Thai Spice Restaurant Review

Not just another Thai restaurant!

Thai Spice
1730 Polk St (between Clay and Washington), 775-4777
11:30am-10pm, 7 days.
Special Lunch 11:30am-3pm, 7days.

San Francisco is now chock full of Thai restaurants, but a dozen are really elegant, with tasty Thai artifacts, colored cloth napkins and tablecloths, even Thai cutlery, and often with waitresses in native-style, colorful long gowns. Thai Spice is one of the elegant ones. The food is equally exotic, with many components for each dish.

Special Lunch, $7.50, consists of Thai soup, rice and two dishes chosen from the following: chicken or beef curry, basil chicken, mixed vegetables, stuffed roll (also vegetarian).

Appetizer (choice of 13) includes various rolls, some vegetarian, some stuffed with chicken and shrimp $5.95, spinach leaves with lime wedges, ginger, toasted coconut and peanuts, served with herb sauce $6.95, fried fish cake with green beans and cucumber salad $6.95, appetizer combo of spring rolls, fish cake, shrimp-in-a-blanket, deep-fried tofu, curry puff, served with peanut sauce and cucumber salad $8.95.

Soups and salads, include silver noodle soup with chicken, prawns, mushrooms $6.95, shrimp hot-and-sour soup with mushrooms $7.95, mixed seafood hot-and-sour soup with mushrooms $8.95, green papaya salad with green beans, lime juice and palm sugar $6.50, silver noodle salad with shrimp, garlic, lime juice $6.50, country salad with choice of chicken, pork or beef, and chili $6.95, charbroiled beef salad with chili, lemon juice and cucumber $6.95, charbroiled prawn salad with red onions, chili, & mint leaves $8.50.

Poultry, pork, beef dishes include Thai-style BBQ chicken with sweet-and-sour sauce $7.50, sautéed chicken with ginger, onions, black fungus $6.95, honey roast duck on bed of spinach $8.95, pan-fried marinated pork with garlic $7.50, sautéed pork with Japanese eggplant $6.95, beef with peanut sauce on bed of spinach $7.50.

Seafood (12 dishes) includes sautéed prawns with garlic and chili $9.95, silver noodles with prawns, onions and cabbage in clay pot $9.95, pan-fried calamari with garlic $8.95, fried whole fish with spicy sauce $10.95, sautéed assorted seafood with curry paste $12.95.

Vegetarian (13 dishes) includes deep-fried tofu with tamarind sauce topped with ground peanuts $5.95, vegetables and mushrooms in coconut soup $6.95, pan-fried spinach in garlic and spicy-bean sauce $6.75, sautéed assorted vegetables and mushrooms in Thai Spice’s sauce $6.75, spinach and tofu topped with peanut sauce $6.75.

Noodles and fried rice dishes include “pad –Thai” — pan-fried rice noodles with shrimp, tofu, peanuts, egg, bean sprouts $7.50, pan-fried rice noodles with choice of beef, pork, or chicken, garlic, egg, broccoli $6.95, with shrimp $7.95, spicy fried rice with choice of beef, pork, or chicken with chili, onions, tomato, garlic, basil $6.95, with shrimp $7.95, pineapple fried rice with shrimp, calamari, pineapple, cashew nuts, carrots, peas, egg, onion $7.95.

Desserts, beverages include fried banana with ice cream $4, roti with ice cream $4, ice-tea or ice-coffee $1.95, imported beer $3, glass of wine $2.75, 1/2 carafe of wine $4.95, carafe $9.

Summation: Elegant dining.

Two can eat well by sharing two dishes family-style. If very hungry, they can add an appetizer, soup, or salad. In general, Thai Spice’s dishes are $1-2 higher than in some Thai places, but considering the quality of the food and the ambience, well worth it.