The Vancouver Foodster Rice Bowl Challenge launched today! Five restaurants in Vancouver, Langley and Richmond are competing for the Best Rice Bowl in Vancity title.

Each restaurant has created a unique rice bowl dish that is being featured on their menu starting March 3rd until the 27th.

There are two parts to this challenge: The Judge’s Choice award and People’s Choice award. For the public challenge, you are invited to go out and order any or all of the rice bowl creations in this challenge, then you decide who you think has the best rice bowl creation for the People’s Choice award winners. Make sure to share on social media with the hashtag #RiceBowlChallengeYVR

For the Judge’s Choice, food blogger Joyce Lam, my good friend and lifestyle writer Jay Minter and yours truly will have the pleasure of tasting and judging the rice bowl creations. Make sure you follow me on Snapchat as I will be snapping away at every restaurant.

Voting criteria – some things to help you judge your favourite rice bowl creations – keep these things in mind: originality, creativity, uniqueness, traditional, non-traditional, price, value and most importantly taste.  Get some friends together and make a night of it! Just remember to VOTE for your favourites between March 3-27, 2016 HERE. You can vote for your favourites daily.

Here are the 5 Rice Bowl dishes in this challenge, listed in no particular order:

Siam in the City Rice Bowl by Ban Chok Dee in Langley

Price: $14

Cured chicken, water chestnuts, Thai basil fried rice with avocado green curry sauce, caramelized almond and pumpkin seeds, topped with carrots, sprouts and crunchy kale. Served with the side of salt & pepper chicken skin salad! Created by: Executive Chef Parinya Lopston

General Chau Rice Bowl by American Grille in Richmond

Price: $17

Korean style bowl similar to a Bibimap with Cajun spiced chicken, prawns with garlic, egg, scallion served with General Chau sauce on rice. Created by: Chef John Chau

Momma’s style Poke Rice Bowl by Oka-San Kitchen in Vancouver

Price: $10.95

A Hawaiian influenced classic that includes a variety of fish tossed in our homestyle poke recipe which is served over sushi rice with wakame, sesame, furikake, masago, green onions and grape tomatoes.

 

Red Rice Bowl by U & I Thai in Vancouver

Price: $14

Pork jowl, Red Currie paste, coconut milk, bell pepper, bamboo shoots, rice and basil. Created by: Chef Ui Ratsomjit

SHAMS Rice Bowl by Saj & Co. in Vancouver

Shams means the sun; is Vibrant, is Life, is warm and is health. A mix of organic wild rice, organic brown rice, organic quinoa, burgul, cheese, chickpeas, oven roasted free range organic turkey, pine nuts, roasted vegetables and lots of love. Created by Chef Malek Anouti.

Offered: Mon – Fri 12pm – 3:30 pm and 6pm – 9 pm; and Saturday and 6pm – 10pm