Thalia Spice

So after reading all of the reviews of Thalia Spice, I had already prepared myself for the possibility of slow service, or even no service. We went here on a rainy Thursday night at 6:30 so there were not a lot of occupied tables so our service was pretty good. Our waitress seemed a little out of it though. The menu is very large, everything on the menu looked delicious and it was very hard to choose between so many different items. We ordered the spring rolls (vietnamese style ones), crab rangoon, and the lettuce wraps. The spring rolls were standard – it is hard to mess those up. I loved the presentation of the lettuce wraps, it come already prepared for you and are set in little sake cups so all you have to do is pick up the lettuce wrap and pop it in your mouth. The sauce that came with the lettuce wraps was absolutely delicious, I could have just eaten that with lettuce and rice! Sadly it all went downhill for me from there. I ordered the golden triangle which on the menu was described as a mix of shrimp, scallops, squid, basil in a red curry sauce. Sounds good right? Ok it came prepared in a little round mold wrapped in foil. When they brought it to our table I thought they had made a mistake because I certainly did not order a casserole! No where on the menu did it mention that it was some type of breaded casserole, I mean where was the red curry? So it was not what I expected at all nor did it taste that great either. Also I just ate around the casserole part and just tried to pick out what I could of the seafood. My friends got the beef curry, pad thai, and a sushi roll – all standard. My friend Laura was really looking forward to her curry and naan. I was also excited to taste the naan, and what bothered me the most is that instead of naan, they give you a roti pancake and try to pretend that it is naan. OK seriously? You can’t give someone an order of roti and cut it up into little triangles and pretend that it is naan. Hello, we know the difference! The dessert was the nail in the coffin. We order the chocolate lava cake which on the menu even said it was served warm. What came to our table was this little solid oval brown thing, that one had no ice cream on top of it (who serves molten lava cake without ice cream) and when we took a bite of it we realized why, the cake was cold as ice and tasted like it came from your grocer’s freezer section. I have never in my life sent a dessert back but this was my first time sending it back. I will never go back to this again!!

So I actually went here without looking back at the previous review nor my response to it. Sort of a last minute decision but my friend told me it had some good Thai options (and I’m a sucker for Thai food) so we tried it. I’m not sure if it’s the location or the look of it on the outside, but it is strangely obscure. The sign blends into the warehouse-like walls so it wouldn’t even strike you as a restaurant.

In any case, I’d compare this place to the “indie-rock” version of restaurants. Something about the kitchen that’s located on the second floor balcony and the overall feel… The menu is truly extensive, which made me a little nervous. I don’t think places with extensive menus are actually that great. Nor am I a huge fan of pan-Asian places. Which is probably why we avoided the sushi…

Surprisingly enough, the tofu dishes that we chose were delicious! I doubt that restaurants can mess up Thai food because it is just so good at most places, but I was content with my experience and will probably come back… Still not sure about the sushi. I have my reservations. I would recommend that they trim down their menu a little – it’s a bit dizzying.