Spice Thai & Sushi — Restaurant in Lakeland

As always food, service, atmosphere structure.

Food: We started with the carpaccio. Compared to a classic carpaccio I didn't enjoy it and would rate it slightly below average. I expect carpaccio to be sliced very thinly. This was not that. The fish was sliced too thick for it to be close to a carpaccio and the flavors also weren't close. This was more sweet and with heat, than the vinegar and meaty flavors the carpaccio would normally have.

We ordered three rolls. Each was good. The 4 star rating is room for improvement. The rolls didn't stay together very well when eating them. This is probably due to the haste with which they were assembled. I cover that in service. Overall the sushi was good and I would try it again.

Service: Not great service. Hate to give small restaurants these types of reviews but they have to step up and know the truth. They say they were busy but there were open tables. Obviously that doesn't mean they aren't busy but if that's the reason for out of order food, being served after other guests arrive, and critical mistakes, then they have areas to improve on.

Our server was either new or had problems with English. That's ok. Both are understandable and wouldn't generally be a sore spot. They just need more training and time at it. Our server didn't know the brand of water they carried despite there only being one they offered. Our appetizer came took almost 20 minutes. Good thing we enjoyed each other's company. Next our order came out with sesame seeds. We were very clear that no sesame seeds bc of an allergy. The whole plate came covered in them, I'm not exaggerating. Hence the haste I mentioned in the food review that may have caused the rolls not to hold together very well. They had to remake the whole order. So our order was 20 minutes for an appetizer, and 30 for our food. No manager approached us to discuss the situation. Not acceptable and that's why the low rating for service. Plenty of opportunity for improvement there.

Atmosphere: Nothing special. Average. What took away? The entryway is not well managed. They could make a few arrangement modifications and it wouldn't be so difficult to maneuver. It only takes a couple people and no one can move. They could rotate the area so that it was turned 90 degrees and eliminate one table for a guest area. This could alleviate the major traffic jam in the entryway. You have to get close to people to get through. Think NYC subway close. There's nothing that makes the place bad regarding atmosphere, but there's nothing that makes it good either. So I gave it an average review.

Overall, I will try their food and establishment again bc I never go off of just one visit (unless it is just flat out horrible) and the food was definitely good. They have some improvements to make but I wouldn't let that stop me from giving them...

Worst experience we ever had at a restaurant. My husband ordered pad thai with shrimp. As he was eating it he said it tasted strange. He gave me a piece to try and yes it tasted strange. He told the waiter to take it away and to not serve it to others because it doesn’t taste right. They offered to make him another one, a lady comes out and says no it can’t be shrimp is there anything else you would like another meat with the pad Thai. The shrimp was not good. While they are making his other meal they bring us the check. They charge him for the second meal that he was going home with even thought the first meal was not good. So he gives him his card to pay while we wait. At this point we definitely have confirmed the shrimp is bad. Talking to the waiter the waiter is like you should be ok you only ate a piece and my husband said no I had three of them. The waiter proceeds to tells my husband to put a bucket by his bed tonight. He tried the shrimp and it was bad. We were all shocked and angry by the comment. My sister in law got the manager the manager comes out and apologizes but still charges us the rest of our bill after having to void the first bill with the meal on it. He told us that there were complaints earlier about the shrimp and it must have been a bad batch. Why would they keep selling bad food if they knew it wasn’t good? Stay away they are making people sick and they know it. We have been there many times before with no issues but this experience has turned us away and will not be going back, especially since they still charged us after that experience and made a point to come back to get our card again to pay for it and willingly served bad food. We understand things happen out of no one’s control but they knew it wasn’t good. We all were completely disgusted tonight! Throwing away the second meal and the leftovers from my meal. Just completely shocked over the lack of respect and regard for customers and...

Update Jan 21, 2023: I understand you need a new sushi chef, but you need to stop serving sushi until you get one. Someone is going to get very sick with what is going on here right now. For one the sushi was warm. Second it was not fresh, all of my $70 worth of items had a bad smell and tasted bad. This is raw fish and whoever is making your sushi does not know how to handle raw seafood or detect when it's spoiling. I would like a refund for this order, I was a loyal customer for many years. I am very critical about restaurants that I will even just buy take out from, let alone sit down in. That said if you cover the basics and have good food I am easy to please in that regard. I found nothing lacking about this restaurant in terms of quality. The staff treats you very well, and the setting is comfortable. The sushi is very good, even if the menu is somewhat limited as far as specialty rolls. The spicy chicken wings are so good even Gordan Ramsey would rave about them. Try them extra crispy, you will not be disappointed! The chicken satay isn't the best I've ever had, but it's up there on the top 10 list. They didn't have all of the wines or saki on their menu in stock, but it was a weekend night, so it's understandable. A lot of people eat there. The service could have been a little more frequent in the beginning, but again it was very busy, and they did much better about halfway through our meal to the time we left. All in all we will be coming back to this restraint many times in the future. This time we will probably order 2 or 3 orders of those...