice

Not a Surprise! Good Riddens!

This place is closed? Bummer! I’ve never had rice pudding as delicious as this, and I’m unsure I ever will again. Please re open, or atleast publish your recipes online.

I’m surprised this rice pudding place is closed! I’ve been here several times with my boyfriend and had a pleasant experience each time. My first impression was: CUTE. I loved the décor and the shop was nice and clean. The staff was very friendly and helpful. They gave us samples of the different rice pudding flavors. The raspberry chocolate rice pudding was great, but the pistachio rice pudding was even better. Hopefully they open up one day in a new location because I thought the concept of a cutesy rice pudding shop was quite unique, as there are really no rice pudding shops that I know of in the Portland area.

I’m aware that this place is now closed, but I was thinking of it today as I tried a new creperie to fill the void.
Believe it or not, the Pudding on the Rice crepes were the first I ever had. When I first visited two years ago, they had a chicken caesar salad-​esque crêpe that I adored, and I would typically stop by every couple weeks for one and occasionally grab a rice pudding. It was good times.
…However, the girls who worked there the last few times I visited were some of the meanest servers I’ve ever seen. My last visit was about six months ago — the girl taking my order looked at me in disgust and was condescending towards any and all customers who dared walk through the door. I couldn’t bring myself to come back — especially since they took my crêpe off the menu and decimated the list of savory options.
Pudding on the Rice helped opened up a door to the world of crepes for me, but I’m not terribly surprised they’ve closed. Terrible service — seriously, that girl was vile — and reducing the menu does that.

It was great when they first opened… But then it got really crappy which eventually lead it to shut their doors.
They are closed forever, and now there will be a Sushi Park replacing them. Hopefully they will fair better

My partner and I LOVE this place! Adrian is our favorite server. He is always engaging and friendly. We recommend this as one of our favorite restaurants in portland. The rice bowls are really good, and the rice pudding is the best we’ve ever had. Try this place the first opportunity you get! You won’t regret it.
Just thinking about it makes me want to drive into downtown for it… and that says a lot coming from someone who hates driving downtown. But it’s worth it for this place.

After Museum Day we needed something sweet.
We found Pudding on The Rice. We were there on a Sunday late afternoon and it was weird they didn’t have that many options for the Rice pudding. We ordered one anyway and we also got one of the sweet crepes with Nutella and Banana.
The rice pudding was just okay. It might be because there’s not that many choices so it was kind of a let down. However, the crêpe was excellent. It was oooh so delicious. It’s a great spot to meet up with friends and chit chat.
We will be back and hopefully they will have more options of rice pudding for our next visits.

This flavor is everything: blue-​cheese and pear rice pudding. The rice pudding is still slightly sweet, but the little cheese crumbles really add a savory note that pudding certainly deserves.
My friend and I stumbled into Pudding On The Rice after having attempted to go to the McMennamin’s a block away only to be snubbed and snooted at. Instead we came here and the service was great, the atmosphere was cute and friendly, and the food was tasty.
We also ordered two savory crepes to go with our pudding, which both came out quickly and were served with a side of arugula salad. The crepes were good, but the star of the show was clearly the pudding. Some of these flavors look incredible and I have to go back to try them, particularly that Pumpkin Rice Pudding. Yes.

Trying to do too many things! Staff overwhelmed. So-​so rice bowl. Jack cheese tastes moldy/​turned. Clean but worn décor.
(note, this was from a visit in July, for some reason I didn’t post it until today)

I loved rice pudding. I love the name. I loved the sweet girl (Colette?) behind the counter passing out tastes and explaining the concept. I loved Pudding on the Rice.
Concept: treat rice pudding like ice cream and serve it in different flavors and presentations. Put it in a cute store right near the Portland State campus.
Great idea. I hope the owners franchise it, make a zillion dollars, and open a store in San Diego. Near me.

I was pretty disappointed and unimpressed by this place. I went in hoping to get some frozen yogurt, after seeing «fro yo» advertised on the outside. Yes, I know this is a rice pudding place. In any event, the bewildered sales girl (who has apparently never worked in food service before – I’m mystified as to how or why she was hired on a college campus brimming with the unemployed and work-​desirous) pointed to their industrial frozen yogurt machine as proof that they do indeed carry one flavor, and then blinkingly explained that the yogurt is intended as a topping for the pudding. So we got pudding.
My boyfriend and I shared the chocolate toffee flavor and the raspberry flavor with some frozen yogurt on top. The toffee flavor was uninspired and tasted a bit like an ill-​conceived, warmish Blizzard (this is not a positive). The raspberry was better but the rice pudding was overpowered by the tart fruit flavor. In true gimmick fashion, I had the sense that the rice pudding is a vehicle for the toppings/​flavor and as a result they greatly overpower the bland rice pudding base. Sort of like how Coldstone makes god-​awful, inedible «ice cream» and then puts on a big show of adding in candy, nuts, and sprinkles. You are paying for toppings.
Sure, the rice pudding doesn’t taste bad, and the raspberries tasted like they were fresh, but $ 4 for a tiny cup of RICE is ludicrous, as is the entire concept behind this restaurant. Rice pudding is one of the cheapest, most accessible desserts in Americana. It costs pennies to make and is endlessly customizable, as this absurd store can attest. The mark-​up on Pudding on the Rice is insane – you are paying $ 4 for a product that takes about 30 minutes to throw together (cooling is separate, but it’s really not that hard to plan ahead) and which is comprised of ingredients already found in your pantry. Come on, people! Ice cream takes a bonafide ice cream maker and far more cooling time, but you really only need white rice, a pot, some milk and sugar, and other accoutrements if you so desire. For $ 4 you could make a gallon of the stuff and feed your neighborhood.
The fact that places like this exist and, furthermore, do business make me weep for the future of America.

I felt like some dessert and stopped in about 8:30 on a Tuesday evening. The atmosphere is pleasant enough: the restaurant is well lit, clean, and sparsely furnished. I got the lemon curd crêpe for $ 5: lemon curd and strawberries on a freshly made crêpe, sprinkled with powdered sugar, plus a dollop of whipped cream. See photo. It was very tasty and let me indulge my sweet tooth without going overboard on the fat or calories.
According to the menu, they also make savory crepes (meat, cheese, vegetable filling, etc.). Plus they carry multiple flavors of rice pudding, as well as tart frozen yogurt. If you are in the south park blocks and feel like something sweet, this is a nice stop. I’ll definitely be returning.

They used to be located at Bridgeport Village. The pudding was very good and creamy. They didn’t have a ton of toppings, but it didn’t need any. There is a pudding store in NY that this is similar to, but they had some creative toppings there. I plan on going back. If it were closer to home, i’d go every week.

w00t! I love this place! Cute and well placed for a nice dessert on campus!
Huge savory crepes that are best filled with ½ & ½ different fresh fruits and rice pudding flavors, or just go simple with a cup of rice pudding!!!
Yeah, they let you sample everything (it’d be nice if they didn’t use little 1x use plastic spoons!), so when you find the best flavor you’re craving be careful, because you’ll be tempted to get the BIG cup, BUTTT it is so rich and filling, you probably won’t want more than the small/​medium size for one person!
Others have complained about lack of sufficient staffing, and I’ll admit I’ve only seen one person ever working there at a time, but I’ve never gone at a time when it actually led to bad/​long service (maybe I got lucky, or maybe it’s just really rare that they’re packed?).
Given it’s the only rice pudding place I know of in PDX, it’s definitely worth checking out!!! ^_^

The $ 2 bite size is back! There’s that 5^th star!
I love a business that listens to their customers. I must not have been the only one who wanted the $ 3 bite returned to its perfect $ 2 price point.

I’m really writing this review on behalf of my dog.
You see, whenever I walk by this place, my dog makes a beeline for it. Literally, he cuts people off. Why? He has a love for that frozen yogurt. Its delicious.
Another reason I love this place? I love the rice pudding. I am guessing it is pretty much gluten free, because I have never been sick from it. This stuff is amazing. This is the best treat in the summer time, but even in the middle of the dark depressing winter, I love coming here for a little pick me up. And lord knows my dog will eat their tart frozen yogurt any chance he can get.
The staff in here is always friendly. This is just a really nice place to be for a treat!

You ever go to the Hawthorne food carts, fiending for a crêpe, and wonder if you’re enough of a hipster to even be there in the first place? Well, I haven’t, but just in case you’ve wondered, then you’re in luck! There’s a place for you too!
OK, so I’m mostly joking, but I’m sure you know what I mean when I’m talking about the decidedly less-​than-​chipper service over at the Hawthorne carts. But enough of that. POTR has some fantastic crepes, that are right alongside with Perierra Creperie.
As others have mentioned, there can be a wait. When we went, it was mostly due to the one girl being tremendously chipper and friendly with a customer. We didn’t mind so much as we weren’t in a hurry, but I can imagine that would annoy the piss out of you if you were in a hurry.
We did a nutella/​peanut butter/​peanut butter/​honey crêpe. Fantastic. Lots of other choices, and as the name suggests, lots of flavors of rice pudding too.
So yes, if you’re not feeling the Hawthorne carts and want a crêpe, give POTR a shot. You won’t regret it.

I had the pistachio rice pudding in small bite ($ 2) which is perfect for a sweet tooth. I love Pistachio so it was no hard choice, but there were so many other options I was overwhelmed. I came for lunch and I asked the worker what was the best savory crêpe. They suggested the Caprese one (mozzarella, tomato and basil).
What is really was was a crêpe that had all the mozzarella and basil in one little pocket. So 75% of my crêpe bites was just some sort of spaghetti paste sauce that was not good. I don’t know if he was just in a rush (nope the place was dead) but seriously, learn how to make a crêpe.
Dammit, I will be back for pudding.

One of my favorite things about Unilocal is finding places like Pudding on the Rice. They have a variety of desserts and snacks, but it was crepes that helped draw me in. For me it seems like crepes are an art and they have to be at a certain temperature and have the right amount of each ingrediant so you taste all of what you are putting on it. I had the nutella with peanut butter; it was perfect and everything I had hoped for! They had a number of sweet and savory crepes that you could choose from or you could just pick whatever you wanted on it.
The other desserts seem like they are worth trying. They serve a rice pudding and there was this cherry cheesecake one that looked really good. Just the crêpe was enough richness for one day so I will definitely have to go back and try the rice pudding. The couple who runs it was really nice and it seems like it is a laid back, friendly place.

Thanks to Groupon, I discovered this nice little shop that was just opened up a month ago by Jessica and her husband. As soon as I stepped in, I was greeted with fun vibrant colors and clean/​cute designs. It made my eyes happy. The rest of my senses became really happy when they were introduced to the delicious offerings here.
I tried a sample of strawberries & cream rice pudding, which was yummy! I never knew you could make so many kinds of flavored rice pudding, and they’re all presented in an organized fashion in gelato shop style. Jessica said the rice pudding is her grandma’s special swedish recipe. =)
My friend Marina B. and I came for the crepes to celebrate Marina’s birthday. Jessica made them perfectly while juggling all the other customers requests for pudding and frozen yogurt. I was really impressed by her amazing multitasking skills, and I asked her if she was working by herself, which she was! I marvel at how well she handles running the whole shop by herself.
The BEST part is that you can customize your crêpe however you like, and it’s just $ 5 for sweet crepes and $ 6 for savory crepes! There’s a menu of suggestions, but you can put whatever your heart desires into your crêpe. I decided to go for a nutella + chocolate + strawberries + blueberries + toasted almond crêpe, and it turned out deliciously amazing. My friend got a dark chocolate + raspberries + coconut crêpe, which she raved about as well. Maybe she’ll join Unilocal just to write a review too. =)
I also got a small cup of tart frozen yogurt. If you’re a tart froyo connoisseur, you might find it helpful to know that the yogurt here is more of the creamy consistency with a slight tartness. I liked it, and I especially like the variety of different sizes you can get, depending on what else you’re getting or what you’re in the mood for. Jessica also recommends trying the tart froyo on top of a rice pudding, which sounds like a great combo. It was also a great combo with my crêpe!
As you may have noticed from the number of times I mentioned Jessica, she is a suuuuper sweet and nice owner. I hope Groupon and Unilocal really contribute a lot to her business and wish her success and all the best! My friend and I both loved Pudding on the Rice so much that we’re planning to bring visitors here when they come from California. Portland is known as a foodie town, and Pudding on the Rice is one delicious must-​go-​to shop on the list! [located just a couple blocks from the Portland Farmer’s Market at PSU, so you can totally have a foodie day here!]
P. S. If anyone has any tips on parking around here, I’d greatly appreciate it!