Rice, Paper, Scissors Melbourne CBD by Big Fil

It may not be the real deal as far as the purist is concerned, but Rice, Paper, Scissors brings a western touch to the flavours and textures of South East Asian street food. The atmosphere is convivial and complemented by the style of dishes, small in size so as not to impede the flow of conversation and designed for sharing.  Popular too, as yet again we seemed to be the last of the walk-ins to grab a table just after 12, and even then we had to be out by 1pm.

Staff are friendly and after querying whether we had visited before took the time to explain about the dishes on offer.  Not really necessary in our case but a nice touch anyway.  The inspiration for the dishes seems to be predominately but not exclusively Thai and Vietnamese cuisine, and included a few regular favourites of ours.  A good way to understand the food is to think of it as Asian themed tapas, and plan to order a few dishes accordingly.

Partly on the recommendation of our server we decided to share 5 dishes between us, which is pretty much right for a decent graze.  The son-in-law eggs were different to how I’d seen them before, just fried rather than boiled followed by a quick deep fry.  This meant that the yolks were still nicely soft and a little runny, but made them a little more difficult to eat.  Very tasty though, with Snooze commenting that the use of chilli in the dish was the first time she really felt that it complemented and enhanced the flavours of the other ingredients.

One of the daily specials that both Snooze and Ms Ruby Grapefruit were keen on was the barramundi in betel leaves.  Small parcels of barramundi which you fold the leaf around, resulting in bite sized packages of well cooked fish.

Something I really like is lamb ribs, the sweetest, tenderest, most flavoursome meat right next to the bone.  Complement it with a sweet and sticky sauce and you have a really yummy piece of meat which comes complete with its own handle.

The only dish which we really differed in opinion on was the mini soft-shell crab baguettes (bahn mi).  Specially recommended by our server, Ms Grapefruit really liked them, Snooze wasn’t as impressed without disliking them, and I was somewhere in the middle.  It wasn’t because of the crab, which was juicy and meaty with its tangy creamy sauce.  I suspect it was the bun, which I thought was slightly over-toasted, and which got lost a bit in the other flavours.

Finally we finished off with the mini-Vietnamese pancakes (bahn xeo).  Small crispy rice flavour packages, these were much crisper than normal (likely due to their smaller size) and had a distinctly satisfying crunch.  I did think they could have used  more filling, but that may not have been practical given their size.

Overall

Very good service, a congenial atmosphere and well prepared food, it’s hard not to like Rice, Paper, Scissors.  Only issue, if you’re looking for or expecting a Victoria Street sized feed it could end up getting a little pricey, but if you want something smaller but tastier you’ve found your place.

Verdict

Food – 8.5

Ambience – 8
Service – 8.5
Price – 7

Address

19 Liverpool Street

Melbourne VIC 3000
Tel: (03) 9663 9890