Just Opened
Spice Route
Competing club gods Charles Khabouth (Ultra) and Nick Di Donato (C Lounge) have joined forces to create King West’s newest resto-bar By Courtney Shea
In the beginning, Toronto’s club scene had two gods: Charles Khabouth and Nick Di Donato. After years of one-upmanship (properties like Khabouth’s Ultra competing with Di Donato’s C Lounge and so forth), the rivals joined forces to create Queen West’s energy drink–drenched hot spot, Tattoo Rock Parlour, an instant classic among the head-banging majority. For their next collaboration, the gods turned their focus from the spiky hair of Queen Street to the spiked heels of King West—and they looked to the Far East for inspiration. The new enterprise, Spice Route, is adorned with artwork and accoutrements befitting a Thai palace (or an episode of Entourage): a giant, hand-carved Buddha statue towers over the host station; wall hangings depict crumbling ancient ruins; and a 16-foot waterfall divides the bar. A plush private dining room is sure to host many local luminaries in the coming weeks. In the long run, though, expect the tube tops to outnumber top-notch clientele. This is a resto-bar, after all, which means despite Winlai Wong’s (formerly of Monsoon) delectable Indochinese menu—wasabi-crusted shrimp, Kobe carpaccio, Shanghai edamame salad—it won’t take long for killer cocktails and DJ Julien Nolan’s pulsing dance beats to scare the foodies back to Splendido. On the bright side, a sun-trapping side patio featuring additional ponds and booths may be the closest thing to heaven this side of Spadina.
Spice Route, 499 King St. W., (at Spadina), 416-849-1808.
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Bouncers with an Attitude!!!
July 20, 2008 | by nora8NOTE TO THE BOUNCERS AND THE OWNERS OF SPICE: A smile does not hurt even if you are not going to let the people in becasue 1) only your friend can come in 2) you want to PRETEND the lounge is full so you LOOK LIKE you are the hot spot of the city.
NOTE TO ALL who want to try check out the place.. Inside looks ok but the attitude is not worth it. I would spend a penny there.. THis place is for PRETENTIOUS LOOSERS ONLY!
I have to agree re: uneccessary attitude at this place. The bouncers are horrendous. We were on guest list and we still had to argue with them - and the place was empty. Needless hassle, really dampened the mood for the night. There are alot of other lounges/restaurants in this area that will treat you far better. This place is not worth it.
July 22, 2008 | by poopsyI went on a weeknight, albeit earlier on, and the place was pretty full. Didn't get any of the aforementioned attitude, which isn't to say that it doesn't exist. It seemed like an OK place, but to call it "The Place" to be is stretching the truth.
August 8, 2008 | by FearlessinTorontoI had a very bad experience at Spice Route last week. While the food was decent, the service was terrible and when I voiced my concerns with management they belittled me and brushed me aside. They need a course in customer service!!!!!! While this place maybe be chic their attitude is not worth the trouble.
August 15, 2008 | by amfThe bouncers are ridiculous. Half my party was already inside and I (who had made the reservation) still had the unfortunate experience of proving my worth to the bone heads at the door.
Seriously, what is the point.
Frankly the food is not worth the bother.
September 9, 2008 | by jennifer_anneI didn't like the food. The bouncers are bouncers after all and by definition, that makes them ridiculous. I couldn't understand the line-up outside considering that the inside was still empty. How exclusive. The decor was nice - but isn't this theme a little tired already. The patrons are definitely not downtown.
September 28, 2008 | by DavoI had a problem with the bouncers also. Where do they find these guys? Also I didn't know this but this place practices in ageism. NO PATRONS OF AGE LOWER THAN 25 (at least on Fridays). So if you are not 25+ you wont be able to get in.
February 15, 2009 | by Gurls_Para_of_SenSpice Route has set the bar really, really, REALLY low.
I've never experienced such a blatant level of disrespect in my entire life. And as a paying customer, no less.
The restaurant manager alleged we owed more than we did at the end of the night. As a group of girls, he tried to belittle us, intimidate us and threaten us. We didn't budge. We stood our ground and told him we would pay the amount that we owed, and not a penny more. We were in the right and we knew it.
He called the cops on us. He put 4 bouncers at our table and told us we weren't allowed to leave. He held us hostage in the restaurant for 45 min until the cops came. The cops arrived, heard what happened, and sided with us! We did not have to pay the extra amount that he alleged we owed. We were free to go. And the manager was no where to be seen as we walked out the door.
I'm outraged and disgusted by this experience. I've read tons of reviews about the manager at this place - obviously Spice Route doesn't care. All I can say is boycott Liberty Group. Somebody has to start standing up for customer rights. The bar industry is the only industry that gets away with treating their clientele like garbage - and it needs to stop. There is such a thing as bad press - and Spice Route is going to get a mouthful - from me, anyway.
November 15, 2010 | by jennycThis place was below average. For a moderately well respected place in Toronto's King West area, I expected a lot more. The food was below average, the service was horrible, and it cost much much more than it was worth. Avoid this overrated place.
Many many nice restaurants out there to experience before this S&%#-hole.
December 5, 2010 | by torontolife88It's a shame that poor service and snappy wait staff ruined what is in my opinion a beautifully designed restaurant. My experience eating at spice route was during winterlicious. There was a 4 course set menu for Chinese new year at $65 each (definitely not cheap). Our waiter was rubbish. When we first entered they only came to our table after 15 minutes of sitting and wondering where the heck they were. They then proceeded to take our drink order and asked us if we were ready to eat. Obviously we were. When we got our drinks they asked us AGAIN if we were ready to eat... um? Didn't we already go through this? After about 20 minutes of waiting and other tables receiving their first and second courses (where's OUR food?) We received our first course... or should I say last course. We were told the food didn’t come out in order, so did that mean we were going to possibly get dessert next? Then our appetizer? More drinks were ordered. More time passed. I think you get the idea. The wait staff is anything but attentive, and at the end of the meal we were charged too much tax (which was only supposed to be added to our DRINKS since we had already payed online for our meal. Yea. $40 tax on $60 worth of drinks? Something isn't right here...) and gratuity was included on the bill. A nice 25% for a waiter that did NOTHING for us. When we asked the waiter about the bill they shrugged their shoulders and said "I don't know" and walked away. At the front we asked to talk to management who then talked down to us like we were idiots. "the HST is the governments fault" ... "yes but $40 HST on top of $60 worth of drinks DOES NOT MAKE SENSE." All in all, never going back, and making sure to tell everyone of my experience.
February 14, 2011 | by whiteginaI had my worst experience at this restaurant. We went down with a group of 15, all well dressed and behaved people. We had reservations. first they separated us and put us at different ends of the restaurant....even though there was enough seating around each table for all of us. They served us our drinks...and then the waiter came back 5 minutes later and told us that the mgt told him not to serve us. We honestly believe that it is because of our skin color. They had no other reason to do this! I would never recommend a place like this...this place should not be allowed to exist....please boycott!
March 20, 2011 | by spiceroutesucksThe manager, Kevin, greets customers with attitude from the get go. I witnessed 2 different minority groups come in with reservations and then get the run around from the manager. My wife and I were shocked how rude Kevin was. Luckily we didn't have to deal with him, we dealt with a waiter who needed to groom his beard. He was rude, and the food took forever!!! On top of that, this place had small bugs crawling around! Disgusting. We had a drink and left because the food took so long to arrive, and sanitary issues. Avoid at all costs!
March 21, 2011 | by CharlesKI've never witnessed such rude staff in my life. I've lived and dined in this City for years, and have never dealt with a waiter who was so rude. Is it because he gets a 25% gratuity no matter what he does? We complained to the manager for the rude service, and he was even worse. We're paying customers, and they don't know how to treat people well. My girlfriends and I had a horrible experience at this place. I strongly recommend you stay away.
March 21, 2011 | by JennyOWe visited the place in order to celebrate our 11th anniversary. No reservations were made so we had to wait for our table. In the meantime, we have appetizers and drinks in the lounge. The hostess said it would take around 20 minutes for a table; we were fine with that. After 40 minutes I approached the front desk to inquire about our table, but she asked me my name. Basically, they forgot about us. She said we would have to wait a little longer. After 20 minutes they said the table was ready and they showed us a table which we had seen empty since the moment we arrived. We got upset and almost left but after speaking to the manager, we got a better table. The appetizers were better than the main course. The front desk service was terrible including the fact that the manager knew about the problem and didn't even have the courtesy to approach us during our meal to see how we were doing after the incident.
October 16, 2011 | by ltencVery POOR service