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
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

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

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

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
Twitter: @UIThai2
Instagram: u_and_i_thai_
Saj & Co.

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