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Take Spice Avenue for a tasty trip:
Perfect spot for a crowd to share several tastes
The Hamilton Spectator
by John Kernaghan
It's big and darkly bold with the unique touch of a cluster of classic birdcages hanging from the ceiling. Spice Avenue is at the crossroads of decent prices and good quality.
The stylish Thai/Vietnamese newcomer on Upper James just north of the Linc takes good care of patrons, from a greeter opening the door to bright, informed servers and quick-draw service.
My main arrived with barely a dent in the starter on one visit, a bit too fast if these are hot orders. But the cool mango roll ($5) didn't suffer when the crystal noodle with chicken ($10) came hard on its heels.
The roll was very fresh but overburdened with greens. The six fat cylinders would have been better in thinner form, letting the mango sing a bit louder.
The glass noodle dish had a reasonable portion of lean chicken strips and gave off a subtle aroma but was a bit on the tame side spice-wise. But with chunks of green onion, carrot shards and parsley it was clean on the palate.
I sat in the restaurant's big dining room for this meal, a space with about 35 tables bracketed by huge swirling sculptures.
On the first visit I ate at the wide bar just inside the entry that was swarming with staff. I tried the cyclone shrimp ($5) that has four fingers of crispy noodle spun around a mix of shrimp bits and greens.
The dry carapace meant for messy eating as the debris fell from the roll, but it opened to a moist mix tarted up by a sweet Thai chili sauce on the side.
An order from the Vermicelli Valley segment of the menu (it's all cute categories playing off streets and squares etc.) produced a shrimp and barbecue pork combination ($9) with the thin noodle.
Four medium shrimp ably done were impaled on a skewer with a small portion of dry pork keeping them company. This was backed up by small pockets of bean sprouts, pickled carrot, mint leaves, crushed peanuts and cucumber providing an array of tastes and textures.
Spice Avenue has already pulled in a following based on weekend and weekday visits. The formula of pared down pricing and quick service likely counts on quick turnover of customers, though there is no sense of being rushed.
You can see a big group of people having a really good night ordering a raft of dishes to share.
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Spice Avenue
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By A. DowlerI've been waiting for months for Spice Avenue to open. The location on Upper James used to house Crabby Joes, but they moved out a while ago, and I've been curious to see what would open there. I wondered what was taking so long as drove past the optimistic "opening soon!" sign. Having visited, I know why it took so long: they were getting the inside absolutely perfect.
The roadhouse atmosphere is definitely gone. The experience starts with the chocolate brown exterior with dark wood awnings and a beautiful new sign. Opening the huge glass doors at the front, we walked into the bar area, which has a huge dark wood bar with high leather stools. We were greeted and seated quickly in the dining room by a staff member in an all–black uniform. The design concept for the main dining area is absolutely stunning: the walls and peaked roof are clad in glossy dark wood strips adorned with matte swirls, and subdued lighting twinkles out from between the gaps. There are chandeliers made from cream wood painted bird cages hanging high in the middle of the room. The front wall is made from backlit green plastic with a black swirl pattern set overtop, and the back wall is done in orange with the same swirls. There's a variety of comfortable seating; there are a number of low backed booths, and leather–look dining chairs set around bamboo veneer tables. Each table is pre–set with a small white plate and black chopsticks, waiting for your arrival. Little mosaic tealights adorn every table. There's no natural lighting at all inside; the carefully placed lighting creates a perpetual twilight.
We waited for quite a while for our drink orders to be taken after we were seated. When the server finally came by, I ordered the coconut bubble tea ($5) and my guest ordered a regular ginger ale ($3, free refills).
After debating a few of the appetizer options, my guest and I chose not to choose: we just ordered the spice platter ($14), which included a little of everything. When I say a little of everything, what I really mean is that we could have easily had just the appetizer plate for dinner. It was way too much for two people to have as a starter. We got a helping of mango salad, which was made up of julienned strips of fresh mango, shredded lettuce, and red onion. It was topped with chopped peanuts and cashews and a lemony sesame salad dressing. We also got two excellent, crispy spring rolls stuffed with pork and shrimp, as well as four huge rice paper rolls stuffed with plain rice, lettuce, and large shrimp. There were also two chicken satay skewers, large pieces of breast meat grilled in a gingery glaze. The plate was rounded out by four crispy fried won tons stuffed with cream cheese, carrot, corn and peas, served with a sweet chilli pepper sauce.
If our initial wait for drink orders to be taken was too long, our entrée delivery suffered from the opposite problem. We had barely started work on the appetizers before our main dishes arrived. I had the Vietnamese yellow curry ($9), which came with a choice of meats (chicken, beef, pork, shrimp, or vegetable and tofu). I chose the chicken, which came in a spicy yellow broth with chunks of potato and onion. I had it over vermicelli noodles rather than rice. I found the potatoes a bit floury, but otherwise it was good: again, there was a huge amount of food, and I ended up taking almost all of it home.
My guest had the black bean beef with rice noodles ($10). Strips of tender beef and red and green peppers were served in a tasty but mild, earthy black bean sauce over broad, thick rice noodles. My guest and I agreed that it was our favourite part of the meal.
After getting about 10 pounds of food wrapped up to take home, we didn't really feel that we could justify dessert, but we did decide to have some Vietnamese coffee ($4 each). We had the option of having it hot or over ice, and we had it hot. Our server brought white mugs topped with little silver coffee filter baskets and small thermoses of hot water to top up our cups. Vietnamese coffee is made with condensed milk, and we requested extra because the coffee was very, very strong.
The owners at Spice Avenue have obviously put a lot of time and effort into creating a beautiful restaurant. The food was very good, not to mention excellent value. We paid just over $50 for dinner and the amount of food we received could have easily fed four people, and probably would have been fine for even more. The service could use some work; our server had very limited knowledge of the menu, which is understandable considering the newness of the restaurant, but she also wasn't very friendly, and pacing was uneven. It wouldn't stop me from eating there again, though; it would be a really good place to go with a group of people before a night out. They're open seven days a week for lunch and dinner.
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