5 Spice - Bend Oregon

5 Spice

My Facebook friends have been pestering me to write about 5 Spice. Finally the Wife and I made it over there to test it out. We've heard a couple of opinions from friends that 5 Spice is a bit pricey for what you get. Still, we wanted to see for ourselves.

We walk in and it doesn't look too much different than deep (the previous restaurant) looked aside from the lack of water in the overhead water feature. Even the dishes seemed to be the same as before. But the menu is different while having some of the normal Japanese dishes that you'd expect from a sushi restaurant.

However, since 5 Spice is a Fusion and Sushi Bar, not everything is just your normal sushi restaurant food. Just take a look at the entrees. From what I remember, the entrees ranged from $18 - $26.

Not really wanting to break the bank and not really starving we opted to go with a couple apps, a sushi roll, and some mussels. First we received the Assorted Tempura ($10) and the Fritters ($5).


The tempura batter was light and crispy. It tasted great and with 3 prawns instead of the normal one or two if you're lucky at most places, I was happy with it. The only complaint was that the broccoli was like a flippin tree. I like the broccoli tops, like a healthy version of the muffin top. I ended up cutting each broccoli branch into three sections in order to eat it like a normal person.

The fritters were good and a cute presentation for only 5 bucks. The Wife also enjoyed the Asian slaw that they were on top of. Kind of a nice palate cleanser.

Up next, the Rainbow Roll ($12)- Snow crab, avocado, cucumber, topped with assorted fish:


The sushi was good. Nice cuts of Nigiri across the top of the roll. We liked it.

The best deal of the night had to have been the 6 mussels for $8. Even Mio charges $3.95 a pair. I liked these a lot and would definitely get them again.


We enjoyed our evening and the pace in which everything arrived. I can't stand when you place your order and everything arrives at once. There's no room for the over sized plates and hot things are getting cold while the cold stuff is warming to room temp. Eh. At 5 Spice the pace was just right.

So we had 3 drinks (2 of which were mixed bourbon creations from the bartender Brad - check out the big brain on Brad) which were very good and not all girly and sweet. A sin if you ask me when mixing bourbon.

Our bill was $23 for drinks and $35 for the food. Without getting entrees we were still satisfied and ventured over to the Blacksmith for some dessert.

5 Spice Fusion and Sushi Bar
821 NW Wall Street
Bend, OR 97701
Phone: (541) 323-2328
http://www.bend5spice.com/
Hours
Daily 4:00pm-Close
5 Spice Happy Hour 4:00pm-6:00pm