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No doubt disappointing regular customers, Thai restaurant Spice abruptly closed its location at 975 Amsterdam Avenue (at West 108th Street) for good last week. (Thanks to Dave Cook at Eating in Translation for the tip and photo, below.)
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A sign on the front door noted management’s ‘difficult decision to close’ after 10+ years and a list of their remaining locations, though a reason for the closure was not specified.
The corner restaurant was known for serving traditional Thai dishes like Bangkok Curry Fish, Grilled Honey Duck, Nabon Steamed Dumplings, Stuffed Crab Rangoon and Maekong Aged Pork Loin. Though the presentation was elegant, even sophisticated, the prices were in the affordable range.
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One regular customer said she liked the restaurant and was surprised to hear it was closing. “This is a little weird for me honestly,” she said of the news. “I’ve been going there for years.”
No one at Spice could be immediately reached for comment.
An employee of a nearby restaurant told ILTUWS he didn’t think Spice was very popular as business had long seemed slow.
“There wasn’t too much business there,” he said, adding that his colleagues noticed furniture and other items, like wine bottles, being moved out last week. “The closing seemed sudden,” he added.
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The restaurant got mixed reviews on Yelp, with some customers saying the food was delicious and the atmosphere cozy while others have reported a bad experience.
“The food was authentic!” said one reviewer. “Tastes like the food when you’re in Thailand. The ambiance was very nice and has an elegant homey feel.”
“The environment is amazing! The decorations are cute and everything is very clean,” wrote one person, whose praises were limited to the space’s atmosphere. “I don’t think the flavor is the best, especially the steamed dumplings were kind of gross. The foods are very salty.”
Another said the teriyaki salmon left them sick and vomiting.
The Thai restaurant at 435 Amsterdam Avenue (at 81st) Street, also called Spice, is now a completely separate business with a new owner, according to an employee at that location.
Spice was fine but there are 3 or 4 other Thai restaurants within a few blocks. Most people do delivery anyway so the other 10-20 Thai places in the 70s 80s and 90s poach even more business.
I live around the corner and the few times I ordered food to go (I generally prepare my own food at home), I was not disappointed. But I’m sure it’s another casualty due to the high rents in this city. The high rents are killing everything. What are landlords going to do when no one can afford these rents? Everyone wants to be in NYC, so we say. But only the 1% can afford to be here. And they’re not even here.