By Jack Fitzpatrick and Daniel Zayas
Photos by Evie Carpenter
Grade: B
Rice Paper, a charming Asian restaurant in midtown Phoenix, offers unusual drinks, appetizers and entrees that might make downtown residents excited about an upcoming sister restaurant.
The eatery’s owner, Lan Tran, is opening another restaurant called Bonjour Vietnam in downtown Phoenix’s historic Hotel San Carlos. Considering the pleasant atmosphere and creative menu at Rice Paper, hotel visitors should have high hopes.
Rice Paper is housed in a small building that manages to be more cozy than cramped. Its brick walls and comfortably dim lighting makes customers feel at home sitting at the tall stools at a three-seat-wide table.
Rice Paper’s atmosphere is pleasant, but its bar has the restaurant’s most memorable attraction — a glass jar full of lychees soaking in liquor. Eating one lychee, a round, pale fruit, will garner you a few good-luck wishes from the staff and a taste in your mouth akin to rubbing alcohol mixed with pear juice. It’s more novel than delicious, but for those who don’t mind trying something new, it’s worth it.
The restaurant offers a wide range of intriguing and oddly named appetizers, but it’s not unusual for them to disappoint.
The spider spring roll is not the best spider anything you’ll find at a restaurant. “Spider” at Asian restaurants usually denotes a tempura fried soft-shell crab. This particular spider spring roll is at best a great combo of soft and crunchy textures, and at worst an underwhelming, salty seafood concoction. Overall, Rice Paper’s spider selection is not a great option for those who enjoy crab.
The “Enlighten Me” spring roll, stuffed with tofu, asparagus and two large slices of jalapeno and served with a sweet peanut sauce, is flavorful but profoundly spicy.
The roll and sauce are fine at first bite. The tofu is tasty for those who like tofu, the asparagus gave the roll a crunchy texture, and the dipping sauce combined sweet and savory in a perfect blend. But upon reaching the jalapeno, customers’ taste buds are blasted with spiciness, blocking out the roll’s flavors. These are not the typical grocery-store-brand jalapenos. They’re large enough across for a slice to take up nearly half the spring roll’s length. It’s a must-try for extreme jalapeno fans, but the “Enlighten Me” will leave all but the most enthusiastic spicy-food lovers gulping water for several minutes.
Rice Paper’s entrees are a mixed bag ranging from scrumptious to mediocre, but nothing will entirely disappoint.
The grilled pork sandwich, served on a baguette and topped with slices of carrots and cucumbers, has fresh flavors that are unfortunately drowned out somewhat by a large portion of bread. The pork is tender and juicy, but a bit stringy and fatty in some areas. The cool vegetables make for an unorthodox but enjoyable topping to a hot sandwich. The bread is also noticeably fresh, but the problem is that there’s too much of it, making the sandwich bland. Overall, it’s a good-but-not-great sandwich, and probably won’t be “the usual” for anyone who frequents Rice Paper.
If you’re worried about being disappointed by the sandwiches, try the braised-pork entree. Served in a hot bowl along with steamed rice and quail eggs, it is perfectly tender and juicy. The ingredients work well together, and nothing detracts from the meat’s flavor.
Rice Paper is not the kind of restaurant in which you can point to a random spot on the menu, order whatever your finger has landed on and be assured that it will be excellent. But depending on the appetizer and entree, it may be the best option for downtowners who want good Vietnamese food — at least until Bonjour Vietnam opens.
Contact the critics at john.l.fitzpatrick@asu.edu and dmzayas@asu.edu
