Saturday, May 21, 2011

Rice Plate

Update on 5/28/11: I went to the Saturday Farmer's Market and asked the workers there about their business. They replied that they only sell food at the Wednesday Salem Farmer's Market and Saturday Salem Farmer's Market. They also said that they have no official name. So I'm just gonna call them the Farmer's Market Teriyaki booth. But yeah, check them out for yourself!


Update on 7/30/11: This food stand has a new banner. I will now call them "Rice Plate," as there is another teriyaki booth at the same Salem Farmer's Market.

Rice Plate, at the Salem's Farmer's Market, is a booth selling fried rice, yakisoba noodles, and teriyaki chicken. My interest piqued, I figured it was worth the time to check out.

(Rice Plate, taken in May 2011)
Looks like the bottom banners were switched on the adjacent booths.
Was that intentional to get people to notice them? Perhaps it worked on me.
Rice Plate's new sign (picture taken July 2011)
You can get any combination of noodles, teriyaki chicken, and/or rice. For example, it can be chicken and rice, chicken with yakisoba, or a combination of all three. They also serve spring rolls and corn dogs at the booth. For $7, I received a generous portion of rice, yakisoba noodles, and teriyaki chicken.



I could tell right away the teriyaki chicken would be a hundred times better than what I got at Wild Pineapple Grill. This chicken was moist and flavorful -- and I wanted a whole plate of it. I fell in love with the sweetness in the teriyaki sauce. It nicely walked the line to make sure we were still in the savory realm, but it reminded me of the awesome flavors of Hawaii.

The yakisoba was cooked very well. The cabbage could have been cooked a bit more, but otherwise, pretty successful. Again, it looked like yakisoba I would get in Hawaii.

Trust me folks, having two components of a dish remind me of home is a big feat.

Unfortunately, the dish had three weak points. First, I would have liked the dish to be served fresh. Having all the food in serving trays is not as appetizing as if it came piping hot out of the wok, grill, or oven. Besides, wouldn't you like to see a booth at the Farmer's Market where the cooks have the flame going with super-fresh chicken, rice, and noodles? Give me a "hell yeah" for that.

Second, the fried rice was average to me. It lacked flavor and did not make me want to eat more than a couple of bites. And third, I need the spice! I doused the plate of food with sriracha almost immediately.

Sriracha is the container with the green top.
No, I did not use ALL that sriracha.
The next time I get something from them, I'll be sure to just get the yakisoba and chicken. They produced the best food I had all day at the Salem Saturday Market. 5.75/10

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