Rice Brother — Restaurant in London

The Kitchens at Old Spitalfields is getting exciting with more new faces, some stalls who have made their success through popups. Ricebrother has been at the Old Spitalfields for a year now serving signature rice rolls and tofu puddings in The Kitchens. Ricebrother is inspired by a traditional Chinese street food, originating from Eastern China ‘Zifantuan’ – a Chinese style stuffed sticky rice roll made by tightly wrapping a piece of fried dough stick and pork floss with glutinous rice. You will find these sticky rice rolls wrapped in clingfilm which is the basic way they are served. At Ricebrother, they have taken the rolls to the next level by wrapping them in paper. When I saw them, I thought they were Korritos which are basically Korean Burritos. Also on the Ricebrother menu was savoury soy pudding (silky tofu pudding) which reminds me Toayuan village, a competitor in a different aspect. Although I wasn't going to try the dessert, their soy pudding with goji berries and homemade osmanthus honey was healthy as well as unique. Most soy puddings are just served with syrup or crushed Chinese sugar. As I was the Old Spitalfields, I decided to try a rice roll. There was three to choose from: BBQ Pork, Crispy Chicken and Sichuan Pepper Tofu. The chicken and tofu both have Sichuan pepper which is delicious but in the end I opted for tofu because I like tofu more than chicken. The roll was ready in a flash and they offered to slice it in half which makes it convenient to eat as well as instaworthy. It would be good if they served the rolls in a paper tray/box as it was difficult to hold both of them if you have small hands. Just out of curiosity, I unwrapped it to see if it stuck to the paper and it didn't. To my surprise, the roll was wrapped in seaweed in the middle which makes it look good as well as tasty. The taste of the rice roll as a whole was good especially the tofu, if I do get a chance next time I hope to request for more tofu instead of the omelette because I found it a bit boring. I didn't really like the creamy coleslaw in the roll as it was a strange pairing with the Sichuan spices however I wouldn't mind pickles or something punchy as it would complement the tofu better but this is just my...

I used to love this place, but boy has it gone downhill hard and fast.

I’ve eaten at Rice Brother perhaps a dozen times over the years. The last time I went before today was around six months ago, and the riceroll that I got tasted kinda off, and made me feel sick. Still, I figured today that I’d give it a second chance – after all I’d eaten there a bunch of times previously and had nothing but delicious food, so maybe it was a one off? Big mistake… I ordered the riceroll and karaage set, and they handed be the karaage in an open cup. I explained that I was cycling home with the food, and asked if they could put it in one of the cardboard takeaway containers that they were packing other orders into. Unbelievably, they refused – I was told that those containers were “only for takeaway orders” (bear in mind it is a market stall, so all orders are takeaway), and then, when I pointed out that I had ordered £12 worth of food and was asking for a 1p cardboard food container, another staff member replied “yes but if I gave you one, I would have to give one to every customer”, like the concept of giving each and every customer a container for the food you have sold them was a truly outlandish idea. Eventually they agreed to wrap my open cup of chicken in tin foil and off I went, still genuinely dumbfounded at the interaction that I had just had.

When I got home, I ate my chicken (which obviously had spilled from the poorly wrapped open cup as I predicted), and credit where credit was due, it was very nice. Then I opened the riceroll, and was hit with a smell that I can only describe as ‘wet dog’. Suddenly I had a flashback to my experience of six months ago, and telling myself that I was imagining that smell and forcing myself to eat the food, before an afternoon of regret spent on the toilet. Once butten twice shy i told myself, and today's riceroll went straight in the bin.

Conclusion – if you want rancid food served by people that value your custom less than a cardboard container, this is the place for you. Otherwise, do yourself a favour and eat somewhere else....

I’ve been craving fan tuan (riceroll) ever since I moved to London and omg I am so happy I found this place.

While it’s not exactly your traditional fan tuan, it was perfect. The fresh crispness from the pickles and slaw balance the heaviness of the rice and fried tofu and youtiao perfectly. The slightly sweet and savory sauce was delicious but I do wish they added more spicy sauce or had some on the side because I couldn’t taste any spice at all.

Dipping the crispy golden buns in condensed milk took me back to sitting in chinese restaurants as a kid and devouring mounds of them. They are the perfect size to optimize the crispy outside to fluffy inside ratio but my favorite parts will always be the edges where that ratio is the greatest. I do wish the buns themselves were a little more salted to add a bit more flavor to the bun and balance the sweetness of the condensed milk.

Overall, this place was everything I hoped for and more. PLEASE eat here and experience this deliciousness...