Rice Bowl Deluxe — Restaurant in Edmonton

🌟 0/5 Stars — "A Humiliating Letdown for Hong Kong Food Hopes"

As someone who’s longed for authentic Hong Kong flavors in Edmonton, Rice Bowl Deluxe (149 Street) crushed even my lowest expectations. What should’ve been a quick takeaway turned into a waste of time, money, and trust. Here’s why I’ll never return:

Unjustifiable Wait for Simple Orders We arrived at 3:02 PM—well past lunch rush—and ordered :two basic drinks: a small hot Hong Kong-style milk tea and a lemon iced tea. Despite the empty tables, it took 13 minutes to receive our order. For context: brewing proper milk tea takes time, but this delay felt like indifference, not care. We were rushed to pick up our child, yet the staff showed zero urgency.

Shrinkflation in Action The “small” milk tea arrived half-filled (≈200ml) in a cup designed for twice that volume. No spillage, no explanation—just a blatant rip-off. Hong Kong-style milk tea is meant to be rich and satisfying, not a measly half-cup that leaves you questioning reality.

Artificial, Low-Quality Drinks The lemon iced tea tasted like chemical syrup mixed with instant powder, utterly devoid of real lemon or freshly brewed tea. The milk tea lacked the silky depth of proper black tea and evaporated milk—it was watery and forgettable. For a restaurant claiming Hong Kong authenticity, this was false advertising at its worst.

Rushed, Rude, and Robotic Service No acknowledgment of the half-filled cup. Staff acted like automatons, prioritizing speed over basic customer respect. When you’re charging premium prices, treating patrons like inconveniences is unforgivable.

Final Verdict Rice Bowl Deluxe isn’t just bad—it’s insulting. They’ve mastered the art of cutting corners: undersized portions, subpar ingredients, and robotic service. Why pay to feel disrespected? Edmonton’s food scene deserves better than this chain’s lazy, profit-driven charade. Save your money and...

‼️ ‼️ ‼️ My fam called in a pickup order at 149 st rice bowl a couple days ago. They charged my fam delivery fee. My fam asked, in English, why is there a delivery charged to the front counter canto guy. The canto guy spoke to the boss/manager. The boss said, in canto, does it not cost $$ to answer the call to the front guy. They took the delivery charge off. Then the canto guy short changed my fam. My fam said why is it short changed. He said his til doesn’t have enough cash. My fam said it’s not their problem the store doesn’t have enough cash. Go talk to you boss. While the boss was looking for change, he said so troublesome 麻煩！ only a couple dollars!

They should be lucky it was not me who went in to get pickup. I would’ve made a pretty bad scene and don’t want the food at the end.

The canto guy and the boss bad mouth the customer in front of the customer thinking the customer doesn’t understand! 今時今日咁嘅服務態度點得㗎？

I don’t think I’d go back unless new management. If someone in this group knows the boss/manager, tell them don’t bad mouth customer, especially in front of them using a different language than the customer. They never know if the customer...

Pleasantly surprised with the food here considering the cringe slogan of "Eat Rice, Live Forever" had me assume it was some casual caucasian appropriation on Asian food.

Came by on a weekend and they had a special HK menu that you don't get during the week. Also only available at this location. I was really wanting to get a bowl of shrimp dumpling noodle soup but there's no way I'm forking over $15 for an $8 soup. So I settled with the rice rolls, chow mein, a salmon rice bowl and spring rolls for the kids. Chow mein was decent, Salmon rice bowl was really tasty but small piece of salmon, rice rolls were awesome and a rarity in Edmonton. Cut into snack size, drizzled in hot sauce, hoisin and peanut sauce. Brings back good memories of Hong Kong. Nostalgia aside, food was decent but the prices are too high. The restaurant is a fast casual set up and ordering is done at the counter. Wide variety of bowls ranging from Korean, Taiwanese and Filipino and a pretty impressive catering menu. I would recommend eating here if you want some asian variety without hitting up a food court but be aware that you're paying a...