Spices II Review

I visited Spices II twice, once an official outing on 2006-04-27 and once just with some other friends on 2010-08-28.

2006-04-27 Spices II Review

Spices II served us several tasty, spicy, well executed, and well presented items in a stylish, young, and hip atmosphere. I was worried the spices would be overwhelming but they were not; tea, water, and rice allowed us to tackle them satisfactorily. In fact, the dishes we enjoyed the most tended to be the spicier ones.

Keep reading for descriptions of what we ordered. Of the seven dishes we over-ordered, the first four listed were a level above the bottom three. 

• Cumin Lamb. The spiciest dish we ordered, it consisted of thinly sliced tender lamb, large quantities of onions, and peppers of various forms, all on a plate adorned with a radish carved into a rose. This dish was a hit all around. No leftovers.
• Chicken Bowl with Flaming Red Oil. In a large shallow glass bowl sat ample amounts of some of the tenderest chicken I've had. Vegetables supported the chicken, and the whole ensemble was bathed in chili oil. I had thought I'd be overwhelmed by the appearance of so much oil but I was not. One simply takes the chicken and vegetables and, after tipping the serving spoon a little, mixes them with a little rice to get a spicy and nicely flavored not too oily plate of food. Another hit and again no leftovers.
• Scallops Snowed with Fried Garlic. Elegantly presented in a large sea shell and adjacent to another rose-radish on cabbage, this dish consisted of succulent pieces of scallops well hidden in a snow of golden minced fried garlic. (Also hidden were some peppers and a few whole garlic cloves.) The scallops, encrusted with fried garlic, were excellent; this was the favorite dish of two of us. Sadly, the contents of the majority of the shell was the fried garlic: too strong and spicy to eat directly.
• Chicken and Corn Soup. A Chinese classic, we enjoyed this piping hot soup. It met the approval of those that lived in China and even reminded one person of home.
• Chinese Bacon Steamed with Spicy Flour. An ugly dish of what appeared to be ground meat and flour mixed to a uniform consistency with a few potato wedges thrown in, and it tasted as unappetizing as it looks and sounds. None of us liked it.
• Numbing Spicy Pork Kidney. Served cold (in a fish-shaped plate), the kidney in this dish was thin-to-the-point-of-floppiness and tossed with red oil. The name is misleading. Well, either that, or that we got used to the spiciness of everything. The dish got indifferent reactions from mostly everyone; a majority didn't like the flavor of the kidney and remarked they might appreciate it more if it were made with similarly thinly sliced tofu.
• Marinated Cucumbers. Our one non-spicy non-hot item, the cucumbers in a fish-shaped plate were refreshing but unremarkable. Note to self: it might've been nice to have another non-spicy to dish to better balance out the meal.

The loud Chinese pop music, flat-screens playing music videos, and the crowd (our age) gave the place a youthful vibe. The art -slightly abstract impressions of flowers- and a laser drawing various shapes on the wall supported this. And the music gave us a laugh once, when we realized they were playing a Chinese version of "Under the Sea" from The Little Mermaid.

Total was $16/person including tax and tip. We didn't order any drinks. Note that we over-ordered (intentionally) and had non-trivial amounts of leftovers.

2006-04-27 Original Announcement

This Wednesday we'll converge on Spices II in the inner Richmond district for some *spicy* Chinese food (Sichuan province). Wednesday at 8:00pm.

As always, please tell me if you are coming! And send me your ratings for the last few places (e.g., Chez Panisse, Golden Era) if you haven't already.

2006-04-27 Comments from Other Attendees

Other dishes we didn't get to try but seemed popular from my research are: hot pots, pork shoulder, crispy salty duck, eggplant with garlic, and other variations of the flaming red oil dish we ordered.

-mark

More recommendations: http://www.tablehopper.com/2009/01/regular-january-13-2009.html

2010-08-28 Spices II Review

We ordered four things:

• Cumin Lamb.  This was a big hit.  Delicate lamb, full flavors.  Again served with a radish remarkably carved as a rose.  Not as spicy as I remember (perhaps because we were a table of white people).
• Chicken Bowl in Flaming Red Oil, with some sort of green vegetable.  Again, not as spicy as I remember.
• Marinated Cucumbers.  Good and refreshing.  Dittoed with tons of garlic.  While garlicky, didn't taste as strongly as it looked.
• Shanghai Smoked Fish.  Pretty standard version.

2010-08-28 Context

B, C, and I were playing a puzzle hunt and happened to be this vicinity around lunchtime.  I suggested this restaurant (among others) and we picked it.