The Great Ganesha

A tasty dish of eels in chili oil, dowsed with crushed red chillies. Mmmm…

Even though I’m a pretty big foodie, I don’t usually write restaurant reviews. I guess I’m one of those people who’d rather eat the food than write about it while pretending that I’m an expert on the subject. I’m much better at doing that kind of pretending with movies. But I’m a huge fan of Szechuan food, with its hot and spicy take on Chinese cooking.

So when we were driving around town the other day, it was with great excitement that we noticed a Szechuan place that didn’t look like your average Chinese joint with a picture of “Buddhist Delight” above the counter (read: boiled vegetables). Of course, we had to go. The place was called Spices II. Started by two sisters from Taiwan, it’s a Taiwanese take on Szechuan. Now I prefer the real thing myself, but until I find a good place, this one definitely does the job. It is excellent. The “II” is in there because it was the second one that they’ve opened. The first one called (of course) Spices is two blocks away. Both places are in the Inner Richmond district and the sisters have their own website where you can go for more info.

We were hungry when we walked in, which is good for the restaurateur, but bad for our wallets. The menu was replete with pork intestine, pork blood, pork kidney and pork stomach. We definitely wanted to pig out, but we weren’t in the mood for pork. Also, all tofu dishes had an additional prefix of ’stinky’ tacked on to the name of the dish. I found this a little strange, since I don’t find tofu that appealing anyhow, and if you add a ’stinky’ to the tofu, I’m definitely not going to order it! We ended up ordering the eels that you see above, lamb with scallions, chili cucumber, chili beef and wantons in hot oil.

The food did not have the “anaesthetic pepper” that is usually found in Szechuan cuisine. But the menu did say that it’s a Taiwanese take on the whole thing. Which is fine. The lamb was just soft enough, the beef was delicious, the eels were spectacular and the cucumber was a perfect side dish. The wantons however, were a little wanting.

Yes, I had to drink a fair amount of water. Yes, we had to order steamed rice (only the daring would eat that stuff plain). But I’m telling you - overall the food was excellent. By the time the check came around, we were expecting the worst. No fear though, it was under $40 for three of us, and we all got leftovers to take back home. Amazing. Great food, great price. If you’re in the area, I highly recommend it.

Spices II
291 - 6th Avenue & Clement, San Francisco, CA 94118
Tel: (415) 752-8885