Despite the Thai food trend that seems to be sweeping the nation, we somehow never jumped on the bandwagon. Even though it has been all the rage for the last ten years, we could not get over the. . .stench of pad thai. All our friends kept recommending pad thai so we just wrote off Thai food as a lost cause. That is, until we were dragged to Thai Spice last week.
We entered and climbed up the staircase, only to stop and gawk at the intricately carved wood piece with inlaid jade. We tore ourselves away after catching a whiff of the food and clamored up to be seated. We took a look at the menu and suppressed a shudder as we came across the pad thai on the menu. Luckily, one of our dining companions had been to Thailand and was able to help navigate the menu to something that would change our minds about Thai food.
We ended up with the crispy snapper and the fried rice. Heavenly. With a nice crust on the snapper, all the yumminess of the chilis, garlic, and pepper were captured without being overly greasy. There were plenty of onions, bell peppers, and carrots but they weren't used as a filler to skimp on the fish. In a word: delicious. Turned on by our positive experience thus far, we also had some soup, filched some of the beef and chicken dishes, and even ventured a bite of the pad thai. While all of it was tasty (I especially enjoyed how shrimpy their shrimp fried rice was without being overhwelming), the pad thai failed to win us over. We blame it on our upbringing and being forced to eat it by well meaning friends and family. The flavors just don't sit right for some reason and since we were assured that only tourists eat pad thai from our friend who once lived in Thailand, we shrugged our shoulders and kept eating the rest of the food.
The sizzling plate came in a close second for our favorite dish of the night. The tender chicken was marinated in a sauce that can only be described as garlicy--and in a good way. It came tossed with some mushrooms and onions with a light sauce and no spice. The soup that we chose (poh taek) was surprising. With the two chili pepper symbols next to it on the menu, we expected the lime in the broth to be overpowered by the spiciness. Interestingly, it was like a ballet of flavors in our mouth: first came the sour and then a nice burn in the back of the throat with the spicy. We'll admit it, the first two bites were strange and threw us off. Then we embraced the strange combination and slurped it down immediately. With the interesting flavors and all the seafood in the bowl (shrimp, mussels, clams), it could've been a whole meal by itself! A few hours later (and a few Thai beers later), we exited with fully tummies and leftovers for the next day.
We'd like to thank Thai Spice for breaking the curse and having us embrace some delicious food that we would've otherwise avoided for the rest of our lives. In case you'd like to pay homage to them, you can check them out in one of their many locations. They have their famous buffet (where kids shorter than the counter eat for free!) and specials for seniors—and they aim to please!
Thai Spice Asian Cuisine
460 W. 19th St.
713.880.9992
Thai Spice Restaurant
5117 Kelvin
713.522.5100
Thai Spice Express
8282 Bellaire Blvd.
713.777.4888
Thai Spice Buffet
12426 FM 1960 West
281.890.7766
Thai Spice Buffet II
2520 South Voss
713.782.1100
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flickr user: dalboz17
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I want to try this place! I need to eat more Thai food!
They have a great lunch buffet, too.
I'm a big fan of the buffet, myself. I don't remember what each item is, I just know that whenever I go I want a little bit of everything.
Mmmm... I personally love the coconut milk curries (panang and musmun in particular) when I get Thai food. I haven't been to Thai Spice before, but I need to take you to Sawadee (Bellaire, a little east of 610), where I've been eating since I was a kid. My mouth waters just thinking of it!
If we're recommending other Thai places, I vote for Thai Gourmet, on Richmond near Greenridge. Don't miss the duckling (oh duck, how I love thee) and the garlic okra.