SPICE Thai Rest., St. Lucie West, FL

Just had a great dinner at SPICE, a Thai restaurant worth going to in this "wasteland" of decent restaurants. The food was fresh and tasty; the staff was pleasant and the owner, Patty, was there to assist and respond to questions or complaints. And, the restaurant is beautiful.

Address: 270 NW Peacock Blvd., #108; Phone: 772-873-9559

What do you recommend and how does it compare to the great Thai cuisine found in Chicago?

The woman who owns the place worked at Penny's Noodles for 16 years so she knows her stuff.

We had Crab Rangoon and Crispy Rolls for appetizers. Both were very good but a bit greasy. The dipping sauces were excellent. Stay away from the Mee Krob...it was not great.

Dinner: The Mussaman Curry with shrimp was tasty and had a decent amount of shrimp in it. The Pad Thai was excellent with lots of crisp veggies (a requirement for me). The third dish we had was a "do it yourself" dish: choose the meat and the other ingredients. I chose veggies with Chicken. It all had a very nice flavor. If I order it again I will request it be a bit spicier, as I like spicy.

We even tried dessert: Fried bananas with vanilla ice cream and sesame seeds drizzled on top of whipped cream. Fortunately, there were 3 of us to share it!

On the whole I would say it compares favorably with some of my fav's in Chicago (YES, Thai; Thai Pastery; Rosded; etc)