The Spice Market Must Flow

Spice Market

Found ourselves in MePa tonight after a Skillshare class and knew it was finally time for us to check out Spice Market. We walked in and I was immediately wowed by the ambience and decor. It was immediately evident why this restaurant has a lot of buzz. I felt transported to another place. We checked in with the hostess who ushered us downstairs to wait for our table. After about 20 minutes our wait was up and we were escorted back upstairs to a chef's table.

Spice it is not

Eggplant Holy Basil

Pad Thai

I first went to Spice a few months ago for a company lunch and was surprisingly disappointed after hearing so many positive things about it. So when it was picked for another company outing I was hesitant, but optimistic. Maybe I just ordered the wrong thing? Maybe it was just an off day?

In the spirit of this, I ordered the Tom Yum soup again- even though I thought it was pretty gross the last time. It paid off- the soup that arrived was nothing like the soup I had last time. It went from a flavorless, pale broth with a couple of token shrimp, squid, mushroom, and tomato pieces, to a bowl chock full of seafood and seasonings. I discussed this phenomenon with a coworker and he shed some light on the subject. He revealed that he never orders the Tom Yum that comes with the lunch special and always orders the one of the regular menu. He was surprised to see that I got the regular menu version of the soup. My theory is that they ran out of the lunch special batch so were forced to use the good stuff today. Nonetheless, things were off to a promising start.

Then my Eggplant Holy Basil with Tofu stir fry arrived. Basically, chunks of eggplant & tofu, slices of green pepper & onion sloshed around in some oil. Despite it being starred on the menu to indicate a spicy dish, I thought it lacked spice and flavor.

However, The Mr and coworkers are still fans, so don't just take my word for it.

Solid Thai at Pongsri

While we were out apartment hunting we were cold and hungry so asked one of the building leasing agents where she recommends in the area. Without hesitation she said 'Do you like Thai'? And gave us a glowing recommendation for Pongsri as well as the instructions "order the main dish with the peanuts & shrimp paste. This seemed to be the Pra Ram Long Song.

We started with some hot soup to warm us up. Good solid versions of these Thai staples. Then we split the Pra Ram Long Song with pork. Tasty. Again, just some no frills solid Thai food. They have several locations around the city, so if you are in the mood for Thai I would recommend Pongsri as a safe bet.

Tom Kha Gai

Tom Yum Goong

Pra Ram Long Song

Shedding Some Light on Lantern Thai

We had some friends in town and they were in the mood for thai food. We'd had a long day, so wanted something nearby. A quick internet search brought up Lantern Thai and so off we went. When we arrived at the location I was delighted to see that it was the restaurant with large tree branches with beautiful lanterns hanging from them. Sooooo pretty, a beautiful ambience for an evening, yet still casual. 

Oooh Pretty Lights

Udon Basil

To our delight the food was as good as the decor. We all really enjoyed our meal and had a great evening. Worth stopping in if you are in the area!