Spices II

Very yummy find! A diamond in the rock. I didn’t expect this place have very good food, looks like a normal Chinese food place. But the flavor is great, and the portion is pretty big, too! Definitely will come back!

Had a nice dinner at spices. Wings are great but the duck dish with ginger is not my kind. Will be back for wings.

We stumbled across this place late last night and it was an awesome find. My 8 yo nephew loves spicy food so he thought the Lamb Skewers were really good. He also loved their Pot Stickers which were just like any you’d get somewhere else. If you’re looking for a deal, their $ 24.95 Three Entrée Family Meal is a steal. The portions are big enough for 3 to 4 people and all dishes were piping hot. We got the Mapo Tofu (2 peppers and way too spicy for us), Kung Pao Chicken (2 peppers) and Mongolian Beef (0 peppers). Their pepper ratings are accurate enough for what we were expecting but we love spicy food. If you don’t like spiciness at all, don’t get the Mongolian Beef and make sure to order dishes that aren’t made spicy at all. We also added the Fried Fish Filet with Explosive Peppers (3 peppers) which was fantastic but definitely loaded with peppers. They do not have brown rice but they have a ton of «exotic» (my people’s kind of food) dishes (tendon, tripe, frog legs, pig ear, etc.) that I’ll be back to eat with members of my family that will eat it. Do not order their Hot & Sour soup. It’s way too dark, starchy and white peppery. Trust me, it doesn’t even look appealing. The customer service was OK but typical of a good, traditional Chinese restaurant. However, the speed at which the food comes out is slower than a typical Chinese restaurant.

Really great food, very well seasoned with a variety of foods and good service def recommend.

The food are not that oily anymore and the customer service is really good. Hope they open one near my home too.

The owner took care of me on my recent return to Spices to compensate my disappointments; he also took to heart what prompted me to write the negative reviews. Both Bobo and his husband (owners) have been very sweet to me since they took over the restaurant. I will surely continue to frequent my visits, alone or with friends. Thanks!

mmm everything had the just the right amount of kick.
my fav was the veggie fried rice and the mixed mushroom.
good flavors with a slooow burn. i liked the cumin lamb but the meat was a lil squishy
service could be faster for a half empty restaurant tho.

A recent family dinner at Spices II was a bit of a bumpy ride. Some of the food we received was quite good, some of it ran off the rails a little, and the the service/​organization was rather dismal.
Food: The good: Spicy salad was exactly that. Spicy and fresh, a good way to get the tastebuds’ attention.
Fish filet with chili pepper was a good helping of tender, fried fish and hot chiles.
Tan tan noodles with pork. This was my favorite of the meal. Tasty and comforting.
The not-​so-​good: Cumin lamb. Should have been better. Cumin is a very strong flavor and they just put too much cumin in this dish. It drowned our any lamb flavor at all. It could have been cumin cardboard and we wouldn’t have noticed much difference.
Mystery dish: I wish I could remember which it was, but I know it was beef with chiles in it. It was just okay to me.

The nonexistent: We also ordered eggplant with garlic and fried rice, neither of which were delivered to the table.
The owner apparently speaks no English at all, as he could not understand a request for a glass of water. If you are operating a business in the U.S. you should have at least a basic comprehension of the English language.
The staff were nice enough, but also lackadaisical in performance. They brought dishes haphazardly, and twice tried to deliver things we did not order. They also left dirty serving dishes on our table instead of bussing them off to make room for other dishes, so we ended up with a pile of serving dishes crowding our eating plates to positions balancing precariously on the lip of the table.
Overall, the food was decent but uneven. The overall experience was like eating at a church social where the «staff» doesn’t really know what they are doing.

Had lunch at Spices II for the first time last week with friends who were craving Sichuan food. We were originally going to go to the 8^th Avenue location, but they’re closed for remodeling and don’t have a projected re-​open yet.
For lunch, we ordered:
— Stir-​fried A-​Choy with garlic (#85)
— Mandarin Noodle with Meat Sauce (#98)
— Chicken Wings with Explosive Chili (#59)
Each dish was perfectly balanced and so unforgettable that I ordered the same 3 dishes for take-​out dinner tonight. Service was consistent and friendly. Since we came during the lunch hour, it wasn’t too crowded. Tonight’s take-​out took about 10 – 15 minutes at 5pm.
Will definitely be back!!!

I love spicy foods soooo much!!! And this restaurant is a really good choice to enjoy spices! They do deliveries on both eat24 and caviar, and of course it’s a lot convenient to me. Nice flavor, nice food, nice sevice, nice restaurant and nice boss! Yummy!

I think this place is great I didn’t get chance to try the food but I did buy coke. The husband and wife that works there we’re so nice. I SAT there for 30 minutes talking to them about San Francisco they are a hard working couple will come back and try their food everything smells great

Since most SF restaurants close at 10:00, I’m always on the lookout for late nights eateries. I’m a fan of spicy food, and this restaurant has been my faves for a while. They closes at midnight, so for last minute cravings, it’s perfect.
Every new dish I tried has been stellar, but here are my favorites:
–Pig Ear with Spicy Red Oil. They’re thinly sliced, dunked in red hot oil.
–Eggplant with Hot Chili — Eggplants are not too soft or too hard, cooked just right. Can we say al dente when describing eggplants?
–Cold Chicken with Red Oil — Savoring the cold chicken against the hot oil is balanced well.

Spices II is a great place, however
I went to this spot the other nite and they told me it would take 15 minutes to fix the ordering system. Ten minutes later they were telling people the same thing. Did not give me a menu. 20 minutes into this stint they started kicking people out. Myself working in service said hey, «write it down and tell the kitchen verbally and compute tax on a calculator lol. Someone mentioned this and the girl was unable to serve the 15 covers in the restaurant. I think she was on the phone with the owner trying to fix her foul up and the owner has so little trust in there employees that they would rather close than serve without an ordering system to keep track of the sales. Sad for sure, I had not been here in almost a year and was excited to write and interesting review. :(

I didn’t really like this place. However my fb does. He is really into these spicy type of restaurants. I feel the spice is too overwhelming and that’s just about all you taste. They have bag and bags of peppers that they process to put in their dishes. I suppose if you love a ton of peppers, go for this place. For me, it’s a pass.

My date and I got the eggplant with basil, lamb with red oil and the tan-​tan noodles with ground pork. The eggplant was delicious and the noodles were even better; kinda salty though. The meat dishes were mediocre, nothing to rave about. The horrible part started as we advanced towards the end of our meal: we both started experiencing VERY BAD stomach pains. We rushed home to the bathroom LOL… Just imagine lava. Lots and LOTS of lava.
Another problem was that the food was way too oily. Every dish was literally drowning in red oil. They also put an excessive amount of Szechuan peppercorns, (which creates that numbing feeling I’m sure most of you have noticed eating there) but it’s barely what us spice addicts would consider hot. And they go crazy with their (probably stale) chili flakes too.
Anyway, I’m most likely not going to return, especially if I wake up with a colony of zits on my forehead tomorrow morning!

The Menu has changed drastically!
The Unilocal check-​in offer no longer holds — the numbing spicy Cucumber is now replaced with a pass-​it-​on dessert — a wine, egg, rice balls concoction that stinks up once it’s cold.
The papaya salad is gone.
The Tan-​Tan noodles are so so.
(Quantities have reduced considerably!)
The Stir fried Tofu dish — it’s a joke. There’s more red peppers in it to feed all of San Francisco, and 4 – 6 cubes of tofu!!!
The bathroom hygiene — less said the better. Probably not saying anything is best!

Let’s be real here: good Chinese food is always a winner. Fried food is always a winner. Put them together? Boom! I came here alone (and on a semi-​full stomach), so I only ordered one item and didn’t get to try more dishes. However, that one item — fried fish in chili pepper (one of their «iron pot» dishes) — was amazing!
Spicy, but not too much. Enough to make me eat it slowly and savor each bite. The fish was very flavorful but not greasy from the frying. The collection of veggies (mostly green peppers and onions, with a few mushrooms) were all crisp and delicious, and I loved that the iron pot it was served in was kept warm with a little burner underneath (until she asked, and I consented, to covering it up).
The food came out fast, and I enjoyed the small, quiet atmosphere. If this one dish was a sign of their overall menu quality, then I’ll be very happy upon my return!

I had partied Thursday, went out hung over on Friday, and finally decided to stay home on Saturday and order delivery. I couldn’t decide what I wanted, but finally settled on Chinese food. Ordered through
since I had a $ 2 off coupon code.
25. Wonton soup ($ 6.95)
Compared to all the other dishes, this was super bland. Definitely needed more flavor.
49. Cumin beef ($ 12.95)
The cumin wasn’t overpowering and the beef had a nice heat. One of my favorite dishes.
59. Chicken wings with explosive chili ($ 12.95)
I felt like I only got end pieces of the wings. Not much meat and lots of bone. They don’t give you whole chicken wings, but instead chopped up pieces with the bones. Definitely not worth the price.
78. Dry braised string beans (vegetarian) $ 8.95
My other fav. The green beans still had a good crunch! Great flavor as well.
91. Special fried rice ($ 8.95)
This is kind of like a spicy fried rice. I think they added chili oil, so I found the rice to be too oily at times.
Since I was by myself, I restrained and didn’t order more food. But I still want to try their fish cooked in hot chili oil. It’s one of my favorite dishes. Maybe I’ll use that as an excuse to try the original Spices!

They printed new menus, and the food is consistent. It really have a neighborhood atmosphere.
I go always night time. Friendly wait staff.

In New York, the smell of a Chinese food restaurant makes me want to not eat for a week. During hurricane Sandy Chinese was the only cuisine available. I opted for sardines 3x a day. The cheap oil engulfed in the food never set well with me.
Having heard several people swear the experience was 10x better in Inner Richmond, I gave it a shot.
Décor is definitely a step up from most Chinese Restaurants. Relatively impressed.
The one waitress was busting 6 different tables, so I have her the «help me when u can «wave and say myself in the corner. Within five minutes she brought over a menu and kettle of tasty green tea.
Little did she know, I was pre-​prepped on the menu and ready to order. «Spices! Special fried rice w/​chicken pork and shrimp and a tall glass of water please».
Shortly after a small tofu soup came to the table. A bit cold and too gravy for my taste, but good to get the taste buds going.
¼ way through the soup my entrée comes out. Or so I thought. She leaves on the table what appears to be chow mei.
Me: ma’am. I think you gave me the wrong plate»
Waitress: you ordered chow mein
Me to self: I haven’t had chow mein since High School. You gotta be kidding me
Me to waitress: never mind. Can I just have a glass of water
Maybe if it wasn’t my 1^st Chinese food experience in 10 years, It may have been a totally different review. As a foodie I know my order!