Rice

On our first visit to Rice over 2 years ago I thought “it’s about time!” A great, quirky, independent restaurant that is pushing our local eateries to get better and better.

Rice, located on St.Cuthbert’s Street is tucked out of the way, situated neatly in a small row of shops. No parking available so plan your trip in advance.

The restaurant is well decorated with a modest colour scheme with beautiful flowers situated on each of the tables. It is a small, intimate and bubbly restaurant, probably seating at most 20 people. The staff and charismatic manager Tim are not too intrusive but instead create a warm, relaxed and family feel.

I am pleased to say Rice has avoided the route of tacky cliché memorabilia but instead lets the food do the talking.
To start we order the Garlic Ribs and Tiger Prawn Tempura. Both dishes did not disappoint. The Tempura was battered deliciously, with a non-greasy light texture. The sweet chili dip accompanied the flavours well and we were left wanting more.

The Garlic Ribs were some of the best ribs I’ve ever tasted! The portion, which could feed more than 2 people, was cooked to perfection. The rich, tangy BBQ and garlic sauce gave a new definition to the phrase ‘moreish’!

For our main courses we chose the Thai Red Curry with Duck and the classic Pad Thai Noodles with Chicken.   The Thai Red Curry was a fantastically aromatic dish, well presented and flavoursome.
With a note of tamarind and garlic against the crunchy and salty flavour of the nuts, the Pad Thai Noodles left us wanting more! We also liked the sprinkle of chili flakes on the side… Nice touch!
Our recommendation; Go! Make sure bookings our made well in advance as tables go early on the weekends and plan your travel beforehand.  My personal menu recommendation is the ribs and Thai Red Curry.

BBQ Bobs

Barbecue is big right now. If you are even the least bit foody you will have come across (and probably consumed) plenty of pulled pork this summer and American-style BBQ joints serving authentically prepared ribs, steaks and other hunks of meat have been doing great business in the capital. Bedford, too, with its glut of Indian and Italian offerings, is crying out for a restaurant like BBQ Bob’s on Mill Street and we would like to see it succeed for that reason alone. But having visited several times in the last few months, it’s disappointing to report that the food at Bob’s is a real mixed bag.

‘Authentic’ is the key word here and Bob’s menu really emphasises the fact that all of the meat on offer has been smoked in-house and cooked on the day that you’re going to eat it. When they run out of an item, it says, there will be no reaching into the deepest recesses of the freezer to pull out weeks old bits of chicken. The idea of this focus on freshness and careful preparation is spot on. So when the reality of the food presented doesn’t live up to it, it’s doubly disappointing.

Bob has constructed a pleasingly tight, focused menu but the dishes which should be show-stoppers at any barbecue joint were not good. When we visited with a large party recently, five of us chose the delicious-sounding slow-cooked brisket. It’s no exaggeration to say that it was almost inedible. Dry and tough with chewy fat, it was like they had warmed up and plated slices of some sub-Aldi budget supermarket’s packet beef. Unfortunately it appears this was not an isolated incident—we’ve heard similar complaints about the brisket since. Bob’s pulled pork is ok, with a sweet, smokey flavour, but presented as it is in an uninspiring roll without any of the moist, sticky BBQ sauce (or even mayonnaise) that you would expect, it’s just too dry. So are the ribs which, though they have good flavour, were a bit too chewy.

In short, if the food is being prepared as the menu promises, it just doesn’t always taste like it.

There are positives. The service we received was excellent. All five of our very disappointing briskets were comped, as was a burger that was offered as a replacement. The burger was delicious. Tasty beef steak served slightly pink, it was very succulent and melt-in-the-mouth. The chicken wings were excellent, smothered in a lovely, smokey sauce with the meat falling off the bone. The accompaniments are great, particularly the fries which are seasoned with a nice spice mix. There’s also a strong selection of cocktails and Bob’s home-brewed beer is a nice touch, even if it tastes a little tinny.


So while there are signs of promise, as true meat lovers who were very excited about BBQ Bob’s our overall judgement can’t be a positive one. Some of the dishes need to be tweaked and others completely reconsidered. We hope they are: Bedford’s carnivores deserve the best.