The food was fantastic and the owners are wonderful! This place is truly a gem!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Wafi taufiq
This sambal is fire
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Janet Bruins
Highly recommended by our cookbook author friend, and what a surprise—this place is incredible! The food is phenomenal. It’s a set menu, and while I don’t usually like spicy food, I genuinely enjoyed every sambal. The strawberry sambal was absolutely delicious (I did have to take a few sips of water for that one!). Every dish was beautifully presented and oh so delicious. A true gem!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Nathaniel Berendson
Prixe fix had delicious food in combination with a beautiful atmosphere. Elevated take on Indonesian food was incredible
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Erin Neal
We had such a great time at rice and sambal, the owner was friendly and made the meal special. Every course was better than the last.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Jordan
Wanted more seasoning and flavoring to shine through and didn’t quite get that. The Bone Marrow dish was the most flavorful. Very kind and intimate restaurant. Someone opted to leave as they didn’t specify vegetarian when booking the reservation causing issues, so make sure to specify that.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 3
Service: 5
Han Yong Wunrow
Honestly one of the best meals I've had in my life! The prix fixe menu Liwetan is an experience well worth having. See their website for more details but the menu rotates so you can come back here again and again, which we definitely will. They give you A LOT of food so come hungry.
Food: 5
Robert Mallard
Great set menu with delicious food, really great
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Celia Caust-Ellenbogen
What a fun and delicious experience! We had the vegetarian liwetan - an enormous, varied platter of tasty food that they offer on Saturday nights. The restaurant is cozy and family-run. This is the perfect place to come if you want to do something different (and romantic) for a special occasion
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Ka Yi Li
Love the experience chef and her partner created for us! The menu changes every 6 weeks, and every dish carries a story behind and why the chef chooses certain ingredients or why is it made a certain way. It is so cool to see the history of Chinese and Dutch influence in the dishes, and see how the flavors integrate into Indonesian food. Also this is BYOB, which is less and less common now in Philly. Thank you Rice & Sambal for this unforgettable experience ❤️
Impeccable South Asian cuisine that's flavorful, diverse, and seasoned to perfection. Their tasting menu is affordable, filling, and well-rounded. Added bonus: They're BYOB. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Yi Yang
Small little quaint spot for you and your special one. Fairly priced with large portions that taste great! What more can you ask for?
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Cristian Navarro
Great ambiance and superb service. We ordered the vegetarian prix fixe menu, and were very pleased with the mains (sate padang and terong saos). However, the apps (tofu and seitan “ceviche” and salad) were underwhelming both in terms of flavor profile and ingredient quality (at this price point in Philly, we were expecting more). They were just getting started when we stopped by, and will give it a second chance.
Vegetarian options: prix fixe vegetarian menu (counterpart to regular menu)
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 5
Alexander Mitts
I was really hoping for a high quality, flavorful recreation of or reimagining of Indonesian food. For the price, the restaurant did not deliver any truly great food, enough food, or appropriate pacing. The dishes were all at least decent, and one was close to very good, but they all made mistakes. Some of the rice crackers tasted of stale oil, the crostini were just stale, the rice was overcooked into a paste, and we left having spent over $100 per person still hungry. The tasting menu is five courses, yet we left the restaurant less than an hour after arriving, and we weren't rushing through the food.
The service was friendly and attentive, and the restaurant clearly cares about what they are trying to create, but Rice & Sambal needs to get a tighter handle on its flavors, ingredient control, pacing, volume, and presentation.
Given how many incredible reasonably priced restaurants are in Philly, you'd hope that one charging a premium would be memorable and obviously better, but I have had much better food from a variety of much more affordable Southeast Asian restaurants here (and I expect there are even better Indonesian restaurants I haven't tried). On the other side of the spectrum, I have spent several multiples of this amount on a meal and left delighted, so don't mind the price in principle. There are so many misses amongst the higher-end restaurants in Philly, and so far this is another.
At $45/pp I would be just about ok with the meal we had if the minor mistakes were not repeated, but at $85, I left annoyed and disappointed.
Vegetarian options: There is a vegetarian version of the prix fixe menu
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 3
Service: 4
Fariza Rusdi
Cute, warm and trendy atmosphere here at Rice and Sambal! Our waitress was so attentive and super friendly. We had the regular prefix menu which is a great introduction to Indonesian cuisine. All courses were portioned out perfectly and prepared so delicately. Food was fresh and tasty, make sure to add the sambals (or sauces) given in the beginning for the ultimate flavor bomb. The owners Jen and Diana introduced themselves at the end and checked with their guests individually. Overall, what a fantastic restaurant to be with great company while trying unique and creative Indonesian dishes. Truly a hidden gem, 10/10 would recommend!
Vegetarian options: Vegan pre fix menu available but must specify when booking.
Wheelchair accessibility: They will provide a ramp if necessary.
The food was fantastic and the owners are wonderful! This place is truly a gem!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
This sambal is fire
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Highly recommended by our cookbook author friend, and what a surprise—this place is incredible! The food is phenomenal. It’s a set menu, and while I don’t usually like spicy food, I genuinely enjoyed every sambal. The strawberry sambal was absolutely delicious (I did have to take a few sips of water for that one!). Every dish was beautifully presented and oh so delicious. A true gem!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Prixe fix had delicious food in combination with a beautiful atmosphere. Elevated take on Indonesian food was incredible
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
We had such a great time at rice and sambal, the owner was friendly and made the meal special. Every course was better than the last.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Wanted more seasoning and flavoring to shine through and didn’t quite get that. The Bone Marrow dish was the most flavorful. Very kind and intimate restaurant. Someone opted to leave as they didn’t specify vegetarian when booking the reservation causing issues, so make sure to specify that.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 3
Service: 5
Honestly one of the best meals I've had in my life! The prix fixe menu Liwetan is an experience well worth having. See their website for more details but the menu rotates so you can come back here again and again, which we definitely will. They give you A LOT of food so come hungry.
Food: 5
Great set menu with delicious food, really great
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
What a fun and delicious experience! We had the vegetarian liwetan - an enormous, varied platter of tasty food that they offer on Saturday nights. The restaurant is cozy and family-run. This is the perfect place to come if you want to do something different (and romantic) for a special occasion
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Love the experience chef and her partner created for us! The menu changes every 6 weeks, and every dish carries a story behind and why the chef chooses certain ingredients or why is it made a certain way. It is so cool to see the history of Chinese and Dutch influence in the dishes, and see how the flavors integrate into Indonesian food. Also this is BYOB, which is less and less common now in Philly. Thank you Rice & Sambal for this unforgettable experience ❤️
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Restaurantji Recommends
Impeccable South Asian cuisine that's flavorful, diverse, and seasoned to perfection. Their tasting menu is affordable, filling, and well-rounded. Added bonus: They're BYOB. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Small little quaint spot for you and your special one. Fairly priced with large portions that taste great! What more can you ask for?
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Great ambiance and superb service. We ordered the vegetarian prix fixe menu, and were very pleased with the mains (sate padang and terong saos). However, the apps (tofu and seitan “ceviche” and salad) were underwhelming both in terms of flavor profile and ingredient quality (at this price point in Philly, we were expecting more). They were just getting started when we stopped by, and will give it a second chance.
Vegetarian options: prix fixe vegetarian menu (counterpart to regular menu)
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 5
I was really hoping for a high quality, flavorful recreation of or reimagining of Indonesian food. For the price, the restaurant did not deliver any truly great food, enough food, or appropriate pacing. The dishes were all at least decent, and one was close to very good, but they all made mistakes. Some of the rice crackers tasted of stale oil, the crostini were just stale, the rice was overcooked into a paste, and we left having spent over $100 per person still hungry. The tasting menu is five courses, yet we left the restaurant less than an hour after arriving, and we weren't rushing through the food.
The service was friendly and attentive, and the restaurant clearly cares about what they are trying to create, but Rice & Sambal needs to get a tighter handle on its flavors, ingredient control, pacing, volume, and presentation.
Given how many incredible reasonably priced restaurants are in Philly, you'd hope that one charging a premium would be memorable and obviously better, but I have had much better food from a variety of much more affordable Southeast Asian restaurants here (and I expect there are even better Indonesian restaurants I haven't tried). On the other side of the spectrum, I have spent several multiples of this amount on a meal and left delighted, so don't mind the price in principle. There are so many misses amongst the higher-end restaurants in Philly, and so far this is another.
At $45/pp I would be just about ok with the meal we had if the minor mistakes were not repeated, but at $85, I left annoyed and disappointed.
Vegetarian options: There is a vegetarian version of the prix fixe menu
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 3
Service: 4
Cute, warm and trendy atmosphere here at Rice and Sambal! Our waitress was so attentive and super friendly. We had the regular prefix menu which is a great introduction to Indonesian cuisine. All courses were portioned out perfectly and prepared so delicately. Food was fresh and tasty, make sure to add the sambals (or sauces) given in the beginning for the ultimate flavor bomb. The owners Jen and Diana introduced themselves at the end and checked with their guests individually. Overall, what a fantastic restaurant to be with great company while trying unique and creative Indonesian dishes. Truly a hidden gem, 10/10 would recommend!
Vegetarian options: Vegan pre fix menu available but must specify when booking.
Wheelchair accessibility: They will provide a ramp if necessary.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Loading...