Rice

Soooooo good! The prices are a tad high, so I was worried that the serving sizes would be small. But I was pleasantly surprised! I ordered the shrimp tempura with Penang curry, which came with sticky rice. My boyfriend ordered the special: pumpkin curry, which also came with sticky rice. The happy hour priced sake ($ 7) was way bigger than expected. Both dishes were delicious and I’m so happy we decided to stop in!

I’m a big fan of Rice. Among the handful of Thai restaurants along 14^th Street, I think Rice stands out as the best. Whether it it dining in or the large number of times I have taken out, the food here is always fresh and great — although I always get one of the same two dishes, chicken fried rice or beef pad see ew. I’m not sure what exactly is about them, but relative to the other nearby Thai restaurants, the dishes here just have a little bit more oomph, a little more flavor and authenticity to them. And the dishes aren’t heavy at all, making for a tasty and light meal. The prices are definitely higher relatively (~$ 15 a dish), but even so, when I’m in the mood for Thai food in the area, Rice is my choice.

Great happy hour cocktail menu. Great atmosphere. I had the drunken noodles, a favorite of mine, and it was the best I have found in DC. The atmosphere of the restaurant is very comfortable and clean. Had NY Eve reservations. Only complaint was we felt a bit rushed so they could turn the table. We had hoped to spend some additional time just to enjoy the evening. But, great food and easy location to find. We will be back.

I stopped in for happy hour, ordered a Mai Thai and it was amazing. The drink presentation is definitely 5starts. Unfortunately my guest ordered a martini and they came back with a mojito. I did not have the food so I cannot comment on it but the Resturant does have a nice quaint vibe to it. I will have to return for the food at some point in the future

Kind of an interesting place which has real good ambiance, and probably the longest walk to the bathroom I have ever had to endure. Someone has to do something with that wasted space…
As for the food, it’s a mish mash of good and sort of off kilter. Base standard Tom Yum soup is solid, 3 plentiful and flesh shrimp, an aromatic broth that suffices. The fried pork jerky is a pretty neat take on just average appetizer. Chewy lightly, with nice breading and a good flavorful sauce.
The duck entrée though needs work. Excessive amounts of twiggy kaffir lime leaves makes the dish a chore to eat. The flavors are great, but there’s too much picking and dodging around the plate, and the duck was a little bit overcooked. A solid pad thai is plentiful and a good option, really loaded but also very tasty. The coconut sweetened rice on the side is also a nice touch. It would be a shame if a place called Rice couldn’t make an interesting rice that’s for sure.
I’d return, but some things here look like they need a little tweaking, and there wasn’t anything that was really exceptional either. Still there’s more here I would be happy to explore, and the service is real solid and not intrusive either.

Good food, pleasant staff, lovely atmosphere. Good low-​key dining. Full bar if looking for cocktails. Proportions are relatively large, so you may be able to take some home. Curry dishes re-​heat very well. Not my first time here, certainly won’t be my last!

Rice is a narrow, brick-​walled space of the sort that seems to be the norm in the Logan Circle area. Their two distinctive points as far as I were concerned were first that they offer a vegetarian menu with no fish sauce or other such additives, and two that their rice is really fantastic. And I will give them that, the black rice that came with my meal was quite rich and flavorful and perfect in texture. Even when I buy fancy rice, I cannot quite cook it like that.
Off their green menu, I sampled some spring rolls, much thinner and longer and more filling creations that what one typically sees (offered at a modest discount during happy hour), filled with a thick taro-​based paste and with two complementary (and veg-​safe) dipping sauces. The entrée I tried was another iteration of my go-​to Thai favorite: chili basil tofu. It was pretty delicious.
I ended up on three stars for a couple of reasons. For one, I wasn’t enchanted with the portion size on my entrée, not a ton of tofu and some iffy vegetable selections. For another, if I wanted fish-​free Thai food with smallish portions in an urban, modern setting, I could get all that at Beau Thai, but pay significantly less. High prices and small portions is not a winning combo, dragging this place down from four stars to three.

I have been here about 5 – 6 times, i like the food, and staff is friendly and the restaurant is centrally located. You can get last min reservations or seating unlike most places in DC. I have had the drunken noodle and chicken pad thai, both of which are i liked.

Good food, okay service. We had a group of four last night and all really enjoyed our food (crispy tofu, panang chicken, red curry beef, and pad Thai chicken) and appetizer of the Yum Beef. The side of coconut rice was amazing, had to stop myself from eating the whole (large) serving.
One of our party wanted to substitute the rice for extra veggies with her meal and just received a flat «no» as an answer. That was bit shocking and is the reason for a 4 vs 5 star review for me

I have been going to this place many time and this is the first time I decide to give this restaurant a review.
Rice restaurant is a nice and clean modern Thai restaurant serving authentic Thai food. To start, brussels sprout salad and green tea dumpling are a must to try.
For entrée, my recommendations are Spicy Duck (one of the best I’ve tried and believe me I tried this dish many many other places), pad Thai, Shrimp spaghetti, and all the curries here. Don’t forget to finish your awesome meal with mango and sticky rice too!
Tips, go early if you wanna go for dinner on Friday and Saturday. They get crowed very fast.

We went to Rice for a friend’s birthday. Part of the reason was because we were able to get s reservation for a 7pm reservation for 6 on a Friday. Typically not a great sign, but we figured… Why not?!
As for food, we all got something different (drunken noodle, steamed red snapper, cashew chicken, chicken/​Asian pumpkin… Few other things) and a few assorted appetizers. Everyone expressed that their dish was great (I got the snapper… Great choice), which is atypical (we can be a tough crowd). One thing that I did appreciate is that they were not afraid of adding some heat to their dishes. The other thing that is noteworthy… Is that the rice was remarkably good. It lived up to its name!
If you are out on 14^th… Give it a shot! It’s not as busy as some of the places, but the food stands up!

Don’t order takeout — the portions are smaller and they frequently get the order wrong.
Brussel sprouts are over-​sauced… Just sayin’
There’s much better thai down the street for less $$.
2 stars for nice décor and outdoor seating.

I think i consumed more than 2000 mg sodium eating at this place. so salty… horrible
a person with high blood pressure or any sort of heart problems, anyone watching their weight or pregnant women and in general make sure you tell them to go easy on salt otherwise you can end up with more than what your limit of daily sodium just in one dish

Delicious Thai food in a minimalist setting. But minimalist sometimes to a fault.
I bring a lot of people here. I always talk it up. Like ‘oh it’s delicious food’ — ‘it’s a really cute place’ — ‘it’s been open for years’ — but then we walk in and are immediately hit with a feeling of being unwelcome. Each and every time I have to initiate conversation with a less than interested host/​hostess.
Then we are seated and greeted (sort of) by a less than interested waiter/​waitress. I see my friends slowly getting turned off by this all. We order our drinks and get settled in and they start reviewing the menu.
I think that’s the moment everyone’s interest gets peaked. Their menu is unique, even in the general layout. They have it separated by Rice Specialties, Authentic Thai, and then Healthy Green. Take folks to a regular Thai restaurant and they’ll order their go-​to Thai dish. Take folks to Rice, and they’ll try something new.
Here at the dishes I love:
Crunchy Brussels Sprouts
Sauteed Seafood with Ginger
Chicken and Olive in Basil
Papaya Salad with Shrimp
Red Curry Tofu
Drunken Mung Been Noodles
Seafood Basil
Pumpkin Empanada
Sauteed Tofu Basil
Really everything on the menu is a winner — and people are always so impressed by the food. After two hours, without fail, people are raving about the meal and thank me for introducing them to Rice.
So with that, let me just say it now, before you go — you’re welcome!

Craved Thai iced tea and a decent Thai fried rice today. Glad that I went to Rice DC because it was super yummy. The 2 $ additional charge to have the standard chicken or beef replaced with 3 shrimps is a bit disappointing. My friend ordered the sticky rice, the flavor seemed to be ok but the presentation was not very appealing: looked more like soup than the traditional desert. The sticky rice was super hard and chewy so I am thinking reheated not freshly made… Also the green color seemed a bit off for this desert. Why not use the white sticky rice? Service is good though, and cha yen (Thai iced tea with (condensed? milk) is great!

I was out on 14^th with friends during a rainstorm and with no dinner reservation. After finding long waits at Estadio, Le Dip, and Pearl Dive, we found Rice, which was the only restaurant on the block not completey packed with people. For that reason alone we went with it. Rice was simply decorated, modern, and clean with a good initimate ambiance, but the food was not really memorable. Also, the restaurant was SO LOUD. It sounded like everyone was shouting just to be able to hear each other in there.
We got the spring rolls, crispy chicken with pineapple, and pad thai with shrimp. The spring rolls honestly tasted like they were just fried wrappers with mashed potatoes inside. A little odd but still tasty. The «crispy» chicken was not crispy at all, but rather soggy breaded strips of chicken with a very sweet tangy sauce. The pad thai, however, was really tasty, and I’d recommend it. Overall if you’re looking for a place that isn’t completely overbooked with a 2 hour wait on 14^th Street, this is a good bet. I wouldn’t go out of my way to come back but would also not go out of my way to avoid it.

Almost across the street from Studio theater. We were heading over there for a show and the staff did an amazing job getting us in and out even though we showed up late (traffic).
I am not a great fan of Thai food. I like PadThai but otherwise every dish I try is a little tasteless. My dish, a chicken pineapple thing was in that category. They serve you a rice on the side to go with it – the sticky type in a big, sandcastle like shaped mound. I mixed it in and it was all good. But somehow I am missing the taste bud that makes the subtle flavors to Thai food interesting.
But the veggies were crunchy and the chicken done just right. Ironically it could have used more pineapple.
The venue is a little tight and I was glad we were more in the center and not off on the sides where people were lined up like you see in NYC restaurants.
Again, we liked it a lot, but for me it’s not a priority to go back – don’t let that stop you.

Awful service, really good food, decent drinks.
We had dinner at Rice on Friday night, it was one of the few places that still had open table availability on Thursday night when I booked.
The décor and outside is very sleek, nice and modern. The indoors is one level, with moderate seating and a small bar set up at the back which can hold about six people. They have a full bar with beer, wine and liquor.
After being seated, we were brought four menus and some waters as we waited for the other two in our party. We took some time to look at the cocktail menu, which left much to be desired. Though the cocktails were good, they weren’t on par with what other restaurants in the area offer. After ten minutes and without having anyone stop by we were finally able to flag down a waiter and order two drinks and the pumpkin empanadas that everyone raves about.
The pumpkin empanadas came out well before our drinks (about two minutes after we ordered them). They’re basically just puff pastries filled with pumpkin filling. They’re pre-​made and not that great.
Our drinks, the bourbon and lemongrass martini came out next. The bourbon drink wasn’t very good but the lemongrass martini was stiff, had a nice taste and wasn’t overly sweet.
When our friends arrived, they they too had to wait ten minutes, flag down a server and order drinks and the green tea dumplings (which didn’t meet our expectations either).
To order entrees, we had to play the same flag someone down game. We ordered the steamed red snapper, seafood basil, and tempura shrimp curry.
These came out with excellent presentation and all were fantastic. The red snapper was cooked perfectly and served in a nice broth.
Again, once we were done, we flagged someone down for our bill. Received the wrong bill, requested the right one and left.
I’d definitely go back and do home that they do something about the quality of service.

Came again! Great lunch and great service this time. Had pad see ew again and it was fantastic!

Early dinner at 5pm at this spot. Summary of my experience
Service: 8
Server: 6
Atmosphere: 10 (outside patio beautiful sunny day)
Food: 6 (Cashew Chicken w/​sticky Rice)
Admittedly today was a breezy afternoon. Food arrived mildly warm – could have been hotter. Portion was unreasonably small. Would expect larger portion for the price. They weren’t crowded at all so I would have expected the server to check in on us more frequently than he did. Despite this I will give them a second try.