Rice Forest — Restaurant in Fayetteville

In my opinion, this place is a hidden gem! We tried this spot for the very first time and we were just blown away. Loved the decor, the vibe and the feeling of a local spot to grab a quick meal or snack. Attentive and friendly service, we picked out a seat by the farthest window. On this visit, we ordered gyoza, bao nini, HK BBQ Pork and Hainanese Chicken. I do want to say that whoever curated the menu is doing a smashing job. They serve a collection of go-to street food snacks and meals from Japan, China and Southeast Asia, literally every dish is interesting and we fully intend to try the whole menu throughout our future visits. I mean, I have never seen a place that offers Hainanese chicken! The HK BBQ Pork was definitely the standout. The char, crunch and sweet/savory flavors were in perfect proportion to each other. And while it's different from the more traditional char siu that I expected, the flavor was not unlike Filipino-style pork bbq, which I love. The Hainanese chicken was tender, juicy and even the skin had a pleasant chew and texture, which is unexpected for the way the dish was cooked. The entrees did come with a vegetable side salad of a sort, but without dressing. Not something for me, but it did not decrease my enjoyment of the other dishes at all. The apps were very good, with the bao nini being closer to a siopao bun than the sandwich type bao I was expecting, both were delicious and well prepared. Portions were generous and absolutely worth the price. We definitely intend to return to sample the rest of the menu, as almost everything on there has the potential to be a banger. Highly...

Food was great. I really enjoyed the pork Tonkatsu, although the salad didn’t have any dressing, not sure if that was intentional but didn’t ruin the meal. The place is very small and limited in seating which we enjoyed UNTIL…

Service was lacking in attentiveness and efficiency, made the experience very disappointing. Normally I’m not one to fuzz. We a group of 3 came in and were told to sit anywhere we want. So we sat at the bar hoping to order a few items at a time, however we waited for a while and then had to ask the girl behind the counter if we could get menu’s which she pointed across and said they are next to the register and then said they don’t have enough menus and asked us to share, no big deal even though there are maybe 20 seats in this place. We then sat again waiting before flagging the girl again that is right in front of us pretending like we don’t exist. We told her we were ready to place our order and she told us we need to order at the register. So here I am gathering everyone’s order like I work here. After asking for napkins for three of us and being handed one single paper napkins our experience just became an embarrassment. I hope my tip goes to the kitchen cuz the service is lacking.

I highly recommend the food

I should note this was our first time coming here. Had the person been more attentive and explained how to order it would have been less embarrassing and it wasn’t just us. We noticed several other people experiencing the same issues we...

Very excited to have another Asian restaurant in NWA, and Rice Forest is a must try!

We ordered the Bao Nini, Hainamese Chicken, and HK BBQ Pork. The pork and chicken we got with the authentic seasoned rice (which had a ginger and lime taste to it, very delicious!)

The entrees were so tasty. The chicken came with a chili sauce that I want to use at home. Pork was cooked perfectly with the burnt ends adding that much more flavor.

I loved the Bao’s and wish I had more. The dough was fluffy and dense, surrounding the juicy pork filling.

We enjoyed the outdoor patio and customer service was top notch.

If you’re eating there, you order at the counter, and they hand you a number. They’ll bring the food out to you along with a water pitcher and glasses.

Will definitely go back to a Rice Forest to try their...