Editor Pick
The Spicy Lady Visit 3
- March 23, 2008
- Rated 3 of 5 by
Wasatch from heber ctity, Utah
Our first two visits to The Spicy Lady were a mixed bag. The first meal, on Christmas Day, was all around superb, a terrific British style roast beef and a perfect Chicken Florentine. Our second visit was a let down and a bit of a disappointment. Although nicely flavored, lamb shanks were greatly in need of longer cooking, leaving them difficult to cut off the bone, a real battle. Our third visit had good points and some not so good. Starting with the best, the Vietnamese Spring Rolls were nice and the Kangaroo Empanadas were superb appetizers. The Kangaroo, inside a pastry shell with cheese and stuff, is not to be missed. Several of us had Crème Brule for desert. It won unanimous praise.
She had a repeat of Chicken Florentine which was not up to the standards of what was served the first time. First time, the chicken was perfectly cooked, cooked through but still juicy, easily the best prepared chicken we ever encountered in Utah with the possibly exception of the old Bonanza Cafe in Beaver. Second try, the chicken was typical a Utah disaster, so overcooked that it approached the texture of cardboard. As this is the Utah standard, if you must eat chicken in Utah, the Spicy Lady is the place to go. It won't be any worse than anywhere else, and there is a chance it will actually be properly done, just don't count on it.
I had Hungarian Goulash, a culinary classic. Any restaurant that serves such classic cuisine gets a lot of points, but while it was good, something was not quite right. I've had Goulash in Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Germany, and Austria, and we make it home. The Spicy Lady's wouldn't make the cut. I think the problem was too much sour cream. The beef and onions were drowned in sour cream, rather than being accented by it. Still, you won't go wrong with it, but you will not be blown away.
Our appetizers and deserts cost about $9 each. Nobody had a a main course costing $20 or more.
Spicy Lady has a full bar, only the second in Heber City. Of course, this is Utah bar which means it is nothing like a real bar. The wrinkle is the only way you can order alcohol is if you also order food, and drinks and wine are very expensive-- state rip-off tax, it's not the restaurant. For an idea of haw baffling getting a drink is in Utah, in 2008, the State Legislature passed 187 pages of changes to the booze laws. The most important goes like this: previously, a “pour”, the amount of a liquor that could be in a drink, was limited to 1 oz. A “mixed drink” could contain more than one “pours” of more than one liquor up to a total of 2.75oz. After the change, a pour is 1.5oz. maximum and a mixed drink is limited to 2.5oz. In the real world, a Martini contains contains a 3oz. pour of gin. So how much gin is in a Utah Martini, one pour of 1.5oz, or 2.5oz.? I can't figure it out, but either way, a Utah Martini is watered down.
Utah claims it liberalized booze laws for the Olympics, but when the Olympics were over, the State Legislature reversed many of the “liberalizations”. A typical liberalization: “Beer gardens” could be set up by fencing off an area and posting a security guard at the gate to be sure nobody under age 21 entered the sin zone. One liberal change that stuck was that before the Olympics, restaurants were not allowed to display their wine list unless the customer specifically asked for it. Now, the waiter is allowed to ask you if you would like to see the wine list.
Restaurants cannot buy wine at wholesales prices, they pay the same a retail customers. Consequently, restaurant prices are 3-4 times retail prices (in most states, restaurants can buy wine at wholesale prices so the mark up over retail is 2-3 times). At most, but not all restaurants, BYO plus the “corkage fee” is cheaper than the wine list. The problem with BYO is that you have to go to State Liquor Store to buy wine, and the closest decent selection to The Spicy Lady is 15 miles away in Park City. You can't really BYO because only a bottle with a Utah state liquor stamp which is only on bottles sold in State liquor stores are allowed in Utah.
The Spicy Lady's wine list starts at $26 for an obscure Spanish red, which is actually pretty good. This runs contrary to typical restaurant wine pricing, where the lowest priced wine is the most overpriced bottle in terms of value for the money.
Service was chatty friendly good, and very fast even though the restaurant was almost full.
Our third visit was on a weekend night, when there was live music. All I can say is that it wasn't obnoxious.
So, after three visits to The Spicy Lady, we are still a little puzzled in deciding how good it is. When it is good, it is very,very good, but food quality is spotty. Considering the relatively low prices of the entrees, it is worth a shot, even with a trip from Park City.
From journal Ski Deer Valley, Expensive but Worth it
Try It to Believe It
- February 4, 2008
- Rated 5 of 5 by
utahrd from SLC, Utah
What a wonderful experience we had in this restaurant. The outside looks like a saloon, the interior design makes this place look like an old western whore-house. Very nice warm ambiance.
The food is what the owner, Jai, calls international peasant food. Simple dishes from all over the world. We loved it, and made us want to try every plate on the menu. We shared the best Goulash I ever tasted, delicious kangaroo (yes, kangaroo) meat and the most amazing Schnitzel ever.
Hands down, the best value meal we've ever had... And they had live music too...
Editor Pick
The Spicy Lady
- December 26, 2007
- Rated 4 of 5 by
Wasatch from heber ctity, Utah
One visit is not enough to render final judgement, but it looks like we have a new and worthy
contender for the tittle of best restaurant in the Park City area. Spicy Lady serves excellent food
at reasonable prices, most entrees being under $20.
Our first visit was on the evening of Dec. 25, 2007. If you ever visited Utah at this time of the
year for the great skiing, you already know this place is something special– it’s open on Christmas
day (and Sundays!). The daily special appetizer ($12) was roast duck breast on a bed of arugula
with Bordelaise sauce– terrific. Tender duck, perfectly cooked, an excellent sauce that
highlighted rather than overwhelmed the duck. It was the only thing I’ve ever eaten with arugula
where arugula did not seem out of place.
Chicken Florentine ($17) was the best prepared chicken we have ever had in Utah (possible
exception, the now defunct Bonanza Café). As for the accompanying risotto with mushrooms,
she said, “I don’t like risotto, but I like this.” The mushrooms, which I could not identify were
intensely flavored, certainly not button or, as appearances showed, not morels.
The daily special was a huge slab of Roast Prime Rib, the third best I’ve ever enjoyed anywhere
($25). The owner-executive chef-maitre d’e-waiter-cashier warned us it was left over from the
day before and was served from medium rare up. Very tender with terrific flavor, and this was
leftovers! Sides of mashed potatoes with gravy and a simple ratatouille were excellent.
The Spicy Lady gets its name from the decor, not the nature often food. It’s in an original
Victorian era old west building whose most recent previous incarnation was as a poor hall– get a
good look at the grand exterior. The attarctive interior is done in the style of an old west brothel.
The walls are loaded with picturers and paintings of, shall we say, ladies of ill repute. Hence the
name– Spicy Lady. This is really daring for uptight Utah.
Service was good although a little slow on picking up payment and interesting. The owner-etc. is
a Korean orphan adopted by Dutch parents who spent enough time in London to acquire a British
accent and lived in Paris for a number of years. Why is he now in Utah? For the world’s best
skiing, what else? He says the menu theme is peasant dishes from around the world– Coq au
Vin, Toad-in-Hole, goulash, a schnitzel, Indian Vegetarian Platter, etc. Lamb Shank is the
Thursday night special, and it rotates through five version including Greek, Moroccan, and New
Zealand.
Spicy Lady is 15-20 min. from Park City, and worth the trip. The lower prices will more than
cover your gas costs. Leave Park City on Kearns Blvd to Rt 40 expressway at the stoplight well
out of town. Turn right to Heber’s Main Street. Spicy Lady is on the right about 2/3 the way
between the first and second stop lights in Heber.
Beer and wine.
From journal Ski Deer Valley, Expensive but Worth it