ake a tour of the restaurants that lie within the borders of Kensington Market - La Palette, Torito, Supermarket - and Rice Bar will start to look like the most valiant underdog. Whatever its angle, this street-level lair in the old Ra Ra Raw space is clearly more neighbourhood DIY eatery than hushed foodie destination.

It's doubtful you would break stride to notice Rice Bar, certainly not with the heavily-promoted shindigs going on down the street at Supermarket. Nor does its homespun dining room décor contain any dynamic feature to catch your eye. And yet Rice Bar’s individual components – bright green colouring, pillowcases hanging about - combine to create a room that, though spare and deliberately free of distractions, feels easy to take sanctuary in.

Owner Brock Shepherd (Azul, Canteena) has put together an urban anomaly - a too-hot-not-to-cool-down eatery that has confidently laid the groundwork for longevity. Gone is the sterilized look of a room. Rice Bar now feels bigger, brighter, colourful, and filled with earthy table settings. It has everything a little eatery should, including a very open-concept kitchen; you could almost yell your order, and many do.

The design may be pure budget, but it's a very serviceable restaurant. Damned likable, too, whatever your outlook on rice. The biggest alteration of the space comes in Shepherd’s kitchen. Here, he churns out sturdy, unglamorous dishes with military precision. Items like the Korean pizza - a scallion crepe with pesto, avocado and shrimp - can distract one from returning that all-important glance across the room. The solid Dragon Bowl of rice noodles in coriander pesto broth is thick with baby bok choy and spicy Korean kimchi and chicken (or shrimp or tofu).

But the house’s strength is in the design-your-own bowls; you choose the rice (jasmine, brown basmati, infused, infused or rice noodle). Once that’s done, you choose your protein: chicken, beef, shrimp or tofu. Then move on to pick the accompanying sauce, ranging from green coconut milk curry, lemongrass or a soy, sesame and ginger mix. Lastly, throw in your veg choice – baby spinach, black beans, bok choy – you even choose your garnish and any extras – Chimichurri, anyone?