Spice I Am, Surry Hills

Pad Prik King crispy pork belly $16.90
Stir fried curry paste with green bean,
sliced kaffir lime leaves and pork rind

We made a return trip to Spice I Am the other week, Thai cheap eats darling of the Surry Hills set.

Geet put in her usual order of Mussamum Beef Curry, three large chunks of falling-apart tender beef in a sweet curry sauce. Potato halves had been simmered until creamy soft and I was keenly on the lookout for the crunchy roasted peanut garnishes.

I'd forgotten what I'd ordered last time and chose the Pad Prik King Crispy Pork Belly, not entirely dissimilar to my previous choice of Pad Prik King Crispy Fish. Chewy chunks of pork belly were deep-fried in a thick sweet baste rich in lemongrass and kaffir lime. This was definitely one for fans of crackling, the bubbled pork skin requiring some chewing action. It was easily my favourite dish of the day though, the intensity of the spicy paste tempered by crunchy stumps of blanched green beans and microscopically fine slivers of kaffir lime leaf.


Mussaman Curry $16.90
Chunky tender beef cooked in thick mild curry
with onions, potatoes and peanuts

Lox rounded out our lunch banquet with Pad Prik Sod, a chicken stir fry with banana chilli and shallots. Mild and sweet, this provided a nice counterbalance to the pungent flavours of our other dishes.

We emerge spiced, satiated and very happy.


Pad Prik Sod $13.90
Chicken stir fried with banana chilli, onion and shallot



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Spice I Am
90 Wentworth Avenue (corner Campbell St and Elizabeth St)
Surry Hills, Sydney
Tel: +61 (02) 928 00 928

Opening hours:
Open Tuesday to Sunday
Lunch 11.30am - 3.30pm
Dinner: 6.00pm - 10.00pm

BYO no corkage
Closed on Mondays


A second more upmarket version of Spice I Am can be found at:
Spice I Am Restaurant
296-300 Victoria Street
Darlinghurst, Sydney
Tel: +61 (02) 9332 2445

No BYO
Lunch: Thursday to Sunday 11.30am - 3pm
Dinner: Daily 6pm - 10.30pm

Related Grab Your Fork posts:
Spice I Am (Aug07), (Nov05)