One of the great joys of travelling to Asia is sampling the delicious array of food and, with international borders sadly closed indefinitely, a new local restaurant is hoping to fill that void.
Located inside Penrith Panthers Leagues Club, Rice Boy is a new Pan-Asian style restaurant inspired by the exotic flavours of South-East Asian cuisine.
The extensive menu has been carefully designed by culinary expert Jason Chan, and features the perfect balance of both street food and fine dining.
Last week I was fortunate enough to be one of the first people to road test this modern and vibrant dining destination (complete with an abundance of neon light) – and I was absolutely blown away.
Having travelled to several Asian countries purely for the food, I couldn’t wait to see how Rice Boy stacked up.
Chef Chan, who also owns the restaurant and cut his teeth with the Merivale Group, spoiled me and my dining party with an assortment of dishes from the menu that had everyone’s senses truly buzzing.
Not only did every dish presented look amazing enough to post straight to Instagram (no filter required), but they downright floored me with every single bite. Some of my favourites off the menu include the tantalising coconut prawn with wasabi mayo; the juicy sweet and sour crispy master stock pork belly with pickled pineapple and mint; the flavoursome Rice Boy fried rice; and of course the wagyu beef rendang with coconut cream and crispy roti, which transported me back to 2017 when I visited Kuala Lumpur.
The thing I loved most about Rice Boy and I know you’ll love too, is the fusion menu truly has something for everyone no matter how much of a fussy eater you are.
“I’ve travelled throughout Asia and worked for many hospitality groups around Sydney. I picked up all these different cuisines from all the places I’ve visited and worked at and decided to incorporate them all together in the one place,” Chef Chan explained.
“Instead of people going to different places to try different cuisines, they can come to Rice Boy for everything South-East Asian.”
With a fully-stocked bar serving exclusive cocktails and snacks, $59 per person banquets, a great sized funky-looking function room and rumours of a-la-carte Yum Cha in the new year, the future for Penrith’s newest restaurant is looking incredibly bright… just like their neon.
Rice Boy is now open inside Panthers.
Nathan Taylor
Nathan Taylor is the Weekender's Deputy Editor and Senior Sports Writer. He also compiles the weekly Chatter on the Box TV column. Nathan is an award-winning journalist, who has worked at the Weekender for a decade.