If you judge an ethnic restaurant by the number of nationals
eating there, then Spices was looking good before we even sat down. It was
obviously a very popular venue with Indian visitors. In fact, restaurant manager
‘Tony’ told us that his restaurant had been selected by the Bollywood film
producers to feed cast and crew when in Pattaya.
The restaurant is upstairs in the new Thaiwat City Walk complex (next to Royal
Garden Plaza) and overlooks Pattaya Beach Road. Take the lift to the third floor
(the second floor is a buffet for Indian tour groups), and the restaurant is all
dark wood and sandstone, plus the big picture windows along the far side. There
is also a bar/cocktail area along another wall and the kitchen in behind that.
Being open for only five months, it is still a ‘new’ venue, but has been well
maintained, though somewhat somber inside with the dark wood and (comfortable)
swivel chairs, and the dark brown tablecloths.
The napery is of good quality and crockery likewise.
The menu begins with soups (mostly around B. 100) and then into appetizers,
divided into vegetarian and non-vegetarian, with representative items such as
Aloo Chat (B. 110) and Chicken Samosas (B. 140).
From there it is into the Tandoori clay oven with most items around B. 230-320,
both vegetarian and non-vegetarian.
Main courses include many ‘murghs’ (around B. 250) such as the Murgh Madrasi
(chicken simmered in coconut milk)and then the Lamb dishes (including perennial
favorites Vindaloo and Tikka Masala), so favored in the Indian kitchens, with
most examples under B.300.
There is a small seafood selection (B. 285-310) then vegetarian mains (B.
150-200). These are followed by rices and breads, with all the usual favorites
(Basmati, Biryani, roti, naan, parantha, etc. Finally there are a couple of
salads and desserts. There is also one page of Indian-Chinese fusion choices
including Chow Mein (which is neither Indian nor Chinese!).
We perused the menu while nibbling on poppadums (complimentary, by the way), and
being lunchtime we stuck with soft drinks! (Work is the curse of the drinking
classes!)
We began with a couple of starters, after engorging ourselves on the very nice
crispy poppadums (try the tamarind chutney with them - very nice). Our choices
were the chicken pakora, which was very lightly deep-fried and not at all oily
and the vegetable samosas, which were very mild and yet very flavorsome.
We followed our starters with some garlic naan bread, which was not at all oily
(as so many of them are) but still with plenty of garlic and with it a lamb and
a chicken tikka masala. Both of these dishes were excellent. The curries were
not at all harsh in any way and you could just enjoy the flavors (as well as
mopping up the curry with the naan bread. We were also impressed by the size of
the servings, as manager Tony said, most are enough for two people. The rice was
also properly cooked and fluffy, and honestly we had no complaints at all.
As we had gone to do the review at lunchtime, we did not continue on into the
desserts and coffee - there is a limit to how much food you can eat in the
middle of the day, no matter how enjoyable.
After trying those examples, we were convinced that their claim of ‘Authentic
Indian Cuisine’ was correct. The dishes were of an authentic flavor, and the
presentation was also very good. Portion size was that which was optimal for
sharing (in authentic Indian style) and we enjoyed our experience there. We had
been made aware of this restaurant by a British friend who had written, “We had
some tandoori chicken - Lamb Vindaloo and Chicken Madras - all absolutely
fantastic - even the plain basmati rice was great - although the portions were
so large we should have just ordered one.”
It is worth your while, if you like Indian food, to give this restaurant your
review as well.
Spices, 555/7 Pattaya Beach Road (Thaiwat City Walk, just past Royal Garden
Plaza heading towards Walking Street), telephone 038 423 003, fax 038 423 004,
email spicesrestaurant@hotmail .com. Open seven days, 12 noon until 12 midnight.
Moo pad bai krapow (pork with basil)
Another very traditional Thai recipe and one that is easy
for any home cook. A true ‘wok’ dish, it has a tantalizing flavor that comes
from the combination of so many items. By the way, it is important to crush
the garlic and chilli together and this is best with a mortar and pestle. As
usual, if this is a little hot for your taste, you can reduce the amount of
chilli and remember to remove the seeds! You can also substitute chicken for
pork.
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Cooking Method:
Crush the garlic and chilli together in the mortar and pestle. Add oil to the
wok and heat quickly and add pounded garlic and chilli to the oil and fry
quickly. Now add the sliced pork and stir fry until cooked (do not overcook).
Add the onion and the capsicum until cooked, followed by the sugar, fish sauce
and oyster sauce. Finally, add the basil leaf and stir for one minute and then
serve with steamed rice. |
Ingredients Serves 4-
6
Sliced pork loin
500 gms
Onion sliced
200 gms
Red capsicum
100 gms
Green capsicum
100 gms
Basil leaf (chopped)
5-6
Garlic
2 cloves
Chilli (red)
3-4
Vegetable oil
4 tbspns
Fish sauce (Tiparos)
4 tbspns
Sugar
1 tbspn
Oyster sauce
1 tbspn
