Spice II and
AT A
moved into the
GLANCE
• CLOSED
1,100-square-foot
TUESDAYS
space that once
• MOST ENTREES
housed farm-to-
UNDER $15
• BYOB
table restaurant
• GLUTEN, SOY
Escape. With the
AND DAIRY-FREE
help of Neil Sadler
OPTIONS
• TAKES
of design group
RESERVATIONS
Pixel Experience
• DELIVERY
(“They won’t let
• TAKEOUT
me put a flower
down without
permission,” she quipped), Sarabhaya
took the space and turned it into a
vibrant, colorful, lively spot sport-
ing retro yellow metal chairs, floral
linoleum tablecloths, exposed brick
walls and great big pieces of striking
patterned fabrics as wall art.
She also installed that Cadillac
of grills, an Alto-Shaam rotisserie,
in front of the quasi-open kitchen.
Diners can peek at the star of the
menu, kai yang, which means grilled
chicken in English, cooking in there.
My two friends and I were not
the only ones who set out on a cold
school night to dine at the five-
month-old BYOB. The dining room
was surprisingly full. Nor were we
the only ones toting bottles of wine.
Our congenial waitress didn’t waste
any time pouring ours into retro
wine glasses and filling our funky
mason-jar-like glasses with water.
She also recommended that we
start our dinner with chicken dump-
lings ($8). So we did. Good recom-
mendation: the dumplings were
wonderfully light and infused with
the earthy flavors of ginger, shiitake
mushrooms and garlic. The vegetable
curry puffs ($9) were a hit too,
stuffed with creamy mashed pota-
toes, sauteed carrots and onions and
served with a homemade plum sauce.
The vegetarian spring rolls ($7),
which got oohs and aahs from my
pals for their crispness, did not thrill
me as much: They seemed to be all
shell — I could barely taste the glass
noodles or vegetables inside.
As for the restaurant’s namesake:
Although we found the chicken skin
flabby, the meat a bit dry and the
SHEREE SARABHAYA AND HER SON LUCK SARABHAYAVINIJA
VEGETABLE PUFFS
sticky rice that accompanied it nearly
impossible to pull apart, we loved
the flavor-packed pork skewers that
we opted to get along with it (the
other side choices are sliced grilled
beef and minced chicken). The dish
includes papaya salad ($17 for half
chicken; $25 for whole).
We all went gaga, however, for the
massaman curry, a sweet and savory
Thai classic that showcased perfectly
cooked shrimp, carrot bits, chunks of
potato and cubes of pineapple bath-
ing in a scrumptious sauce made with
homemade chili paste, tamarind juice
and coconut milk ($17 with shrimp
and $14 with chicken or vegetables).
Thumbs up (mine at least) too for
the pad kee mow ($11), aka drunken
noodles, which substituted the usual
fish sauce for a thin soy sauce to keep
the dish vegetarian. My companions
weren’t as enamored of the dish as
I was.
Dessert? Sweet, ripe mango and
sweetened sticky rice satisfied our
sweet tooths.
We left feeling happy and satisfied.
Pretty sure grandma would have been
honored. ■
MONTCLAIR MAGAZINE SPRING 2019
47