I've not had clay pot rice since I was in Kindergarten, though I still had a faint recollection of what it tasted like. I was yearning for it, and decided to go to Bowl Kee hoping to try clay pot rice for the first time in many years.
The experience met and exceeded my expectations. My family and I got the Chinese sausage, chicken, and mushroom clay pot rice. What makes clay pot rice so unique is that, unlike many other rice dishes, the rice is not first made via a rice cooker - it's cooked directly from the pot with the other ingredients. The rice at the bottom absorbs all the flavors of the ingredients at the top, and you can add soy sauce for a little extra flavor.
Everything came together perfectly, and the chicken was quite flavorful when paired with mushrooms and Chinese sausage. Adding just a little bit of soy sauce gave the dish the little kick that it needed.
In addition to that, we also ordered fish ball and tofu soup as well as sweet and sour ribs. The soup was absolutely divine, with the fish balls tasting more homemade than store bought. The sweet and sour ribs had a lot of good wok hei, and the ribs themselves had a very nice texture to them.
I'm always a fan of authentic Chinese food, but I infrequently get to experience a meal this tasty and yet so homely. With only one taste, Bowl Kee has become one of my favorite restaurants to eat at in the Markham area.