Review: Wild Spice (♦♦)

The last time one of us set foot in here, he stripped nearly naked and was felt up by one of the employees maybe 10 feet from our table. So naturally our clothing-challenged nosher was the one suggesting a return trip.

Of course the tale loses shock value when the the details are told, since the downtown Juneau space housing Wild Spice used to be a men’s clothing store, an electronics shop and probably some other failed ventures. The restaurant is part of an ongoing makeover of Front Street, where a few eateries are opening near longtime establishment such as Valentine’s Coffee House and locations that seem to go out of business regularly (Bacar’s, whose down-home menu included a gastronomical nightmare known as tempura-battered Spam sticks, is the latest victim of one particular space). The hope is to draw a new crowd to replace the cruise shippers now buying their cheap souvenirs down by the dock.

Like the new Front Street, things are promising. But there’s still some work to do.

Wild Spice is the creation of Grady Saunders, owner of Heritage Coffee Co., and he’s branching into a considerably more upscale and eclectic realm than lattes and sandwiches. The hype seems to be about the pick-your-own-ingredients Mongolian barbecue, but much of their entree menu is at least equally worthy. The selection is contemporary comforts such as halibut topped with tiger prawn mousse ($19) and salmon with plantain risotto ($20). All come with varying side dishes such as ginger melon relish and poblano butternut squash.

The open dining room setting is tastefully understated and clean, with quiet conversation possible among the half-capacity crowd present during one of our visits. One of us was less than thrilled about lingering on the hard plain-wood chairs in the middle of the room, but not enough to try to get everyone moved to one of the padded booths along the walls. The view out the large windows is of a competing restaurant under construction across the street - even when complete, this isn’t going to match places like The Hanger for vowing visitors with scenery.

Winners among the appetizers included Manapua Pork Rolls ($10), combining meat, aloha salsa and jicama slaw wrapped in tortillas and served with “spicy” sweet and sour sauce. One taster said they were as a good as any crunchy roll-like starter he’s had. They didn’t have the Wild Cheese Fondue ($15) - apples, grilled vegetables and focaccia with a pot of unspecified melted cheese - apparently because they’re still getting the equipment necessary to serve it. Missing items seem to be a minor problem elsewhere on the menu as well, with one person unable to order a specific dessert on each of her visits. While we’re on missing, this is the second restaurant in a row where soda’s been on the flat side - is there a shortage of CO2 in town?

Salads featured a fresh assortment of vegetables and a quality roasted shallot vinaigrette among the dressings. A thoughtful touch was serving them in a small side dish, but there was barely enough to coat half the greens adequately. A carrot ginger soup was smooth and comforting with just enough spicy zing to keep it from being dull.

The create-a-bowl options take up two of the menu’s five pages, with a lunchtime special of a medium bowl and unlimited soft drink refills ($9 from 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.) being a tastier and more nutritious option than a couple of generic fast food places in the immediate vicinity. The range and quality of the protein, vegetable, noodle and seasoning choices are outstanding compared to many establishments in other cities, where one might save a few bucks or get an all-you-can-eat option in exchange for limp ingredients. In addition to the usual beef, chicken and pork, there’s tofu, catfish, squid and other proteins in attractive bite-size and shaved bits. Nine sauces and three spice mixtures, from the expected curries and peanut sauces to Berbere Fire Water and Bahia Tamarind Mohlo, provide the finishing touch. Levels of spiciness and suggested “scoop” portions are listed so customers aren’t victimized by their choices. One of our diners felt the suggestions were conservative, putting twice the number of scoops on her bowls. The raw bowls are cooked on a huge grill in plain view at the far end of the dining room. There’s occasionally a line, but it never got so bad as to be annoying.

Entries from the menu were more successful than not, but missteps were pronounced. Barbados Molasses Mustard Ribs ($19) were tender as advertised and the sauce was an ideal balance of spice and sweet. The spicy Espresso Baked Beans, sweet potato mash and coconut cornbread were all hits, except for too many people wanting to sample the silver-dollar-size cornbread.

The Flat Iron Steak ($23) is a good cut of meat and seasoned well (if cooked a shade past the ordered medium rare). But the entire plate arrived too cool, with hot entries no better than warm and the “warm” wild mushroom raguet arriving cold. The educated guess was this plate was kept waiting while other orders were still cooking.

Disappointing was the Jamaican Jerk Chicken ($16), consisting of dry chicken breast slices that, when combined with the charred seasoning, simply tasted burnt. The filling in the accompanying cinnamon pumpkin ravioli was tasty, but the pasta was undercooked. The caribbean slaw was the best thing on the plate, fresh and with a balanced spicy zing.

Somebody in the kitchen has taken a class in food design, with large square plates being decorated with the entries instead of merely piled on. Servers mostly did a good job of rotating the dish and courses, with the exception of that one wait, and checking to see how things were. But it doesn’t seem like they’ve quite mastered the causal upscale approach Wild Spice is aiming for - it’s more like watching someone you know act the role and get the lines right, but never fully believing they’re the character.

The rating reflects current reality, but Wild Spice has three-star potential with more experience. All of us agreed we’d be willing to return for the group thing again and some of us make regular, if not frequent, stops for lunch bowls. If this is the emerging neighborhood standard of competition for those not craving Subway, it’s certainly a good thing.