If you’re looking to eat for less, there are tons of inexpensive options at suburban food courts. My parents introduced me to Pot Rice and Rolls House, after they walked by it one day and found a crowd surrounding the relatively plain looking stall.
After looking at the
menu, they soon realized why – Pot Rice’s congee combos were a steal. The only
drawback is the menu is written in Chinese, so illiterate individuals would
never know about the deal. For $5 you get a pretty filling meal:
- A choice of congee: century egg with pork, dried vegetable with spare rib, free run chicken or a giblets mixture;
- A rice roll filled with either beef, pork, pork liver or dough fritter; and
- Soy milk.
We tried the century
egg with pork congee, where there was plenty of the preserved egg but little
pork. The black egg with jellied egg white and creamy yolk is an acquired taste,
as the yolk has a strong metallic tang to it (the black jellied egg white is
unflavoured). The congee itself, a thick consistency, was a bit too paste-like
for my taste.
The dough fritter
wrapped rice roll was better and I enjoyed that you dress it yourself; you can
put as much soy, hoisin and sesame sauce to your heart’s content. The dough
fritter could be crispier, but some do like their rice rolls to be chewy rather
than crunchy.
The eatery offers other
dishes as well: rice and noodle items normally found at congee restaurants. The
stir-fried rice noodles with beef ($5.50) were accompanied with bone broth soup
and soy milk. It lacked the colour, flavour and aromatic essence you’d normally
expect from this dish. Green onions, which would help improve on all the above,
was definitely required. If you’re going to eat at the Pot Rice, just stick
with the congee.
As a food lover, I
generally appreciate taste over value and found the meal disappointing. However,
in an age where McDonald combos are $7+, I can certainly see the appeal of the
filling $5 congee and rice roll meal. As such, Chinese illiterate individuals,
you are now also in the know.
How To Find Them
Location: Toronto, Canada
Address: 633 Silver Star Boulevard
Address: 633 Silver Star Boulevard
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Gastro World's Grading System
- Anything under 5 - I really disliked and will never go back
- 6 - decent restaurant but I likely won't return
- 7 - decent restaurant and I will likely return
- 8 - great restaurant that I'd be happy to recommend
- 9 - fantastic restaurant that I would love to visit regularly and highly recommend
- 10 - absolute perfection!
