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| - If there is one word that describes Rice Inn (412.835.2800), a converted Pizza Hut, it is casual, casual, casual. The tone is set by the young hostess, who was dressed for the beach: a hooded sweatshirt, seersucker shorts, and flat canvas shoes. If one is seeking ambiance, this is not the place, though it is reasonably attractive and comfortable, and the tables and booths allow plenty of space to relax.
Diners may bring their own alcohol and there appears to be no corkage fee for wine.
The restaurant became extremely loud as the evening went on as some of the diners overindulged in wine.
The restaurant is in its first few weeks of operation, and it shows.
Our harried, but pleasant young female server forgot our request for water and hot tea. After fifteen minutes, we received water after asking a second time. She was apologetic. Later in the meal, a refill was provided without our having to ask. We did not receive the tea.
My wife ordered a sushi platter with salad and miso soup with seaweed. The good-sized salad with iceberg lettuce, carrots, and tasty ginger dressing arrived twenty minutes after the dinner order was placed, the soup a few minutes later. The sushi was brought to the table several minutes before my hot items. There were eighteen pieces in this large platter of sushi, which she enjoyed, a bargain for $10.95.
I ordered chicken egg roll ($1.95), chow fun noodles with pork (a flat, wide egg noodle) (yes, very unhealthful: a splurge), $9.00, and tofu (bean curd) with mixed vegetables: broccoli, carrots, mushrooms, snow peas ($8.95). The egg roll came within a few minutes of ordering, but it was a vegetable roll, not the chicken variety I had ordered. Instead of asking me whether I wanted the vegetable roll, the server instructed me to eat it and that she would order the chicken roll. I did as she directed and consumed both. Neither was particularly tasty and both were served lukewarm, at best. Both of the entrees were a good portion, tasty, and served in delicious sauces: not too oily, but the tofu dish was drowning in the sauce, causing it to be soggy. Both dishes were the proper temperature: steaming hot. Neither of the large platters was brought with any serving utensil.
Although the take-out menu shows an American Express icon in the section where accepted credit cards are listed, the server told me that the restaurant does not accept it.
I understand the husband and wife owners, Mr. and Mrs. Ho, are lovely people, but they were apparently not present on this evening. No owner or manager was overseeing the dining room and no one other than the server checked on us.
In most respects, I compare Rice Inn unfavorably to my favorite Asian restaurant in the area, Red Tea House in the Virginia Manor Shops in Mount Lebanon. Red Tea House is somewhat more expensive and the portions are somewhat smaller, but it consistently offers great service and artistically-presented cuisine, ambiance, and top-notch management, which oversees the dining room and makes every guest feel welcome. Water and tea are not ever forgotten at Red Tea House because these items are brought when the server first approaches the customer, along with delicious crisp noodles (alas, also unhealthful.)
For value, convenience, and reasonably good food, I am likely to return to Rice Inn on occasion, but it is not at the top of my list.
The restaurant also offers Thai cuisine, including the famous Pad Thai. It maintains no website and does not advertise.
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