RiceBar - Los Angeles, CA

I just realized I haven't had a lunch date with slave girl for awhile. Since I was thinking adobo, I thought Filipino food would be awesome to have. After some research on yelp, we found RiceBar.

When I first saw the interior pictures of the restaurant, I didn't realize it was actually that cozy. We sat at the table in the middle and the guy sitting behind me was seriously close to my back. Good thing the AC was on so even when the restaurant was packed, it was still conformable for us.

Open kitchen

I asked owner/chef Charles how often the menu gets changed since I saw a date written above the menu on the inside of the front door. He told me they change some items on the menu once a month, but breakfast menu is changed weekly. That's cool.

We ordered spam and egg sandwich, crispy anchovies, pork longganisa, and pancit luglog. The spam and egg sandwich was very tasty and hearty. The only thing I wish that could be done better was the egg. It was a small sandwich to begin with and nearly all of my bites contained egg shells, or was it designed that way?

Spam and egg sandwich

Crispy anchovy was Charles' new creation. While anchovy had good flavor, it was a little bland when eating with rice, avocado and tomato into one bite. Thanks to the fish sauce and spicy vinegar, totally saved the day. Speaking of that, they also saved pancit luglog. That dish was quiet bland as well but that was not it. Maybe it's me, but the noodles in my bowl turned into a big mushy mass after I started to mix everything. No, I did not blend my noodles, I mixed them. It didn't taste bad, but I was disappointed with the texture.

Crispy anchovies

Pancit luglog

Lastly, pork longganisa. Susage was done very well and it was very delicious. Garlic rice was good but I did wish it could be a little more garlicky. The egg was a let down, again. We saw the cook (not Charles) drooped the egg while he was cooking it so our egg did not look like everyone else's, sunnyside or over easy. No, it was a half split, well done egg with no dripping. Don't get me wrong, egg is egg, but I am sure that was not how Charles visions his dish.

Pork longganisa

Overall, I do think this place is good for what it is, but would I drive to dtla for this after what I experienced? Most likely not. Would I go again if a co-worker wants to have lunch there? Absolutely.