5 Spice Happy Hour

5 Spice

I already wrote about 5 Spice but the Wife and I wanted to go back to check out their $5 Happy Hour Menu. The Wife and I can't get enough sushi or even Asian food. So when you say that you have sushi rolls for $5 and its from a quality restaurant like 5 Spice makes me want to jump at the chance.

We surveyed the options and opted out of the ridiculous $5 edamame but went for the Assorted Tempura, 5 Spice Beef Satay, Drunken Clams, and Sesame Crusted Lamb w/ Peppercorn Sauce. We also got the Philly Roll and Unagi Roll off of the $5 Happy Sushi menu.




The drunken clams were very good and had a little bit of a bite to them. I'd definitely get the drunken clams again.

The lamb was amazing and well worth the 5 bones. On our first visit and again on this one I thought that it was odd that a fork was available next to a pair of chopsticks. Well when the lamb is placed on a generous scoop of mashed potatoes and gravy, you need a fork. The mashed potatoes were some of the best I've ever had. Get this dish!

The 5 Spice Beef Satay wasn't really what I was expecting. The drawback to the happy hour menu is that there are not descriptions for some of the dishes. As you can see from the photo, the 5 Spice Beef Satay might have been the Filet Mignon Lollipop. I don't know but I wouldn't order this again. It was not worth the $5.

Finally, the sushi rolls. I didn't get a photo of the rolls which is going to hurt me on the credibility of this comment. They are soooo not worth it. A normal Philly Roll or California Roll is $8 (unagi was not listed on the options for rolls on the normal menu). The rolls we received were barely the size of HALF of a normal roll. So instead of $8 for a full roll, you pay $5 for half a roll. LAME. I would definitely NOT recommend the happy hour sushi at this time.

The Wife said that our $5 orders were not enough and we needed something else. She ordered the Fantastic Four Sampler - $18. One each of the following:

Hasu (Lotus) - (Seared ahi tuna wrapped around rice, topped with snow crab and a ginger ponzu sauce)

Kinofuji (Spiketail) - (Avocado wrapped around rice, topped with unagi, tobiko, and unagi sauce)

Sakura (Cherry Blossom) - (Maguro wrapped around rice, topped with tobiko and quail egg)

Momiji (Maple) - (Baked salmon wrapped around rice and topped with spicy scallop and tobiko)


Beautiful presentation and everything was very good. However, $18 was a bit steep for what you get. If you get any of these items by themselves it'll cost you $8 for a pair. So four pieces would only be $16 but I guess I understand the extra work involved to make four singles. Good but I don't think I'd drop another $18. It was great to try all four though.

All in all, I enjoyed getting to try some of the dishes like the Lamb without paying $26 for the entree portion. If you go for Happy Hour, try some of the dishes but avoid the Happy Hour sushi. Man up and get sushi off the regular menu...trust me.

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
Happy Hours 4:00pm-6:00pm

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