Nestled in a strip mall with such illustrious neighbors as an empty front, a Christian ministry, a bad pizza joint, and a nail salon lies some of Rhode Island's best Thai food. Spice Thai remains true to its heritage and its name with some serious spice on the menu.
Spice Thai is primarily a take-out place, which means that the dining area consists of three to four tables with meager table dress. If you're on your way through town and you want someplace to grab a bite, it's an adequate eating environment. The rest of the walk-in area is pretty basic, with a few paintings hung on the walls and some dividers cordoning off the back part of the restaurant.
The service is lighting-quick and very friendly. Much credit to them goes for offering delivery; something that has been a stand-by of Asian cuisine in other places but has yet to catch on in Rhode Island. Delivery is dependent on whether they actually have the person there to do so or not.
Spice Thai's menu is headlined, whether they like it or not, by the most well-known Thai dish in America, pad thai. Well, they've got nothing to worry about. It's some of the best I've had on the road. Well spiced, well cooked, well everythinged. I was impressed with first taste and have remained impressed with each of the many times I've eaten it since. It's not as complex as the pad thai I've gotten some places else, and it's not as rich as the recipe I like to make for myself, but it's better than nearby Seven Moons. Unlike their more famous competition, Spice Thai is not at all shy about pouring on the spicy flavors. If you want it hot, they will give it hot. I liked this very much.
The menu is quite large. Not as big as your average 4,000-item Chinese menu, but still containing a few dozen options. Every single one of their appetizers is very well done. Salads and soups are larger than their prices would indicate, and if you get one of them and an appetizer, forget an entree. You'll probably be full. Their noodle and rice dishes are quite excellent.
Some of their dishes are hot as hell, but a bit watery in their texture. The Volcano Chicken will knock you down, but the texture is not wholly satisfying. Entrees, like the noodle dishes, are all offered with meat, seafood, of vegetarian. I have yet to eat one I didn't enjoy. Their Sweet & Sour was especially tasty, since its texture and presentation is entirely different from the style popularized in Chinese cuisine. It was a breath of fresh air, as it were.
There are no surprises with the food. It's all basic, well-tread territory. Spice Thai does it all very well and is willing to maybe scare you a little with the spice. They will cater to a duller palate, but they'll make it hot if you want. The fact that they deliver is also utterly fantastic. I'm not sure if that will be enough to guarantee success in the face of Seven Moons and Pagoda Inn, but I certainly hope so.
UPDATE 11/20/2009: It's getting a bit confusing, but Spice Thai has changed ownership again. It passed from the original owner/founder to a local affiliated with another thai restaurant. Apparently, the founder was associated with another place in Connecticut and didn't want the trouble of two businesses.
It has since passed back to the original family, with a sister running Spice Thai. The recipes are all different, but the pad thai tasted much closer to the original than the last recipe. If you disliked what happened after the first owners left, you would be well-served to give it another shot.
UPDATE 5/13/2010: It's been this way for awhile, but I just got around to updating the page; Spice Thai is gone. Kaput. Never to return. So very, very sad. Some of the best all-around basic Thai that I've ever eaten is now gone. Well, I wish the owners the best of luck with their other operation in Connecticut. I think it's Thai One, in Branford. Not Thai One On.
Spice Thai: ***1/2
Price range for two: $15-$30
Spice Thai
7661 Post Road
North Kingstown, RI. 02852
401-294-9888 (Delivery available over $15)
Hours
Monday through Saturday 11:00am to 10:00pm
Sunday 12:00pm to 10:00pm
Saturday, September 15, 2007
Friday, September 7, 2007
REVIEW: Maharaja Buffet- ***1/2 / $
Maharaja is a buffet and most likely Montreal's best deal. As Indian cuisine goes, it's not all that inventive, and it's of bad-to-excellent quality, but there's just so much of it that you can't help but find something you like, and the price is beyond unbeatable. At $15 Canadian, this is, without doubt, the best deal in all of Montreal. It's best on weekdays, for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday cost $17, and lunch is $12, instead of $11.
The dining area is huge, so there's rarely a wait. And even if there is a wait, they get people in and out very quickly, so it's short. The dining area is well decorated. They have some nice touches, even though many of them are Wal*Mart chic, such as the paintings on the wall. I especially liked the giant, golden hookah.
The selection is so large it's pointless to to try and pick standouts. Most importantly, who cares? It's a buffet! Here, you can try everything and I recommend you do. Some of it is dodgey. Some of the chicken is very dry, and the cuts of meat aren't the best, but the recipes are all very good. Very importantly, they are not timid. There is no shortage of spice in these dishes and I loved it. Still, if you want grander presentation and higher quality ingredients, you may want to try Gandhi or Le Taj. Especially Le Taj, which doesn't up the evening's cost too much but provides better food in almost equally large amounts.
But complaining about the quality of certain foods is irrelevant. This is a buffet and you don't come here to be a gourmet. You come here to eat and to do so cheaply. And as buffets go, this is one of the best. When in Montreal, a trip to Maharaja is a must. It's dirt cheap and the food is very good. Selection is amazing. And the satisfaction of stuffing yourself silly with naan and tandoori chicken is something that will stay with you for some time.
Majaraja Buffet: ***1/2
Price range for two: $15-$20
http://www.buffetmaharaja.com/
1481 René-Lévesque Bld. West,
Montréal, QC H3G 1T8
514-934-0655
Hours
Daily 11:00am to 11:00pm
The dining area is huge, so there's rarely a wait. And even if there is a wait, they get people in and out very quickly, so it's short. The dining area is well decorated. They have some nice touches, even though many of them are Wal*Mart chic, such as the paintings on the wall. I especially liked the giant, golden hookah.
The selection is so large it's pointless to to try and pick standouts. Most importantly, who cares? It's a buffet! Here, you can try everything and I recommend you do. Some of it is dodgey. Some of the chicken is very dry, and the cuts of meat aren't the best, but the recipes are all very good. Very importantly, they are not timid. There is no shortage of spice in these dishes and I loved it. Still, if you want grander presentation and higher quality ingredients, you may want to try Gandhi or Le Taj. Especially Le Taj, which doesn't up the evening's cost too much but provides better food in almost equally large amounts.
But complaining about the quality of certain foods is irrelevant. This is a buffet and you don't come here to be a gourmet. You come here to eat and to do so cheaply. And as buffets go, this is one of the best. When in Montreal, a trip to Maharaja is a must. It's dirt cheap and the food is very good. Selection is amazing. And the satisfaction of stuffing yourself silly with naan and tandoori chicken is something that will stay with you for some time.
Majaraja Buffet: ***1/2
Price range for two: $15-$20
http://www.buffetmaharaja.com/
1481 René-Lévesque Bld. West,
Montréal, QC H3G 1T8
514-934-0655
Hours
Daily 11:00am to 11:00pm
REVIEW: Carlos & Pepe's- ***1/2 / $$
I love living in the United States. I love it because pretty much nowhere else on Earth are you going to find the mind boggling selection of foods available as we have them here. Even Montreal, a city I love, and also a city in very close proximity to the US, does not have the wide selection of foods available even in a small, and generally crappy, city like Providence. What Montreal needs is a little dash of spice.
Thankfully, Carlos and Pepe's delivers that spice. They sell themselves as Montreal's number one Mexican restaurant and bar. They should probably just say Montreal's ONLY Mexican restaurant and bar. Ok, it's not that bad. Montreal actually has a handful of them. Some of them are pretty good, and one of them may even be better than Carlos & Pepe's, but we'll discuss that later.
Carlos & Pepe's has a fantastic interior. It's like they went back in time and kidnapped a very tacky interior decorator from Tenochtitlan. It's great. It's so tacky, it works. The service is a well-oiled machine, and it damn well better be. Almost every night they're pushed to the breaking point by a constant stream of people. The waits can sometimes be pretty nasty, so I'd recommend just avoiding it altogether on Friday and Saturday. They also have the best specials on weekdays.
The seats and table dress are all very good. I was especially impressed by the fantastic lighting. It really sets the mood. There is also a pub upstairs that is... a pub. Basically, it's a good pub to go to since you can get the full menu upstairs as well as down. There drinks are big, colorful, full of booze, and reasonably priced. Definitely a good bar.
The nachos brought to the table are tasty and the salsa is good. No complaints there. The menu is very large and has a wide variety of Tex-Mex foods. It's all pretty basic. Nothing amazing. The prices are all excellent. Tacos are a good standby, as is the burrito. The chimichangas are what I usually get, but that probably says more about my love of chimichangas than the quality.
My major complaint is the lack of spice. I once ordered something that had a chili pepper next to it, denoting hot, and it was rather bland. I don't know if they're playing to the audience in Montreal, but what they call spicy is not what I call spicy. Other problems include tough meats that are sometimes overcooked, and stuff that should be cheesy being almost totally devoid of cheese. Minor complaints, I feel. Still, Carlos & Pepe's needs to step it up if they want to be compared favorably on all levels to Casa de Mateo. The nearby competitor is better in many ways, even though it has less than half the character of C&P's. It's food quality is usually higher, and their recipes take more chances with spice.
Also worth mentioning is La Iguana. There, Semi-traditional Tex-Mex is melded with a sort of Caribbean touch. It's very nice, but I'm not interested in that. I want Tex-Mex and only Tex-Mex. I want it hot as hell and I want steak, and for that, C&P's goes head-to-head with Casa de Mateo for dominance. No other place even compares to these two. C&P's has the larger menu and more character, but Casa de Mateo counters with better recipes and better food. I lean towards C&P's and, when in Montreal, usually found myself eating there if I wanted Tex-Mex. That could be because my Hotel was always closer to C&P's, but proximity aside, Carlos & Pepe's is a great Tex-Mex place in its own right and certainly worthy of a trip. But if it kicked it up a notch, it could be something very special.
Carlos & Pepe's: ***1/2
Price range for two: $25-50
http://www.carlosandpepes.com/en/
1420 Rue Peel
Montreal, QC H3A 1S8
514-288-3090
Hours
Monday through Thursday 11:30am to 1am
Friday and Saturday 11:30am to 2:00am
Sunday 11:30am to 12:30am
Thankfully, Carlos and Pepe's delivers that spice. They sell themselves as Montreal's number one Mexican restaurant and bar. They should probably just say Montreal's ONLY Mexican restaurant and bar. Ok, it's not that bad. Montreal actually has a handful of them. Some of them are pretty good, and one of them may even be better than Carlos & Pepe's, but we'll discuss that later.
Carlos & Pepe's has a fantastic interior. It's like they went back in time and kidnapped a very tacky interior decorator from Tenochtitlan. It's great. It's so tacky, it works. The service is a well-oiled machine, and it damn well better be. Almost every night they're pushed to the breaking point by a constant stream of people. The waits can sometimes be pretty nasty, so I'd recommend just avoiding it altogether on Friday and Saturday. They also have the best specials on weekdays.
The seats and table dress are all very good. I was especially impressed by the fantastic lighting. It really sets the mood. There is also a pub upstairs that is... a pub. Basically, it's a good pub to go to since you can get the full menu upstairs as well as down. There drinks are big, colorful, full of booze, and reasonably priced. Definitely a good bar.
The nachos brought to the table are tasty and the salsa is good. No complaints there. The menu is very large and has a wide variety of Tex-Mex foods. It's all pretty basic. Nothing amazing. The prices are all excellent. Tacos are a good standby, as is the burrito. The chimichangas are what I usually get, but that probably says more about my love of chimichangas than the quality.
My major complaint is the lack of spice. I once ordered something that had a chili pepper next to it, denoting hot, and it was rather bland. I don't know if they're playing to the audience in Montreal, but what they call spicy is not what I call spicy. Other problems include tough meats that are sometimes overcooked, and stuff that should be cheesy being almost totally devoid of cheese. Minor complaints, I feel. Still, Carlos & Pepe's needs to step it up if they want to be compared favorably on all levels to Casa de Mateo. The nearby competitor is better in many ways, even though it has less than half the character of C&P's. It's food quality is usually higher, and their recipes take more chances with spice.
Also worth mentioning is La Iguana. There, Semi-traditional Tex-Mex is melded with a sort of Caribbean touch. It's very nice, but I'm not interested in that. I want Tex-Mex and only Tex-Mex. I want it hot as hell and I want steak, and for that, C&P's goes head-to-head with Casa de Mateo for dominance. No other place even compares to these two. C&P's has the larger menu and more character, but Casa de Mateo counters with better recipes and better food. I lean towards C&P's and, when in Montreal, usually found myself eating there if I wanted Tex-Mex. That could be because my Hotel was always closer to C&P's, but proximity aside, Carlos & Pepe's is a great Tex-Mex place in its own right and certainly worthy of a trip. But if it kicked it up a notch, it could be something very special.
Carlos & Pepe's: ***1/2
Price range for two: $25-50
http://www.carlosandpepes.com/en/
1420 Rue Peel
Montreal, QC H3A 1S8
514-288-3090
Hours
Monday through Thursday 11:30am to 1am
Friday and Saturday 11:30am to 2:00am
Sunday 11:30am to 12:30am
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
REVIEW: Gillian's Ale House- **1/2 / $
Gillian's Ale House is yet another local haunt where you see people you don't really want to see, so you get drunk to smooth things over. Unlike the nearby Oak Hill Tavern, though, Gillian's doesn't really have a culinary party piece to give it a reason for existing. In fact, as a restaurant, they're not half bad, but they're not half good. As a bar, again, it's a local haunt and as such it's very good at being what it's trying to be. But being that requires no skill, ambition, or endeavor.
Gillian's dining area and bar are quite nice. Warm, welcoming. Pool tables are accounted for, which is never a good sign. The dining area is certainly an afterthought here. I have never been when more than a couple people occupied it, and on a few occasions I was seemingly forgotten. Service is adequate, all in all.
The food is all well and good. Nothing is noticeably bad, and their house-made corned beef is quite excellent. But as with everything at Gillian's, the quality is inconsistent. I've eaten when the corned beef was delicious, and when it was sub-par. I've had the sirloin and it ranges from decent to badly prepared and tough. Their "tradtional Irish entrees" are rendered laughably inadequate by the presence of Fado Irish Pub... 35 miles away. It's that far, and if you actually want something Irish, it would be worth the trip.
Sandwiches are and other bar foods are all good. Nothing special, but still quite good and more than enough to satisfy some hunger pangs. They have both hot and cold and the hot get all the attention, with the selection being three times as large. Always nice are the extremely low prices. Unfortunately, the sandwich selection about eight minutes down the road at Jim's Deli is vastly superior to Gillian's. The recipes are better, the service is quicker, and the prices are, somehow, lower.
Gillian's Ale House could never survive if it wasn't relying on its status as a bar/hangout. The food is decent, but so is the food at every other local hangout nearby. And the old standby, a sandwich, is produced better by Jim's Deli. It's not bad, but there's just no reason to go to Gillian's unless you're nearby.
Gillian's Ale House: **1/2
Price range for two: $15-$30
http://www.diningquest.com/client/Gillian_s_Ale_House/?id=1323;
Gillian's Ale House
7835 Post Road
North Kingstown, RI 02852
401-667-0900
Hours
Open Daily 11:00am to 1:00am
Gillian's dining area and bar are quite nice. Warm, welcoming. Pool tables are accounted for, which is never a good sign. The dining area is certainly an afterthought here. I have never been when more than a couple people occupied it, and on a few occasions I was seemingly forgotten. Service is adequate, all in all.
The food is all well and good. Nothing is noticeably bad, and their house-made corned beef is quite excellent. But as with everything at Gillian's, the quality is inconsistent. I've eaten when the corned beef was delicious, and when it was sub-par. I've had the sirloin and it ranges from decent to badly prepared and tough. Their "tradtional Irish entrees" are rendered laughably inadequate by the presence of Fado Irish Pub... 35 miles away. It's that far, and if you actually want something Irish, it would be worth the trip.
Sandwiches are and other bar foods are all good. Nothing special, but still quite good and more than enough to satisfy some hunger pangs. They have both hot and cold and the hot get all the attention, with the selection being three times as large. Always nice are the extremely low prices. Unfortunately, the sandwich selection about eight minutes down the road at Jim's Deli is vastly superior to Gillian's. The recipes are better, the service is quicker, and the prices are, somehow, lower.
Gillian's Ale House could never survive if it wasn't relying on its status as a bar/hangout. The food is decent, but so is the food at every other local hangout nearby. And the old standby, a sandwich, is produced better by Jim's Deli. It's not bad, but there's just no reason to go to Gillian's unless you're nearby.
Gillian's Ale House: **1/2
Price range for two: $15-$30
http://www.diningquest.com/client/Gillian_s_Ale_House/?id=1323;
Gillian's Ale House
7835 Post Road
North Kingstown, RI 02852
401-667-0900
Hours
Open Daily 11:00am to 1:00am
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