Andy Peterson
Rice bowls or food bowls seem to be popping up everywhere, with Tim Hortons and Subway being the latest to jump on the rice bowl bandwagon. I had my first rice bowl at a healthy food shop in Cambridge, Ontario. It was a small restaurant that majored in healthy eating, providing a whole host of creative rice bowls. I had a pretty high standard for rice bowls.
I decided to go to Subway and give their rice bowls a try.
Subway offers four types of rice bowls: Sweet Onion Chicken Teriyaki, Southwest Steak & Avocado, Green Goodness Veggie, and Crispy Chicken Bacon & Peppercorn Ranch.
I ordered two rice bowls. The first was Sweet Onion Chicken Teriyaki, and the second was a Crispy Chicken Bacon & Peppercorn Ranch.
Overall, the experience was the same as ordering a sub. They heat the sub’s base in the microwave, and then you choose the toppings.
At the end of the day, the rice bowl was good. I have no complaints about the taste of the rice bowl; it tasted like a subway sub without the bread. But that was just it. Their rice bowls weren’t any better or different. It tasted like their subs.
The “Subway Artist” prepared the rice bowls like all the other subs before it, but instead of adding the toppings to bread, he poured a half cup of rice into the bowl with the toppings with some cheese on the top. It tasted similar to the hundreds of subs I had in the past.
Their rice bowls had no “WOW” factor, nothing to separate them from their subs.
Even the vegetables were original to what you’d get on a subway sandwich which was far too large for the rice bowl. Everything should be diced into small pieces; you should be able to taste all the flavours in a single bite. I picked up large pieces of tomatoes, onions, and peppers. For me, it just wasn’t a good rice bowl experience.
I get it. Subway sees an opportunity to make more money with the rice bowl crowds. They have all the vegetables ready to go, so why not throw in some rice and make it a bowl, right? But rice bowls have to be more than subs thrown in a bowl. They have to offer a unique experience. Right?
Did you try the new Subway rice bowls yet? If you have, use the comment section below to tell us about your experience.
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