Reviews of Spices Asian Restaurant And Sushi Bar (Restaurant)

Eric Rajendra

The Owner Mrs. Doris Lim really cares for this special place!! The staff is HIGHLY dedicated and loyal and what is rare for DC or NYC - they are all stable!! Turnover is low to zero. Doris is a caring Owner, that much is clear!! The restaurant is a spacious place so great for business meetings over lunch or dinner. Go for the two booths which comfortably seats four people each. Excellent range of Japanese, Chinese & Southeast Asian cuisine. There are great treats from Malaysia (where Doris has her roots as did my own Father) to Thai and classic Chinese and Japanese food. Having grown up in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War, I have a good sense of the SEA cuisine and feel they deliver quality at a great price. We come here roughly 2x a week when we reside in DC during the winter months and I NEVER tire of it. I always splurge on my round of sea urchins (uni) or unagi (eel)!!

Matthew McDowell

The sushi was deliscious, and the service was too notch. I ordered the pho bo due to its dramatic description and I agree that it is the essence of 1 lb if beef brisket. It wasn't too expensive for me and my friends, and the atmosphere was very nice.

Glenn Crenshaw

Ok

CMB Caspanello

Recommended by an old colleague and this was a pleasant surprise. Great tofu, pad Thai, Tom yum! Nice flavors, nothing was over salted.

John Wallace

My favorite place! Food is always great and the only problem I have is that they close from 3-5. A+ restaurant.

Raymond Takor

Overall ok experience. I felt myself confused with menu and how to order.

A Wall

Food is good and it's never crowded. Also a good place if you need a quiet table for conversation.

Marty

This is your typical pseudo Chinese food restaurant. I've always been a fan of take out Chinese restaurants that all look the same with those odd pictures of the food right about the cashier. I'm also a fan of classy sit down Chinese food restaurants that are very authentic. This place on the other hand just tries to combine everything into one place and it fails. I tried their version of General Tsao's and it was very bland with low quality chicken pieces. I guess the rice was alright if that is a compliment to this place. Not many Chinese food restaurants in the Cleveland Park neighborhood but I would recommend going to a Thai restaurant nearby. Maybe I need to try it again.

Brandon Ly

Always a stop we make when coming to DC. Don’t let the “pan-asian” description deter you. All of the items hold their country of origin and we never had a bad meal from this place. A successful mixing of Japanese, Vietnamese, Malaysian, Chinese, and other asian foods under one roof.

David K. Popiel

All you can ask in pan-Asian cuisine. Sushi just hits the spot. Nothing fancy.

William Zujkowski

Food, service, and decor are good. Happy hour prices are very reasonable for the area.

Diane Seibert

Consistently good

Kenneth Westling

Spices is a local favorite of mine. There aren't many sushi options in the area (Van Ness) so Spices certainly satisfies my sushi craving whenever I need one. The quality of the food at the restaurant and for takeout is usually quite good. My only criticism would be that it tends to be a little pricey. Then again that hasn't stopped me from ordering from there yet! Personal Favorites: Crabmeat Wonton, Grilled Chicken Satay, Salmon Skin & Scallion

Meredith Barlow

Amazing food! Very very kind people.

Chelsea P

Had it delivered. At least it was nice and hot. Totally forgettable though. I won't get it again. I can cook it better myself for a third of the price. Never seen big hunks of tomatoes in a curry dish! ??

Craig Thackray

Rock solid standard Asian fare. It's not going to surprise anyone, but that they don't pour sugar into everything already puts them well ahead of the pack.

Dee Fair

I normally went to thai chili near the mci center in downtown DC...however for my birthday I wanted something different. This place is GOOD! The service is incredible! As soon as you look up someone is moving empty dishes away from you. The drunken noodles are spicy like I love! Most cant handle them I challenge anyone to try them! The place is great only issue is parking and that has nothing to do with the food and service..so dont trip ! You wont be disappointed! 12/28/13!

Katrin Eliste

Food excellent however felt overpriced.

Carrie Anne

It's good. Not too memorable but still a decent place for lunch and happy hour specials.

Aziz B.

I love the food , but it's kind of expensive.

Adib M.A.N.

Great food, great chefs, owners are a bit stiff but maybe its because of their stereotypical origin from Japan. Wife and husband keep rushing you to order but definitely great experience and lovely food

Lisa Gordon

We eat here about once a month. It's in our neighborhood. The waitstaff is good, they're nice to our kid, the wait is always minimal (actually, I don't think we've ever waited), food is straightforward and good. I had a sushi roll for the first time tonight, and it was fresh; solid sushi.

Walter Ellis

Very very tasty. Worth the price

Betty H

Calming atmosphere. Excellent service by Oyun. Menu variety is amazing. Highly recommend any dish with bulgogi but every dish ordered was delicious. Will definitely return on next visit. Cleveland Park rocks!!

Douglas Dickerson

Always friendly

Jaime Martinez

A great"suicide" curry, they could make it spicier!

Eli S

Really great happy hour! I want to say it was half price drinks and half price on certain sushi rolls. Very clean nice atmosphere, would say it was kid friendly even though we had no little ones in our party this time. Great selection on the menu I had the Pork Belly which was delicious, really enjoyed this place and I’ll be back next time I am in that area.

Laura Peters

Spices Asian Restaurant was fantastic. Our group of four all ate something different and all liked what we ate. Definitely worth a visit.

Anish John

I ordered two Philly rolls and neither the cheese nor the smoked salmon in it was very good. The pork buns were good and I like that they bring the saké bottles in ceramic chilled containers. Service was good. They were on top of things for our large group.

Mike K

Never had a bad meal here. The selection is great and not limited to one type of Asian food. I recommend getting some of their appetizers before the meal. The meals are good for eating individually or sharing with others. Try to get something different each time, its worth it. Reasonable prices for both lunch and dinner, sushi is a little more expensive than the other meals.

Miranda Huseth

My favorite place for many years.

Meghan Crawford

The General Tsao Chicken is the best I have ever had. Super friendly service and really good food

Tommey Liang

Excellent atmosphere and tasty food. We ate here the second week of July. The Smithsonian National Zoo is close by as well as the Cleveland Park metro station. The restaurant is spacious, and the staff were friendly and approachable. The tap water was refreshing as well.

Megan Boddy-Pickard

Delicious food, great atmosphere, kind service. A little on the expensive side but the flavor is totally worth it!! Loved the ginger salad, rainbow salad, and green beans best, but each of the 10 things our group got and shared (family style) were really good.

Kate Gehle

I order for delivery and just love everything I've gotten. Tofu fries, General Tso's (not the gooey overly thick batter, but lighter and still super yummy), Ginger Chicken, Rainbow Salad (papaya and mango), Lemongrass Chicken, and Pad Thai...and more. Everything is always good! And the delivery man is friendly and runs up the stairs! Their "spicy" dishes aren't that hot for something who likes real heat (I know, it's subjective), so request more heat if ordering for delivery.

Emmanuel Ekame

Awesome food awesome staff. Highly recommended.

Daria Tarasova

Lovely place. Very nice atmosphere and design. Gives an intimate/cozy feel while also being very spacious and open. The acoustic aspects are amazing - unlike so many restaurants sounds don’t overwhelm, and no annoying music. The entire atmosphere is very calming and aesthetic. The food is delicious, nothing “blah” about it, and in addition to the traditional Japanese sushi cuisine there’s some remarkably interesting fusion cuisine choices. Excellent if you want sushi but also something a bit different and/or are with people who are not sushi enthusiasts. Their green tea is phenomenal and I love the way it’s served. Definitely get an order of tea, complements the cuisine. If I lived locally I’d stop by just for the tea alone. Also a nice alcoholic beverage selection including the traditional sake and Asian beer choices, as well as cocktails. As someone who loves sushi but is utterly bored with the “same old, same old” this place stood out. Some very creative and delicious specialty rolls and fusion dishes - something new in one of my favorite cuisines. And it’s so very difficult to find sushi and/or Japanese restaurants that stand out and offer both variety and novelty. Because no matter how much you may love something there are only so many rainbow rolls you can eat. Incidentally the rainbow roll served here is exceptional (the rainbow roll being the “I can’t decide what fish I want and/or I want them all”). Their simple maki rolls (1-2 ingredient ones i.e. salmon roll etc.) do not disappoint either. The fish is super fresh and chilled and generally what sushi fish should be in its ideal, the rice and nori is perfect. And if you want a slightly different take on those, order them as a ‘hand roll’ those same ingredients in the different configuration create a different culinary experience, the different in how the textures combine as you’re eating them - hand rolls are great when I want both my favorites and something a bit different. The hand roll options aren’t limited to the regular maki and this restaurant can create a variety of hand rolls, even custom designed. And the chefs assembled some absolutely delicious options based on my very vague requests. The pricing is very reasonable. We went after my brother’s graduation, six of us. As a celebratory meal, ordering everything and anything based solely on preference (not item price), six hungry people who very pleasantly sated not stuffed (except my mother whose “eyes were bigger than her stomach” as she likes to say). And the cost came to something around $200. Admittedly, we didn’t get desert - too full from the meal for it; and as this was a lunch, my brother & I opted to save our celebratory drinking for the evening, and my parents aren’t big drinkers, so it was just a large order of sake. Both factors that significantly decrease the final bill. Usually, for a social (esp. celebratory) restaurant meal I have several alcoholic drinks (for Japanese it’s generally sake for a starter shared, then a cocktail with the meal, maybe a second depending on the length of the meal and if the other party is having dessert then a final sweet cocktail - tmi, I realize). However the pricing of their drinks were something in the ($5)$8-$15 range from what I recall. This place is definitely worth trying. I’m so glad my sister is a D.C. native and an avid fan of eating out, & thus the responsibility of finding and reserving a restaurant for this meal fell to her. (Having to accommodate 6 picky/particular eaters who all expected quality and novelty, with the only restriction being my brother’s choice of cuisine type - as the meal was in celebration of him: that could not have been an easy task.)

Damon Dyer

Sushi delivery is fast and good. The place is spacious and the servering staff is quick and attentive.

Asya Semenova

Rolls are big, a lot of rice on on them. I ordered for takeaway and when I came home, realized, they forgot to put couple of rolls. :( though, the reception is nice, place is clean

Bill Adler

Flavorful mixed Asian Food. Spices is a restaurant that got a little of this and a little of that. Good sushi, good grilled foods, good noodles. I recommend the garlic shrimp, especially if you're a shrimp lover and very especially if you like garlic. Don't miss the spring onion cake appetizer. Spices is a moderately quiet restaurant, especially for its size.

Rob Kollar

Good food

Mirror World Exposed

I'm kinda over Spices. The food isn't truly inspiring . It's just ok. Nothing to rave about.

Jackie Yates

Go! And make sure you have the green tea cheesecake!! I also had the beef fried rice and mango sticky rice...eyes rolling back in your head good!

Sally Gifford

Fabulous sushi, delicious pan-Asian selectiond, and friendly staff make Spices a neighborhood gem.

Alex DiCaprio

Good sushi! and they deliver!

Breno Gomide Braga

A little pricey, but great sushi.

Carlos Cortez

Nice place located close to Cleveland Park metro stop. Service was good. Had Chinese fried rice which was somewhat bland.

Tracia Smithson

I make it a point to go to a sushi spot when I do to a different city and this wasn't the best it was slightly below mediocre for the price that I paid. I'm not sure if it was off day for the chef or what. But the restaurant was lovely and with a warm vibe. The staff was wonderful also. But please make the food match...

Aron Rider

Really interesting menu. Nice service, polite and respectful. While I had seafood udon, which was delicious, the sushi was well received at my table. I would like to come back sometime!

Ivan Liao

Amazing food and the owner is super sweet. The big duck is authentic chinese roast duck and worth every cent. I would also recommend any of the generous sized noodle entrees.

Haze McCrary

It's good food. Wish they had a fried rice side though.

Lindon Johnson

Took my Bunbun to this place, for Mothers Day and I must say the food was very good. I'm a carnivore, and while I was in the restroom the love of my life took it upon her self an ordered us some Spicy Tofu Fries. I'll be damn them things were hella good. If you like Asian and Thai food, this is the place for you, they have both.

ZlaughterHause

Rainbow salad was awesome

Angélica Garcia

Love their selection of sake and sushi. The food is fresh and well-prepared and the service is quick and the staff are very friendly.

Chris Morocco

Awesome chicken teriyaki!!

Judith Heumann

A group of six had dinner there this week and everyone enjoyed the food and the service. Good variety of food, good dessert and a good atmosphere. Recommend

Re'el Hawkins

Hands down, the best restaurant I have ever been to. The service was great. As soon as you walk in the door, you are asked "table for (x)", and seated. Within 15 seconds, a server will come and ask you if you would like something to drink while you make your decision about what to eat. I recommend anyone who eats there to GET SOME TEA! Any kind you like, but the tea is really awesome. We could smell it brewing. My server was Oyun. She was very professional and answered all my questions about the menu items. I had jasmine tea, tempura sushi, and seafood udon. My girlfriend had jasmine tea, smoked salmon sushi, and drunkin' noodles. I don't know how they prepared their smoked salmon, but it was the best. And I eat a good amount of smoked salmon. The food, service, and atmosphere were incredible. The price was lower than I expected it to be. For my girlfriends meal and mine, it was under $50. Can't beat that. I recommend you tip generously (of course) but maybe a little more than you usually would, because this place and the people working in it really deserve it. We will be coming back. 5*s

B R

Service was abysmal at best. We stopped in with an a little over an hour to kill before our movie started. From the moment we walked in we were consistently trying to get someone to sit us and serve us. Even after on of the people had mentioned to the waitress multiply times that we had hurry because we were going to see a movie she was still extremely slow. It should not take 20 mins to ask people what they would like to drink. NEVER AGAIN will I step foot in this place and neither should anyone reading this.

Lambert Kingsley

Good food, good service. Has an excellent choice of asian cuisine / fusion sushi, etc. Tofu fries are also well cooked. Visit soon.

Sandi Gibson

My friend and I were visiting for a conference and decided to check this restaurant out. Vicky, our waitress was very friendly, helpful and attentive! Service was awesome and the food was fresh and delicious! We definitely recommend it!

Beth Inman

Excellent sushi! Very attentive wait staff! Quick service!

james chang

Good value for the money

Rita Miller

Tasty food

Dana S

Mongolian beef is excellent, not sure about the other options!

Lisa Anne Thompson Taylor

Superb service and light, well-prepared dishes. Most recently, I also tried the sake sampler which was FANTASTIC! I highly recommend this. Very good value for money!

judy O

Amazing food! Great service!

Kevin Foster

Placed an order @ 6:20pm through Foodler @ 8:05pm called Takeout Taxi to inquire about status--they were clueless---never again.

Sarah Henke

Great food!

Rose Frullani-Bacon

One of the worst experiences I have had in a while as far as service. I was in a party of seven and one person's food did not come out until 25 minutes after the rest of our food came out. The waitress was rude and did not apologize for the wait. I also asked her to split our checks when we first sat down and she did not. I was overcharged for desert. Two people asked for another order of sushi which took another half an hour to make and was brought out in to-go bags for some reason. I asked two waiters to speak to the manager and I was ignored. Overall terrible experience with service, but the food was okay.

Sam Bentley

Longtime pan-Asian spot with decent cocktails and happy hour. Good choice before a movie at the Uptown.

Becca Bohrer

DO NOT USE A CREDIT OR DEBIT CARD HERE, especially if you are using their online ordering system. (In an ideal world, this review would have zero stars attached to it.) Earlier in June, my roommate had her debit card number stolen and used to purchase various digital entertainment items and automotive supplies. About a week later, my card number was used to purchase a flight on Cayman Airlines. Both of our banks alerted us to suspicious purchases and we both received new cards. Earlier this week, my new card number was used on an online gaming site. The next day, my roommate's new card number was used on the same site. We reviewed our statements and found that the only location our cards were used all four times prior to the fraudulent charges was Spices. We used their online ordering system, which we now assume is unencrypted and has either been hacked or has someone on their end writing down card information. We have filed a police report. The food at Spices is decent; however, it is not worth the hassle of replacing two debit cards, nor do I want to support a business that clearly has some pretty shady business tactics.

Michael DiDomenico

I have been here for the happy hour, which is pretty good. They always have a sushi roll and cocktail for cheap. The food is okay but nothing to write home about. I don't really go outside of happy hour.

Alex Flippymom

Love the sushi here!!!

Victoria Hill

Good food, good service. Had no problem handling a large party for my friend’s birthday, and were really lovely and gracious. One note: don’t order an Old Fashioned, but the other cocktails were good.

Jason Ryan

Love the food here - plus great service!

Nicolas Durand

Excellent food

Kreacher

The duck there tasted wonderful

Lisa W. Yee

We tried this place for the first time after a long day spent at the National Zoo. This restaurant was definitely what we needed — quiet atmosphere, attentive service and, of course, delicious food. We had the Thai fried rice and pad thai, both of which were excellent. If we didn’t live several states away, we’d definitely be repeat customers. Hopefully we can come back on our next vacation!

Eric Jones

Pretty good food

Bushra Aziz

I ordered some fried tofu and veggies in ginger/garlic sauce and it was terrible. I have had it before too and it was pretty good then but this time the sauce was bland and the veggies were cut up HUGE! Huge as in 3” bell pepper cubes, 3” tofu chunks, 4” baby corn. What a waste of appetite and money.

Prakash Khan

Good food and pleasant service

Bradley Cain

Easygoing fusion restaurant

Aree Pearlman

So much better than others in the area. Yum!

Patricia Mohr

Great Asian menu and friendly staff. A favorite.

Carla Rosa Borges

Fabulous place! A must when you are in the area.

The Swede

Good food, bad beer selection

Damon Thompson

Two words - suicide curry!

dk kim

Great Asian fusion with nice Sushi bar. nice atmosphere and great people there

Matthew Drutt

We had a dinner for 30 here, and everyone paid separately or small clusters. The restaurant had no problem with it and the food was very good.

Nancy Varga Krzywonski

Delicious fresh generous servings and our waiter was very attentive.

Jimena Romero

So fresh!

J Michael Daniel

Good sushi and pan Asian restaurant in Cleveland Park.

Vanessa H

Good food with an amazing selection of choices. Excellent "crazy hour" pricing on drinks from 5-7pm.

Bliss Mixon

Excellent food at reasonable prices! I wish they didn't close between lunch and dinner, sometimes it's hard to predict when you get the urge to go!

Yesim Oruc

Sushi is very good. Service friendly. Very happy to have discovered this place. Was here for a Sunday lunch. Not much of a crowd but attentive staff. We love it and will be back.

Julia Grandison

The wait wasn't long. Has nice interior and an excellent staff. If you love sushi... You'd think this was heaven!!!

Mark Ellis

Great food...great prices!

Elizabeth Luchau

Great food - great staff - fair prices. We will be back.

Thomas Burleson

Wonderful food. I enjoyed my dinner very much. Staff answered all my questions.

Arooba rafi

Great good

Ric Newton

Fantastic. Fresh and delicious. Owner and manager, very thoughtful, attentive and helpful. Service is efficient and unobtrusive.

Matthew Vadum

Magnificent.

wong kito

Good foods and service, highly recommended

Marissa Newman

Excellent food and staff. And gluten free friendly! Can't beat it! !

Dan Douglass

Best Peking Duck in this part of DC. Fun and entertaining staff, will come back...

K. Kirton

We had a party of about 12 and the service and food were both excellent. Sushi was outstanding (and served on a sushi boat!), drinks reasonably priced, and not a complaint about any of the entrees (green curry was excellent). The staff handled our large table very well - everyones order was correct, drinks were served promptly, and all the food came out at the same time. Overall an excellent experience.

Heidi Watson

Just okay.

Michael Worley

Had AWFUL sushi here. Was so bad I barely ate it. Super disappointed.

Matt Neff

Decent sushi, modern decor

Corey Hawks

The best fried rice I’ve ever had in my life!

Fred Byus

A dependable Asian food restaurant. Excellent staff.

Beth Thomas

Delicious

Mark Cohen

Always a good and fresh meal. Decent noodles and sushi/sashimi.

Chelsey Snyder

Good entrees as well as sushi!

Dave Zol

Couldnt say enough how good this food is ..and try the crabmeat wontons... Unreal

Bonita Bantom

Love this place!

Vladimir Kellachow

The food here is really interesting and flavorful! I had the Thai style fried rice with shrimp and really enjoyed it. The serving was large, but the flavor never got boring. It is a tad on the pricey side, but still a pretty good value.

Ivelisse Cruz

Excellent food. Relaxed atmosphere even when full.

James Gandy

Great food, fast and friendly staff.

Sina Chenari

Food was good and prices are reasonable.

Rae M.

....I won't typically rate a place and base it so much off the quality of service.... but this was bad.... We walked in at 7pm, had a 20 minute wait, ok no big deal, typical for a busy Sunday night. Seated at 720, ok so far so good.... Placed drink orders at 730, ok things are kind of slow here...at 748 the tables waters finally showed up, we didn't place our orders until after 8pm when our ordered bar drinks finally showed up. Apparently someone didn't show up for work, I get it, I've waitresses, things happen....that still didn't explain the lack of filling the golden rules of just give a table water/their bar drinks and they will shut up for awhile. Also, it is a small restaurant that should have been able to be fielded with the number of people on staff...I think I watched them spend more time trying to figure out how to ring up the orders at the computer than actually waiting on tables. The food was good, nothing to write home about and did not justify the wait. If the service was better this place would have ranked a 4.

Kevin Mixon

My favorite restaurant. I have had most of the dishes and they are all awesome. You can't miss! I just wished they stayed open from 3 to 5 as well.

dgarc015

Oyun is the most amazing, sweet, and kind server had the pleasure to meet. I ask to be seated with her when I arrive. The service at this spot is consistently amazing. The food always meets expectations too. Great happy hour and dinner spot.

Christopher Santos

The sushi was delicious but the selection was lacking.

Madonna John

Amazing food. Best is the 7 spices tofu. Must have!

Sarah Elrays

Great sushi and teriyaki. Nice atmosphere. Nothing at all to complain about.

Sean Foley

Spicy tuna roll was SPICY

Tao ĐÂY

Nice

Ibironke Abiodun

Food is prepared right there in front of you fresh.

Lesley Shneier

Delicious Asian food. Pleasant service. The grilled lemongrass chicken with grilled vegetables is a treat! #asian#vietnamese#lunch

Karina Kelly

Customer service was outstanding.

Michael Morse

Great food at reasonable prices