May Rice Roll & Congee Chinese Restaurant — Restaurant in Burnaby

May Rice Roll is a very busy place that often will have a big line up to enter. Reservations are accepted but does not really guarantee a table when you arrive. Writing your name and number of guests on the piece of paper at the entrance door is your best bet of getting a table (even with a reservation).

They specialize in handmade rice rolls and freshly boiled congee. Be prepared to wait 15-20 minutes for your order. The wait will be worth it.

We had their Hong Kong style congee, Fresh Fish congee, Beef & Shrimp rice rolls, and the Chinese Donut rice rolls. The congees were very hot when served. Very fresh and nicely textured (those who know congee know what the "right" texture means). The ingredients in the congee were fresh but not abundant. I would have wanted a bit more stuff (maybe 4 sliced of fish instead of just 3).

The rice rolls were of the handmade and bunched together type -- not the rolled ones often found at dim sum. The rice rolls had a nice texture with good chewiness and flavour. Our Beef and Shrimp came with only 4 small slices of tasty beef and 3 shrimps. A bit more filling would have been nice. Perhaps the chef really wanted the customers to enjoy the nice rice rolls? Our Chinese Donut rice roll was also very fresh, with the Chinese donuts showing a bit o crunchyness meaning they were re-fried. We didn't mind the crunchyness as it worked well with the chewy rice rolls. This Chinese Donut rice roll was served with a side dish of tasty peanut sauce and hoisin sauce -- very well flavoured to work with the rice rolls. Both rice rolls were served with their housemade soya sauce from a teapot. Don't confuse this teapot to serve tea. The soya sauce is lighter and a bit sweeter than our regular cooking soya sauces.

If you don't mind the wait and don't have a high expectation of service or comfort, May Rice Roll & Congee is a good place to try out what authentic rice rolls from the heart of Hong Kong or Guangzhou tastes like and the eating experience of those...

I was excited to try this place as there aren't many of these types of restaurants in Burnaby! Unfortunately, I can't say I was super impressed. I went during their breakfast special which I do wish ended later than 11:30. The breakfast combo is $14.95 which seems worth it but I'll explain to you why it really wasn't worth it.

We ordered two congees, a rice roll with Chinese donut and rice roll with shrimp and scallop. The congee were okay, not the best congee but not the worst congee I've had. I do like that it came out piping hot and didn't get watery as I ate it. The rice rolls were definitely not worth it. The actual rice rolls itself were alright tasting but the filling was disappointing. The Chinese donut was one was definitely more worth than the shrimp and scallop, my only complaint about the Chinese donut is that it doesnt seem to be made fresh in house. The shrimp and scallop rice roll was almost laughable. It only had three shrimps and four small canned scallops and the server even took away the dish before we finished the last scallop so we only had three scallops. When I looked around at the other rice rolls people ordered, they too also lacked in fillings and barely had any. I think their rice rolls would be much better if they actually had a decent amount of fillings. I can order a rice roll at a dimsum place for $8-9 and its definitely more filled with protein.

Overall, I think I would prefer to make a trip to Richmond to eat this kind of food but I do hope to try this place again in the future and hopefully have a better...

Stopped by for a late lunch and was glad with our choices. They have a breakfast combo of congee and a rice roll for 15.95, however it's only 9-11:30am.

They have menus that you use a whiteboard marker to indicate what you'd like to order. Also, they do have a special menu posted on the wall! I didn't see it until after we ordered, so we'll have to remember to have a look next time.

Sliced beef congee- good portion and liked they had thin pieces of ginger in it. It would have been nice to have some more green onion though. The congee isn't super salty, so I liked we could customize it with soy sauce, white pepper, etc. It also would have been nice to have a bit more slices of beef, otherwise it was really tender.

Three kinds of meat rice roll- this came with large chunks of meat. It would have been better if it was spread out more into the rice roll, since not every bite would have meat. But the chicken with this one was super tender. Also liked that we get to pour the sauce on to control the amount!

Chinese donut- hot and fresh. It was perfect to go with the congee. Although a bit oily, it's kind of expected.

HK style milk tea & coffee- we got this cold and it was a good size. It was too sweet for me. But the taste of the tea and coffee was really good.

Overall, this was a comforting meal. Service was quick and friendly. For two of us, it was around $30. So it isn't super cheap, but we left happy with our meal. I'd come back. Hoping to get that...