Name of business: The Rice Corner Asian Bistro
Type of business: Restaurant
Specialty: Asian cuisine
Location: 2105 Fulkerth Road, Turlock
Hours: 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday
Contact: (209) 960-6191
History of business:
A small corner within the Countryside Plaza Shopping Center in Turlock has quickly become a hot spot for unique Asian cuisine.
On June 28, a soft opening was held for a portion of what is soon to be the Rice Corner Asian Bistro, a sister restaurant of the popular Fish & Things poke bar in Elk Grove, San Jose and San Diego. Only half of the Rice Corner is open to customers as permits and construction continues in the remainder of the space. Despite customers not quite being able to get the full experience yet and only a portion of the planned menu available, the Rice Corner has seen lines out of the door.
“I guess you can say people are excited about it coming here to Turlock,” said Fish & Things owner Nam Huynh, who is helping longtime friends and Rice Corner owner Danny Tran navigate the water of opening his first restaurant. “Especially in a smaller city like Turlock, people are always excited when there is something new to try out. Our employees have been working pretty hard these past couple of days, to say the least.”
At the Rice Corner, customers can build their own bowls choosing rice, noodle or vegetable bases that can be complemented with one of their several poke, vegetable and sauce options. There are also a number of signature bowls with tuna, salmon, crab, shrimp and even octopus.
Nevertheless, far and away the most popular dishes on the menu are their sushi rolls, particularly the signature Rice Corner Roll that features imitation crab and panko shrimp topped with ahi tuna, salmon, avocado, microgreens, sesame seeds, tobiko and a choice of garlic sesame and unagi sauces.
As an ode to their new home, the sushi menu also includes the “Turlock Roll,” which includes spicy tuna, imitation crab and avocado topped with ahi tuna, hamachi, salmon, tempura flakes, green onions, tobiko, sesame seeds and complemented with a choice of creamy garlic sesame or unagi sauce and kimchi ponzu.
“What we kind of want to give people here is to eat fresh, eat quality and eat healthy,” Huynh said.
As a way to accomplish that mission, the Rice Corner is constantly shipping in fresh fish.
“We’re bringing in fresh fish every day from Hawaii,” Huynh said. “They’re catching the fish in Hawaii, they bring it over to our dealers in the Bay Area and bring it here to us. It’s really high quality stuff. And that’s the difference between us and most other poke places and sushi restaurants. On top of that, we make the food to order, so it won’t be sitting for hours under the heating lamp. You’ll be able to taste the difference right off the bat.”
The other half of the restaurant will also be of a slightly different setting than what is being offered now. The portion that is currently open is considered “fast-casual” while the main, unfinished part will be more of a formal, sit-down setting.
When that other half does open, which Huynh hopes can be before the year ends, the menu will expand to include unique dishes like sushi tacos and more extensive rice and poke bowls.
The menu is very similar to that of Fish & Things. Customers are encouraged to browse their website at www.FishNThings.Net to get an idea of what will come and to follow the restaurant on Instagram at @TheRiceCorner209 for the latest updates on the opening of the full restaurant and to know when new dishes will be made available for customers.
