Spice Market

9 Highly Recommended

Food  10      Ambience  7      Service  9      Value  10     

Great value food here - definitely the best thai in Kirribilli by a long shot. The lamb shank & pumpkin massaman, duck salad, and betel leaf entree are definitely recommended. We will be back.

Jan 03, 2011 

9 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  8      Service  9      Value  10     

Spice Market's food is the best and the most reasonable in Kirribilli. The spicy fried rice is amazing!

May 27, 2010 

10 Highly Recommended

Food  10      Ambience  10      Service  10      Value  10     

I eat at this restaurant at least 3 times a month. The quality of food and service is always consistently amazing. There are always great specials for fresh new tastes and the dedicated waitress always remembers your face and is great at ensuring you are taken care of despite a full restaurant.

I highly recommend the Lamb and Pumpkin massaman curry and the pumpkin stir fry. The betel leaf (mien cum) entree is such an amazing mix of flavours and always fresh. I would not hesitate to recommend this restaurant to anyone.

Mar 28, 2010 

9.3 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  9      Service  10      Value  9     

I am on a business trip to Sydney for ~2 months and dine at this restaurant at least twice per week. I like the sexy duck and holy fish very much. Really tasty food and nice waitress! sometimes they give me free and nice desserts.

Mar 26, 2010 

8.3 Highly Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  7      Service  9      Value  9     

It is bizarre that the other three quite mediocre thai joints along Broughton St are constantly full and this place isn't. This is unique, fresh Thai served by a very dedicated solo waitress. It's always good and the price is more than fair. I recommend the banana flower salad, the massaman lamb shank and the betel leaf entree.

Jan 01, 2010 

8 Recommended

Food  7      Ambience  8      Service  9      Value  8     

Never been here before, after having dinner there last Friday night 1st May 2009.
First impressions were quaint, small, and quite appealing for mine. The patrons appeared to be enjoying themselves and their food, and the outdoor bench with outdoor heater(s) looked pretty good, rustic and casual.

We were lucky to wander by whilst they had 2 large tables empty inside, and so after our companions had a bit of a look and agreed, we asked for one. The place is pretty small, but they have done pretty well with the decor and furniture for the space they have to work with. I actually quite liked the rustic bench-style tables with matching heavy stools or bench against the wall, complete with a number of small removable cushions to increase your sitting comfort if you chose to use them (I did, and it was good).

There was no way we could get our pram inside at a glance, but the staff were very friendly and accommodating, slid the doors along from where they were prior, and helped wonderfully to get it inside and position it as out-of-the-way and handy as possible, which was great.

I didn't have a good look at the kitchen, but apart from being small (which they couldn't do much about) and not looking particularly sparkling clean (though not bad), the food looked ok and the aromas certainly smelt nice. The menu was quite limited, with no real options for kids nor any desserts, but again for such a small place that's kinda to be expected.

We asked if it was BYO and the waitress replied yes in a very friendly manner, with no mention of corkage, so we got some beers and they were happy to put some in the fridge for us, good service! I cannot actually recall if they charged us any corkage, I forgot to examine the bill details, but we were unconcerned as we all felt the overall value was pretty good at the end of it.

The char-grilled squid was quite good, some chicken noodle spicy dish was ok which my mate quite liked but I thought was a little average, it was pretty spicy hot too, which was good. The Massaman Beef Curry was, unfortunately, a bit disappointing for mine. It was the beef that let it down, not enough of it, and they used thin strips that didn't taste or feel quite as moist and tender as I was hoping, rather than nice fresh thick tender chunks that other Thai places use so well.

We got some fried calamari too which was good, some other dish seemed good, the mixed entrees were quite good, tasted fairly fresh and portioned reasonably generously as well. The boiled rice tasted fresh and good, but the bowls of rice were a touch on the small size I thought, but not too bad. For $99 for 2 adult couples + our 3yo it was pretty good value, not expensive for Kirribilli, that was a pleasant surprise.

Overall, the food didn't jump out at me and entice me to want to return too soon, however, it is not over-priced, quite quaint and I would recommend it to those OK with the smallish space. I will keep it in mind as a good little option in the area in future.

May 03, 2009 

7 Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  6      Service  7      Value  7     

The food is great here. Service is ok but you cannot expect much ambience due to small space of the restaurant. Price is reasonable.

May 01, 2008 

5 Average

Food  6      Ambience  2      Service  6      Value  6     

Dear Gourmet Lover (August, 2007), did you know that the Spice Market Franchise is actually owned and run by what the Thais call "Fralung" or westerners, Australians to be exact. Yes the food is good but wouldn't call it Real Thai at all. Most of those "Chinese run" Thai restaurants are actually owned and run by Thais with Chinese origins and they make good use of their Thai and Chinese origins in the food they make.

Apr 02, 2008 

8 Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  7      Service  8      Value  8     

Great place. Ingredients taste unmistakably fresh and veggies crispy - just the way they should be. Sauces are amazing. Sexy duck is great. Mad if you don't grab a bottle of wine and sit by the harbour.

Feb 09, 2008 

7.3 Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  8      Service  8      Value  5     

The food and service at Spice House are always excellent, however this Saturday night we were more than disappointed to be charged $3.50 for 'corkage' for one bottle of wine, when the wine in question was a screw top and opened by us. Also, this restaurant is not licensed, does not sell wine, and yet we were charged this outrageous addition.

It has left a sour taste and we will be passing this information along to all our friends in the area.

Nov 10, 2007