Spice I Am — Restaurant in Sydney

Rude staff and worst service ever, honestly, 1 star is too much!

Our parents were visiting us in Sydney and they wanted to try Thai food. I've heard from friends that this place is nice, so the four of us went there to have dinner.

One of the waiters at the entrance saw us, said hi and disappeared without saying anything else. Weird? Not yet.

This is a very small venue, so we saw there were three empty tables that would be suitable for 4 people, and there were no 'Reserved' tables on them.

And here things got weird: another waiter approached us and we asked if we could sit at any of those 3 empty tables. He said yes first, then he changed his mind and said no, then yes and no again, and started mumbling there was a queue for these 3 tables and we had to wait. When we asked how long the queue was and how long should we wait, he said we were the first ones in the queue (how come we just arrived and it became a queue already?!)

So to summarise: we were the first and only ones in the queue for 3 empty tables that each would fit 4 people!

Do you think we got one of those 3 tables to have a family dinner? Of course not, the waiter is really bad at arithmetics and didn't let us in.

Dear Waiter who didn't let us in - I hope you're reading it. I'd like to help you a bit for the future in case you have the same situation: very simple maths would have solved the issue here - you should have allowed us, being the first and only ones in the queue, to sit at one of the tables and still have 2 more empty tables for the rest of the non-existing queue. Simple, heh?

I wish I could say the food is great/terrible here, but I have no idea... But on the bright side, we went to Satang Thai and had a great dinner with the whole...

I went here with very high expectations - I have owned the cookbook for a year and it's great. This restaurant is a huge disappointment. The decor and style is very much "cheap Thai street food", with an extremely basic setup. But the prices are up there with a proper sit-down restaurant. The food is mediocre, and that's being generous.

We started with the tiniest mini spring rolls I've ever seen which tasted like they were straight out of a supermarket freezer. The yellow curry was a small step up from there - the flavour was good but there was only a single piece of potato (in a yellow curry, this is madness) and the beef was chewy.

We also ate the crab fried rice. This was the best dish of the night, but had lots of piece of crab shell in it which ruined it a bit.

For this (no drinks - they don't serve alcohol) we paid $44.50 for the two of us, which is frankly insulting considering the small portions, crap service and bad atmosphere.

Do yourself a favour and visit Yok Yor down the road. The food is several times better, the staff are friendlier and the price is about two thirds of what you'll pay at Spice I Am.

It's also worth noting that many of the photos on this Google business page are NOT this restaurant, they are pictures of a much nicer place...

SPICE I AM (90 Wentworth Avenue Surry Hills) has been a staple for the past 20 years, and it's no wonder why!

Their outstanding Thai cuisine is served with perfectly balanced spices that leave your taste buds dancing.

During a Wednesday lunch with two friends, we ended up enjoying a leisurely 2.5-hour sitting, unexpected (due to the popularity) but appreciated!

The choice between the lunch and dinner menus gave us the flexibility to splurge on the larger portion dinner options.

We started with the Tom Kha Gai, which was truly outstanding. (Up there with the best)

For mains, we indulged in Pad Kratiem Anchovies, with prawns. Then the Pad Prik King chicken, and the Roasted Duck Curry – each dish bursting with flavour.

Despite the casual seating on stools, the food at SPICE I AM, truly makes the experience enjoyable.

Dishes were not that inexpensive (based on the dinner menu), however undoubtedly worth it based on the quality and larger portions.

Staff were great.

For a quick fix, the limited lunch menu offers exceptional value for a quality feed.

BYO is a bonus. No bookings so get there early.

SPICE I AM is a must-visit for any Thai food enthusiast looking for a delicious...