Rice Thai Tapas

Best damn Thai food in Pasadena and possibly z world. Really good service. Nice vibe. I will be back Over and over and over and over and over and over. Did I say over? I meant it.

We had a wonderful dinner with friends and enjoyed sharing the small plates and tasting different dishes. The food was excellent and a great value. We’d go back again and have recommended to family and friends.

The food here is absolutely top notch. The seabass manow is a perfect bite. I’ve been to Nobu and various restaurants at which a meal for two runs hundreds of dollars and quite honestly, this food here is as good, if not better. Calamari perfectly cooked… everything we had was delicious and the service is very friendly and competent. The green papaya salad is also perfection, but spicy!!!

4.5
I was expecting this place to be lame, cheesy, tacky, or otherwise engaged in offensively-​high levels of trying-​too-​hard-​ness. Thai food is generally quite predictable and usually really cheap. So the idea of turning it into a tapas-​style, small-​plate experience sounds a lot like a gimmicky excuse to charge more for tiny portions that are prettily arranged onto nice dinnerware. So I was quite surprised when I opened up the menu to find countless items that I had never heard of, many of which are clearly inventions of Rice Thai Tapas. I was even more surprised when I found myself liking every single dish — all seven. I may have found one of my new favorite Pasadena restaurants. Flavors were delicious — this isn’t going to be your most authentic experience, but it’d be foolish of you (as it was of me) to expect that. Service was on point — they were very friendly, laid back, competent (no clueless college kids screwing up orders here like at most other Asian fusion restaurants), and my Diet Coke was refilled with cult-​like fervor. Cost was surprisingly cheap — sure, more than your usual hole-​in-​the-​wall Thai restaurant, but at $ 50 for two well-​fed people, hardly what I’d call expensive. The best part is how large their menu is; if you can’t find at least a few things you’d enjoy, you’re probably an asshole.

Average food and slow service. I used an app to order pick up 1 hour in advance, but It took 20 minutes to get the order. Why bother ordering online?

This was the first time I had Thai tapas, I didn’t know such style exist until I came here! We had a group of 8 people, so we ordered about a total of 20 different dishes because most of the tapas came with small portions. However, the portion of the noodle/​rice dishes were surprisingly big, and they were really good! I loved their house fried rice + brisket and pad see ew.
If there is an option to ADD brisket to any dish for additional +$ 1.75, do it! It was so worth it!
For the tapas my favorites were the lemongrass shrimp and spare rib.
Don’t forget the drinks and mango sticky rice at the end! I think most of the dishes here would go extra well with some cocktail or wine.
I gave 4 stars instead of 5 because some of the meat (crying tiger, chicken skewer) were a little dry, certain sauce they used were a little too sour for me, AND I wish the thom yum soup and coconut milk soup were served with a pot that has flame underneath to keep it warm.
Otherwise we had a great experience here!

Rice has a cute entrance, but it’s kind of hidden. I would definitely come back.
We ordered several dishes to share:
— Beef skewers (3.5÷5)
— Gangster noodles (⁵⁄₅): type he noodles are different than your typical Thai noodles. It’s made from mung bean and rolled up. If you like noodles and the sour/​tangy taste of Thai food I would recommend it.
— Thai Asada (⁵⁄₅): I had two of these
— Beef Roll (⁴⁄₅)
— Taro Roll (³⁄₅): I’m not a taro fan & my bf felt that the filling was too mushy
— Siam Roll (2.5÷5): didn’t really taste the lobster but it was crispy on the outside
— Chiang Mai Noodles (³⁄₅): I’m not a fan of coconut milk, but my bf thought the sauce was decent. We both liked the texture of the noodles!
— Green Curry (⁵⁄₅): I didn’t try this. My bf and his friend both loved the curry. The beef was really tender and the curry was flavorful and had the right consistency

This tiny little restaurant in Pasadena was certainly a star on my LA trip. Out of all restaurants I’ve ate at and tried this time around in LA, Rice Thai Tapas made it to the foodie memory album. The mango mojito was pretty minty fresh, so drinks are good too.
It was my sister’s pre-​wedding night. We had just had a relaxing massage and she chose this place for dinner. Not a bad choice. We ordered tapas to share and we were full off of our selections. We ordered Tom yum Soup (one of our favorite soups), Crying Tiger, Bangkok Fries, Five Spice Bao, Tuna Carpaccio, and Tofu Sticks. All were exceptional but one just need a little more work. The Tom Yum Soup was sour and savory with cherry tomatoes and mushrooms. Bangkok fries was seasoned with garlic and came with a mango aioli dipping sauce. What’s not to like about fries and garlic seasoned. Yuuuummmmmy! Tofu sticks was fried perfectly and it came with a sweet and sour dipping sauce. Yummmmmmy! The five spice bao was amazing. It was shredded duck in the five spice sauce. The tuna carpaccio was seared and cooled. It was served over crispy fried onions. It was pretty different, but tasty. The crying tiger were thai chipotle filet mignon skewer. This was too smokey for my liking and the meat was a bit tough. This was the only dish that I didn’t really care for (I still ate it though).
My sister drove and this place was soo tiny that we missed the drive way and passed it. We had to come back around. What I’ve learned is that the tinier the restaurant, the better the food. Definitely coming back if I’m ever in the Pasadena area.

Very little food for a to go order. Charge $ 12 for small portion not even lunch size

Average Thai place. Nice concept and modern trendy. Service is good.
Good pad Thai
The tme grill wasn’t good
Yum yum wing average
Crying tiger average
Rice tini cocktail drink too sweet

This place is a hidden gem. Truly delicious and moderate prices. I’ve been here at least three dozen times and recommend it to friends and family.
My favorite dishes, in no particular order, are:
Street Noodle, Pad Z Ew, Spicy Basil Noodle, Crab Fried Rice, and you can’t go wrong with either Green, Yellow, or Kabocha Curry. My boyfriend and I actually learned how to make a version of kabocha curry at home because we fell in love with the dish. Every single aforementioned plate is flavorful and large enough to share between two or three people. If you dine in they give you a complimentary little shimp crisp snack and your food comes with four or five different chili sauces to increase spice level if desired. I definitely appreciate this!

Haven’t been down to this part of Old Town in a while. Quiet little spot with dim lighting and very comfy. Funny the first thing I noticed were two waiters whom I used to see nearly every payday when coworker and I went to Sushi of Naples.
They recognized me and we had a jolly time reminiscing on the good olé days :-)
Any, upon browsing through some Unilocal pics of this place I settled on the seared tuna and crying tiger. Seared tuna was a descent portion and had quite a little spicy bite at the end. Formed a little perspiration on my forehead lol. I liked it very much and would order again. As for the crying tiger it’s little fillet steak cuts on a skewer. Was very tender and flavorful.
Service is good and parking is a breeze. I will be returning very soon!

This place: 5.7 stars. Wow. Executed even dish with s great balance of grave and glory! Great service! Great prices! Amazing flavors! Private parking! I can’t even remember the names of the dishes I had… ribs, lamb, calamari, OMG

Pretty decent Thai food for reasonable prices ($ 10 – 12 for most plates). Came during happy hour, when you get 15% off drinks and Tapas.
We got the dumpling tapas, which were my favorite part. The sauce was memorable and the dumplings were tasty and tender.
The other menu dishes were more okay– The Gangster noodles and Prik khing (both ordered more for their interesting names than their ingredients). Maybe next time we should have chosen by their descriptions, haha.

First time eating here. A cute and clean spot, very friendly and attentive customer service. The manager was very polite and friendly, and was very hands-​on on the floor helping the rest of the staff.
The small tapas we ordered came in one by one quite fast after ordering, and everything was flavorful and beautifully presented.
I loved the crispy pork salad, the pork was cooked perfectly with a nice crispy skin, and the dressing was lime-​y and spicy. Only wish there was more of the actual green salad «stuff».
The crying tiger was perfectly cooked as well, very tender and marinated well. The Tom Yum Wings were a bit on overlooked side, but the flavor and glaze was amazing! Definitely a must try!
I’m coming back to try more of their menu items!

New favorite thai spot. I love that it’s tapa style & that they accommodate to opt out of fish sauce and customize ur dish to ur liking. I often don’t like thai dishes that are too salty or drenched in fish/​oyster sauce.
Pad Thai — I think it might have been the best I’ve tasted so far. Very light and not overly sweet
Gangster noodle — the name says it all. Lemongrass Tom yum flavor mung bean noodles. It was interesting and u could def taste the lemongrass in the dish
Tom yum wings — approved
Papaya salad — love that it comes with butter lettuce!
Everyone was super friendly and attentive. The food did take a while to come out though and there was only a few tables.

I love Thai food. This place was so good that I will be back. I was in the area and craving Thai food. Thanks to Unilocal I ended coming here with a friend for lunch. I love the fact they plenty of private lot parking.
They large menu that is excellent. I had the yellow chicken curry that was outstanding with excellent flavoring. The lunch specials are a great value with great amount of food. If you are coming here with small group or large group you will get excellent service.
They have a full bar. If you are craving some great Thai food I highly recommned this place.

So happy I found this hidden neighborhood hole in the wall. I would have never expected a thai restaurant in this plaza.
I met up with a friend for dinner on Wednesday night. I got there at 6:55, and the lady told me that happy hour ends in 5 minutes if I wanted to order any of the happy hour specials. All tapas on their menu are 30% off! What a deal. Since I got there a bit early, I decided to order a few things to take advantage of the special. When my friend arrived later, we ordered more at regular price. But so glad the lady tipped me off or else we would have missed out on the deal!
For the 2 of us we ordered 6 things:
Crab cakes: comes with 3 small crab cakes, each sitting on a different sauce: non-​spicy mayo type sauce, a sweet and spicy sauce, and a chipotle mayo type sauce. The crab cakes were good and fried to a golden brown, and the sauces definitely complimented them well.
Grilled calamari: The calamari was cut to thin strips after grilling. I didn’t get much grill flavor on the calamari, and it tasted a bit overcooked. Though the sweet and spicy sauce had a great kick to it!
Siam rolls: These are lobster egg rolls with spicy cream cheese. It also comes with a side of sweet and spicy sauce. But if you use the sauce, you won’t be able to taste the delicate flavor of the lobster or the spicy cream cheese sauce. The egg rolls tastes great without the extra sauce on the side.
Sate mignon: These were my favorite for the night. One order comes with 3 skewers, and each one has 2 cubes of filet mignon. The beef was cooked to a perfect melt in your mouth medium, and comes with a side of peanut sauce, pickled cucumbers, and grilled toast.
Vermicelli pot: This is presented in a small wok, which comes with vermicelli, shrimp, mushrooms, and topped with roe. The flavors are spot on and definitely pretty good portion for the price.
Garlic noodles: This was probably the most disappointing for the night. The noodles were way too greasy and there was absolutely no garlic flavor at all. I would not order this again.
Service: The place isn’t too big and wasn’t too crowded on a Wednesday night, so the service was pretty good. I can see them getting a bit overwhelmed if the place was packed.
Parking: Very small parking lot shared with a Japanese restaurant and a few other offices and a small gym. My friend had trouble finding parking in the lot and ended up parking on the street. Free street parking! Just be careful to read the signs in case there are restrictions.

I came here for my birthday because I was looking for a decently priced restaurant and tapas. We brought a bottle of wine and the corkage fee is $ 5, which isn’t too shabby.
The parking lot was full when we arrived, so it’s rather small, but there is plenty of street parking.
Service was mediocre, and the restaurant wasn’t too busy for a Saturday night.
We ordered:
— Tuna Carpaccio: Favorite dish! I really love the chili lime sauce
— Seabass manow: This was okay. They use the same sauce as the Tuna Carpaccio but there wasn’t as much flavor
— Crab cake: Wasn’t a big fan. The sauces were good but the crab cakes weren’t much to rave about.
— Shrimp donut: I liked these but they reminded me of the fried shrimp rolls you get at dim sum!
— Crying Tiger: Yummy! Nicely cooked filet mignon and good seasoning flavor
— Tom yum wings: Tasted exactly as it sounds
— Five-​spice bao: Pass. The meat and sauce weren’t great
— Gangster noodle: Tastes like Tom Yum noodles. The mung bean noodles are interesting — chewier than your average noodles
— Kabocha curry: Pass. Didn’t have much flavor and the scallops were not good
— Chili basil with brisket: I would order this again. The brisket was yummy and you can’t go wrong with chili basil seasoning!
Overall, I’d come back for the Tuna Carpaccio, Crying Tiger, and their brisket. I hope to take advantage of their happy hour next time!

If you love Thai food and are in Pasadena, this ‘fusion’ place at first gave me pause. It’s also new which, huh, gives me a second pause. But you know what? The dishes here are genius– especially the Pad Thai (of all things) with brisket. Yep you read it right, brisket. No Thai resto in the U.S.of A. has made a delectable Thai dish for me with brisket but here. The brisket cubes are flavorful, tender and adds that dimension to a Thai dish rarely experienced. At Rice, stuff happens. The modern, Zen vibe to the resto is also ‘calming’ until you get excited eating the tasty dishes here.
My fave so far at Rice? The gangster noodles here are amazingly good. If you like lemongrass, ginger, tart, all the flavor elements of Tom Yum in a dry noodle dish; this Is IT. It also has mung bean noodles (high protein), veggies, very tasty uniquely delicious and filling. But it’s not like eating pad Thai or other Thai noodle dishes that verge on the sweet… this verges on the opposite, that tingly tart, very delicious, totally different, totally addicting. I’ve had prik king (amazing), panang (a tad bland from too much coco milk), pad thai, chile/​basil with shrimp, wonton soup, all really delicious.
Yep, this place gives me pause, in a really good way! Amazingly good Thai food outside of Thaitown? Yep it’s possible it’s in Pass at the end of the 110 Fwy off Glenarm.
Visits: 3