Spicy Lime - New Bedford, MA

My brother had been talking about his love of Thai food and wanted to introduce me to a “hole in the wall” Thai restaurant in New Bedford that he had discovered. About a month ago we made plans to visit the Spicy Lime together and the date finally came.  We headed off to 522 Pleasant Street, found parking on a nearby side street, and walked to the restaurant.

Lime Ricky

The Spicy Lime is nothing more than a store front in downtown New Bedford with no more than a dozen tables to seat guests. Given the small space, the décor was bright and welcoming with grey and white walls ornamented with appropriately themed murals.  The tables where nicely set with glass tops and white linens to give a crisp, fresh look to the space.

Although the seating was limited, there was a table for four available when we arrived. In addition to our menus, we were given a beer and wine list to review.  Instead of ordering beer or wine, we all opted for non-alcoholic beverages. My brother and I both ordered the Ice Ginger Tea ($2.50), my brother’s spouse ordered a Hot Ginger Tea ($2.15) and my husband ordered a Lime Ricky ($2.95).  The Ice Ginger Tea was fabulous with a refreshing hint of fresh ginger that hit the back of your throat when you were drinking it. I didn’t try the hot tea, but did have a sip of my husband’s Lime Ricky, which was served in some very festive plastic stemware.  I was expecting it to taste very sweet but instead it had a pleasant lime taste and was also quite refreshing.

Since my brother and his spouse had already been to the Spicy Lime, they were familiar with the menu. My brother also knew that there would be specials posted on a blackboard at the entrance so he walked over to take a look. The two specials for the evening were Mango Duck and Pumpkin Curry (with chicken, pork, tofu or vegetables).

In addition to reviewing the entrees on the menu, we also reviewed the appetizers and decided to order a couple of appetizers for us to share.  We wanted to order Chicken sa-te ($6.50) and Fried Crispy Spring Rolls ($5.50) but they were out of the Spring Rolls so we made a quick, alternate decision, and chose the Fried Gyoza (pronounced gyaw-zah) for $5.50.

All of the Curry, Stir Fry, Noodle and Fried Rice entrees were served with your choice of chicken, pork, tofu or vegetables for a total cost of $10.95, with shrimp or beef for $11.95, or with roasted duck or a combination of seafood for a cost of $15.95. There were some additional entrees on the menu and these, along with the specials, were priced a bit differently.

The waitress arrived to take our order and my brother decided on the Pumpkin Curry special, with chicken, for $14.95. His spouse ordered Pad Thai, with shrimp, for $11.95.  For my entrée, I chose the Ginger Scallop meal for $14.95 and my husband ordered the Crispy Chicken Fried Rice ($10.95).

While most entrees were served with jasmine rice, brown rice could be substituted for $1.00.  Both my brother and I chose this rice substitution and ordered the brown rice.

Gyoza (Fried)

What we thought was the first of our appetizers, the Fried Gyoza, arrived. These were crispy pork and veggie dumplings served with soy ginger sauce. There were a total of six gyoza served on the plate with a white paper doily for added presentation.  We each tried one of these fried dumplings and agreed they were enjoyable. While I could have eaten a second one, we let my brother and his spouse have the remaining two dumplings from the plate. After finishing this appetizer, the second of our servers removed our plates along with the empty plate from the gyoza.  After waiting several minutes, we collectively decided that our other appetizer, the Chicken sa-te, must have been forgotten.  Since we suspected our meals would arrive at any time, we opted to not offer a reminder but instead just wait for our meals.



Pad Thai with Shrimp

After a relatively long wait (apparently the servers are also the chefs and are multi-tasking), each of our meals arrived separately, with the Pad Thai coming out first. This entrée was described as Thai signature pan fried rice noodles with egg, bean sprouts, scallions, carrots, zucchini and ground peanuts.  I had only one small bite of the noodles so I didn’t experience the entire dish but was told that it was delicious!



Pumpkin Curry

The next meal to arrive was my brother’s Pumpkin Curry.  Chunks of fresh pumpkin were the star of this curry dish!  Again, I only had a small bite of the chicken from this entrée but my brother loved his meal. To eat this, he added some brown rice to his plate and then spooned the Pumpkin Curry on top.  This meal looked hearty and satisfying and there was enough for him to share some with his spouse.



Crispy Chicken Fried Rice

My husband’s meal arrived next. His meal consisted of two crispy, fried chicken breasts on top of vegetable fried rice, drizzled with sweet and sour sauce. While his meal tasted uniquely different from the others, the chicken was perfectly crisped and had a sweet taste, contributed by the sauce.  The only comment about this dish was my husband thought there could have been more sweet and sour sauce on the chicken.  Perhaps he can ask for some extra sauce if we visit Spicy Lime again.

Ginger Scallop

My entrée was the last to arrive.  Personally, I think they saved the best for last!  My Ginger Scallop dish was described as crispy, lightly battered scallops topped with baby corn, onions, mushrooms, broccoli and fresh ginger.  This dish, although it had different vegetables than described, was outstanding.  There were six large, fresh scallops that were perfectly tempura fried and sitting within my delicious ginger sauce and vegetables.  My brother and his spouse each tried some of my meal and agreed that it was delicious. I added some brown rice to my plate and enjoyed every last bite!



Fried Bananas with Coconut Ice Cream

While my husband and I don’t normally order dessert, my brother raved about the Sticky Rice so of course we had to order some.  The server described the two desserts that they were offering that evening.  Sticky Rice with Mango ($6.95) and Fried Bananas with Coconut Ice Cream ($6.95).  I love all things coconut so we decided to order one of each dessert. The banana dish consisted of four banana pieces, battered and fried with a scoop of toasted coconut ice cream.  A drizzle of honey finished off the dish.  The fried banana reminded me of warm banana bread and the ice cream was rich and delicious.  I insisted that my brother’s spouse try a bite of the toasted coconut ice cream and I think I have converted him to a coconut lover!



Sticky Rice with Mangoes

Fresh mango slices surrounded the Sticky Rice on our second dessert.  After trying a bite of the Sticky Rice I completely understood why my brother loves it.  My husband didn’t try either of the desserts so between three of us, we finished them up and ended our meal.

For a hole in the wall restaurant that I have never heard of, Spicy Lime didn’t disappoint me.  I give kudos to my brother for the great suggestion, and the great company.

The total bill for the four of us, including tax, was only $89.13.  I thought this was very inexpensive since we had even splurged for dessert.  When trying to find Spicy Lime on-line, I noticed that it does not have a website, but you can find them on Facebook!