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All Reader Reviews of...

Spice Market

403 W. 13th St., New York, NY, 10014
at Ninth Ave.
212-675-2322

Avg. Rating

6
Food: 6
Service: 6
Décor: 8
"Mixed Reviews"

Average Reader Rating on a Scale of 10.

49% would go back.

 Write your own review

Overhyped,overpriced

By lashr1999 on 9/19/2004

  • Overall Rating: 1
  • Food: 1
  • Service: 1
  • Décor: 1
  • No, I would not go back!

Reception was pretty rude. Waiter service was ok. Food was ok nothing to brag about. Place filled up with pretentious people waiting to be seen. The only thing that was good was the atmosphere/lounge. Do yourself a favor and try the casarecci at Vento's which is close by. Service at Vento was excellent, staff thanked us for coming. More than I can say for overhyped the Spice market.

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226 out of 412 people found this review helpful.

The Emperor has no Clothes

By Markle on 12/13/2004

  • Overall Rating: 1
  • Food: 1
  • Service: 1
  • Décor: 1
  • No, I would not go back!

Kristie Alley apparently did the interior with her discount at Pier 1. You'll recognize the long hanging cloth lights and the flimsy teak partitions. One wall is covered with dead plants under glass. I'm not sure what the decorator intended but they just look depressing and ratty. Be warned, the snacks on the bar are inedible: Horseradish candy coated soy beans - really. You may never be seated because the reservations are ridiculously over-booked. The food flies by covered in brightly colored varnishes that look alarmingly syrupy. The staff is not just rude, they are mean - I mean really mean. General comments are too salty, too sweet or too hot. It's not Vento or Pastis or Bao. Don't bother.

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250 out of 498 people found this review helpful.

worst restaurant ever

By zenden on 10/15/2005

  • Overall Rating: 1
  • Food: 1
  • Service: 1
  • Décor: 4
  • No, I would not go back!

Even the cloying sweetness of the food was not enough to cover my bitterness over the rude service, lousy food, horrible and indifferent attitude of the staff, and really mediocre food. I couldn't even recognize what I was eating because of the sticky sweet sauces that ruined every dish. Sorry to say Jean George, but the "Emperor Has No Clothes" here.

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276 out of 540 people found this review helpful.

ONLY A NAME

By eleuteriafree on 6/26/2008

  • Overall Rating: 1
  • Food: 1
  • Service: 1
  • Décor: 5
  • No, I would not go back!

THIS PLACE SHOULD BE NUMBER ONE IN THE LIST OF THE MOST "AWFUL WITH A NAME" . THE FOOD IS A DESASTER, SMELLS HORRIBLE AND TASTE WORST AND EVERYBODY HERE FROM THE HOSTESS TO THE MANAGER HAVE ATTITUDE. AND MANAGER, BE MORE PROFESSIONAL . DONT SCREAM AT YOUR EMPLOYEES IN FRONT OF THE ENTIRE RESTAURANT..WHAT A WASTE OF MONEY AND TIME

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93 out of 179 people found this review helpful.

Terrible service!! Overpriced!!

By jzanca on 7/14/2012

  • Overall Rating: 1
  • Food: 1
  • Service: 1
  • Décor: 1
  • No, I would not go back!

We came to this restaurant for my friends birthday.. The service was awful it took around 45 min just to get a drink and over an hour for food... Ridiculous service charge for a cake we brought in for the birthday girl. A rude woman who wasn't even our waitress came up to our table in front of all of us & said obnoxiously " It's customers like you that make me love my job" We had the gratuity removed in full & called the manager over because we did not receive the service we were expecting... The food was terrible & the prices are outrageous. Never coming here again!! Just lost 10 customers.

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11 out of 24 people found this review helpful.

Tourist trap - don't go!!!!

By FrauKritisch on 5/30/2012

  • Overall Rating: 1
  • Food: 1
  • Service: 1
  • Décor: 3
  • No, I would not go back!

I used to be nice. Not anymore! Don't waste your money and time. Food is overpriced and lame. Staff is very arrogant. It's full of tourists (New Yorker wouldn't go there anymore). There are much better restaurants in the Meatpacking District (Buddakan, Morimoto, Standard, ....)

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13 out of 28 people found this review helpful.

Mostly Mediocre Glop

By omotosando on 9/12/2004

  • Overall Rating: 2
  • Food: 1
  • Service: 3
  • Décor: 7
  • No, I would not go back!

Having heard so much about Spice Market, I couldn't wait to try it. What a disappointment! We started with chicken samosas, which were just average (about what you would find in your neighborhood Indian restaurant). Next we had papaya salad, which wasn't bad (and which was definitely the best dish we had), but not comparable to what you would find in Thailand. Next came a real disaster - noodles with shrimp. The shrimp were tough and crusted with horrible spicing. The noodles were just glop. Sea bass was even worse - so oversalted as to be inedible. We sent it back, which prompted the maitre'd to come to our table and imperiously announce that she had spoken to the chef and that there was nothing wrong with the dish - it tasted exactly as it should. I looked at her just as imperiously and announced "well, the chef is wrong." The meal ended on a perfectly appropriate note for this most mediocre of restaurants - mediocre quality tea (the kind you get for free at inexpensive Chinese restaurants, but here they charge you) served in ugly white coffee (yes, coffee) cups. As someone else said, this is theme park food.

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269 out of 487 people found this review helpful.

Highly disappointing...

By Sashasix on 1/24/2005

  • Overall Rating: 2
  • Food: 1
  • Service: 3
  • Décor: 5
  • No, I would not go back!

I had been looking forward to visiting this talked about spot for months, but I am too impatient to put up long reservation waits. Luckily a business dinner came up. I was impressed with the decor at first, until we were seated at an awkwardly tall table for 8. The cocktails and service were nice, especially the seasonal blood orange mojito, but the food was appaling and did not come close to the description on the menu. My radish, avocado salad was an embarassing pile of deep fried onion rings. I skipped the main course and joined the rest of my fellow diners in dessert, only to bite into a chunk of glass! The waiter kindly removed the desserts from the bill, but a word from the manager would have been appreciated. All in all, overpriced and sad. Stick with local joints for flavorful ethnic cuisine.

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234 out of 447 people found this review helpful.

learn from our experience

By nadmarouf on 10/8/2006

  • Overall Rating: 2
  • Food: 1
  • Service: 3
  • Décor: 4
  • No, I would not go back!

we were recommmened by friends of ours and were extremely dissapointed. We were told by our waiter a list of the specialty dishes, and each one was worth than the other. All of the food needs major flavor and by the time our last dish arrived (duck) we had no choice but to return it. It looked looked like a cross between doo doo and dog food, and tasted even worse. Gladly, the manager was really nice and took it off of our tab. We also ordered a $60 bottle of wine and it was okay at best. Overall horrible experience!!!!!

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290 out of 606 people found this review helpful.

Service Stinks, and so does the Food!

By iaceu on 5/14/2007

  • Overall Rating: 2
  • Food: 1
  • Service: 1
  • Décor: 6
  • No, I would not go back!

My fiance took me for my Birthday Dinner on Mother's Day but at Spice Market it might has well have been called Fright Night. Everything (except the company) was awful including the drinks, service and food. No one comes by to ask how your meal is or if they can get you anything to drink. THIS PLACE IS HIGHWAY ROBBERY! We dine out quite often in the Meatpacking District and would NEVER RECOMMEND OR COME TO THIS PLACE AGAIN. You are basically paying for a name not the food or service.

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243 out of 524 people found this review helpful.

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