Welcome to the Vancouver Foodster Rice Bowl Challenge. Restaurants from all over the city were invited to enter their rice bowl creations into this challenge, most of the restaurants have created a special rice bowl just for this challenge. Each restaurant will be featuring their rice bowls on their menu from March 3-27, 2016.

How Does this all Work? For the public challenge, you are invited to go out and order any or all of the rice bowl creations in this challenge, then you decide who you think has the best rice bowl creation for the People’s Choice award winners. 

Share your experiences: Tweet (and don’t forget to tweet or instagram your photos) throughout the challenge, our twitter and instagram address is @vanfoodster and the hashtag is #RiceBowlChallengeYVR please include this hashtag in all your tweets during the challenge.

Voting criteria –  some things to help you judge your favourite rice bowl creations – keep these things in mind: originality, creativity, uniqueness, traditional, non-traditional, price, value and most importantly taste.

Get some friends together and make a night of it, visit the restaurants to share and taste the different rice bowls  – just remember to VOTE for your favourites between March 3-27, 2016. 

Here are the 5 Rice Bowl dishes in this challenge, listed in no particular order other than when they were received by us.

Siam in the City Rice Bowl

Ban Chok Dee

Price: $14

Description:  Cured chicken, water chestnuts, Thai basil fried rice with avocado green curry sauce, caramelized almond and pumpkin seeds, topped with carrots, sprouts and crunchy kale. Served with the side of salt & pepper chicken skin salad!

Created by: Executive Chef Parinya Lopston

Offered: All the time

Ban Chok Dee

20563 Douglas Crescent, Langley

Tel: 778-278-3088

Web: http://www.banchokdee.com

Twitter: @BanChokDeeThai

 

American Grille

General Chau Rice Bowl

Price: $17

Description: Korean style bowl similar to a Bibimap with Cajun spiced chicken, prawns with garlic, egg, scallion served with General Chau sauce on rice.

Created by: Chef John Chau

Offered: All the time

American Grille

7571 Westminster Highway, Richmond

Tel: 604-232-2804

Web: http://american-grille.com/

Twitter: @GrilleYVR

 

Oka-San Kitchen

Momma’s style Poke Rice Bowl

Price: $10.95

Description:. A Hawaiian influenced classic that includes a variety of fish tossed in our homestyle poke recipe which is served over sushi rice with wakame, sesame,  furikake, masago, green onions and grape tomatoes.

Created by:

Offered: All the time daily (closed Tuesday’s)

Oka-San Kitchen

3578 Fraser Street, Vancouver

Tel: 604-620-9898

Web: http://www.okasankitchen.com/

Twitter @Okasankitchen

 

U & I Thai

Red Rice Bowl

Price: $14

Description: Pork jowl, Red Currie paste, coconut milk, bell pepper, bamboo shoots, rice and basil.

Created by: Chef Ui Ratsomjit

Offered: All the time

U & I Thai

3364 Cambie Street, Vancouver

Tel: (604) 875-6999

Web: http://uandithai.com/

Twitter: @UIThai2

Instagram: u_and_i_thai_

 

 

Saj & Co.

SHAMS Rice Bowl

Price: $13

Description:  Shams means the sun; is Vibrant, is Life, is warm and is health. A mix of organic wild rice, organic brown rice, organic quinoa, burgul, cheese, chickpeas, oven roasted free range organic turkey, pine nuts, roasted vegetables and lots of love.

Created by: Chef Malek Anouti

Offered: Dinner Monday – Friday 6pm – 9 pm; and Saturday and 6pm – 10pm

Saj & Co.

813 Davie Street, Vancouver

Web: http://sajandco.ca/

Twitter: @Sajnco

Make sure you pick up one of the Rice Bowl Challenge postcards available at each of the participating restaurants. Remember to Vote for your favourites daily

Our Media judges for this challenge are:

Jay Minter

Writer of food and the arts for On The List, Vancouver Presents and other publications.

Twitter: @jminter

 

Joyce Lam

Food Blogger for her own http://vanfoodies.com/

Twitter: @vanfoodies

 

Mary Sheridan

Food Blogger for her own Vancouver Bits and Bites Blog http://maryinvancity.com/

Twitter: @MaryinVancity