Spices Bay Thai Kitchen

Sorry to this place had gone out of business.

Before heading back to our hotel we had a really, really late dinner here to a point that we were the only ones left last to dine. They had a good menu selection which listed special combos as well.
Our party hurried and ordered several A la carte dishes which included Fried Rice, Pad Thai and Sweet & Sour Fish.
The food overall was pretty tasty good and nice portions. Service was good but a bit rushed considering they were in a clean up mode. I’d like to try the rest of their offerings when we’re back in the area.
We didn’t go to bed hungry that’s fo sho…

Not a bad place. Very cute.
I started off with a Thai Tea. For $ 3 the size wasn’t bad and the overall taste was good. This is a VERY sweet Thai tea. I’m talking confection quality. I didn’t want to stop sipping the drink because it was so thick and sweet. It was definitely different from any thai tea I’ve had in the past. It was good but only in moderation. Those suckers can make you diabetic quick!
We had a pretty big dinner. We started off with Tom Yum Soup with Shrimp. Not too bad. We ordered a spicier version of the soup because we crave chili. They delivered! A bowl was split between two people so the serving was pretty large.
I had ordered the house salad (an additional $ 3.95 I think) to supplement the soup. It’s a basic salad with a couple cut cucumbers and tomatoes with lettuce and peanut dressing. Not worth a $ 3.95 price tag for the size but definitely had some flavor.
My friend ordered the Pad-​C-​U which was very delicious! The noodles were a bit dry but overall her dish was bomb! The dish could’ve benefited from more sauce and a harder pan sauté to caramelize the base. It’s just a unique taste when it’s done right (probably just a cooking mistake but it’s undeniably addicting when you’ve had it this way).
I ordered the drunken noodles with chicken. Extra extra spicy. Man was that good! The dish did seem to have a lot of galang and onions but it was tasty. The portions are large so we both ended up taking home half of our plates.
I ate my noodles the next day at lunch cold and I was blown away. The taste was still very prominent and flavorful.
I’d return back to this place. Just maybe with a few tweaks and requests for the kitchen.
Oh and at the end of our meal we were asked if we had cash instead of paying with card. Come on, no cash? Are you sure you don’t have any cash? Pay with cash. Ummmmm??? Awkward.

It was great, I got the Sunday special which was really tasty, everything good about Thai food! I’ve seen some reviews that were not happy with the service, mine was perfect.

I stopped in for lunch twice during my stay in San Diego. The lunch special is an excellent value. You receive soup, salad, wonton, spring roll, your entrée and (maybe) dessert.
I had the Spices Noodles (Drunken Noodles) and Pad See Ew. They made the spice levels out to be scarier than they actually were, so I’d recommend going a level higher than they try to convince you to if you want some heat. I say dessert is maybe included because, although it clearly states it’s included, we only received ours on one of the two occasions we went… and only then after we specifically asked about it.

I’m surprised with the 2.5 stars, seriously, why is everyone basing their opinion off their service? The food here was actually pretty good!
My friend and I had their lunch menu pad thai, and they were both in pretty big portions and tasted really good. Their noodles were really chewy too, which I was pretty startled with and loved. If I’m in the area I’ll be back again! If all else fails, get the pad thai :)
The end. Or to be continued… next time. Thanks for a great lunch experience.

Most of the bad reviews that I see for this place are due to their service. I always tell people to not expect great service any time you eat asian food and this place only reinforces my belief in that stereotype.
The girl was nice enough but got my order wrong which she would have known if she checked up on me and upon receiving my food when I asked for chopsticks she took the time to pour and serve another tables drinks before taking the 2 seconds to grab them for me.
Food was good hence the 2 stars.
UPDATE: I tried giving this place another shot. Their sign says that they open at 11am. At 11:03 the owner screeched up to the door to let in the kitchen staff. We decided to go to Los Primos instead.

I came here with my friend for dinner on Sunday night. This place was terrific. The décor is beautiful. I felt like I was eating Thai food in Thailand.
The service was excellent; the waiter and waitress were very attentive and filled up my water frequently. The food was just WOW! I got Chicken Panang curry. What the tasteful food I ever had! Overall, I definitely come back here more often and recommend this place to my friends. Bingo, Spices Bay Thai!

We were going to go hit the town big on Friday night, but then our bodies reminded all of us that we aren’t 20-​somethings any more… we decided to stay a bit closer to our hotel. and all of us were Thai freaks, AND the wife and I actually ate here the last time we stayed in the area, so the choice was kinda easy.
Their chicken satay is very good, with an excellent sauce. Their curries are generally very good… BUT…this is where being a blonde haired blue-​eyed guy kinda sucks — when you ask for «spicy» in a real Thai restaurant, the assumption is «what an american thinks is spicy» (which is basically the spice of level of… oh, I dunno… ketchup?). Once again, wanted, and asked for extra spicy…“thai spicy”. And got… zilch. Nada. Nothing.
I LOVE thai food (I’m in Thailand all the time), but thai food without spice is like the Redskins without a quarterback. Oh… wait…
Anyways, good food, just don’t expect it to make you sweat. That said, I have to admit the rest of the group was sweating, but I HAVE to assume it was because of the humidity.

Let me tell you a story:
SHORT AND SWEET (unlike our wait)…
Once upon a lunch break (2 weeks ago),
hungry and ready to spend hard-​earned cash,
coworker and I go into Spices Bay Thai Kitchen, 11:30 on the dot.
Plenty of seating available. COOL.
11:30 attendant sat us down at table (AGAIN COOL)
11:31… THEN
11:32… DUDE
11:33… NEVER
11:34… CAME
11:35… BACK
11:36… NO MENU
11:37… NO WATER
11:38… NOTHING
11:39… WE WALKED OUT
The End.

2^nd thai place i’ve been to this month.
way better than lai thai.
THE FOOD, WAS AMAZING.
THE ATMOSPHERE WAS AMAZING.
BUT IT WAS DEAD.

I can’t even comment on the food because we never even got that far.
Walked in with a friend on a Friday night. The sushi place next door was packed with a line out the door and both of us were starving so we didn’t want to wait.
Initial impression was a good one. Great décor and everything smelled delicious.
Took a few minutes to seat us. Even though there were quite a few tables available, the had to clean off the only dirty one and seat us there.
After we sat, we waited. And waited. And waited.
Finally, the waitress headed our direction with some menus. As she approached our table, she stretched out her hand and dropped the menus off on the corner of the table, while simultaneously turning around and walking away. I swear to you, my mouth almost dropped open!
5 minutes later, we still hadn’t gotten water. 10 minutes later, still waiting.
We had looked thru the menu and both of us knew what we wanted. We were hungry and couldn’t wait for some good Thai food!
But when 15 minutes rolled around and we still hadn’t gotten as much as a look in our direction, I looked at my friend… she looked at me… and without a word, we got up and left.
Don’t waste your time. Find somewhere else to eat where they actually are interested in their customers!

The customer service was absolutely BLAND!
But the green curry thai fried rice I ordered was packed with a punch full of flavor! As for their pad see ew it was decent nothing to get über excited about. I totally love their green curry fried rice so hopefully when I check this place out again the customer service won’t be as bad as last time.

I work in the area and we come here at a minimum every other week.
The food in my opinion is fantastic. Good value on the lunch menu. I am a fan of L4. Garlic and Black Pepper: Sauteed with onion, carrots, mushrooms.

When I come alone the service is always prompt. The service can be a bit slow when we arrive with a group of 6 – 10.
There is always parking available. Usually a strong military presence given proximity to the bases.

I’m very surprised by the negative reviews here. Just a reminder that you need to take everything you read on Unilocal with a grain of salt, especially with the one-​star reviews because of one complaint. You also need to remember that Bay Thai is not an upscale Thai restaurant, nor is it trying to be. Take the waitress with a sense of humor; yes, she is loud and has a strong accent, but she’s absolutely adorable! So if you’re looking for delicious, spicy Thai food with a friendly atmosphere, I would recommend this place.
I ordered the drunken noodles with the vegetarian chicken. I was super stoked that they offered vegetarian chicken or vegetarian beef! (It’s a tofu based thing for those who are not familiar.) It was absolutely delicious, flavorful and SO SPICY (in a good way). My boyfriend ordered the spicy Thai fried rice, ordered it mild and he also enjoyed it. I stole a couple of bites off his plate and I liked the flavor as well.
The prices are also very fair. With our dinner dishes, which were generous portions, and drinks, our bill came up to about $ 30. I suppose the only complaint I have is that it took a while for them to pick up our credit card. They also don’t accept American Express. But it wasn’t a deal breaker; we did not have problems with our service. I actually loved it when the waitress brought our plates and enthusiastically exclaimed, «Eat up!!»
I was happy with our experience. I would definitely come back!

Logic tells me I didn’t plan properly for our nomventure in San Diego. Out and about in Point Loma, we got a late start on our dinner and couldn’t find anything last minute that wasn’t already closed so we drove further and found this place.
They were 30 minutes from closing but we walked in anyway. We were the solo occupants aside from a friend they were entertaining. Despite being the only guests, I was surprised that service was slow and negligent. To add to our misery, the owner decided to have a loud conversation with her friend which interrupted our peaceful meal.
For drinks we chose lemonade and thai iced tea. Jay’s lemonade was bitter and my thai iced tea was too sweet. The décor is neat but it’s not enough to save this place. Our appetizers were also pretty bad. They were unfortunately fried in old oil leaving them with a rancid taste. We each ate one and ignored the other two.
Our main course meal consisted of the chow mein, chicken curry, and jasmine rice. The chow mein was actually really good but the chicken curry was overwhelming sweet and a bit bland. I ate a bit of it before deciding I was done with my meal.
Lesson learned: plan ahead of time. Jay likes to be spontaneous when we head out but I like knowing I’ll at least get a decent meal. Most meals we’ve left to chance have been bad. And if we’re leaving it to chance, we need to choose better.

Arrived at 5 PM on Friday.
There was no one seated in the restaurant, only 3 people waiting to pay their bill and they did not look happy.
The waitress ignored the folks who were looking to pay out to seat me.
I sat down, she brought water and a menu. I stated I wanted to order Som Tom and a side of rice.
She let me know there was no Som Tom available. Come on, folks!
There is still an oriental grocery available with green papaya… garlic, carrots, fish sauce and lime are also available at 5 pm on Friday…
How can you run out of something on your menu when the ingredients are readliy available at multiple locations?
Done with Spices Bay Thai Kitchen!

I have to bump it up another star, for the mere fact that I have gone back a couple times, and have not been appalled.
Again their food is basic and decent. The pad see eu is definitely a better noodle dish compared to their pad thai. I have only been here for lunch, because I work nearby, and its the only thai restaurant that is close to me, without venturing to the ridiculous traffic of Rosecrans.
So yes. bump it up to another star. The staff is super friendly and nice, and the food is quick.

Visited SD this weekend and stayed at NMASWC across the street.
We ordered the dinner chicken satay combo and the dinner shrimp roll combo.
1. Chicken Satay: the chicken was DRY just like any other mediocre ‘fast food’ thai places.
2. Shrimp Roll: Wow, was this SALTY or what!
3. Sweet n Sour Soup: I’d rather have a sweet n sour from a chinese buffet
4. The Décor: It was classy, but it doesn’t fit the way the food taste.
5. Spice: A customer who wants to try Thai cuisine MUST have spice in their thai food. Otherwise, it isnt thai. Sorry, but a Thai cuisine with less spice is an oxymoron. You want bland food, go try another cuisine. Or a have some turkey sammich instead, lol.
6. Price: The price doesnt justify the bland taste. The price should be set at $ 7.00 max each plate, sorry.
10-​mins after we placed the order, we noticed a person arriving an MB SUV, with plastic container of what looks to be my shrimp roll. YES, it was brought from outside the restaurant.
Thai restaurants I’ve visited so far:
1^st place: Thai House of Redlands (Redlands, CA)
2^nd Place: Royal Orchid Thai Restaurant (Riverside, CA)
3^rd Place: Super Bowl Thai Café (Upland, CA)
4^th Place: Benjarong (Redlands, CA)
|
|
|
34^th Place: Spices Bay Thai Kitchen (San Diego, CA)
Bottomline, this restaurant is the best ONLY if you are used to eating military food… lmao

Ok. It’s not Equinox or even McCormicks. But overall, abundant and appetizing food. We had a party of 10 people and came in at the tail end of rush hour. The service was quick and friendly. And the food was tasty. Some of the previous reviews have complained about bland food. From my experience, many Thai restaurants, especially those that cater to the multitudes, are afraid to spice up their food in true Thai fashion. As a result, one has to be specific as to the spicy-​ness of their food.
Besides obliging our party with separate checks, the food was really good. My Pad Thai was succulent.
And a block from the Courtyard and Hilton hotels at the former Naval Training Center, now Liberty Station.