Rice Bowl

I came down here with some extended family for dinner. The place is pretty unassuming from the outside and it is in a less desirable part of downtown, but like my review of Tommy’s Burger Stop, don’t let that stop you from visiting this place. This place has been around for a long time and there is a good reason for that in spite of the surroundings. This place serves some really good Chinese food, but the biggest surprise from this place is their American menu with a list of steaks. I opted for the prime rib special they had available for dinner time as I was the only one that wasn’t in the mood for Chinese that night. I was so glad I made that decision. Usually American dishes take a back seat to Chinese food in terms of taste and quality, but not this place.
This is probably the largest and best cut of prime rib I’ve had since arriving here from North Carolina. It was hilarious to see the other diners next to us gawking at the prime rib when it arrived at our table. This was a monster cut and it was perfect when ordered medium. It came with a decent sized dipping bowl of horseradish and a cup of au jus. I opted for the side of baked potato with sour cream, chives, bacon bits, and cheese. I never would have thought I would be ordering this in a Chinese restaurant, but I won’t take away from some of the Chinese dishes we ordered as well.
The shrimp with black bean garlic sauce was exceptional and the delicious aroma of garlic filled the seating area. This also arrived on a very huge plate which was enough for two people. The chicken with snow peas was another hit with the family. This delicious dish was heaped with a good amount of sautéed sliced chicken breast, snow peas, and sliced bamboo shoots. Very delicious and very healthy for you as well! By the time we were done, I had no room for dessert. I was curious to try out their Xango which is Rice Bowl’s version of dulce de leche, a dessert that you would normally find in Mexican restaurants. I will certainly return to make room for that on my next visit.

I have driven by this place a lot and never went in because the exterior wasn’t that impressive. I was looking for steak places and this place came up. We decided to try it out for Chinese food based on a friend’s recommendation. I had the shrimp egg foo young and my wife had the lemon chicken. My dish was great. The egg foo young was light, fluffy and tasted great. The gravy was flavorful and didn’t taste overly greasy like most gravy’s do. My wife’s lemon chicken was really good. The breading was more like a tempura texture than the normal breading on chicken. The steak at the table next to us looked really good. We are going to try some more of the Chinese dishes before we try the steak. The staff was very friendly. The interior is nothing special but I’ve been to a lot of Chinese places that have great food and the décor isn’t that special. This place has a lunch special, so if you are thinking of trying this place, lunch might be a good start.

First time I went to the place was early in 2008 and today the first time since then. First time was just standard Chinese food, nothing bad or great, but today I was very pleasantly surprised! We are there because my very favorite, China Town, is closed for the time being. Had egg drop soup that was nice, hearty, and flavorful, not all eggy and cornstarch-​y, but with bits of red pork, cabbage, and green onions. Then my entrée of Mongolian beef and fried rice was very good. But it had those crunch noodles underneath that added unnecessary saltiness.
Wait staff good and décor very conservative, but pleasant atmosphere. I’d recommend this place for those in or near downtown.

Love this place, always have. Extremely authentic with the best house soup. Been going here with my boyfriend for a couple years and we always order the same thing.
My favorite is their fried rice, BEST IN AK.

So ok, this is a shocker. Five stars… oh why??? This place looks like a no frills kinda place from the outside. Well wait… it’s also no kinda frills inside. It’s kinda like being at a nursing home cafeteria with a little asian flare. So ok, you get it, it’s not the fanciest. The food though it’s pretty awesome. Here came the egg drop soup. YUM. Then my pepper steak. I gotta say Anchorage is not known for fabulous Chinese food, but this is pretty darn excellent. But wait there is more, my counterpart had ordered the Prime Rib. Holy mother of all cows, let me tell you about this beef, This thing was not only ginormous, possibly the biggest thing I have seen served in Alaska. Seriously, thick, big, juicy (get your minds out the gutter). The flavor was superb!!! I was wondering where the heck do they cook such huge pieces of meat. YES YES next time I am making that my meal, although you can’t go wrong with the Chinese too.

I really like this place. It’s kindof out of the way for me, but its one of my favorite places for Mongolian beef. The only real complaint I have is that their service is slow. If you go for lunch plan on being there for at least an hour! I met my friend on his lunch hour there and he was late getting back to work because we had to wait so long for our food and all we ordered was a normal meal from the lunch menu. Dinner there is the same in terms of slow service. If your not in a rush though the food is good and worth the wait I think. I have never had a steak there but many folks have reported they have some of the best steaks and prime rib in town, so if thats your thing you might want to give them a try for that as well. I plan to try them soon for this and will update accordingly afterwards.

First visit. Although I was seated in the back and eating alone, the servers were attentive and kept up with my drinks. The food arrived very quickly and the portions were large (this is good; I have a big appetite). The Mongolian beef was very good, not as spicy as some, but with a nice zing. Everything else was great as well.

Had our first steak last night since William sold the place. All I can say is Wow… William taught them well. Excellent cut of beef, cooked perfectly and served on a sizzling hot platter, finished with a little butter. Fork — tender. The beans and rice were as tasty as ever.
Beer and wine only is not a deal breaker. Nice selection of both. But. It’s all about the steak.

Apparently the steak is supposed to be awesome, but I wasn’t in a steak mood. I went with a colleague who lives here, and said this place was great. I got some kind of schezuan dish, probably chicken. It was pretty nasty. Avoid the chinese food here.

Went there before they change ownership recently, was not good enough to impress me. However, they turn it around because their new cook. Chinese cuisine is fresher and taste much better than they used to be! My friends and I are going there every weekend for dinner and their service is much improved as well as the waiting time. Gonna try their Szenchuan Halibut and House Foo Young! Tenderloin+Lobster is my personal favorite. Overall, a good restaurant to spend your time and money with your family and friends. Strongly recommended++++++

Can’t say much about this place since I am from California visiting Anchorage after the cruise.
The Chinese food was okay and very pricy for the quality.
I think Panda Express has a better quality and more reasonable.

How did I not know about this? This place is awesome! We came here on a whim & a recommendation. If was the sudden craving for prime rib that brought us here on Friday night. OK — I’ll be the first to admit, I’m not a huge fan of the area but we were committed. The parking lot was empty, never a good sign & inside there was only one table occupied. The décor could be my favorite. It’s like some kind of wonderful 70’s Chinese glam, ugly ass light brown chairs on wheels. All I could envision was a group of old Chinese pilots chain smoking during the glory days. The server informed us that there has been a change of management & that even though they currently don’t have a liquor license they are working on it (not management, ownership). The prime rib was, awesome. By far best in town. Chinese food was delish. It wasn’t trying to be some fancy, pretentious, foo-​foo dish that so many restaurants are trying to do with Asian food. It was simple & good. Excellent hangover material. It came to no surprise that when we left I noticed the entire parking lot full…

Where do you go for a great steak? Why a Chinese restaurant of course. Everybody has the same incredulous look when you tell them this, and then they eat here. I hear the chinese food is good too. Steaks are tender, flavorful and reasonably priced. Prime Rib special Friday and Saturday. One good way to tell is to see what everyone else is eating. Most of the time more than 50% of the people are eating steaks. Teriyaki sauce on the NY is phenomenal. Not too watery and not too sweet.

The food is good but the service just completely ruins the experience. We waited about 20 minutes just to get menus and water and then the waitress brought us an appetizer that we didn’t order and blamed us and said that we told her we wanted it when we only ordered dinner. We also had a few different waitresses and they all seemed like we were a bother. Good food can easily be ruined by terrible service and the feeling like you aren’t welcome.

Best food in town period, Teriyaki NY to die over, yummy.
FRIENDLY STAFF TOO.

I have heard so many good things about Rice Bowl over the years. «They have the best steak in town.» «There food is so delicious!» «It’s a hidden gem!» But the run down feeling of the building and shabby interior always kept me away.
When my family and I ate here recently I was pleased to find that the rumors were true. The staff is friendly and courteous. The food was delicious and served in good portions. My favorite dishes were the General’s Chicken, which has a wonderful crunchy fried exterior and tangy orange sauce. We didn’t order the steak, but I think I will do that next time I come in to visit.
I do believe that Rice Bowl has the best Chinese food in Anchorage at very reasonable prices and suggest that you check it out!

I was searching for a place well deserving of my 200^th, review and I think I have found it. The Rice Bowel is an unassuming establishment just on the outskirts of Down Town Anchorage. I have heard rumors that the Rice Bowel has the best Stake in Anchorage so I finally stopped in and gave it a try. I was surprised by the hometown comfortable family décor I encounter, and I strangely felt overwhelmingly welcome. I am relatively hesitant to say it’s the best stake in Anchorage, but surely one of the top three. Their grilled steaks have a unique flavor the other places lack (oyster sauce I assume). I was also very impressed with their Chinese food. I would also place them in the top three Chinese food restaurants in Anchorage. The service can be slow but it’s worth the wait. The Mai Tai’s are beach worthy. It’s amazing how many years I drove by this place on the way to and from work and never stopped in for dinner or a drink. They also have a full lounge style bar. Don’t make the same mistake as me and waiting ten years to discover the Rice Bowel. It is certainly worth stopping by even without having to wait on the winter commuter traffic to Eagle River or the Valley.

Service was terrible. Waited for over a half hour for them to come to the table. This is not the best steak in Anchorage. The waitresses pretended not to understand when my steak wasn’t correct or the dish was not clean. For the overpricing you’d think they know how to prepare a steak. Gross crap on the bottom of the dish. Yuk.

Great filet at reasonable prices. Drinks very good. A definite do again.

The halibut is deep fried (non-​negotiable I asked). So are the pot stickers and they’re doughy too almost like a perogie. A lot of people were ordering beef maybe I should’ve. The stir fried Crystal Shrimp Chef’s speciality was delicately flavored but overly corn starched. It included an egg-​drop soup with bits of ground beef and Chinese BBQ pork which was the unexpected highlight of the meal. Staff was friendly but not overly.
I recommend Asia Gardens.