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| KFC (Korean-style fried chicken wings) |
Even Muhammad Ali lost once or twice (technically five times, but who's counting?) Spices Asian Restaurant and Sushi Bar, previously undefeated in my book, took a giant step backwards with tonight's dinner. Worst of all, it lost at two of my favorite dishes (Korean fried chicken and drunken noodles.) Perhaps it's time to hit the gym, and "get back in shape?" (Not me... Spices.)
Dinner began with a $5 discount, courtesy of GrubHub. That's kinda important, because Spices' website lists outdated prices. Advertised online at $8 and $12 respectively, I ended up paying $8.80 & $13 for a KFC appetizer and a Drunkin Noodles main entree. Note the misspelling of "drunken," just another mistake in a meal filled with them.
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| Drunkin Noodles |
Customer service is always stellar at Spices, and tonight was no exception. My order was waiting for me at the hostess station, neatly assembled in a brown paper bag with chopsticks and napkins for two. The ordering process (via GrubHub) was flawless, and included the aforementioned $5 discount (score!)
After braving the start of a snowstorm (5" qualifies as a storm in DC) I returned home and unwrapped my food. Cue pangs of disappointment. Wings (advertised as Korean fried or twice-fried) sat in a pool of greasy sauce. Eight wings total; all of which had almost no meat whatsoever. No heat either. I still don't know what that soup was, but it had little to no flavor. It's supposed to be a "slightly spicy, tangy sauce." Well, they got slightly right. Worst of all, the wings weren't crispy; and were light years away from Korean-style. Overall, a complete failure.
Oddly enough, dinner got worse with the noodles. For some odd reason, Spices uses minced chicken (tiny drops of hard-to-clutch chicken... crumbs really.) That's insane to me, especially when paired with thick, wide noodles. Sadly, everything else is big too (onions, green and red peppers, etc.) Who wants to put a two-inch-long strand of onion in their mouth? Yuck. Stranger still, the noodles are layered at the bottom of the bowl, instead of mixed together. The final nail in the coffin? Zero spice. Two bites in (at nearby Siam House) and I'm in tears. Paragon Thai too, and they're both cheaper than Spices. Sad to say, this is the worst plate of drunken noodles, I've ever had the misfortune to eat (not that I finished half of it.)
Shocked and disappointed is all I can say about this anomaly. Our first review of Spices was downright glowing; as were previous visits to this formerly cherished oasis. Normally a meal this bad would result in some kind of suspension (no more visits) but I like Spices too much to cut ties altogether. That said, it's certainly going to take some time to fall back in love again. You can be sure I won't order KFC or Drunkin (please fix that spelling) Noodles again.
