Spices! Review
Spices!'s ( http://www.eatspices.com/ ) Sichuan food generally disappointed us. We left remains of most dishes we ordered.
We tried:
- Flaming cucumber. Spicy cucumber wedges, exactly as named. Not too exciting.
- Pickled cabbage. Meh. Oily and soggy.
- Twice-cooked fish fillet. Fish that was fried then deep fried. Way too salty. None of us were much of a fan. Topped with some black bean, which didn't help the salt content at all, salty fried tofu slices, which were actually good, and broccoli.
- Sizzling lamb with cumin. Aptly named, the lamb arrived sizzling on a metal plate. Once cool enough to eat, we were pleased with the lamb's softness and the flavor of the dish. Yet, we would only describe it as decent enough because we were disappointed with the mixed quality of the meat. Nevertheless, we rated this dish as tied for the best of this meal.
- Stinky salt and pepper tofu. Ugh. As one attendee perfectly described it, it smells like dung. We tried to get past the smell by putting the dish on the edge of the table and sniffing large amounts of garlic before biting the tofu, but even that didn't help. Incidentally, the tofu was soft. If it was fried, it was definitely lightly done. Although the waitress didn't think we'd like it, she nonetheless seemed disappointed we left it virtually untouched. Still, we're all glad we tried it.
- Sauteed Chinese watercress with garlic. (Still hungry because we didn't eat the tofu, we ordered this because we saw it being delivered to many other tables.) The garlic smell was strong. The dish is what it is. Although not as great as a some renditions of this type of dish (e.g., see Penang Garden), it was reasonable. We had to say it was tied for best dish of the meal.
Spices is a hole in the wall joint with a very casual atmosphere, from the paper placemats atop glass tables (under which are photocopies of articles in Chinese) to the drinking mugs of inconsistent sizes.
The total was $19/person including tax and tip but not including drinks.
Original Announcement
Although we went to Spices primarily to try its stinky tofu, it wasn't our first choice for the evening. Our first choice turned out to have closed a few months prior. Our second choice turned out to be the new name of a restaurant we've previously visited. Our third choice closes at 8:45pm, a time way too early for our usual relaxed dinner pace. After much brainstorming, we decided on Spices as our fourth choice.
Comments from Other Attendees
More recommendations: http://www.tablehopper.com/2009/01/regular-january-13-2009.html
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