Spice Alley (Auckland CBD, New Zealand)
Looking for some good Thai fusion in Auckland CBD? If yes then head over to Spice Alley in Sky City and you will be in for a treat. This place is quite new, the last time I ate here it was still a dim sum place, now it totally transformed to this Asian fusion and it was amazing. This time it was well built, we love the decors everywhere, very vibrant, very colourful and well themed, feels like you were transported to Thailand.
Menu is quite straightforward where you have a choice of Smaller Things, Salads, Soups, Bigger Things, Sides and Sweet, each section has a choice of between two to six items. Menu also changes on a regular basis as I’ve been here twice and both occasions have a different item on the menu but some got retained which I guess the ones who are a popular choice.
One of my favourites was this Yu Sheng (NZ$ 18.00), sadly it is not available now and hopefully they bring it back. A type of Asian Salad made with Seasonal fish, celery, carrot, red cabbage, apple, ginger, cucumber, deep-fried glass noodle, chopped peanuts and sesame sauce.
The last time I had this was in Malaysia on Renri the seventh day of the Chinese New Year where we tossed the shredded ingredients into the air with chopsticks while saying various wishes out loud, it is believed that the height of the toss reflects the height of the person growth in wealth and fortune, thus it can be really messy. We did not do it here but we enjoyed this dish really well, it was a flavour bomb and the texture is amazing.
Another salad item we got from the menu was this Som Tam (NZ$ 16.00), a classic Thai salad made with green papaya, chilli, beans, tomato, peanut and fish sauce. Dining in a Thai restaurant will not be complete without this.
For the mains we tried several things, first was this Ka Mong Tod (NZ$ 27.00) basically Crispy pork hock, Nam Jim served with red chilli sauce. Similar to crispy pata this thing was crispy delicious and we really love it, I guess many Filipinos would also do. Just one thing to note, I saw a review on this one and they hated it with a passion, called it something like a tooth breaker, can’t blame them specially if you are not used to dishes like this but be warned this is really crispy and you have not tried something like this leave you expectations behind.
We then had another pork dish the Ga Duk Moug (NZ$ 14.00) these sticky pork ribs and lemongrass sauce is delicious to the bones; tasty and flavourful you will lick your fingers off the sauce that clings on it.
For curries we had Market Fish Madras Curry served with fried fish, okra, toasted spices and coconut. Love this as well and it has some nice kick on it.
Then we also had the Panang Chicken Curry prepared with galangal, kaffir lime and coconut. Another great curry, definitely equally as tasty as the Madras Fish Curry. Both curries are served with rice and roti.
For soup we have this amazing Tom Yum with Prawn (NZ$ 16.00) served with large prawns, spicy coconut soup, lime juice. I was definitely full of flavour, well balanced taste between sweet, sour, spicy and savoury.
We also tried some noodles and for that we had the classic Pad Thai (NZ$ 20.00), wok fried rice noodles, chicken, bean sprouts, egg, tamarind and fish sauce. This is the ultimate combination of Sweet, Savoury, Sour and Hot in one plate.
We also got something light like this Lettuce Wraps (NZ$ 16.00) served with marinated fish, coconut, ginger, baby cos, lemon-peanut and chilli dip
And for the dessert we had this Khanom Mo Kaeng (NZ$ 6.00) which are taro custard with fried shallots and coconut cream, very interesting flavour and texture but it was again amazing.
I love this place, dishes are as vibrant as its decor, very flavourful very South East Asian. The only downside is that everything is so tasty you will need more than one extra rice per person, especially if you’re Asian. Will I recommend it? Well yes in fact I had already to some of my colleagues and friends.
Spice Alley
Address: 78 Victoria St W, Auckland, 1010, New Zealand
Phone: +649 363 6000
Website: https://www.skycityauckland.co.nz/restaurants/spice-alley/
