Rice To Riches — Restaurant in New York

Rice pudding isn’t the first thing that comes to mind when you tell someone “Let’s grab dessert!” But you know what? It might just be the new thing to do.

I first heard about this place when a friend shared a “Must Try Desserts in NYC” article. I was in the neighborhood and figured I’d try it out (since online everyone was raving about the place and the pudding.)

Upon entering the locale, the vibe is welcoming, and the cheeky signs immediately caught my attention. Witty and cheeky comments on each sign will make you laugh while waiting in line to place your order (signs are not for the faint of heart. No light jokes there.)

My friend tried the chocolate chip rice pudding, which was simple, not overbearingly sweet. I decided to try out different flavors and ordered the trio for $14 (which is a good price compared to the one flavor for $10.) The trio I picked consistent of Standard/Regular Rice Pudding, Caramel And Rum Raisin.

I found the regular rice pudding to be quite bland and lacking flavor, it is overly creamy but there was no flavor to it. I would potentially try it again, but it’s not the flavor I would go for. The caramel was much tastier, on the sweeter side, it had a cinnamon and caramel flavor, very creamy. Now, the BEST ONE... Rum Raisin! I could eat a whole pint of this. Perfect balance of sweetness and creaminess without it being overwhelmingly either or. The flavors stood out and popped here, vanilla, cinnamon, the rice, the cream, the raisins. Perfect!

Honestly, it’s a cute place. The concept of the place is great! The packing is great. Amazing portions!! Amazing service as well!...

I'm not normally one to rate based on service and vibes rather than flavour but this place stood out.

Walked into the place completely empty. Thought we could take some time to choose flavours and toppings but immediately got the dreaded impatient death-stare from the lady behind the counter. Would have appreciated a "when you're ready" or offer of help or something but nope.

We both felt incredibly rushed and unwelcome and I ended up kind of going with the first flavour I thought would be okay. Noticed there were no samples available. Fine I guess but when your cheapest option is about $10 dollars it doesn't feel like you have much freedom to experiment.

Didn't get offered toppings even though we'd have probably had some, and basically had our stuff thrown at us - in very environmentally unfriendly plastic containers that you're expected to eat from with a plastic shoe horn. Not a joke.

Think this place must be getting by in tourist trade, with it being a unique concept and an interesting looking shop. Would not recommend to either tourists or locals myself unless you're an absolute rice pudding fiend.

All that and the strange boomer-bumper-sticker style messages everywhere, including ones saying they charge extra for stupid questions and indecision... yeah, your rice pudding's...

Stopped by this place on a whim while we were on the way to another store and wow, a rice pudding dessert restaurant? That’s unheard of to me. They have a multitude of different rice pudding flavors such as rocky road, banana, coconut, the classic vanilla, key lime pie, etc. They allow sampling but it’s limited to only 3 different flavors. There’s different sized bowls which allow for only 1 flavor, 1-2 flavors, etc. The exterior and interior of the store is quirky and clean. Service was good, they were a bit busy at the time that I visited. They pack your pudding all the way to the top so you get the most out of your bowl that you’ve selected. The spoons and bowl that they provide your pudding in is actually very sturdy and well made, if you order to go they provide a free bag (I had to mention this because many places charge at least $0.05 cents per bag).

The rice pudding itself is pretty thick, the consistency isn’t watered down. The rice is soft and chewy. The individual flavors are very distinctive—the chocolate flavors are very apparent and same thing applies to the other flavors.

I was happy with my order. Rice to Riches seems like a New York City only based business which makes me even happier than I’ve...