Rice Restaurant & Lounge

7525 W Hillsborough Ave., Tampa, FL 33615

(813) 889-7766

Categories: Restaurant

Cuisine: Korean, Sushi

Features: Big-screen TVs

Cost range: 10.01-20.0

Payment options: Credit cards accepted

Alcohol: Full bar

More in this neighborhood: Town 'n' Country

Dining at Rice Restaurant and Lounge can be a real adventure. It's not just the location, in the back of a shopping center along an unforgiving stretch of Hillsborough Avenue in Town 'n Country. There's all that banchan that is soon covering your table. Korean food is all about the banchan, small side dishes with an array of flavor notes, from sweet and spicy to pickled and crunchy. An order of barbecue - variations of pork and beef - comes with 15 or so side dishes, including a variety of kimchee, or fermented cabbage. Diners can choose to cook their own meat over small charcoal grills at the table or let the kitchen do the cooking. It is a vast space that can seem disturbingly empty even on a weekend night, but you'll be hard pressed to find better Korean food in the Tampa Bay area.

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