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Considering its location (in the middle of meatpacking-district hell), its ridiculous size (as big as a bus depot), and its strange hothouse décor (like the palace of an arriviste Balinese drug lord), it’s a wonder this restaurant works at all. But Jean-Georges’s take on the street foods of Southeast Asia works to surprising effect, and despite its eccentricities, Spice Market is just plain fun. If you can’t get a table (and even if you can), sit at the cantilevered bar upstairs, where it’s a pleasure to dine on chicken wings drizzled in a sticky-sweet chile sauce, or bowls of curried duck, or the short ribs, which are softened in a mass of onion and green chiles, and watch the party unfold. — Adam Platt

Mushroom egg rolls, $9.50; mussels steamed in lemongrass, $11.50; fried chicken wings, $9; shrimp with black pepper sauce, $14.50; chicken samosas, $10.50; lobster with garlic and chili, $35; cod with chili-and-basil sauce, $19; curried duck, $19; pork vindaloo, $16; grilled chicken with kumquats, $18

Related Stories

New York Magazine Reviews

• Hal Rubenstein's Full Review (4/19/04)

Best of New York Awards

• The Best New Restaurant That Isn’t Masa or Per Se (2005)
• Sweet Successes (2005)
• Best Hot Date (2004)

Featured In

• 101 Best New York Restaurants for 2006 (1/9/06)

Recipes at Spice Market

• Pork Satay (2004)
• Chicken Satay (2004)
• Black-Pepper Shrimp and "Sun-Dried" Pineapple (2004)
• Tamarind Rum Punch (2004)
• Charred Sirloin With Soy, Garlic, and Cilantro (2004)