Spice Bistro

If you are looking for spicy (like mouth numbing spicy) food in the Northeast, Spice Bistro is a must try! They have pre-made appetizers and chef specials but they are known for their build your own spicy dry stir fry or their build your own spicy hot pot. The way it works is you pick either stir fry or soup base. Then you can add vegetables, proteins, and noodles to the base choice. Finally, you need to choose your spicy level (none, mild, medium, or spicy). We got the spicy stir fry with fried dough, enoki mushroom, beef slices, lamb slices, and potatoes with medium spice. It was spicy. Two bites in and I was already starting to feel numb (definitely will recommend no spice or mild for everyone who can't handle spicy food). The flavor was amazing though. The portion sizes are huge so definitely recommend coming with a couple of friends! The host was super nice and friendly. They checked up on us multiple times throughout the night to make sure we had water and to check if we had any questions. This is definitely a great spot to bring a group of people to. It's a really chill and relaxing vibe. I would definitely come back here again! ** if you are looking to try something completely new and different, I highly recommend their icy rice dessert, which is a Fuzhou specialty. It's basically steamed rice served in icy sugary water topped with fruits and jelly. In this case it was topped with watermelon, lychee, lychee jelly, herbal jelly, and peanuts. Super refreshing especially after the spicy stir fry.

Spice Bistro on Bustleton Avenue in Northeast Philly is part of the expanding third Chinatown in the City of Brotherly Shove (Old Chinatown between Arch and Race and Washington Avenue being the other two neighborhoods). It is small in stature with about eight tables in a slightly worn, but potentially elegant dining room. Their claims to fame are Hot Pot and Dry Pot Chinese cuisine reflecting Szechuanese influences where you select the style and ingredients and cook your food at the table. Alternatively, there is also a standard menu more like dim sum where smaller dishes are served from the kitchen. We went in the later direction, not wanting to spend that much time in the house.We found our four choices a mixed bag.1. Spicy Sliced Beef & Tripe - 4 Stars - Tender thin sliced beef and tripe with plenty of hot chili mixed in and good flavor, except the proportion of beef to intestine was 1:4, when it should have been more balanced. 2. Crisp Sweet Potato Fries -Five Stars - Served in a small wire basket, they were as advertised; crisp, delicious and plentiful. A little dish with ketchup for the dip made for a satisfying taste/texture experience. 3. Crisp Chicken Sticks - Two Stars - While coated and crispy, they had an unpleasant secondary flavor like old oil or on the edge of their "use by" date. Disappointing.4. Salt & Pepper Ribs - Three Stars - While the dominant flavors were present, they used miniscule riblets rather than full sized ribs making for a lot of extra handwork grappling with the small pieces of meat and bone and gristle. Decent taste, but poor execution that took the fun out of eating them. Service was fine. Our server was attentive and spent time explaining their game plan in Mandarin and English, as well as refilling our water glasses. We agreed that Spice Bistro had to up their game if they wanted to be the Go To for hot dishes in the hood.3 Spicy Stars

Interior is interesting. The painting sort of throws off the vibe compare to the material of the wall. They try to cake it modern looking with the black, but would have benefitted more from a pastel vibe.spicy sliced beef appetizer: 5/5 It was pretty good not really spicy but flavorful and with a slight sweetness.seafood pancake: 4/5Had crab stick and squid in it. Crispy; flavorful and works very well with the sauce.Soup Pot: 1/5This was pretty disappointing. Wasn't spicy enough. Everything reminds me of a homemade hot pot. Broth was not flavorful at all. The extras are just supermarket quality food. Service: 4/5All in all appetizers were good, but the main dish was just lack luster which brought down the overall ratings. Maybe the dry pot would be a bit better

Came here on a weekday during lunch as their sign had caught my eye since it was new. This seems to be a family owned business and the staff was nice and friendly. The place itself is clean and spacious. I do love that they have a tiny wooden table for kids to sit. We ordered take out in which the food came out promptly (15 mins). How this works is you pick your base: dry or soup ($8.99) and then add anything additional for more money. The base does come with some noodles, lotus roots, seaweed knots and some veggies. For my order, I had the base soup with fatty lamb and we also got the spicy base with fatty lamb, enoki mushrooms and tofu skin. My husband enjoyed the spicy one as it was full of flavor. My base one was good but a bit bland. I'm not sure if due to being take out, the portions were not as big as I thought they would be BUT it does fill you up. I'm also not sure what the difference is between the VIP pricing vs regular as we were charged regular. Overall, it really adds up as you're picking additional toppings. Next time, we'll probably give it a try in person to see if portions are comparable.

Came here Saturday with the family to eat. Pleasantly surprised by the food quality, fresh and we appreciated how clean, tidy, and modern the place was. Just wish they have more things on the menu. The people working there were very attentive to our table and when we were ordering helped out. Would definitely come back.

Great food, great atmosphere, great staff, and overall great place PERIOD! Delicious Spicy Authentic Szechuan food right in NE Philly.

Came here to order take out. Just three things. We were told that there will be a 30 minute wait for the food. That's fine. We go out and wait. After 30 minutes, the food was not ready, so we waited another 15 minutes. Came back again, was told that it will take another 30 minutes. Come on now, there was tables that came after us who's already eating there food. For one, if they said it would be at least an hour wait in the beginning it would have been a different story. For two, they clearly have no priority in who's order came first. Ridiculous. 1 hour and a half wait for not even a big order. If you're planning for dinner, please don't come here. You will starve waiting for something that will not show.

Really nice authentic Chinese Szechuan dim sum and hot pot. Clean restaurant, good service, accommodating to children. I would definitely eat here again.

The pig feet was so good wish it came with something else on the side tho ! So flavorful.