Rice, Spice and Everything Nice

We have no shortage of Japanese and Chinese offerings, but one of the purveyors of Thai cuisine is Rice & Spice on Jackson Avenue. And since this restaurant opened four years ago, Oxford diners are fit to be Thai-ed.
“When I looked around in the Dallas, Texas area, there was too much competition,” says Owner Sahit Thamutok. “Every corner over there has a Thai restaurant. So, I came here to visit our cousin who’d lived here for 17 years, and there was no real Thai food place here in Oxford. We thought it was a good chance that it could work.”
By the size of some of the lunch and dinner crowds during my visit, I think Thamutok was completely right. Oxford has definitely taken to the restaurant since the doors opened in 2010.
“We thought it would take us at lesat about six months before people got used to our food or willing to come try, but one factor I didn’t think of was the university,” Thamutok says. “Because of the university you have diverse people that come from everywhere and already had Thai food in their hometown. At that time, we were only open for three days, and we had to shut down because we ran out of food.”
The menu has something for everyone of varying levels of adventurousness. Thamutok says one of the most popular dishes is the Thai fried rice, since most people have had fried rice at Japanese or Chinese restaurants.
Like many other Asian restaurants, Rice & Spice offers guests a choice of spice level, ranging from zero to five.
Rice & Spice offers a very pleasant experience to all customers that enter their doors. The wait staff is very polite and not too in-your-face, but they will always get you anything that you need.
Don’t worry about avoiding anything on this menu. The Thai owner has done a great job of bringing authentic flavors from his home country to the small city of Oxford.
Gabriel Austin is a student in the Meek School of Journalism & New Media at Ole Miss