Spices

[JennyUptown]

Although Spices in Cleveland Park is right in my backyard, I am new to this restaurant.

I'm not a seafood eater (yet) so I haven't tried the sushi. A usual Spices meal for me involves the fried meat (pork and veggies, I think) dumplings followed by Tangerine Peel Beef. Yum. My boyfriend frequently gets the sashimi and enjoys it.

I like the clean, modern, uncluttered decor, but most of the time, I have food delivered.

What else should I try at Spices? If you have a favorite dish, please share it so I don't get sick of this inexpensive neighborhood spot.

[Chef Shogun]

Ah Spices...whenever I had to watch my uncles cats for a weekend, I'd order Spices. Haven't had to do that for a while, thankfully (Those cats are jerks!), but I do miss the food! To be honest, it's been so long I don't remember what I usually ordered, beyond sushi platters (always tasty), and the curry laksa. Have to see a menu when I get home to jog my memory!

[laniloa]

I used to love their tangerine beef -- would order it all the time when I lived around the corner. I always forget that they deliver until I'm eating less then wonderful take out. I'd recommend their aged tofu with has wonderful ginger broth. The tamarind chicken was inconsistent but I keep getting it because on a good night it is perfectly tangy and spicy and the leftovers taste better the next day. When I'm having a fried craving, I like the crispy pillows -- veggie stuffed fried tofu with a plum sauce.

[eunny jang]

Yum yum yum. Spices is great for casual Sunday-night eating, picky groups, and low-pressure dates. The satays uniformly suck, but the wafu salad is great. I really like all their curries - subtle but distinct. The sashimi is just okay - more than once I've watched my chirashi idle under a heat lamp while the rest of the food comes up (ICK). The tom yum soup makes me want to turn cartwheels. Spices, spices spices! I like the (still new-ish) new space, too - anyone remember when it was dank and dark and, if you were unlucky, you got stuck eating in what amounted to a hallway?

edit: o yah - Spices also gets points because it is definitely, indubitably infinitely better than Dupont Raku. They are the same restaurant - casual, non-threatening pan-Asian - but Spices, like, gets it right.

Edited September 23, 2004 by eunny jang (log)

[Tweaked]

You must try the Ginger Salad, it is excellent.

There sushi is good...not excellent but good. They also do a lot of turn over so the quality and freshness of the sushi is good.

I also like the curry puff ap and miso soup, I've also found that what they mark as hot and spicy generally has a good kick to it.

Generally when I go I make a meal out of sushi, the ginger salad, miso soup and one of the aps. there house sake (served warm) is also tasty and reasonable priced.

[ozgirl06]

i second the recommendations for the curry laksa and ginger salad.

i also really enjoy some of their sushi... spicy crunchy tuna rolls and the veggie tempura rolls.

if one has a hankering for dessert (assuming dining in), their ice creams are great! The green tea flavour is particularly good. There is almost a chocolate undertone to it. Sounds strange, I know... but try it. It is good. Someone once told me that Spices makes its own ice cream, though I don't know if this is (still?) true or not.

Spices tends to be my "don't know where to go, but don't want to leave the neighbourhood" stand-by. It's casual with relatively consistent and good food.

[giuinha]

i second the recommendations for the curry laksa and ginger salad.

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and wafu salad...the dressing is to die for!

[Malawry]

If I go, I always get the ginger salad. It's gooooooood, esp for ginger freaks like yours truly. I think the portion size has gone down a little over the years, sadly.

I think their sushi is in the OK category. It's not great but it doesn't suck--I'd eat it if I lived nearby but it's not worth a special trip.

[Busboy]

I second the tangerine beef.

I fourth the ginger salad.

I introduce the Dragon Roll.

As a local, I'd generally rather have Spices deliver to my house than eat there; it has the ambience of a cafeteria, and the food travels well. But great casual pan-Asian, wherever you scarf it down.

[hillvalley]

I fifth the ginger salad

I second the Dragon Roll, but not for take out

I throw Tom Yum soup with shrimp into the mix.

Thank heavens for Spices delivery.

BUT

DO NOT get the sushi in carryout. It's just okay there anyway, but the delivery sushi isn't worth it for a variety of reasons.

[Chef Shogun]

Of course! Dragon roll! I've never had a bad experiance with their delivered sushi.

[morela]

Aye 11th the Ginger Salad, and call me white bread, but I love the Wafu Salad with that crisp, cold iceberg and that drinkable sesame-peanuty-misoy-just plain-hyphenate-me three-more-fucking-times-good dressing. I challenge the kitchen and instead of plain or chicken wafu, I ask for shrimp or crispy duck on mine (that's right,feel free to mooch off of the sibling on the corner). Sushi, sake, ginger salad, all for the love of my floppy wallet. And CNN on flatscreen plasma at the bar. I can honestly say, I watched Reagan's funeral, Osama bin Laden's first tape, Micahel Jackson's funky face...all at Spices. Yikes! I think I saw the OJ Simpson chase at home before Spices was around. Not sure.

[Ralph Wiggum]

Do they still have the Suicide Curry on their menu? A few years ago, I remember watching a friend reduced to tears after only one bite of it. It was good fun for the rest of us!

[pastramionrye]

i did not like the sushi at all when i went there. everything else i had was decent.

[morela]

Do they still have the Suicide Curry on their menu? A few years ago, I remember watching a friend reduced to tears after only one bite of it. It was good fun for the rest of us! 

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Stay away from that Suicide Curry. It is still on menu, and it SUCKS. It really is like a failed attempt at suicide.

[hillvalley]

i did not like the sushi at all when i went there. everything else i had was decent.

←

I went with my mother for lunch last Thursday and am not sure I will go back any time soon. The entire experience, from the service to the meal, was horrid. And yes, we told the server and manager, but more on that later.

We started with the infamous ginger salad. I used to love this salad. The tang of the big slices of ginger balanced with the chopped peanuts is amazing. Not this time. I would call it bland peanut and cabbage salad with a few pieces of ginger thrown in because that is the dish's name. It was bland, limp, disappointing.

Next came the sushi and sashimi. I ordered chirashi, Mom had the sashimi. The fish was just plain old bad. Slimy and limp with a fishy smell. The seaweed that accompanied the sashimi smelled rancid. The wasabi was so bland that you could eat a spoonful and not blink and eye. I am not sure the last time I had sushi that was this awful.

When our server finally came over to check on us we mentioned, very politely I might add, that we were concerned with the freshness of the fish. She could have cared less. There was no apology, no explanation, no attempt to remedy the situation. She shrugged her shoulders and walked off.

On our way out we asked to speak to the manager.

Again we mentioned the low quality of the fish, the bland wasabi and the disappointing ginger salad. Instead of listening to our complaints she started arguing with us. In the front of the house, where every table was full, she proceeded quite rudely to tell us that other customers compliment her fish and we were wrong. Then she went on to imply that there was something wrong with us because we were not satisfied. She did not apologize for the lack of service nor the poor quality of food. Her interaction with us made it clear that the customer's opinion did not count.

It's a shame because I used to love the ginger salad. But it's not worth it anymore and they have lost a customer.

[morela]

i did not like the sushi at all when i went there. everything else i had was decent.

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It's a shame because I used to love the ginger salad. But it's not worth it anymore and they have lost a customer.

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That's a shame. Haven't been in sometime. Why go now with Palena down the street? Cafe's just around the same price...

[hillvalley]

That's a shame.  Haven't been in sometime.  Why go now with Palena down the street?  Cafe's just around the same price...

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Think we can convince Ruta to open for lunch? Just for the burgers maybe?

Edited November 17, 2004 by hillvalley (log)

[jmc8y]

wow, sorry about your horrible experience.

even if you were wrong about the fish (which i'm sure you were not), isn't it the manager's job to make sure you have a good experience? and not argue with you? sounds like a shitty manager.

[Seand04]

Jenny,

I love Spices! I have not been in about 6 months since I moved to Richmond VA, so I can not say anything about the experience highlighted above me, BUT, when I lived in Adams Morgan I would always order delivery or go eat there. Here are my favorite things to eat there. (all to be served with Sapporo!)

-the red curry beef, they make it perfect and it comes with lots of crispy green beans, really good.

-someone else said it, but yes, the ginger salad is a pleaser and a must order every time.

-the only sushi that I ever ordered there more than once was the BBQ eel roll, that is real good.

-the Drunken Noodels are good if you are really hungry, pretty spicey and tons of noodles.

-the crispy tofu is good and my vegetarian friends always got that and liked it.

-The terraki chicken is simple, to the point and done right, juicy, and flavorful.

I could go on as I think I have ordered the entire menu, but, the red curry beef is my favorite!

-Sean

Edited November 17, 2004 by Seand04 (log)