Sugar & Spice Thai Restaurant — Restaurant in Cambridge

Summary: I would NOT recommend this restaurant to folks with gluten allergies, like myself. I got terribly sick. I did not feel respected when I brought this to management's attention.

Story: I ate here on November 12, 2024. I'm late getting to this review because life is busy. I ordered the spicy eggplant with crispy tofu and the mango sticky rice. The mango sticky rice was probably some of the best I've EVER had, to be honest, and it was beautifully presented. Credit where it's due. The spicy eggplant was fine. Inoffensive. Nothing to write home about. However, one or both of these plates definitely had gluten, though whether through cross contamination or mislabeling is unclear.

When ordering, I specified to the waitress that I had a gluten allergy, and asked her to double check that the food I was ordering, which while labeled gluten-free, was indeed such. Anecdotally, she seemed inexperienced with allergies and unsure, but this may have only been a misleading impression. I had also read on Find Me Gluten Free, a platform for crowsourcing info on gluten-safety at restaurants, that some folks had gotten sick here recently, and that it used to be safer. I rolled the dice, figured I'd trust. Didn't work out, got super sick.

I walked home and I called the restaurant after a few hours of writhing in pain on my bed in the dark and explained to them that I got sick. I asked for a refund. They declined, but did offer to pay for hospital expenses. They explained that their insurance didn't let them offer refunds for this sort of thing. Now I don't know how restaurant insurance works, but I explained to the manager that my particular intolerance isn't life-threatening or hospital-worthy - just feels like I'm dying for a few hours or days, even though I'm not actually; that I'd be ok eventually, but would like a refund for the 30-some dollars I spent; and that I would post a review so that other folks who have similar intolerances/allergies would be aware of this risk.

The manager's response was unfriendly, defensive, and dismissive. They chided me for "threatening" to leave a bad review to punish them. They insisted that the food I had was gluten-free. Their tone was disbelieving and unreceptive.

Maybe they were having a bad day and me telling their food wasn't safe made it worse. And to be be extra-fair, I was feeling extremely physically ill when I chose to call them, so I was probably more brusque than I would have been on a good day. But they placed their burden on me in a way that wasn't kind or fair. Instead of receiving my own pain with empathy and warmth, I ended up feeling compelled to talk the manager out of their own tizzy and defuse the situation, and explain that I'm not calling just to try to ruin their day and extort them for 30 dollaroos (as I'm keeling over in the dark).

So, here's my review. Set aside and forget the refund - $30 bucks is $30 bucks, I'll find some pennies in the couch to make up for it. Feels almost like they need the money more than I do based on their response. But the food's not safe for folks with gluten allergies, even if some of it is very decent food. I'm not trying to punish anyone. Conversely, I AM trying to help other folks with similar health issues. I'd be remiss, though, if I failed to highlight that management was really fairly unkind to me and made a bad evening worse. I'll be taking my...

Before reading my review I would like to say I grew up in Thailand. So this review is written as a Thai person who wanted Thai food... something that tastes like what I would eat in Thailand, a good balance of sour salty sweet and sometimes spicy. I arrived at this restaurant with great expectations due to great reviews, all the accolades and colorful pictures on instagram. I hoped to find flavorful, authentic dishes. Sadly, all I got was a feeling of being instagram catfished and a craving for more ... Spice? As the name suggests, they surely put sugar first and spices last. Everything I tasted has a predominant sweet flavor. Don't get me wrong, I am a sweet tooth, but certain dishes just are not meant to have that sweet taste. Even dishes that were supposed to be more on the sour or salty side. There were no condiments so we could not try to salvage our food ourselves. The service was not all that great either. After ordering, the waiter came to us twice, each time telling us there would be an extra fee for a dish we ordered. After that, we were ignored, she did not come to fill our water cups or ask if things were fine. What disappointed me the most was the ข้าวยำ (gao yum) dish I ordered (see picture below) Somehow, I do not know how, they manage to make the fried chicken have no taste whatsoever. Not even the chicken flavor or the oil flavor. Although the dish tasted very healthy and refreshing, it was not the taste I came to this restaurant for. What also baffled me was the fact they forgot to serve me the sauce for this dish. So the first time I had this dish was without the sauce it was supposed to come with. And believe me, it was as bland as eating only butterfly pea flavored rice with some texture, cause that is essentially what I did. I do not know how, no matter how much lime I dripped on it, it kept tasting like fragrant sweet rice. I only realised they forgot to serve me the sauce when I got tired of eating flavorless food and asked to put it in a to go box so I could go home and flavor it myself. So imagine my surprise the next day when I opened my to go box to see a little container with sauce, that tasted... You guessed it, sweet!!!!!! I guess my review sounds pretty harsh, but that is only because I came with expectations for bold flavorful balanced food. The food never tasted bad. It just lacked flavors for me.. maybe this is their concept, I could see people liking these flavors, especially those who like to eat a healthy and refreshing dishes. They have an extensive menu, with great vegan options. And like I said, they offer so many dishes, maybe we were just unlucky to order the three dishes that were just not that authentic. It is a very innovative restaurant afterall. Everything looks great, hell look at that dish, it is so colorful and pretty. So would I recommend this restaurant? Yes, to certain people. I might even come back for more refreshing food. But this is not a go to restaurant when I crave...

This is the first negative review I’ve ever posted, but it’s regarding food allergies and I think very important for anyone dining here with severe dietary restrictions. I’ve eaten at Sugar and Spice several times in the past year and a half and absolutely loved it - with no issues. I have a severe food allergy and shared this with the wait staff each time I dined, as well as ordered takeout, and they were able to direct me to appropriate items that were safe for me to eat. However, yesterday, I attempted to order a favorite dish, and was informed that it contained my allergen. Not a problem, I’m used to this. I asked about another dish, and was told that my allergen was used in every dish on the extensive menu (except one). This came as a surprise to me considering I’d eaten there in the last two months and did not receive this feedback. I ended up having bubble tea for dinner alongside my friends. Today I called to confirm what I’d experienced yesterday, and to my surprise, was told I could - in fact - eat the dish I had inquired about last night, and that the whole menu was not off limits. While I do not know if I can eat this dish or not, and will not be putting myself at risk by doing so, I wanted to alert anyone with allergies to be careful as there is inconsistent messaging around allergies here, which can be very dangerous.

Update: After emailing the restaurant about my concerns, I heard back almost immediately. They reassured me that this issue happened due to new staffing and miscommunications between the staff and chefs. They reassured me that they are able to accommodate many food allergies - including my own - and going to be retraining the staff to address this issue. Thank you Sugar & Spice for your...