Chinese restaurants that charge for rice

[M0oG0oGaiPan]

some places charge for white rice. $6 is way too high though. what kind of dishes did you get? was the rice brought out automatically or did you have to request it? maybe you went to a fancy place that's a la carte only.

 

[chubbyfatazn]

In all the places I've ever been to (Dallas, Austin, Houston, Vancouver/Richmond, Toronto/Markham, Ottawa) we just get a large covered bowl of rice for everyone (4+ people) to share. No extra charge if you ask for more.

Same thing with takeout, two big styrofoam containers of rice.

All Cantonese/Hong Kong-style restaurants. I can speak enough of the language to get by, fwiw.

Now that I think of it the only place I can remember being charged was in HK.

 

[Insomniator]

$6 is insane. I've heard of a dollar or two but thats a major rip off. $12-$25 doesn't sound like a crazy high end kind of place that would overcharge for something as basic as white rice. Maybe if it were some michelin star joint that can get away with anything....

 

[JM Aggie08]

Rather than post to AT, did you bother asking your server/the owner of the establishment?

 

[Stopsignhank]

Imp has reminded me of my trips to China. On my last visit I was showing a new guy and his 13 year old kid how to order at a restaurant. The food started to arrive as it does over there, dish by dish, not all at once. After the third dish arrived, chicken with bones on it, his son looks at me as said "Don't they just have Orange Chicken?" I laughed and said "nope, this is not Panda Express"

 

[yuchai]

Getting charged for white rice by bowl is pretty standard. Not everyone likes to have white rice with the food. Some may want congee, and also others may want other flavored rice/noodle dishes instead (such as claypot rice, fried rice, etc). In fact, in a traditional Cantonese banquet you go through the different courses w/o rice and the rice & noodles are served near the end of the meal.

 

[AznAnarchy99]

Im guessing the food was served family style? Then they would charge for rice.

 

[DCal430]

I eat chinesr all the time, and these are real Chinese places. They all charge for rice, usually 1-2 dollars a person.

 

[DigDog]

just throwing it out there.. i made egg drop soup (with shredded duck) using the stock i made using trimmings from a prosciutto i bough whole, some veg and trimmings from a duck (which became crispy aromatic duck). still have enough stock for around 6 portions, plus the duck fat can be used for roast potatoes, and there's duck jelly to use as fond for other preparations.

chinese food is actually quite easy to make once you got the gear and the know-how. even sushi is not impossible if you kit yourself out for it.

spend some $$$ in upgrading our kitchen, you will be happy.

btw - i generally watch this guy's videos for advice on chinese, he's funny and seems to know his stuff:
https://www.youtube.com/user/TheArtOfCooking

 

[madoka]

some places charge for white rice. $6 is way too high though. what kind of dishes did you get? was the rice brought out automatically or did you have to request it? maybe you went to a fancy place that's a la carte only.

I wouldn't say it was that fancy. It was certainly better than your average Chinese restaurant, but nothing special.

We got the sizzling rice soup, kung pao chicken, pot stickers, etc. After we were done ordering, they did ask us nonchalantly if we wanted rice and we just said yes, not realizing that we would get charged for it or that it would come out to be so much.

The only reason it became an issue was that I had $60 in cash on me. We ordered $50 worth of food and tax, so I figured I would leave $10 tip. But when we got the bill, I saw that I no longer had enough because of the rice. I had to use a credit card, which I despise doing for security purposes.

Rather than post to AT, did you bother asking your server/the owner of the establishment?

I asked the server and she just told me that their policy is to charge per scoop of rice. Each scoop is woefully small and we eat a lot of rice. Since all the workers there do not speak much English, there was no way I could dazzle her with my linguistic gymnastics over the outrageousness of their rice charges.

 

[GoPackGo]

When you are the only white guy there and your wife has to order in Chinese and/or translate the menu.

Other signs are:
- no water, only tea unless you ask
- meat has bones
- servers/waiters are rude by American standards
- a man in a suit will take payment, and stand by the table waiting for you to sign and put in tip (seems exclusive to dim sum)
- whole dead animals (pigs, duck, etc) for banquets and Uber pricy dishes
- food is served family style
- desert is sliced oranges.
- restaurant name: 888/28 seafood/restaurant, or all in Chinese characters.
- no parking, but tons of cars circling in the parking lot, refusing to use Street parking
- tables are square (4 people max) bigger tables are round, and have a lazy Susan

Also... and I experienced this... Butcher walks in the front door in bloodied white clothes carrying a plastic bag of meat.

 

[SlitheryDee]

"Do you want rice with that"? <---Usually means they're going to charge you for the rice if you say yes.

"Fried or white rice"? <---Usually means the rice is included.

If they say nothing at all about rice, but you get rice, I would assume that's included in the price as well.

 

[Imp]

I asked the server and she just told me that their policy is to charge per scoop of rice. Each scoop is woefully small and we eat a lot of rice. Since all the workers there do not speak much English, there was no way I could dazzle her with my linguistic gymnastics over the outrageousness of their rice charges.

I treat it like, "would you like some coffee or tea," or "do you want to supersize that?"

P.S. How small is a small scoop? Almost every place I've been, they usually use a small soup bowl and then fill a dome over the rim of the bowl.

 

[djnsmith7]

Damn, $6 can buy a 10 lb. bag of rice.

 

[DigDog]

i buy a 5kg bag of sushi rice for about $12. again ... if you learn how to cook .. you will never restaurant again. (i make my own grammar)

 

[CountZero]

In all the places I've ever been to (Dallas, Austin, Houston, Vancouver/Richmond, Toronto/Markham, Ottawa) we just get a large covered bowl of rice for everyone (4+ people) to share. No extra charge if you ask for more.

Same thing with takeout, two big styrofoam containers of rice.

All Cantonese/Hong Kong-style restaurants. I can speak enough of the language to get by, fwiw.

Now that I think of it the only place I can remember being charged was in HK.

Really? Most every Chinese place I've been to (Seattle, Dallas, SF Bay area) charges for rice when ordering "family style". But it has always been incredibly cheap ($1 for enough rice for 4+) or "free" in so much as they claim to charge for it but if you order a bunch of food they don't. The menu clearly states they charge as well.

I pretty much expect to be charged but $12 would be ludicrous and even worse if they don't mention it on the menu.

 

[chubbyfatazn]

Really? Most every Chinese place I've been to (Seattle, Dallas, SF Bay area) charges for rice when ordering "family style". But it has always been incredibly cheap ($1 for enough rice for 4+) or "free" in so much as they claim to charge for it but if you order a bunch of food they don't. The menu clearly states they charge as well.

I pretty much expect to be charged but $12 would be ludicrous and even worse if they don't mention it on the menu.

Yep. All that shows up on the receipt is the dishes I ordered, nothing about extra charges that I can see in the menu. Obviously the cost is factored in somewhere, but there's no explicit "rice surcharge"

I forgot to add London to my list, I can remember being charged per-bowl at a restaurant near Piccadilly Circus

 

[GoSharks]

Standard at nicer places in the SFbay. Just on Saturday in the Sunset District of SF, we ordered 4 bowls of rice for 10 people, because they charge by the bowl.