It's really unfortunate that Spicies, a longtime fixture of the Harvard Square community, is closing, further narrowing down the selection of inexpensive and authentic Asian food in the neighbourhood. So, of course, I had to dine here as a last hurrah for one of my favourite Thai restaurants around. That being said, this review might not be the most useful for the future then, so I'll keep it brief - I came with 3 friends around 6:30 pm, and the dining room was full and bustling (presumably with others who also wanted to stop by before it closed). We had an order of the veggie curry puffs to start - there were only 3, so it was a little awkward sharing amongst the 4 of us, but we made it work. Generally quite delicious - crispy, flaky crust and a flavourful filling with nicely cooked veggies. For my entree, I ordered the crispy chicken (over rice), which came with a side of some leafy greens. Chicken was amazing - excellently fried with a perfect crispy exterior that complemented the juicy meat very well. My friends were also very pleased with their orders - drunken noodles (which was the perfect amount of spiciness), pad see ew, and the pad ped with chicken (which was really, really spicy!). Overall, great food at a great price. Spicies, you will be missed.
Peter O.
I ordered $29 worth of lunch through UberEats & requested delivery. 25 minutes after the scheduled delivery time, I gave up on receiving the delivery & walked to the restaurant only to find my order sitting on the counter awaiting "pick up". The guy at the Spicies front desk angrily blamed me, saying that I mistakenly requested pick-up, yet 5 minutes later, the UberEats driver updated the UberEats site to inform that he was delayed in picking up and would be along shortly. So both UberEats and I understood this to be a order for delivery despite the restaurant's mix-up. The scallion pancake (6.95) was a cold, soggy, inedible mess and had to be discarded. What a waste! Poor management & terrible customer service ruined the lunch!
Miranda M.
Be careful and chew your food well if you go to this restaurant. Unfortunately, we found a four-inch metal strip in an otherwise delicious plate of food.
Robo T.
The kapow kai over rice is decent. It has nice heat and nice flavor. The mince is more like pellets as opposed to ground meat. It wasn't the best execution but but I would definitely get it again. It was a little shiney as if there was corn starch involved which doesn't seem typical. The chicken dumplings were very good! The location is right in the middle of Harvard Sq and interior has a nice casual vibe. Service was good. The name is a little funky...its definitely "Spicies" (which i misread as species lol) but it will hit your credit card as "spice thai". Not a huge deal.
Jasmine H.
My go-to for takeout after the dining halls have closed. Their chicken pad thai is a comfort classic, although chicken is a bit bland. I LOVE the scallion pancakes--wonderfully crunchy, but I'd advise you to dab the oil off first. Great thai tea. Best of all, 10% off for students!
George H.
Not the best Thai place by any standard. We ordered online delivery. My party ordered two noodle dishes (drunken noodles & pad see ew) with wide noodles, but got the order somehow got switched to thin noodles used in pad thai. The noodles were EXTREMELY DRY to the point where the noodles broke between my chopsticks. The dishes themselves were tasteless and didn't have the modifications that we requested. Portion sizes were also tiny, and the wait was 25 minutes longer than our quoted time when we ordered [the delay was in preparation of the dish] (taking ~60 minutes in total). I also ordered a mango sticky rice. The mango used in the mango sticky rice was aged and BAD. Black in certain parts along the mango slices.
Heena J.
I visited this place with a couple of colleagues for dinner. We were in the neighborhood and we craving Thai food. This place is decent! I was impressed by the menu itself, it had some unique dishes i have never heard of. I got the spicy lemongrass with tofu. It wasn't how I imagined it to be the tofu chunks were big but it tasted good. It was served with steamed rice. We also shared vegetable steamed dumpling which was ok-nothing exciting there. Would I go back? Maybe if I had no other choice and if i wanted something else off their extensive menu.
Tanvi S.
Thai food is a staple comfort food in my Friday night diets -- and overall Spicies is a good choice for Thai food near Harvard Square. I usually have trouble deviating from my favorite dish- Drunken Noodles - but the first time I came to Spicies the variety in their menu made me want to try something different! I got the Pad Sataw with Shrimp -- which is made of a bitter bean, known to be healthy for the kidney. It was definitely spicy, and definitely bitter! The flavors were strong and the sauce complimented the beans and the shrimp really well. The portions here are also very large. When I've gone back, I've gotten the drunken noodles, which were a bit sweet for my liking, but with some extra spice would be perfect. Though Spicies is not my "go to" for Thai food in Cambridge, it is a great option if you're looking for a Thai food fix with large portions and a lot of flavor near Harvard Square.
Monique Young
I've been here a handful of times and each time I've tried something different and everything is always delicious. A quaint spot to enjoy some yummy thai cuisine!
Swabarna M.
The food was phenom. After a long time had really great Thai food. It's actually pretty close to the awesome authentic Thai street food that one can get here. Tom yum and Tom Kha was great. Tom Kha is esp great for folks who cannot handle spice. Probably one the best I had in the area. For Tom Yum, If you are planning for chicken or shrimp, check if they can add more veggies. The veggie option looked better. The fried fish was crispy and had great flavors (pad ped pla dook). The menu mentions it as level 3 (their highest) however, as expected, it wasn't that spicy. You can ask them to make it more hot if you want. The beer choices were great with a lot of Thai beers. Nothing much to take home on either the red curry or drunken noodles but they were really good esp for the price. remember where they are located. Will definitely be back and bring other friends as well.
I am honestly baffled by the name change of this place. I've been going there for at least ten or fifteen years (since it was known as Spice) and, while going for a run recently, realized it had been rebranded inexplicably as Spicies. It also shows up on some delivery services as Spices. It's a mystery! That said, this is hilarious to my friends and me, and the food is delicious, so it doesn't change my rating at all. Delivery is extremely fast these days too -- a huge plus! They've switched up their menu (I guess with the name change?) to add some dishes that you don't see at every Thai restaurant around here. I highly recommend trying something you haven't had before, although their staples like the drunken noodles and curry are also very satisfying.
Yijiang Z.
The owner of Spicies also owns Nine Tastes according to any rumors. Nine Tastes is a friend's favorite but I personally cannot taste the difference.
Sabrina C.
This is honestly a pretty mediocre Thai place (wayy better options in Allston). Hefty portions and solid curries but noodle dishes are generally not very memorable and lack depth of flavor (disappointing because I LOVE pad thai and pad see ew and they're just sweet). As one of two Thai places in Harvard Square, it has become a Harvard staple largely because it's a large restaurant (can fit large parties), is in such a central location and the food isn't terrible. I probably won't be taking any guests visiting cambridge here any time soon but when I'm craving some simple green curry and don't want to go far, I settle for spicies takeout since students also get 10% off.
lizzie b.
Beyond yuck! I have a sneaking suspicion that the folks behind this restaurant know how cheap and disgusting their food is, and it provides them endless sneaky joy to watch their restaurant fill up with the losers who sat down. Got their lunch special, and the only thing edible was the sliced orange. Honestly, I've had mediocre Thai food before that was ten times better than this slop. My only hope is that they go out of business and get replaced by owners who care about quality and taste.
AliceOmlet
We went to this restaurant at lunch time and ordered lunch boxes and noodle soup. The lunch boxes were indeed spicy but in an authentic way. Looked like a popular place!
It's really unfortunate that Spicies, a longtime fixture of the Harvard Square community, is closing, further narrowing down the selection of inexpensive and authentic Asian food in the neighbourhood. So, of course, I had to dine here as a last hurrah for one of my favourite Thai restaurants around. That being said, this review might not be the most useful for the future then, so I'll keep it brief - I came with 3 friends around 6:30 pm, and the dining room was full and bustling (presumably with others who also wanted to stop by before it closed). We had an order of the veggie curry puffs to start - there were only 3, so it was a little awkward sharing amongst the 4 of us, but we made it work. Generally quite delicious - crispy, flaky crust and a flavourful filling with nicely cooked veggies. For my entree, I ordered the crispy chicken (over rice), which came with a side of some leafy greens. Chicken was amazing - excellently fried with a perfect crispy exterior that complemented the juicy meat very well. My friends were also very pleased with their orders - drunken noodles (which was the perfect amount of spiciness), pad see ew, and the pad ped with chicken (which was really, really spicy!). Overall, great food at a great price. Spicies, you will be missed.
I ordered $29 worth of lunch through UberEats & requested delivery. 25 minutes after the scheduled delivery time, I gave up on receiving the delivery & walked to the restaurant only to find my order sitting on the counter awaiting "pick up". The guy at the Spicies front desk angrily blamed me, saying that I mistakenly requested pick-up, yet 5 minutes later, the UberEats driver updated the UberEats site to inform that he was delayed in picking up and would be along shortly. So both UberEats and I understood this to be a order for delivery despite the restaurant's mix-up. The scallion pancake (6.95) was a cold, soggy, inedible mess and had to be discarded. What a waste! Poor management & terrible customer service ruined the lunch!
Be careful and chew your food well if you go to this restaurant. Unfortunately, we found a four-inch metal strip in an otherwise delicious plate of food.
The kapow kai over rice is decent. It has nice heat and nice flavor. The mince is more like pellets as opposed to ground meat. It wasn't the best execution but but I would definitely get it again. It was a little shiney as if there was corn starch involved which doesn't seem typical. The chicken dumplings were very good! The location is right in the middle of Harvard Sq and interior has a nice casual vibe. Service was good. The name is a little funky...its definitely "Spicies" (which i misread as species lol) but it will hit your credit card as "spice thai". Not a huge deal.
My go-to for takeout after the dining halls have closed. Their chicken pad thai is a comfort classic, although chicken is a bit bland. I LOVE the scallion pancakes--wonderfully crunchy, but I'd advise you to dab the oil off first. Great thai tea. Best of all, 10% off for students!
Not the best Thai place by any standard. We ordered online delivery. My party ordered two noodle dishes (drunken noodles & pad see ew) with wide noodles, but got the order somehow got switched to thin noodles used in pad thai. The noodles were EXTREMELY DRY to the point where the noodles broke between my chopsticks. The dishes themselves were tasteless and didn't have the modifications that we requested. Portion sizes were also tiny, and the wait was 25 minutes longer than our quoted time when we ordered [the delay was in preparation of the dish] (taking ~60 minutes in total). I also ordered a mango sticky rice. The mango used in the mango sticky rice was aged and BAD. Black in certain parts along the mango slices.
I visited this place with a couple of colleagues for dinner. We were in the neighborhood and we craving Thai food. This place is decent! I was impressed by the menu itself, it had some unique dishes i have never heard of. I got the spicy lemongrass with tofu. It wasn't how I imagined it to be the tofu chunks were big but it tasted good. It was served with steamed rice. We also shared vegetable steamed dumpling which was ok-nothing exciting there. Would I go back? Maybe if I had no other choice and if i wanted something else off their extensive menu.
Thai food is a staple comfort food in my Friday night diets -- and overall Spicies is a good choice for Thai food near Harvard Square. I usually have trouble deviating from my favorite dish- Drunken Noodles - but the first time I came to Spicies the variety in their menu made me want to try something different! I got the Pad Sataw with Shrimp -- which is made of a bitter bean, known to be healthy for the kidney. It was definitely spicy, and definitely bitter! The flavors were strong and the sauce complimented the beans and the shrimp really well. The portions here are also very large. When I've gone back, I've gotten the drunken noodles, which were a bit sweet for my liking, but with some extra spice would be perfect. Though Spicies is not my "go to" for Thai food in Cambridge, it is a great option if you're looking for a Thai food fix with large portions and a lot of flavor near Harvard Square.
I've been here a handful of times and each time I've tried something different and everything is always delicious. A quaint spot to enjoy some yummy thai cuisine!
The food was phenom. After a long time had really great Thai food. It's actually pretty close to the awesome authentic Thai street food that one can get here. Tom yum and Tom Kha was great. Tom Kha is esp great for folks who cannot handle spice. Probably one the best I had in the area. For Tom Yum, If you are planning for chicken or shrimp, check if they can add more veggies. The veggie option looked better. The fried fish was crispy and had great flavors (pad ped pla dook). The menu mentions it as level 3 (their highest) however, as expected, it wasn't that spicy. You can ask them to make it more hot if you want. The beer choices were great with a lot of Thai beers. Nothing much to take home on either the red curry or drunken noodles but they were really good esp for the price. remember where they are located. Will definitely be back and bring other friends as well.
Restaurantji Recommends
I am honestly baffled by the name change of this place. I've been going there for at least ten or fifteen years (since it was known as Spice) and, while going for a run recently, realized it had been rebranded inexplicably as Spicies. It also shows up on some delivery services as Spices. It's a mystery! That said, this is hilarious to my friends and me, and the food is delicious, so it doesn't change my rating at all. Delivery is extremely fast these days too -- a huge plus! They've switched up their menu (I guess with the name change?) to add some dishes that you don't see at every Thai restaurant around here. I highly recommend trying something you haven't had before, although their staples like the drunken noodles and curry are also very satisfying.
The owner of Spicies also owns Nine Tastes according to any rumors. Nine Tastes is a friend's favorite but I personally cannot taste the difference.
This is honestly a pretty mediocre Thai place (wayy better options in Allston). Hefty portions and solid curries but noodle dishes are generally not very memorable and lack depth of flavor (disappointing because I LOVE pad thai and pad see ew and they're just sweet). As one of two Thai places in Harvard Square, it has become a Harvard staple largely because it's a large restaurant (can fit large parties), is in such a central location and the food isn't terrible. I probably won't be taking any guests visiting cambridge here any time soon but when I'm craving some simple green curry and don't want to go far, I settle for spicies takeout since students also get 10% off.
Beyond yuck! I have a sneaking suspicion that the folks behind this restaurant know how cheap and disgusting their food is, and it provides them endless sneaky joy to watch their restaurant fill up with the losers who sat down. Got their lunch special, and the only thing edible was the sliced orange. Honestly, I've had mediocre Thai food before that was ten times better than this slop. My only hope is that they go out of business and get replaced by owners who care about quality and taste.
We went to this restaurant at lunch time and ordered lunch boxes and noodle soup. The lunch boxes were indeed spicy but in an authentic way. Looked like a popular place!