Spice I Am, Surry Hills, Sydney

Update Review, Nov 2023

To me, Thai food is a key selling point of spending time in Sydney.  You've heard me talk about it before. The thai food there is in another realm of existence compared to Thai food in the US (and definitely compared to San Francisco).  Some of it is certainly the access to fresher Southeast Asian ingredients, some of it is certainly the large immigrant population from Thailand, which provides both cooks/chefs to staff the restaurants, but also, they seem to have a customer base that isn't afraid of spice, and, in fact, *wants* it.  Spice levels at most of the Thai restaurants in Sydney are considerably higher than their US counterparts.  And I love it.

So during my recent stay in Sydney, when I was craving spice, Thai delivery it was.  I opted to order from Spice I Am again, as I was curious to try more of the menu again (I used to visit in person years ago, long before I had a blog).  My order was ready *incredibly* quickly, and my Dasher fast and efficient.  From the time I ordered, until it was in my hands, was less than 20 minutes, even though the restaurant is in Surry Hills, and I was staying near Darling Harbor.  

Nam Khao Tod. $27.50.

"Crispy rice salad with Thai sour pork, chilli powder, ground peanut, coriander, red onion, spring onion and mint leaves (serve with lettuce)."

I discovered the concept of crispy rice salad at Mumu in Sydney last year, and I've been on the hunt for it again since, hence my ordering it at Fish Cheeks in NYC this summer.  When I saw it on the Spice I Am menu, it was no question that I wanted to order it.

It came in two containers, with the lettuce separate.  Other crispy rice salads I have had used a big wedge of cabbage, which I really prefer, but this lettuce was fresh and crisp, and I could sorta make lettuce wraps with it, so, just different from a cabbage wedge.

The crispy rice salad was fairly different from the version at Fish Cheeks, even though they were described very similarly.  The Fish Cheeks version had more clumps of rice, with a crispy side to them, but, they were large, so were also mushy in areas.  It also had very bright hunks of the pork sausage, and whole peanuts, and not much in the way of herbs besides the garnish on top.  The Spice I Am version was all smaller bits of rice, some of which were nicely crispy.  There were a few full peanuts, but most were ground and integrated throughout.  The pork was much smaller pieces, and blended in both texturally and color wise with the rest of the dish.  It had more fresh herbs (mint, parsley, etc).  And yes, some legit chilis right on top.  

The dish was cold, which I wasn't expecting.  The delivery was so fast, and it was a hot night, so I think perhaps they really do serve it cold?  I was caught off guard by that.  The textures were good, lots of crispy bits.  The heat level was perfect for me, never too spicy, but enough to slow me down a bit to have a sip of wine.  I did like the funky flavor of the fermented pork bits, and the overall complex sour and spicy notes.

Overall, it was good, but I probably wouldn't get again.  Maybe better served in the restaurant, if it is warm? And a touch more crispy?  Still, I think fairly authentic, and yay for spices.  ***+.

Original Review, March 2020

Sydney has no shortage of excellent Thai restaurants.  It was after my time living there that I realized just how poor the Thai food is in the US (at least, where I've lived).  I've visited all the Sydney institutions by now, including those that have since closed (tears, I miss you Sailor's Thai (particularly the Canteen!!)

This visit to Sydney however, I didn't really have time to go out and dine, and worse, it was raining nearly the entire time, so venturing out to get food one particularly wet evening, after having just gotten back to the hotel from the office, soaking wet, just wasn't appealing.  Thus, delivery it was.  And I knew Thai food would be a solid delivery option - curries hold heat well, there are plenty of interesting chilled dishes, and, well, Sydney has good Thai food.

I took the opportunity to order from Spice I Am, which has been on my list for quite a while, but is known for having long waits.  Definitely known for having seriously authentic Thai food, and the chef has won many awards.  While I did have a wait a while for my order, at least I did it from the comfort of my hotel room!  Delivery was via Deliveroo, as with most places in Sydney.

Thai Feast for One.

I ordered one starter, one salad, and one curry.  Yes, I ordered way too much food for one person in a single sitting.  But since I was getting delivery getting just one dish didn't make sense, and I wanted to have at least two items in case I didn't like one.  Hedge my bets. And I knew it would all keep fine for a few days in my fridge, which, of course I had in my hotel room (along with a microwave of course).

The menu at Spice I Am is quite extensive, and narrowing down on just a few dishes was hard enough.  I was able to easily look past the soups and "Light Meals" - which really seemed like appetizers - but with 9 different salads, 21 "Specials of the Day", 18 stir fries, 8 curries, noodle dishes, rice dishes, and more "Specialties" ... making decisions was hard.

I settled on one "Special of the Day", a dish I knew was a cold dish so would travel well, one salad (which I thought was cold but wasn't!), and one hot main dish.  It was hard to pick just one main hot item, but since I was getting delivery I decided a curry would be better than a stir fry or noodle dish, or any of the specials, as it would hold heat, and not get soggy.

The food was all decent, arrived nicely packaged, and delivered in the spice department as expected.  I wasn't really blown away by anything though, but I have no real complaints.

Mieng Ka Na (With Finger Lime). $19.

"Sweet and sour spicy flossy pork, finger lime, ginger, shallot, and fresh chili. Served with green Chinese broccoli leaf."

First up, my starter: mieng ka na.

This came from the "Specials of the Day" section of the menu, which, as far as I can tell, doesn't actually change with the day.  Of all the dishes I ordered, it was the one I was most eager to try.  It sounded fascinating.

Unfortunately, it wasn't a winner for me.

The idea is you make little wraps with the broccoli leaf.  The leaf part was a success, not a leaf I normally eat raw, and I liked how crisp it was.  I'd love to fill it with other things.

But this filling ... well, it seemed to be 85% coconut?  Coconut wasn't even listed in the ingredients.  I don't mind coconut, but, I wasn't looking for coconut filling.  I wanted flossy pork!  And there was a little bit of flossy pork in there, stringy, savory, and I think good, but, alas, all I could taste was coconut.  There were also chunks of cashew (yay crunch) and good herbs, but I certainly didn't find any of the promised finger lime either.

So ... no finger lime, not much flossy pork, and mostly coconut?  Yeah, meh.  By the forkful it certainly wasn't good, made into wraps it was a little better, and mixed into salad later as leftovers it was best, but I ended up throwing out much of it.  I just didn't enjoy it. *.

This is a cold dish, in case you were wondering.

Yum Pla Krob Salad. $23.

"Salad of Thai herbs with crispy seasoning whitebait, cashew nut, chilli, eschallot, coriander, and mint leaves."

This was a bit of a random order on my part, but I wanted dishes that would hold up well for delivery (so, cold was ideal), and I wanted lighter dishes (given all the decadent consumption I was doing), and, well, I wanted something fresh (so much fried food, way too many ridiculous desserts, and really no fresh veggies or fruits in days!).   So a salad met those requirements.

The salad line up had all sorts of interesting sounding options, and I really was curious about the Nam Khao Tod Salad (crispy rice salad?!), but I decided getting a rice salad wasn't exactly what I was aiming for.  The yum pla krob kept jumping out instead.

I had no idea what this salad would be like however, but, I knew there would be herbs (which I thought would be the dominant ingredient ...), and some fried little fishes?  I couldn't picture it, and I think that made me even more interested.

What I really wasn't expecting was a hot dish though.  I guess it makes sense that it was hot, cold fried little fishes doesn't really sound that appealing now that I think about it, but I was surprised to open my order and find a hot salad.

A tasty hot salad.  Definitely my surprise favorite dish.  But not exactly the lightness nor vegetables I was looking for.

The whitebait were the star attraction, battered in really well seasoned coating, and super crispy.  They were intensely fishy, in a good way.  Crispy fried flavorful little fishes.  Definitely not for everyone but I happen to adore anchovies and sardines, so these were right up my alley.

The "salad" mix did have plenty of herbs, lots of eshallot, mint, and coriander, plus of course chilis.  Oh, and cashews for more crunch, although they weren't needed really at all given the crispy fish.

It all was soaked in some kind of dressing, a bit sweet, a bit sour, and I think fish sauce based.  Extra fishiness.  Very, well, thai, in that there were lots of flavors that were playing together in fascinating and actually balanced ways.

Overall, I enjoyed this, found it totally fascinating, and did really like the crispy fish.  I *did* want some fresh salad though, and ended up pulling baby kale out of my fridge and tossing this with it, and liked it considerably more that way.  I also kinda wanted a mayo or aioli drizzle ... but that is just me really liking fried food and mayo based dipping sauces these days.

My favorite dish, although I preferred my modified salad version.  ***+.

I saved the leftovers, and enjoyed all the non-fish bits cold the next day, they really soaked up the flavorful spices, and the batter on the fish was actually *very* tasty at that point, although soft and soggy.  As I suspected, the cold fried leftover little fishes weren't good, but I may have sucked off a bunch of the batter, and really enjoyed it ...

Green Curry, Vegetable. $18.

"Traditional green chili curry with Thai eggplant and pork blood jelly."

For my curry, I kinda wanted the red curry.  I kinda wanted the yellow curry (I had a fantastic yellow curry a few days prior that I couldn't get out of my head).  I was tempted by the special duck curry.  But I went for green curry, fascinated by the addition of "pork blood jelly".  Is that ... traditional?  I had no idea.

I knew I didn't want chicken or pork, and although I like beef it isn't my top choice for green curry.  I almost splurged (+$7) for the seafood, but I actually often dislike calamari in Sydney, and wasn't really sure what was included in the seafood mix.  The prawn option was also $7 and I wasn't excited by it, so, veggie I went.   I often find that I somehow eat very few vegetables when I'm in Sydney, so this also seemed like a good thing.  Plus, veggie soak up curry well!

I didn't realize that veggie mean tofu, so I was sad when I saw the big triangles of tofu (I don't like it), but, I hope it also had more interesting vegetables in it than the others?  It did have a decent assortment:green beans, carrots, button mushrooms, and other mushrooms, in addition to the thai eggplant.  The veggies were all cooked fine, nothing mushy, nothing too crisp.  I can't say the veggies were remarkable or interesting, but nothing wrong with them.

The curry was ... spicy.  As I expected.  I knew Spice I Am is known for being authentic, and they don't have spice levels, so, spicy I expected.  The visible red chilis were only part of the heat.  The coconut milk and strong aromatics in the curry helped balance the heat though, and I didn't find it overwhelming. There was plenty of lemongrass I believe?

As you can see, it was fairly oily, which wasn't pleasant to see, but it didn't actually taste oily.

Overall, it was fine.  Spicy, well prepared, and I really did like all the herbs and fragrance to it. It didn't strike me as remarkable though, and to be honest, I liked the green curry I had a few days prior elsewhere more.  My least favorite dish.  I appreciated that this was packaged with additional plastic wrap around it to not make a mess. **+.