Big On Tokyo

Not too bad for what it is. I paid $ 3.50 for a small vegetable fried rice and it was a pretty large order. The service was good and quick. No complaints.

Haven’t been here in a long time must have been under new management the Service was horrible they don’t even greet you when you get ready to order! Told the Guy what I wanted he walked off the lady came up and just kind of stood there smiling looking clueless and when I got my food it was not at all what I ordered and it didn’t come with what it was suppose to come with. Hopefully someone else gets better service than what I did. My boyfriend got pizza from Jay’s and it was excellent!

Like honestly, I know better than to order sushi from kiosks, I drank oceans of bubble tea 15 years ago and I’m burned out on it now, and I really do like my personal teriyaki recipe so my review is not going to cover any of those offerings from Big on Tokyo. Oh no, this review is about my one true love affair there, the fried rice.
A few years back, I was car-​less and staying in the river market area. One afternoon, faced with no food in the hotel room and a surfeit of time, I wandered over to the river market and decided to get the fried rice, since my Asian rice-​stomach was grumbling. It honestly surprised me with how good it was! I thought it was a fluke but five years later I roll into town again and they still got it, so here I am telling this story.
It sounds a little weird if you’ve never experienced it but their fried rice really captures the elusive quality of wok-​hei, the smoky-​something kiss of a screaming hot and well seasoned wok. Their fried rice is not the sodden soy sauce soaked generic takeout stuff. It does my little Hong Konger heart good to eat it.
Just ignore the pickles and go straight to the shrimp, chicken or special Big on Tokyo fried rice. I’m not crazy about the beef they use but the shrimp or chicken is a solid choice.

I really don’t know why there are so many terrible reviews. I mean, it’s not gourmet and it’s not sit-​down, it’s a River Market stall where you can get a meal for $ 5 – 10. After going to these food-​court type buildings in other cities, you appreciate this. You get what you pay for. The crunchy shrimp roll is good and if I’m starving I’ll also get a side of fried rice to fill me up, which puts me at right under ten dollars. I used to go here when I lived in LR and went to school/​worked downtown and the owner remembered me after I had been gone a year, asked if I had graduated, what I was doing, etc. very sweet.

I ordered the teriyaki chicken from here and it was inedible. Can’t complain about the service since they handed me my dish less than a minute after ordering it. Once I sat down to eat, I saw why. It was precooked chicken that had obviously been sitting around for a while. They threw it on a bed of warmed rice and drizzled some vaguely oriental flavored sauce over it. I took a couple of bites and then threw it in the thrash and ordered something else from one of the other vendors. Don’t bother with this place, they just don’t care.

Good bubble tea. Not a lot of variety and pricy ($ 4+ for 16 oz), but tasty on a hot summer day.

This place is located in the River Market with a ton of other choices. I ordered two sushi rolls for $ 10. Glad I did as the rolls are microscopic and two rolls still left me wanting something else to eat.