294 8th Avenue, San Francisco CA 94118
(415) 752-8884
291 6th Avenue, San Francisco CA 94118
(415) 752-8885
Parking: street parking
Last Visited: July 31, 2005
Food: 3 to 4 stars
Atmosphere: 4 stars
Service: 2 stars
Price: $ to $$
The décor is bright. Zebra-striped seat covers, several of those flame lamps hanging in front of the orange wall, bright dishware, and a machine that greets you with a high-pitched voice when you come in and leave the establishment. The greeting seems to be some recording triggered with the opening of the door, but I never understood fully what it was actually saying; it’s not too distracting unless you’re in the restaurant by yourself. Think trendy/fobby, but apply it to a restaurant. They have another restaurant branch a couple streets over. I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many decorations stuffed into one place. Behind the bar/counter is a shelf showing more zebras and one wall has the same picture posted on it six times. The place is small, but cozy.
- Tan Tan Noodle - These noodles came in a small bowl, but don’t let the size fool you. There are still a lot of noodles there, and they are packed with flavor. The use of sesame paste gives these noodles a creamy texture. It has little bit of kick from the chili oil that makes it just right. This dish definitely stood out compared to other tan tan noodles I have tried. $4.95
- Szechuan Beef Noodle Soup – This dish is also packed with flavor. A little spicy and hearty. $4.95 (Large bowl available for 5.95)
I didn’t have high expectations going in so that may have made it even better. Since it was rather early for lunch, it was pretty empty. During lunch hour, I imagine it might be a bit stuffy due to the close quarters, but still a good experience.
- Dry Braised String Beans – These green beans were excellent. Braised and sautéed with preserved vegetables, the beans maintain their crunchiness while being lightly salted and flavored by the preserved vegetables. They taste great. $6.95
- Kung Pao Chicken – Tender chicken pieces are stir fried with peanuts, red chiles, and green onions. The sauce is slightly sweet and just the perfect texture. The dish comes out piping hot and is delectable. $6.95
- Ma Po Tofu – Soft tofu cubes along with ground pork and garlic are cooked together with spicy red hot oil. The flavors meld together and the dish is best eaten over steamed rice. Watch out, this one is spicy, but delicious. $6.95
The dishes above were ordered during dinner. The restaurant is a bit more crowded during dinner hours. The dishes are still wonderful and absolutely worth another visit back. As I said after my first visit, the food is definitely worth a try, and if spicy isn’t your thing, they do have non-spicy dishes. I haven’t been to a comparable place like it yet, so it gets stars for its uniqueness.
After the first two reviews, I went back a third time and they had a new menu, and you know what that equates to – in addition to a few new items, there was an increase in prices, but everything is still reasonable. One thing I didn’t touch upon the last couple of times is that SPiCES offers a lot of small plates that you can try – new items include the marinated beef tongue and Taiwanese pork chop.
The third visit confirms the atmosphere during dinner and the colorful tea cups and water glasses are still ever present. Flavor is still number one, but this time, I found the two dishes I tried to have too many green onions present.
- Hot and Sour Soup – Definitely hot and it could be just a touch more sour to make the flavor right to my taste buds. It’s definitely a nice texture and containing the typical black fungus, egg drop, bamboo shoots, and the like. There is only one dot indicating that it’s a spicy dish, but I think it might be slightly hotter – see below. Very nice. $4.95 for a small bowl that serves two, and a large bowl is available for $6.95
- SPiCES! Special Chow Mein – Thick Shanghai style noodles are stir fried with red hot chile oil and shrimp, pork, shredded cabbage, bell pepper strips, and green onions. By the time I had finished my soup, this three dot (extremely spicy) dish, was only a little spicy. It had a nice flavor and was very hot in temperature, but it could have improved presentation – it just looked very disheveled on the plate. Good flavor, but I liked the uniqueness of their other noodle dishes more in comparison. Also, too much green onion in the dish gives it good color, but is a bit overwhelming. $6.95
- Pork with Shredded Tofu over rice - Pork, dried shredded tofu, green onions, and Chinese celery, are stir fried together. This is accompanied by a mound of rice on the side. The flavor of the stir fry is nice, but biting into the Chinese celery can be a bit overwhelming. Chinese celery is like regular celery, but much thinner stalks and extremely intense celery flavor, almost like anise in flavor. The pork pairs nicely with the tofu so you can appreciate the textures. I would enjoy this dish more if the stalks from spinach were used instead of the Chinese celery and if there was less green onion. $5.95
Either the hot and sour soup needs to be upgraded to two dots or the noodles need to be downgraded to two dots. I’m not sure which.
Once again, food was still very good, and the latest addition is that you receive an apple flavored soft candy chew when you leave, so it’s a nice way to clear your palate. There’s so much on the menu, of course, the recommendation would be to go back. Also, you may consider trying their more spacious location only a couple blocks away – still sassy, but more spacious.
The sister location is about twice the size. The music isn’t as club-like as the other location, but it’s still very upbeat. The seating is a bit more spacious and the menu is almost identical with very few differences. You’ll also find that the television at this facility displays an aquarium. SPiCES! II doesn’t serve stinky tofu like SPiCES! does, but many of the dishes available are the same. The house specialties are a bit different. See the menu for details.
I ordered a number of dishes previously tried, but also selected a few new items.
- Hot and Spicy Beef Combination – This is a cold dish featuring slices of beef and beef tendon served in red chili oil. The flavor is good, but the chili oil can be a bit overpowering. Try this only if you want something really spicy. $3.95
- Spicy Pig Ear with RED oil – This dish is unique since pig ear isn’t available in many places. It’s much like tendon with a crisp texture and almost clear in appearance. It takes on the flavor of the oil. It’s only listed with one dot, but I found it to be very strong. This is another one to try only if you want something really spicy. $3.95
- Dry Braised Eel Strips – Strips of eel are sautéed with whole red chili peppers, green onions, and Chinese celery. The Chinese celery gives a slightly bitter taste that brings out the flavor of the eel. The dish is rated two stars for spicy, but after eating some of the other food, I found it to be mild in flavor, but the eel remained distinct. The quantity is on the smaller side, but it’s still an excellent dish. $9.95
- Mongolian Beef – Fairly standard in flavor and presentation, but the plate is nice. Beef strips are good and infused with a lot of flavor. Good. $7.95
- Beef with Broccoli – Another fairly standard dish. The beef slices were large, but it was noticeable that quite a bit of tenderizer had been used on the beef, so not as good as it could be. $7.95
- Eggplant in Garlic Sauce - Japanese eggplant is sautéed with garlic in a sweet and spicy sauce. The eggplant is accompanied with strips of black wood fungus and jicama which give the dish a bit of a crunch. The flavors in the dish are mild and delicious. Excellent. $6.95
- Deep Fried Tofu with Chili Sauce – Small cubes of firm tofu are deep fried and served in a boat with spicy chili sauce. This was the only dish I found on this menu that wasn’t available at their restaurant on 8th Ave. The tofu is deep fried to a beautiful golden brown, and the tofu remains soft and moist inside. Another excellent dish.
SPiCES! was one of my favorites (read on). The 6th Avenue is more spacious and better for large parties. The 8th Avenue location is good for a cozy atmosphere. The only other difference I found is that the 6th Avenue location didn’t serve the apple candy chew after dinner. By far, for me, the best dishes are the eggplant and string beans. Be sure to check those out.
My most recent visit at SPiCES! was by far the most disappointing. Maybe it’s because I had string beans that were near perfection last time. The eggplant dish was still very good, but the actual eggplant itself was a little on the older side, making the skin tough and difficult to bite through. The string beans were not crispy. Although the flavor was right, they lacked the extra crunch that once made it so good. For this reason, I downgraded the food to a 3 to 4 star range.
In addition to those two, I tried one more dish during this visit.
- Soft Tofu Shrimp – Shrimp is cooked with tofu, peas, green onion, and diced carrots. The flavor is light, and the sauce is thickened by cornstarch. Although it had great ‘wok air,’ I found the sauce a bit lumpy with all the excess cornstarch. Average to fair. $7.95
Service this evening was poor. There were two staff members caring for the patrons at the beginning of the evening and up to four by the time we left. However, we felt neglected. Since they don’t provide a tea pot for the table, the need to refill tea becomes especially important, since it’s spicy food. Our teacups needed refills about midway through the meal, and despite the less than 1/3 filled dining room, we didn’t get refills until we flagged them down. We were also finished with our meal and waiting for the check for about twenty minutes. Service was such a letdown, I’ve dropped them a full star. Prices have also gone up by about $1 per dish since my last visit. I was really disappointed. They’ll probably get another visit, but it will be a while at this 8th Avenue location. After visiting SPiCES II, I was much happier. I’ll probably go back to Spices II on 6th in the future instead of the smaller one.
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