Fire & Ice

Ghetto ass hell. Went for my birthday & had a horrible experience… Did not have seating at the bar or at the center of the club as shown in some pictures. Seating was for VIP only and they were blocked off. «2^nd floor» was also blocked off. Crowd was terrible, maybe it was because of the event they had that night. I left within 30min. of being there after a grown man started to shove me & my friends because we did not acknowledge him. Drink was expensive & weak. Never again!

As a lounge, the place looked fine. It is big and a bit sparce in décor and seating. Great sound system. I visited Fire & Ice for a SensationsZouk Kizomba social. The level of Kizomba dancing here was intermediate to advanced. I could tell most people were intermediate to advanced dancers in general. I would go back for another dance social.

I came here last month for a private event a little over a month ago. I’m pretty sure the food served, although delicious was brought into the place from the outside and not made by the kitchen at Fire and Ice. So, I can only comment on the non-​food categories.
The décor was very nice. I felt like I was in a lounge in LA, SF, or NYC. But I was actually here in Philly. So it was nice to be in the kind of upscale atmosphere that I’m used to. Especially because it was right after I moved to Philly and was hoping for the best, but expecting the worst. Lots of places to sit comfortably and those tables that you can stand at are scattered throughout the main area. They also have an upstairs area in a similar style. They don’t have a smoking area if you were looking for one. You will have to go out front.
We ordered a few drinks from the bar. The bartenders mix a good drink. Not too weak, not too stiff. Reasonably priced, and not too difficult to find a bartender to take a drink order even with a lot of people there. Would definitely visit again and take guests visiting from LA.

I really enjoyed the food here! All of our plates were beautifully presented and has some great flavors going on. Pretty innovative dishes in the mix of normal thai food. The place itself has a bit of an odd feel with it being dark and narrow but I thoroughly enjoyed my meal. I got a coconut and peanut curry tofu dish and i was so tasty. All of my friends meals we’re lovely too.

Made reservations a week ago for 7pm and Showed up at this place last night for restaurant week and the place was CLOSED no notice in advance no sign on the door the neighbors didn’t even have a clue… So disappointed we found a great parking spot in the mound of snow climb over paid the meter $ 6 and had to find some place to go without having reservations!!! What do u know Gigi right across the street accommodated us even tho they were packed food was good and the drinks were strong… I gotta give a star but they deserve NONE

Honestly, this restaurant was a little pretentious.
They advertised their happy hour, we go in, get seated at a table. We asked about their specials. We were told that the happy hour is only for people sitting at the bar. REALLY?! We were literally one foot away from the bar. I was at a table, but I think I could have reached out and put my hand on the bar I was so close to it. Regardless of location, I didn’t understand that rule anyway. If I want to purchase alcohol and they will serve me alcohol, I don’t get why I am not entitled to the happy hour specials. Oh well, their loss. We ended up not ordering any drinks.
The phở was not that good. I’ve had a 6 dollar bowl from other restaurants that was so big it could feed like four people. This bowl at Fire and Ice was about 9 or 10 dollars and only really fed one person. Usually restaurants I go to that sell phở, you get this GIANT BOWL and it’s so satisfying and you share it and just enjoy all the soup and noodles. This was just so boring and plane.
The kalbi lettuce wraps were pretty good.
But yeah, overall, everything was just small expensive proportions, nothing special. The atmosphere was just really interesting … green lighting, dark … etc.

I loved this place! i had a great time from host to check. The host was engaging, the waiter was attentive, knowledgeable, and entertaining, and the chef even greeted us after the meal.
The food and drinks were awesome too. I think it turns into a club after hours. Can’t wait to go back.

Stopped here with a friend for a late afternoon lunch or early evening dinner at this restaurant (I had to use the groupon). It is conveniently located in the old city. The food was average and our waitress was new. The appetizers which we got were ridiculously small portions. You get a free yuengling with Unilocal check in. As it is free, the beer was warm. I wouldn’t try this restaurant again without a groupon.

I wish I could say I had a better experience but I won’t be back.
We stumbled into this place after a host lured us in for their $ 10 lunch special with pad thai and soup. We first noticed that no one else was in this massive 60+ seat restraunt. Our waiter seemed overwhelmed by our party of 8 at 12pm on a tuesday but proceeded to take our orders and was friendly.
15 minutes go by: we all recieved water and finally got our lukewarm soup. It was decent, but the portions size was not enough at all.
another 20 minutes go by, our waiter constantly filled our water glasses and we finally were served our flavorless pad thai. One person in our group ordered something different and his took another 10 minutes to arrive. We were still the only ones in the place!
We were all still very hungry after we gobbled down our mediocre portions of pad thai. Looks like it has potential, but they need a major food lesson.

PROS: Good service
CONS: Club atmosphere, mediocre food
What do you expect when you hear the words «fire and ice»? Something steamy and sizzly, maybe. Instead, we got something lukewarm…
— The kimchi trilogy was interesting. Expensive for what it is (2 small scoops of kimchi and 3 pieces of marinated tofu), but decent.
— The mung bean crêpe was crispy, greasy, and full of bean sprouts. Pretty huge portions, but the flavor was only okay.
— The steamed cod could be better. The cod itself was overcooked, but wrapped cutely in a banana leaf. The coconut broth sitting at the bottom of the dish was pretty flavorful.
— The dirty banana split was a crêpe filled with bananas and doused in caramel. It was pretty good, but the vanilla ice cream that went along with it was of the cheap, bland variety.
Overall, I think… «meh». I’d save my moolah and graze on yummier pastures nearby.

We were begged to come in here yesterday afternoon by a very nice man who noticed we were checking out the menu. My bf and I were looking for a place to have lunch on the cheap and noticed that they had a pretty good lunch special going on — $ 10 for soup and pad thai. Not bad, and we both love pad thai.
The space is huge and very dark. There were only two families in there dining at the time and there was one waitress working. It took her ten minutes to take our drink order, and she looked exhausted even though she was walking very, very lazily to and from the kitchen and for some reason, our soup came out before our drinks. After a few more minutes the drinks finally came out.
My pad thai was… well, it was pretty bad. The vegetables were over cooked and were burnt. The noodles were flavorless, like they completely forgot to add in sauce. I contemplated sending it back but didn’t feel all that compelled to. The soup was okay. The waitress, again, was just terrible because she had no sense of urgency and took forever doing anything even though she only had two tables.
Bad service, bad food… will not be back. Too many good places in Philadelphia to enjoy.

I didn’t know much about Fire & Ice but I saw they had a foursquare check-​in special and a happy hour so figured it would be a good place to stop on a day out with the girls.
We were seated at a table in the front. It was about 6 in the evening on a Saturday afternoon and the place was pretty dead. The service was pretty attentive– we had a few people checking in on us, offer suggestions, etc.
I was perfectly happy drinking the Yuengling draft that came for free as the check-​in special. Most of us drank our comp drink. If it were for that I would have been totally on board for the $ 6 martini special. Most of the appetizers were $ 5 so we split a bunch for the table.
Meh. Per one of the recommendations, I tried the chicken satay. It was supposed to be prepared in a spicy peanut sauce. It was neither spicy or did it taste like peanut. It came with fried rice and that was tasty but nothing to write home about. I also sampled the vegetable spring rolls. They were fine. I was intrigued by the pear salsa but it turned out to be flavorless and dry. The girls seemed to enjoy the mozzarella sticks and French fries, but what fried stuff tastes bad?
I’m giving the place 3 stars for the check-​in and happy hour specials. I’d be back… just for hh drinks.

Just read all the bad reviews and I feel for the folks but I can just go by what I’ve experienced so here…
Like many others, I came here because of Groupon. It seems like a pretty good deal and at the time I did check Unilocal and they had a four-​star rating, so I thought it’d be good for me to try it out.
It’s a relatively new place, they opened in December and business hasn’t quite picked up so I think doing Groupon was a smart move. I mean tourist business is nice but you need a bunch of local to sustain a business. If it wasn’t for Groupon, I don’t think I would ever step into this place.
It’s very lounge-​y, dim with pale blue lights. Is that the new decorating scheme that every bar/​lounge/​restaurants are adopting now? We were led inside to a table right next to the DJ booth and then they made a nice gesture of re-​seating us to a quieter area next to the bar. The noise level isn’t much of a difference but the gesture is nice nonetheless.
Our server was very nice, he explained everything we can get with our Groupon in detail. We were also told that their happy hour was extended to midnight. We ordered the charred beef sirloin and the shaky beef for starters and also ordered an extra crispy boneless wings in addition to our Groupon deal for starters. Just these 3 are a lot of food. The beef dish they prepared contained beef but it’s all diced up or minced up and the amount is not a whole lot. The charred beef sirloin is minced beef with mint and basil on top of some rice. Shaky beef is more like a stir fried dish with half a hard boiled egg on top with bell pepper, onion and watercress. It’s better portioned and better composed if they can hold off on the amount of soy sauce, it could be the better dish. The crispy boneless wings are meat and crispy, the butter honey sauce lacks umph but it’s generally pleasant.
I ordered Shrimp Pad Thai, since I saw a sign outside that boasts it as Best Pad Thai even though I don’t know if they meant in the world, in Philly or in their store. My friend got the Pad See Ewe. They brought me Chicken Pad Thai instead, I pointed it out and the server was very apologetic but we didn’t get anything for free so I guess he’s really not that sorry. As Pad Thai goes it is pretty good. I mean the chicken were tough and dry but the dish itself is good. The Pad See Ewe is a little lack luster. We shared a «Dirty Banana» dessert in a crêpe, nothing really dirty about it, the bananas are sauteed or flambeed in side the crêpe with a luscious kahlua caramel sauce and a scoop of vanilla. It’s enjoyable.
Will I come back? I don’t know. I’m not a big fan of dining in a noisy bar/​club setting. While the food is good, I’m not too sure I would be willing to pay full price since it didn’t really wow me. And I don’t really get the concept of the place. Fire and Ice? If I were to call my restaurant fire and ice, I would have serve sashimi or some dessert on top of a plate of dry ice, or have sparklers on top of my steak. Serve drinks made with Curaçao or decorate my place with fake torches, hire fire dancers… etc. Something memorable to give people an experience. This place is a bit generic but I didn’t hate it.

I called the night before to reserve for an event for a large group and they were very friendly and willing to work with us. Considering that we are a party of deaf people, the event coordinator was very well organized and wanted to ensure that communication was clear for everyone. They had printed out menus and presented pencils for everyone to choose what they want to eat/​drink and so forth. This is VERY «deaf-​friendly» for us.
The food was amazing and absolutely delicious, also very prompt! The prices were reasonable and the servers were amazing and friendly along with understanding what we wanted and needed.
We will definitely be coming back!

Let me start this review off by saying, this is a PRIME example of how good service and restaurant management can save a potentially 1 STAR review to a 4 STAR review.
Secondly, if it wasn’t for a minor mishap — this restaurant is all 5 stars to me.
So my bf and I arrived with our $ 30.40 groupon in hand. 2 soups OR salads + 2 entrees + 1 dessert and vegetable to share.
Okay, let me just say that the FOOD IS AMAZING. I’ve been to Thailand, Cambodia and other parts of SE Asia and I know the food. I love that it was AUTHENTIC not Americanized. All the spices were as they should be, mmm kaffir lime, lemon grass, etc. Loved it. I need to say it again. THE FOOD IS AMAZING. Chef Chris, I’ll be back to visit.
— Tom Yum: was a little sour for personal preference but it was very good. Rice stick noodles are a little diff than what I’m used to traditionally though — but it was fine. Portions were really good too
The mishap was that. there were 2 strands of hair in 2 different dishes (different hair color and length too) and both were my boyfriend’s starter and our vegetable to share back to back :(I almost didn’t want to say anything, but thought I had to. They were totally apologetic, gave us a free dessert and replaced the vegetable stew that had a hair in this.
I really don’t want this to deter anyone from trying out this restaurant because IT IS AMAZING. The food is ON POINT. Like honestly, they would have been 5 stars otherwise.
— Beef sirloin pad see ew – so good. The portions were great. The noodles were cooked perfectly, a great amount of spice to it, and tastes as it should.
— Bamboo stew with lemongrass — this was so freaking good I can’t even start. I could pour that shit all over the rice and eat it all day. This tastes like home-​made I can close my eyes, and I’m in Thailand.
— chocolate molten lava cake need I say more? melty and delicious
SERVICE: 5 fucking stars. 5!!! Amazing
I should have gotten his name. But he was a bald caucasian gentleman. So nice, but not overly fake or anything like that. Just very friendly, always on top of his game, asking us how things are. He has the best personality for being a server. And he was so aplogetic about the hair in our food. Honestly, here are the take-​away points
MAIN POINTS:
FOOD IS AMAZING. To management: keep Chef Chris — you guys can really get somewhere with his food. KEEP THAT SERVER I HAD. he was amazing. And keep doing what you’re doing — you guys have great potential
If there’s no hair in my food next time. 5 stars ;)

Wow, have never had an experience with such horrible and complacent service.
Background: I went to this place for a Unilocal elite event and the food/​drinks were great and I had a good experience. When I was in the old city area for another event, we needed a place for dinner so I recommended Fire & Ice since we had a good time before.
We had a group of 7 people, there were about 5 others parties in the restaurant, we should have known there was something wrong when no one had any food on their tables.
We ordered our food and some drinks pretty quickly, the server was initially nice.
20 minutes later, no one at the table received any drinks, we asked the waiter about our drinks, he says «they’re coming…» in a curt and annoyed way.
45 minutes later, we received our ice tea drinks and then ask the waiter where is our food? He again says, «they’re coming!» No explanation of why the food was taking so long or any compensation. No one else in this place has any food on their table and everyone in the restaurant looks hungry/​pissed off.
About a hour after stepping foot into this place, we (group of 7) received 1 ice tea and ZERO food, no appetizers, no soup, no salad, and no entrée and worst of all, no EXPLANATION of what the heck is going on.
After the 3^rd time of the waiter giving us the round-​around we all got up and left. The workers in the restaurant couldn’t give a crap, they just watched us all and just shrugged their shoulders.
Unilocalers and other potential diners: DON’T GO HERE, The service is horrible and they could not care less about you, the servers and the kitchen have no communication, the hostress will coax you into getting seated only to trap you there waiting for your non-​existent food, ultimately, it is really sad to have such a negative experience here after having a positive experience at a Unilocal Elite event. I will not return and I do not recommend this place to anyone.

A name says a lot about a place, and this restaurant is no exception. Fire and Ice has an identity crisis going on with the food, service, and the physical space. All night long, it was one step forward and then two steps back.
When we first walked in, I was shocked at how big it was. The bar is massive, and there’s tons of seating space. I was even more stunned by the size of the two story lounge in the back. Is it a club, a bar, or a restaurant??? After spending nearly two hours there, I’m not sure I know the answer, and neither does the staff.
We were greeted by an incredibly nice and polite waiter, and I thought we were off to a good start. We quickly put in for a soup and a salad, and both came out quickly. I enjoyed the dumpling soup and shaky beef salad. Our mains were the salmon and mixed protein pad thai. The salmon was cooked well and was an interesting concept, but it was bland, which was a shame. The pad thai was awful. The picture in the Unilocal profile looks nothing like what was served to us: tasteless, dry, luke warm noodles. I sent it back, which is a rarity for me. The dish that came back was much better, but was just as bland as my salmon. The warm chocolate cake for dessert continued the theme. It was tiny and bland as well.
While the restaurant never completely filled out, our service got slower and slower and slower as the night went on. I felt bad too, because our waiter was super friendly, but it was unbearable toward the end of the meal. There are so many good restaurants in this area, which will make a return to Fire and Ice unlikely. I hope they fare better with the bar and lounge.

I was invited to Fire and Ice to try their new menu created by Chef Chris Nguyen. Driving by to find the restaurant I saw a neon blue sign. My first thought was that it was surely a club with the same name not the restaurant I was searching for. My second thought was that I was going to eat bad bar food. By the end of the night, I had learned an important lesson: never judge a restaurant by it’s kitsch décor.
The friendly host at the front of the restaurant greeted us and walked us to our table lining against the cushioned white wall shining with dim blue lights across from the long bar. Loud hip hop music bumped through the cushioned walls and we learned that there was a private party in the back lounge area. The ambiance was definitely that of a club, and I’ve never dined in a club before. We were reassured by our server that it was a lounge and not a club, although I’m not sure how to differentiate between the two. The neon blue lights definitely gave it a club feel.
Our server was attentive and knowledgeable and really went out of his way to accommodate us. Shortly after our drinks were served, the Chef himself came out to tell us about the cuisine and his new menu which is his version of Asian comfort food that he grew up on. He was a very passionate man who through the new menu has implemented a fusion of Thai, Korean, Vietnamese and other Asian flavors. The result: delicious, innovative and unique.
I was really surprised at how good everything tasted. Every single dish we ordered was perfect and you could see the passion that was put into it. Others who were invited had the same prejudice only to be pleasantly shocked by the dining experience. However, in the end there is a steep contrast between the food served and the décor and ambiance of the restaurant/​bar/​lounge. Perhaps it compliments the theme of the restaurant, ‘fire’ and ‘ice’. The contrast between amazing cuisine, served in a neon blue disco setting. We questioned the motives of this amazing chef working here because it was quite evident that the clientele could not appreciate the menu prepared. I won’t be surprised to hear that he opened his own Asian restaurant in the future, because, Yes– he is that good!
The Food:
We ordered a little bit of everything including the tom yum soup (Rice noodles and a spiced lemongrass broth), the Shaky Beef (wok seared sirloin, wilted watercress, pickled onions, peppered vinaigrette), Kim Chi Trilogy (cabbage with ginger, marinated crisp tofu and spicy radishes), char-​grilled chicken satay served with spiced peanut sauce and a turmeric fried rice, the Char Sui Pork Loin (a deconstructed barbecue pork bun), Kal Bi lettuce wraps, pad Thai and phad kee mao (egg noodles, egg, julienne vegetables, red curry and chicken).
The tom yum soup was very authentic and tasted like many I had in Thailand– spicy yet simple.
The Shaky Beef was the chef’s take on the Vietnamese Bo Luc Lac, chopped steak served with watercress with the addition of fries an egg.
I love kimchi and loved the Kim Chi Trilogy starter dish. The Chef pickles his own kimchi and and has created a lovely small dish as a result. The chargrilled chicken satay reminded me of an Indonesian dish I had not so long ago. Generous portions of grilled chicken were served alongside a tasty turmeric fried rice and peanut sauce. The winner had to be the Char Sui Pork Loin, a deconstructed pork bun which was so rich in flavors that we both wanted more (although we resisted the temptation). Kal Bi lettuce wraps was the chef’s version of the Korean Kal Bi. I loved his rendition of this dish.
The shrimp pad Thai was one of the tastiest we’ve had to date. It was very well prepared and was completely authentic and close to those we tasted on the streets and restaurants of Thailand.
We also really enjoyed the phad kee mao which was egg noodles mixed with red curry, chicken and vegetables. Hints of spice from the curry were in perfect harmony with the noodles and vegetables.
For dessert we had the flan, chocolate cake and fried donuts. The fried donuts were served with a chocolate and orange sauce and were very good.
The Flan was my favorite. It was prepared well and served beautifully.
The chocolate cake served in a raspberry sauce was also delicious and was the perfect end to an interesting evening.

I really really like Fire & Ice. I head here for lunch. They have an amazing deal for soup + pad thai, and let me tell ‘ya … it’s kind of amazing. I go with a friend of mine from another office and it’s a very nice lunch hour.
For vegan options, they have vegan soup options, and they can make a vegan version of the Pad Thai (a few extra minutes), but it’s so worth it. My companion always gets the pork dumpling soup, and basically always flips over it.
I’ve only picked up a happy hour drink here once before an event, and it was a delish mango martini. Froo froo martinis are my jam! And it was like, what, $ 6? Shut the front door!
I really hope other people in the area pick up on Fire & Ice — it feels like I should see more people hounding it for lunch, and a nice upscale (while inexpensive) happy hour.

Why can’t I give zero stars? This place is horrible. Their beer taps were «out of service»…huh? Asked them to change one of their five TVs to a Flyers game. I’m still waiting for that to happen. Bartender and others working there were rather clueless about their offerings. We ended up leaving shortly after arriving and heading to Mac’s down the street.
This is 20 minutes out of my life that Fire and Ice owes me back.