The Rice Bowl

Went on the Saturday night that the Christmas market opened, but our party of two only waited about 10 minutes. We ordered the seafood platter, prawn and scallop dumplings, and veggie dumplings. We paid about £22 in total, which felt a tad steep for how much we got. The quality was great, though the platter was all fried food. It sat a little heavier than we’d expected, but the seafood itself was fresh and nice.
The service was good and the décor was really nice. Not sure if we’d make another go of it with all the other options in Manc.

A typical case of: Nice décor, well-​presented but totally bland, inauthentic Chinese food.
No comparison to «Red Chilli» (not even to the dingy, poor-​service Manchester Portland Street branch — which offers much better food!). It’s an elegant, amiable downtown Manchester Chinese restaurant: roomy, relatively bright, family-​friendly, with uncommonly nice and efficient service.
But then there’s the food. It’s dull. It’s bland. There’s almost no taste at all. ANYTHING that authentic Chinese food is not! Admittedly, it’s nicely presented. Also, it’s over-​priced.
Is it edible? Yes, for mainstream Westerners expecting dumbed-​down «exotic» food, then, yes it is. For lovers of real Chinese food, barely. Typically, reviews here are good. People are idiots!
There’s a lot of much better Chinese restaurants in Northern England. Don’t settle for this, just because it looks nice!

Went for a very late meal after a concert so it was really quiet. The staff we’re very friendly and suggested some dishes, food arrived quickly and was good. Slightly above average Chinese food. My shrimp with chili and garlic was slightly gloopy but the flavours were good and my colleague really enjoyed his lamb in dried herbs and onions. Very pleasant atmosphere with beautiful old carved wood placed as dividers around the room. I’d definitely go back.

Descending the stairs on trust of the poorly lit menu at the entrance is always worrying when trying a new place. But trust me — you won’t be disappointed here.
On your way down you pass a water-​feature and fish filled pool. The restaurant is fitted out with authentic decorative screens, plants and table settings. The staff are friendly and always look very smart.
Now… the food. Usually dining in a big group, I have always sat at a table with a Lazy Susan full of starters, prawn crackers and dips. You can’t go wrong with The Rice Bowl starters. Each one I’ve tried has been tasty, grease-​free and perfectly cooked.
Prawn crackers are usually on the house and come with dips.
My weakness when it comes to their menu is Sweet and Sour Chicken (£8.95). The batter is crisp, the chicken is white and tender, the sauce is tangy, sweet and citrus and it’s filled with fresh pineapple, sometimes apple, peppers and carrots.
Some of their chicken dishes use chicken which seems a bit more processed — so i’d be careful of those. All other meats I’ve tried have been lovely — in particularly the roast pork and spring onion and ginger beef.
The egg fried rice is tasty, fresh, fluffy and the perfect accompaniment to pretty much any main dish. I would also recommend the Singapore Vermicelli — thin noodles with meat and seafood with a chilli kick.
On the whole, this place is a brilliant. Each time I’ve eaten here it has been consistently good.
They also do take away (priced at 10% less than the eat-​in menu) which is made to order, it’s still piping hot (thanks to the industrial foil they wrap the containers in) when you get home, and they even put a bag of prawn crackers and 2 pots of dip for free.

We went to this restaurant mainly because it was close to where we were staying and had read the reviews. We were not disappointed. The staff were attentive and friendly, there was a good atmosphere and the food was delicious. It was busy even for a Monday evening but we took that as a good sign. The portion sizes were generous — we only needed one bowl of noodles between the two of us and the soup we had for starter was enormous. A bit too big actually as we felt we couldn’t do our main course justice. The one down side was that we has to ask twice for the bill and were kept waiting for a while to pay — but at least we didn’t feel rushed at any point! Would definitely go again next time we visit Manchester.

Ok, so this place neeearly got 3 stars, based on the fact that we booked a table for 12, with a few days notice for a Monday night, and when we arrived they hadn’t got us a table together– just sat us on two big round tables slightly apart. Which for a birthday meal is pretty rubbish. There were a few regular tables that could have been put together so we could eat together but they didn’t seem to understand our need to sit together…
Anyway moving on, we kind of ‘pushed’ our tables to touch and did the best we could with that. Besides I honestly couldn’t have cared less by the time the food came out– it is the best Chinese food I have personally had in a restaurant in Manchester.
I shared some food with the people sitting either side of me and this including a beautiful duck-​in-​mango sauce cooked to perfection, a chow mein style dish which is not your standard chow mein– it’s not greasy and full of a mono-​sodium glutamate taste its fresh and sizzling hot. My ‘Curry Chicken’ was not your standard chinese curry either, it was served with fresh vegetables, with an adequate drizzle of intense tasting sauce. I also indulged in my mates Chicken in Black Bean sauce which came out sizzling like when you go to the Indian! Again, faultless. I really can’t tell you how happy I was with the food.
The prices are around £9 for a chicken dish and £3-£4 for a starter such as spring roll or prawn toast, but they have a great variety of starters I’ve never even heard of! The duck dish was £11 and the rice and noodles on the side are around £3-£4 also. So we each paid around £17 each for a starter and a main, which is a little more expensive than I have paid at other Chinese restaurants, but then again, I’ve never eaten food like this at a Chinese before.

It was very wet in Manchester when we stayed here (surprise surprise), though when we ventured down the stairs into this lovely restaurant all was forgotten, as it was warm and welcoming in the restaurant.
The food here is lovely and very tasty. The vegetarian selection is extensive and what we had was delicious, and the presentation beautiful. The staff are very accommodating and helpful without being over baring. They would top up our wine and clear plates without us barely noticing. The food is very well priced and The Rice Bowl was definitely a great choice of restaurant during our stay in Manchester.

When it comes to dining out in Manchester, whether it be an indian night, pizza, steak, tapas or anything, there are usually several choices. That all changes when Chinese is on the menu. The Rice Bowl is the only choice for me.
The décor is great and the staff are friendly and don’t constantly pester you. The food, however, takes it that extra step further. Whenever I go with friends, the banquet for £17 is an absolute bargain. It is a restaurant suitable for meals with friends, family or on a date. Do yourself a favour and go enjoy yourself. Few places offer such a guarantee.

For me Manchester is a city of dining contradictions — my favourite pizzas are served in a basement bar, Corbieres, and my favourite curry can be found not on the famous curry mile but in East Z East, a restaurant attached to a budget hotel. It shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise then that my favourite Chinese food is not to be found anywhere along the neon drenched streets of Chinatown but at The Rice Bowl, a few minutes’ walk from the city centre. Whilst the location of the place, surrounded by high-​end boutiques (Tommy Hilfiger is across the road, Armani is just around the corner) might suggest great expense the prices are very reasonable. The lunch menu is particularly good value with a starter and main coming in for just under £7 and a mini banquet (featuring delicious crispy dim sum, a personal favourite) priced under £14 per person. Of course you could pay that much and still have enough left over for a couple of drinks at any one of the numerous all-​you-​can-​eat buffets that line the edge of Chinatown but there it is quantity over quality. The all-​you-​can-​eat of course has a time and a place (usually when you have to feed yourself for a day or two on the one meal) but The Rice Bowl offers really excellent flavoursome food that won’t cost you very much more.
The décor is the usual (carved wooden screens; draped silk curtains; Koi fountain next to the entrance) but the atmosphere is welcoming. As noted by Angela the service is excellent and unhurried; this is not a noodle-​bar and the staff are not pushing you out of the door once the bill has been settled. The quality of the food, the fantastic service and the warm surroundings makes it the perfect location for a large celebratory banquet, an impromptu afternoon date and everything in between.

I recommend Golden Rice Bowl for lunch if you work near Cross street. At only £6.95, it’s a steal for the quality and the service you’ll receive. I think this is down to it being a tight family production here, a family with a lot of pride over their presentation and cuisine.
The way the food was arranged on the plate was like a work of art and there was no MSG or dull flavours. Apart from Chinese, hey serve number of Oriental cuisines from Singaporean Chilli Chicken to Pad Thai.
Contemporary décor, great food, a great price and even better staff make this a no-​brainer.

I went to the Golden Rice Bowl last night and it was a lovely experience. The attentive and patient staff served us delectable dishes which were presented beautifully. I even had a fresh Orchid flower on the side of my plate! My friend is vegetarian and ordered a tofu dish and when I had a look at the vegetarian menu I couldn’t believe how tasty it all sounded so I went for a meat-​free option also and not to be disappointed. To start, I had the best bowl of Miso soup ever this had massive chunks of lovely seafood. We had green tea throughout the meal which was regularly topped up. I think we went through about 3 large teapots full! The music and ambience was beautiful, such a cosy yet elegant setting.
After scoffing until we nearly popped, we were presented with an extremely moderately priced bill. The excellent staff offered a very high level of service and to top it all off my friend was handed a Chinese calendar in the form of a fridge magnet as we left if that’s not value for money I do not know what is ;D

This chinese restaurant is a big favourite at lunchtime with office workers as it offers an extremely good 2 course lunch for £6.50. It is in a cosy and stylish basement location, and is very central. The staff are efficient and friendly, and the food really is very good, especially for the price.

The rice bowl is an excellent cheap Chinese restaurant on Cross Street. It has a relaxed atmosphere and the food tastes great. It is often missed because it is not in China town but it serves some of the best Chinese food around. The service is quick and friendly and their prices are affordable. Highly recommended.