Spice Me Up ! Thai Sensation

8.8 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  8      Service  9      Value  9     

I visit Spice Me Up every time I am in Sydney. I must say that I am always satisfied. They seem to get it right all the time. Service is very friendly and food is amazing, also their 3 course dinner special is great value.

Jan 27, 2012 

3.8 Below Average

Food  7      Ambience  5      Service  1      Value  2     

1.10pm, Six of us arrive at Spice Me Up, hungry and eager to sit at our pre-booked table. Waitress snarks that we’re 5 minutes early.

1.20pm, We apparently become incorporeal forms unseeable by the naked eye, and end up seating ourselves at an available table. Only then does the waitress see us again, and insists we move to another table with uncomfortable bench seats they stole from an Opus Dei church.

1.25pm
Foaming at the mouth with hunger, we gleefully pounce on the ironically named Speedy Lunch Menu. Within 5 minutes, we’re ready to order and place the menus in a pile.

1.40pm
Everyone starts to look like tasty, tasty chicken. My stomach starts digesting itself. A waitress comes to take our order (sans pad and pen). When she goes, we marvel at her incredible memory.

1.45pm
A waiter comes with a pad and pen to take our order again. Memory apparently not so incredible.

1.50pm
We argue over which of the six of us is going to get eaten first if the food doesn’t come soon. Not me – I’m all sinew and gristle.

1.55pm
Our mixed entrée arrives! Cannibalism averted!

1.57pm
Mixed entrée has been annihilated. Cannibal amnesty looks tremulous at best.

2.05pm
We make a game of listing all the things we could have done in the time it takes the staff of Spice Me Up to serve a Speedy Lunch meal. We glare hatefully at a man who arrived half an hour after us as he tucks into his red curry. Why do the Thai Food Gods hate us?

2.10pm
There’s a frightening lack of clanging-stirring-flaming-tossing noises coming from the kitchen. Each time some one walks past our table, we turn in hope, only to be deflated once more.

2.15pm
The hungriest among us walks to the counter to enquire about our meals. He’s reassured that they’re coming – they just had to import some chickens from Thailand and they’re currently in quarantine, but lunch will be ready by late 2012.

2.20pm
They bring two plates.

2.25pm
They bring another two plates. Talk about progress!

2.30pm
One by one (with a separation time of 7-10 minutes) we receive our meals. From memory it was pretty tasty but I was hoovering mine into my mouth so quickly that I can’t remember much. The hungriest of us who dared approach the counter gets his 15 minutes after everyone else. Do not question the sanctity of thy Speedy Lunch!

2.40pm,
We leave...never to return.

Response from Management:
We appreciate your feedback but would like to let you know that on the day you also ordered from the a la carte' menu and not only from the speedy lunch menu. Yes the 2 courses might have taken a while to come out however we were experiencing a very busy afternoon. So we do apologise for your delay. Spice Me Up loves to see all their customers return. We take pride in our freshly cooked meals also our image and reputation. By the way we find the comment about our dark wooden benches halairious. Regards.

Apr 19, 2011 

8.5 Highly Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  8      Service  10      Value  8     

3 Course Dinner Special for $20 pp is excellent value. Large portion and staff were extremely friendly. Highly recommended.

Jun 14, 2010 

9 Highly Recommended

Food  10      Ambience  9      Service  8      Value  9     

Visited Spice Me Up on a Friday night and was instantly struck by the decor of the restaurant. It had a nice balance of colours burgundy and grey and splashes of yellow and green. We were greeted by a pleasant young waitress who handed us our menus and offered us a glass of water.

Although the place was busy we got our orders in reasonably quick. We had The Fish cakes and Thai Style Dumplings for entree which were delightful and the Tom Yum soup was authentic in taste. Massaman curry was very nice with the tender beef melting in your mouth. Fish with Ginger Sauce was beautiful, went down really well. Service was acceptional, would revisit in future.

Apr 26, 2010 

10 Highly Recommended

Food  10      Ambience  10      Service  10      Value  10     

I frequent this restaurant almost weekly since they opened. The consistency of service and quality of food never ceases to amaze me! The staff are always very kind and helpful! The mixture of traditional Thai food and modern fusion style food is amazing and always ensures new fresh tastes to enjoy! I would not hesitate to recommend this restaurant to anyone wanting a delicious meal and great service at reasonable prices.

I am quite surprised at previous negative reviews of this restaurant as I've never had anything but positive experiences here!

Mar 28, 2010 

9 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  9      Service  9      Value  9     

Dined here the other night and was quite impressed with the presentation of the restaurant. It had a somewhat sophisticated yet relaxed feel to it! I ordered the Sweet Potato Curry with Prawns for the main course which was absolutely divine. Never tried any curry quite like it anywere. My partner had the Spice me up lamb cutlets which was served with a fine tamarind sauce.

So funny, she was going through them like crazy, non stop! We shared the thai style dumplings for the entree which were very delightful but regret not ordering the chicken wings as well. Service was very friendly and attentive. I thought it was one of the better Thai Restaurants of the Lower North Shore, would definitely go back again!

Mar 03, 2010 

5.3 Average

Food  6      Ambience  6      Service  4      Value  5     

We went to this restaurant on a Saturday night based on the reviews we'd read here. We booked a table for a group of 10 a week ahead and confirmed a few hours before the booking.

Unfortunately, there was only one poor waitress working, who was as busy as the proverbial one-legged man at a butt-kicking contest. In spite of her truly heroic efforts, she was no match for the needs of the 1/3rd full restaurant, especially as she also frequently spent some time in the kitchen, presumably helping out.

Hence, we quite often found ourselves frustratedly trying to catch her eye, or wandering up to the counter to try to get someone’s attention when we needed something. Even then we often had to ask more than once. Not to mention trying to get the table cleared of detritus which we usually ended up doing ourselves.

I gave the service a 4 based only on the waitress’s genuinely hard work, otherwise it would have been 2! Our group was pretty good-natured and understanding, and thought the food tasted at least ok or better, but as it was luke-warm when it came out, it was hard to be overly enthusiastic. The staff obviously had the dishes sitting for some time in the kitchen as they collated our courses, and tried to service their take-away customers.

Under the circumstances they may have been better off not trying to bring out every single dish at the same time. I gave the food a very generous 6 simply as most of the group thought it was ok. (And a professional restaurant tip they might do well to remember is to heat up the serving dishes before filling them).

Noise levels in this venue are quite high and it can be difficult to make yourself heard even when only a very few tables are occupied. We had the $30 banquet, which included tea or coffee, or more accurately, didn’t! No one asked if we wanted tea or coffee. When one of our group did politely ask for tea, it never arrived. A little later when others asked for tea or coffee as per the banquet menu, we were told there was no hot water, or the coffee machine wasn’t working, or something equally silly. Of course this blatantly unhelpful attitude annoyed everyone.

Overall I thought the manner of the senior staff/whatever–he-was' was of entrenched indifference, encroaching on the offensive. He simply didn't care.
According to some reviews, people have had good experiences in this place, but I suspect they may have been mostly singles, or couples eating at a different time of the day, or week. Or just plain lucky.

So no prizes for guessing we were not happy campers, and most of us would not recommend this place, and would not be back anytime soon. Other places, about a ten minutes walk up the Pacific Hwy in Crows Nest, are much better choices for consistently excellent, well presented food, and great service.

Feb 04, 2010 

8.8 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  9      Service  8      Value  9     

By far the best Thai food I've had on the North Shore. We eat at Spice Me Up once a month. They have a fantastic 3 course meal for $20. Their portions are quite substantial. Nice balance of veggies and meat in most dishes. The green curry is really good (quite spicy and not sickly sweet with an overdose of coconut cream), this is much closer to the green curries I've tasted in Thailand. The entrees and desserts are really good too.

Oct 28, 2009 

9.3 Highly Recommended

Food  10      Ambience  9      Service  9      Value  9     

The best Thai joint in the St Leonards/Crows Nest Area. The highlight culinary-wise is the Sweet Potoato Curry IMO. It was funny someone commenting on the tables being too big. It means you can get more food on the table!

Jul 24, 2009 

7.3 Recommended

Food  7      Ambience  7      Service  8      Value  7     

“Spice Me Up” looks like a new place (two years old according to their website) with freshly painted walls in dark red, grey and white tones, polished wooden floors and huge comfy tables and chairs. Too huge in fact: you’ll have problems hearing your dining companions across the table!

We dined on a Sunday eve. Although we took the precaution of booking ahead, it wasn’t necessary as there was only a smattering of other guests. It might be a different story on a Sat night because this is a small place with only about 12-15 tables, although some are large. Even with the small crowd, noise levels were on the high side due to the wooden furniture and floors and very high ceilings. (In fact, with all the wood it looks a bit like a classroom).

So to the food. Our two entrees came on a single plate, nicely served with the four spring rolls and four curry puffs neatly arranged in two little rows and they tasted yummy too. The roti bread was soft and warm, an unusual item for a Thai restaurant but I was glad we ordered it. The beef dish with veggies was fresh and tasty but the “Spice Me Up” chicken was a disappointment and this was supposed to be the house specialty.

The chicken was over baked or over fried, leaving us with crunchy little pieces that looked and tasted like fried chips. The sticky rice and ice cream dessert went down a treat and the coffee was excellent. Our bill for three came to $70 and that included two entrees, two mains, roti bread, rice, dessert, coffee and two cold drinks. You also have the option of a set menu of 3 courses at $20 a head.

Service from our solitary waitress was efficient and friendly. Toilets are more like little cubicles with wide open doors and slightly wet floors. Overall, though, we found this a pleasant place with a relaxed atmosphere which was perfect for a laid-back Sunday evening meal.

Look on their useful website (see link from this site) for directions to get there if coming from the south up the Pac Highway. It’s near the St Leonards Train Station and you’ll find easy parking in Canberra Avenue, just like they say.

Jun 30, 2009