Not to be confused with Café Spice (an Indian restaurant in the area), Spice offers relatively tasty Thai cuisine at a good price. I’ve been to Spice for both lunch and dinner, and the food has been relatively consistent. The service, however, can vary. One dinner excursion, my food was so slow to arrive that they gave me a complimentary lychee ice tea. Thanks, but I’d rather have my food.
Anyway, I recently went for lunch, and the service was much better. The lunch specials are great – for $6-$7, you get an appetizer and an entrée. I ordered the shrimp fritters (above) to start. They were excellent – a mixture of shrimp and chicken wrapped in a wonton skin and fried, and topped off with a sweet/sour sauce. I savored each fritter and wished there were more than four per order.
My eating buddy ordered the “soup of the day,” a ginger soup with scallions, baby corn and bok choy. Aside from the obvious chip in the bowl, of which I was not a huge fan, the broth had a clear and refreshing taste. The ginger flavor was a bit strong for my taste, but overall the soup was pleasant.
For my entrée, I ordered the tofu pad thai.
The pad thai tasted sweeter than those at other restaurants, but I enjoyed it. I wasn’t sure, however, why it was as orange as it was. Anyone have any ideas?
My eating buddy ordered the “fresh garlic and vegetables shrimp,” which came with white rice.
The shrimp were sizable and the vegetables were nicely prepared – flavorful and not too soggy.
Spice has its pluses and minuses. The good: cute and trendy décor, great lunch specials, pretty good food. The bad: small space equates to crowds and a wait, plus service is spotty. Overall, Spice is worth a try, but I recommend going during lunch to take advantage of the smaller crowds and the lunch specials.
Go for cheap and relatively flavorful Thai; service is spotty.
Spice
77 E 10th St. (@4th Ave) 212.388.9006
(This review pertains to the above location; other branches located throughout NYC.)
