Rice Paper

I went in for a quick lunch before an afternoon hike. I think I ordered a phở too but was so disappointed that I didn’t even bother to take a photograph. Now that’s rare for me.
The spring roll was interesting. It’s actually filled with mangos. It was refreshing and tasty.
Not worth to queue for though.

I love phở when I’m hungover. Rice Paper is conveniently close to the boyfriend’s, so we hit up Rice Paper for a quickie bowl of phở when our heads are aching and we can’t stomach anything that requires more the occasional chew of soft rice noodles. I’ve tried to bite my tongue on the quality of phở in Hong Kong, the likes of which don’t come close to the authentic Vietnamese versions you see almost everywhere you look in Hanoi. In this way, when I say the Rice Paper phở is good, I mean relatively with other phở places in Hong Kong — but will make any true phở-​lover miss how they do in Vietnam. In Hong Kong, I wouldn’t pay more than the $ 68 the standard raw beef phở costs here — anything more, and I’d assume you’re paying more for their rent space than anything else.
Similarly, the sampler platter/​plate which features sugar cane prawns, deep fried soft shell crab, steamed rice parcels, satays, and spring rolls, is very reasonably priced but a few pieces verged on a little too dry. I suppose feeling their Vietnamese food was slightly inadequate, they also give you a section called ‘Thai selections’ where you can get the Hong Kong-​preferred Thai dishes like tom yum goong, prawn cakes, and morning glory. Again, the cuisine is commendable, and good if you’re too lazy to venture out to Kowloon City’s Little Thailand.
I think Rice Paper more than anything else is a restaurant of convenience, but I’m never disappointed when I go here because it usually satisfies my Vietnamese food cravings. But only just.

For all my years of existence, I’ve been confused if the restaurant is called Rice Paper or Paper Rice. I just did a search on Google to see that it’s the former, but give it a couple of days and I’ll probably forget again.
Anyway, Rice Paper is a restaurant that does Thai and Vietnamese cuisine. It seems that the restaurant’s been struggling — I remember they used to have one at Harbour City and World Trade Center, but it’s now just down to the one at Festival Walk. The restaurant does fairly affordable lunch sets, and if I’m not wrong there are no sets for afternoon teas.
The lunch sets include an appetizer, which is a sampler of their top starters, and a main. I’ve never gone for anything other than the raw beef phở for the main — I adore everything about phở and cannot bring myself to trying any other main, knowing that I’ve had it here enough times to know it’s decent. This costs $ 85, and you can add another $ 10 to get either a lime soda or a hot calamasi drink.
The starter platter includes a vegetable spring roll, a stick of satay and a small portion of papaya salad, among others. My favorite is the mango rice paper roll, which is really refreshing. I like all of the items in the platter and only wish there was more than one of each! The phở is nothing too special per say, though I think the one here is better than many other restaurants where they soup tends to be too MSG loaded. Here, the soup is clearer and less salty, and the beef is always quite tender. The lime soda is good but doesn’t have enough lime inside — just kind of tastes like soda water with a hint of a lime taste.
I don’t understand how Rice Paper isn’t doing well because I think their food is generally affordable and of a good quality. But then again, we know how it is in HK — rent is unforgiving and the root of many businesses having to close. I would definitely recommend coming to Rice Paper if you’re at Festival Walk — after all, you won’t find it anywhere else!