Spice Thai Bistro120 Waterman St., Providence (click for map)(401) 331-5282Open 11:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. daily
I am not a pasta person. Plain pasta with a little sauce won't satisfy me as a full meal, but too many ingredients, a heavy sauce and it's too rich - I can't take more than a casual sampling.
For me, pasta is either too "blah" or too much. Until recently, I had come to peaceful terms with the fact that, for me, pasta rarely suffices as a main course.
But I have picky eaters for friends, and eating out proves troublesome when they want plain pasta and I need something different.
I didn't have to hit the streets of Federal Hill to solve my pasta dilemma. Instead, I found my happy pasta medium on College Hill - in a little Thai bistro.
Spice's pad Thai is sautéed in a sauce that, while sweet and robust, is not overwhelming. Cooked in the classic Thai style - tamarind, nam pla (a Thai fish sauce), shallots, ground pepper and a little bit of sugar - the long tangled noodles maintain the chewy consistency of their rice origin, but without the bland flavor pad Thai noodles often fall plague to.
Pasta usually loses my attention once the sauce, my favorite part, has disappeared, but Spice's noodles keep me engrossed until my pad Thai is gone and I am left with an empty plate. I especially appreciated the noodles after sampling the pad Thai at another Thayer Street establishment - there, the noodles failed to encompass the rich flavors of pad Thai, and simply tasted like plain white rice.
The complex process of cooking pad Thai at Spice ensures that each noodle and ingredient fully absorbs each flavor. The sauce becomes more than an accessory, independent of the ingredients. It is fully involved in the dish.
Spice offers the entree with chicken, shrimp, tofu or vegetables, but I choose to be creative and order my pad Thai with both chicken and vegetables, resulting in an explosion of colors and flavors.
The vegetables include broccoli, yellow and green zucchini, carrots, snap peas, cabbage and baby corn, adding a zesty crunch to complement the soft, chewy nature of the rice noodles.
The chicken - another area where many pad Thai dishes fall short, by just boiling it or haphazardly tossing it into the dish - reaches perfection in Spice's rendition. Prepared in a style akin to chicken satay, it is grilled with savory spices. The flavors add another dimension of contrast to the noodles and vegetables.
Like every good pad Thai, Spice's dish is topped off with crunchy bean sprouts, peanuts and egg and garnished with a slice of lime, which complements the sweet flavor of the dish.
To supplement the fantastic flavors of pad Thai, Spice offers a number of appetizers that will satisfy. Siam rolls, a Thai take on spring rolls, are fried to crispy perfection, served with a tangy, spicy version of duck sauce. Also high on my list of favorites is the chicken satay, grilled flavorfully and accompanied by a sweet, but spicy, peanut sauce.
With the allure of pad Thai, I have persuaded my picky-eater friends to do the unthinkable and become "ethnic eaters" and, as reluctant as I am to admit it, Spice's pad Thai has helped me to overcome my fear of cooked carbohydrates.
But is it Thai, or is it just the power and versatility of pasta?
