The Rice House Serves Delicious Vegetarian Fare

The Rice House at 8438 N. Lindbergh Blvd., just opened in May, but the restaurant already seems to be getting a steady amount of business.

The Rice House bills itself as serving "Asian fusion cuisine." Although it does have a good share of items on the menu that fall under that category (Philly cheesesteak wontons, St. Paul sandwiches, etc.), all of its more creative dishes have meat in them, which was my only real problem with their menu.

For vegetarians, it has traditional Asian dishes, including egg rolls, fried rice and fried noodles.

For my dinner, I chose an order of vegetable egg rolls (two for $1.50), a half-order of vegetable fried noodles ($4.50) and an almond cookie (25 cents).

The restaurant only serves orders for carry-out (not dine-in), so keep that in mind if you plan on checking it out.

However, the staff is friendly and courteous. The cashier asked me about being a vegetarian while we waited for our food and included an extra cookie when she forgot to put the first one in my bag.

The food transported well: Once I got it home, it was still hot and steamy—there was no need to microwave it.

The veggie egg rolls appeared to be more like fried spring rolls, which I actually prefer. The casing was lightly fried and not overly greasy, while the filling (mainly cabbage and carrots) was warm and flavorful. They definitely made them to perfection.

When I got to my entrée, the half-order of vegetable fried noodles, I was definitely impressed with the large portion size. I could not imagine eating a full order in one sitting.

The noodles were delicious. The restaurant cooked them perfectly, at just the right thickness, and you could just pick up a subtle taste of soy sauce.

The veggies and noodles were both glazed with soy sauce, which made the dish taste even better. I appreciated the fact that it wasn't drowning in the sauce, which is how some restaurants serve their noodles.

The veggies served with the noodles included carrots, broccoli, chopped onions, sliced cabbage, pearl onions and green peppers. I appreciated the slices of cabbage as opposed to the tiny strips that some restaurants serve in their Asian dishes; you get more of the flavor of the cabbage that way.

All of the vegetables were cooked just the way I like them: They absorbed the flavor of the soy sauce while still remaining somewhat crisp and maintaining some of their own flavors. Their texture and taste was not completely lost in the cooking process, which can easily happen with vegetables.

The almond cookie was the perfect way to end my meal. It was light, flaky and had just a tinge of sweetness to wrap up all of the savory flavors of my dinner.

Overall, my meal was a delicious and reasonable way to spend $6.75.

Unfortunately, while I had a fantastic eating experience thanks to The Rice House, my guest did not. She ordered the sesame chicken combination plate ($6), which came with a side of pork fried rice and a pork egg roll.

She said the egg roll and the chicken itself were good, but the restaurant served the sesame chicken with a huge quantity of soy sauce, and the pork fried rice was so overcooked that she could barely eat any of it. She also missed having veggies with her meal: there were none with the sesame chicken and barely any in the fried rice.

The Rice House is open for carryout orders Monday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., and is closed on Sunday. You can call your order in at 314-837-0711.