The other night Henry and I were looking for a good place to have dinner. We had been out on the town all day and were pretty hungry. Our Pittsburgh guide book listed several restaurants in the area and the Spice Island Tea House was among them.
When we got to the address we almost passed the unimposing facade. If I had passed this place before reading the encouraging review in the book, I wouldn’t have looked twice, but since the book said it had good food we decided to give it a try.
We started off with Veggie Samosas. The look of them reminded me of pizza bites you get in the frozen section but the filling was spot on to what I’m used to my Indian friends making. I could’ve eaten a whole other order of them.
I also ordered a pot of hot tea. Spice Island offers a hot and cold tea of the day for $1.00 a pot with free refills. They also offer an array loose leaf teas at a higher cost. (I think it was $3 or $4 a pot).
Our main entrees arrived…. Singapore Rice Noodles (curried vermicelli with shrimp, beef, and chicken) and Spicy Laht Nah of Thailand (minced chicken and veggies with a tangy gravy over rice noodles). Both were unbelievably good. So good Henry wanted to return to Spice Island Tea House for dinner the following night.
Ryan enjoyed the food too.
For dessert we ordered coconut cake with mango ice cream and a fried banana with coconut sauce.
Both were delicious however all of us preferred the warm, moist coconut cake.
If you ever find yourself in Pittsburgh, give Spice Island Tea House a try. The service was excellent and food hit the spot. You won’t regret it.
*This post is an unsponsored and unsolicited review and as always the complete opinion of the author.
(c) 2016 Leighann Marquiss
Comments (5)
Look at that boy go!!! He is enjoying all that yummy food!
Looks like you are enjoying yourselves! That’s great!
Oh my goodness that looks and sounds wonderful, and boo I get to eat super light today to prepare to surgery tomorrow. Well I can dream atleast.
You are going to think I’m nuts, but I got chills reading that. I used to live on the second floor of the apt across the street on Atwood when I was in grad school. I remember watching that place get organized and my then-boyfriend and I ate there on its very first day. AMAZING. That was in 1995 or 96? and I’m thrilled that it’s still there. I always recommend it to friends and no one has been disappointed. The Singapore Rice Noodle dish was our favorite. Further down the street (away from the busy area) is an Indian place with a good noon buffett and a yummy Mexican place (on a corner, if I recall right). So glad that Spice Island is still there, though….they were the kindest people!!
@Nieka – What a small world! It was a toss up between the Spice House and the Indian place… we’ll do the Indian next time if I can convince Henry not to go to Spice House.
Hi Leighann! I’ve been reading old blog posts of yours to catch up and this one caught my eye. The Spice Island Tea House was where Kenny, I mean, Mr. Smith, and I had our first date! We love that place, and now I have a hankering to go back. Can’t wait to meet up! 🙂
~liz smith