Nice Rice – 25-Year-Old Former Michelin-Starred Restaurant Chef Serves Japanese-French Fusion Rice Bowls on French Road

This is the age where the hawker community comprises both young and old hawkers dishing out traditional and modern dishes (we probably wouldn’t have thought this was possible ten years ago). Newcomer Nice Rice is selling French-Japanese fusion rice bowls in a quiet coffee shop along French Road, which is located a short walk away from Lavender MRT Station. French fusion food on French Road — how apt. 

25-year-old owner, Mandel Ban, is a former Michelin-starred restaurant chef who had trained in fine-dining French establishment Bacchanalia before it got rebranded to Vianney Massot Restaurant, where he continued to hone his skills before it eventually closed in 2020. 

From there, Mandel continued his culinary journey at other eateries such as Wrap Bstrd and 8ASH, where he further armed himself with new techniques revolving around Japanese cuisine. The young chef eventually decided to venture out on his own and set up his own hawker stall in December 2021.

Law and order is well-kept in the kitchen, with condiments and seasonings precisely labelled in clear boxes on shelves. Price points might be on the higher side compared to your average kopitiam fare, but you will be getting your money’s worth as Mandel incorporates details reminiscent of fine-dining cuisine into even the smallest of side dishes. 

There are five different types of bowls to choose from — Bird Bowl ($5.80), Shroom Bowl ($6.80), Fish Bowl ($7.80), Super Bowl ($8.80) and Cow Bowl ($10.80). You can choose to add ingredients such as Ikura ($4), Ebiko ($1.50) and Truffled Onsen Egg ($1.20) to your rice bowl. Sides like Battered Onion Rings with Garlic Aioli ($4), Fried Calamari with Lemon Wedge and Garlic Aioli ($4.50) and Black Pepper Fried Chicken ($5), are also available to munch on.

As someone who can’t get enough of Japanese food, the Super Bowl was a very enticing choice. Looking at slices of aburi salmon with housemade aioli, two pieces of soy-glazed eggplant, garlic confit, ebiko and a crispy fish skin, I found it difficult to decide what I should try first because everything looked so good. So, I decided to follow my nose and zeroed in on the main star of Nice Rice – the rice pilaf. 

While rice pilaf typically uses long-grain rice, Nice Rice’s version sees Tawianese pearl rice cooked with veggie stock, onions and French butter. The result was super-duper fragrant grains that had been seasoned to perfection and packed with umami in every bite. I could honestly just devour a whole bowl of the rice pilaf on its own, but the accompanying ingredients took everything up a notch. 

The flame-torched slices of salmon were just about as perfect as aburi salmon can get. Couple them with the flavourful aioli and bursts of savoury umami from the ebiko and this is one moreish bowl you can’t get enough of. And as if all that wasn’t enough to keep me satiated, the unassuming eggplant pieces and garlic confit were insanely addictive. 

What initially sparked my interest amongst the menu items was the Cow Bowl, a glittering ensemble of tender beef slices, eggplant, garlic confit, an onsen egg, and a dash of housemade truffle sauce, all neatly fanned out on a bed of rice pilaf. 

Made using cuts from the rump cap, the lean slices of meat shone a rosy-pink in the middle and were brushed with beef fat to give it that oomph in flavour. It wasn’t the most tender beef I’ve had and I would prefer a little more fat to go with the meat. Nevertheless, the flavours were sublime, especially when the robust taste of truffle hits (and doesn’t overwhelm, so no miss here). 

I’ve seen some arguments about the portions here being on the smaller side and not worth the price point. But as someone who generally doesn’t go too big on serving sizes, I’d say that Nice Rice is definitely worth the journey, especially when they are serving quality food at accessible prices.

MissTamChiak.com made an anonymous visit and paid its own meal at the stall featured here.

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