Spice I Am
Cuisine: Thai 

http://www.spiceiam.com/eatin-takeaway/index.asp

90 Wentworth Avenue
Surry Hills, Sydney

Opening hours
Tuesday – Sunday
Lunch: 11:30 AM – 3:30 PM
Dinner: 6:00 PM – 10:00 PM

I love thai food. I read about Spice I AM from a deck of cards on where to eat in Sydney. A friend of mine who lived in Thailand for a year and regularly goes back to Thailand for the food decided to give it try. Sadly, it was closed when we went there at 11am. So she went later that night with her family and said it was the BEST Thai she has had outside of Thailand. I decided i had to try so i went there the next day for dinner.

J and I had to wait about 45 minutes for a table but thats to be expected from a restaurant that has won heaps of awards. They do not take bookings for dinner and are extremely busy. The place is really small but the staff are efficient and polite. So get there half an hr before you’re hungry and give them your number. They will call you when a table is ready.

We sat down in the corner of the shop next to some people who were obviously suffering from the spicyness of the food. I was excited cause I love spicy and can never get spicy enough. The waitress came over promptly with cold water and menus. She came back to take our orders about 10 mins later. I ordered fried fish balls with peanut chilli dressing, spicy fried rice and basil cripsy pork belly. J ordered pad thai.

The fish balls were delicious. They were springy and salty and sweet with a hint of chilli. I liked it very much and so did J.

The spicy fried rice was very spicy. So dont say i didnt warn you. Its not for the faint hearted. I truly enjoyed the spicyness but i think most people would find it too spicy. The fried basil gave the fried rice a special texture and made it so fragant.

Basil cripsy pork belly is a signature dish of theirs and it was one of nicest pork dishes i have ever had. The pork belly was so crispy and there was no strong pork taste. It was so well balanced with the chinese brocolli and basil. A must try.

The pad thai was good too. As good as any other Thai place. The portion was big too.

I went back last week cause i really wanted to try their Tom Tum noodle soup. They only serve it for lunch. It was very unlike normal Tom Yum soup you would get in most Australian Thai restaurants but it was very delicious. It was very authentic Thai. I have not had tom yum soup like this outside of Thailand.

J had Nam Khao Tod which is crispy rice salad with Thai pork sausages, chilli powder and ground peanuts. For someone who doesnt like salad, J ate this pretty quickly and only offered me one bite. It was very flavoursome and full of texture because of the crispy rice bits and soft sausages and peanuts. This is not a dish for those who are allergic to peanuts.

Overall i’d give Spice I AM a 9/10 rating. They get full points for food but the prices are a little steep and unless you have a big group and are able to share a few dishes I would be hard pressed to eat there regularly. =(