Thai or Viet?

Met with the father-in-law for dinner the other night. He recommended a new Thai place in Chinatown called Thai Spice. Turns out they have many locations and this is their newest one. To those who don't already know, Houston's "Chinatown" is a bit of a misnomer since it's more of a Little Saigon. So when Pappa-2, as I have him listed in my phone, suggested Thai in Chinatown, I was curious as to how authentic it would be. Well, in Thai restaurant nomenclature, on a scale of 1 to 5 (1 being kinda Thai and 5 being too Thai) it was about a 0.75.

The restaurant seemed to be Vietnamese owned and operated. The menus had English and Vietnamese descriptions. Come to think of it, most of the menu were down right Vietnamese fare. To justify "Thai" in the title, I think they merely added more Thai basil and limes and chili peppers to the dishes. Though Thai and Vietnamese cuisines have certain similiarities, I felt like I was in a Vietnamese restaurant. Imagine going in for Italian food but feeling like you're in a Spanish tapas bar. I've only been to this one location so it might be different with the others.

Despite my ranting, I enjoyed the food enough to look pass everything I just stated.


The beef noodles weren't too oily, which is usually the case. The dish was seasoned well and the meat was nice and tender. The addition of carrots were unexpected, but didn't make me mad at my wife for ordering it.


I liked the veggies more than the noodles. Again, not too oily. The hard stalks were cut thin and cooked well so that they were tender enough to enjoy but still had a nice fresh snap when you bit down. The firm tofu was fresh and its silky texture balanced out the crispness of the veggies. If I ate only this dish for dinner, I would have been happy.

Overall, Thai Spice wasn't outstanding but I didn't regret eating there.