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Five Spice Seafood + Wine Bar
Rating Details »
- Hours:
Mon-Sat. 11:30 a.m. - 10:00 p.m.
Sun. 11:30 a.m. - 9:00 p.m.
- Attire:
- Casual
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Garage
- Price Range:
-
$$$
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- No
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Take-out:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- Yes
- Good for:
- Dinner
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
17 reviews for Five Spice Seafood + Wine Bar
This business is a Yelp Sponsor
7/2/2009
10/13/2009
Updated - 11/29/2009
9/10/2009
1 photo
10/18/2009
8/3/2009
7/13/2009
4/18/2009
7/2/2008
1 photo
5/26/2009
4/24/2009
4/8/2007
2/14/2009
2/8/2007
1 photo
6/17/2009
3/13/2008
9/24/2007
One of the Business' Favorite Reviews What's This?
Ya know, for Lake O, it ain't too shabby. Great views, good food, solid service, interesting wine list....I mean, really, it fits the bill in an unpretentious yet stylish restaurant.
Try it, you may be pleasantly surprised!
Ok, so I had to check out this place and see what all the hype was about. I like to have an open mind when I try something new. But after hearing so many people say great thing about Five Spice, it was going to be easy for me to be disappointed. But i wasn't disappointed at all. I like it very much.
It has a quaint setting tucked into a nice little shopping area in Lake Oswego. The interior is comfortable. The food is good. They plate the items nicely. The portions seem a little small. I think the plating presentation hides it a little, but it is still small. The wine list is very good. It is not overpriced. The selections should please any wine drinker by the bottle or by the glass.
Overall, I am a fan.
We got bought by the coupon! When I saw it I was thinking that it might not be bad to give this place a try again so we did. The outcome was the same.....They have a new and VERY small menu that goes along with the portion size!!! The menu was boring...simple and nothing jumps out at you. We tried the crab cakes...DON'T....you get 2 small, battered up, bland tasting cakes for $13.00 come on! My wife had the salmon and it was small but good and I had the ribeye and it was good just not very big at all! They are charging a serious premium for their wines in my opinion.
The server was great and really that was about it! The location is good and it is very clean.
Would I go back or recommend this place to someone? NO
1 Previous Review: Show all »
-
5/3/2009
We have been quite a few times and LIKE it here as the food is good, not great but the portions are… Read more »
A vegan, a vegetarian, a pescatarian and a celiac walk into a bar...
There are things that miss the mark at Five Spice, but I'd like to acknowledge them for some things they do very well. It seems like almost everyone I know has 'food issues.' Some of these are by choice, but many are allergies or food sensitivities that can make dining out a challenging affair.
Rather than stick rigidly to the formal menu, I've found Five Spice to be a great partner on multiple occasions in customizing a meal that is both delicious and meets various dietary needs. In particular, this has worked for friends with gluten issues that require very specific food preparation.
So I consider the menu here more of a guideline. No kids' menu, but they can make the standards (burger, chicken, grilled cheese or mac-n-cheese). On our most recent visit, we were dining with a vegetarian and noticed that there were no vegetarian entrees on the menu. No problem, our waiter just offered some suggestions based on what was fresh that day. We customized a dish on the spot combining some of the elements we saw as side dishes on the main menu. It was fabulous.
The space is beautiful and in the summer you can enjoy the wrap around covered porch overlooking the lake or have a glass of wine by the fireplace inside on a cold winter night.
When I first started coming here many years ago, I thought of this as an Asian restaurant, but no particular label or cuisine seems to strictly apply. If I had to classify them, I would lean towards high end wine bar. We had a round of cocktails and I don't think it is their strong suit. In fact, the quasimojito cocktail was downright polarizing. Even the server mentioned that you will love it or hate it.
There are things I don't particularly care for that other reviewers have duly noted. This isn't on my solid recommended list, but it is at least 3-1/2 stars.
At last!!
I had heard rumors that this place had finally changed owners and was worth trying again, but I remained skeptical as similar ownership changes have happened in Lake Oswego only to be driven right into the ground by new owners.
This is a great location, nicely appointed and the food is finally good - although it is well past time to shake lose the last of the "Asian fusion" here, it just doesn't work. Rustic northwest, fresh pacific or even steak and seafood - but the 'Asian flair, just isn't there'.
The place was mostly empty when we were there, service was great. Quick, attentive, happy. The portions were on the smaller side - fine for me, but my 19 year old was still hungry. It plays well if you want a starter, entrée and desert, but that is going to add up rather quickly with wine. His $21 chicken was two ravioli and about 6 - 8 bites of chicken breast with maybe 1/4th of a cup of veg salad and about half that amount of mushrooms. It was actually a great size, but too expensive for so little.
Overall though, I am so happy to finally have a restaurant on the Lake to enjoy with friends again. When the new owner of what was the boathouse ruined that place with horrible food that actually made two of us ill, bad service and even worse attitude I was left wondering where I would go now. This is a good replacement and hopefully soon the boathouse will be closed by the health department or taken over by a more client friendly owner and be returned to its former glory.
Half price bottles of wine on Sundays!!!!! Need I say more?
Ok, a little more maybe...
I adore this weather, and one of my peeves, is walking in to a restaurant when it's warm and sunny, in to a frigid dining room. Thankfully, Five Spice gets that it's patrons prefer not to FREEZE when the weather is registering triple digits outside.
I do love their outside dining area. The view is beautiful, and the free concert on Sundays is a nice bonus.
The wine list is not astronomically out of wack, and in fact it's fairly reasonable given the location.
Portions ARE small. Would be nice if they were about 20 - 30% bigger, but if you are ordering the full meal deal (apps, salad, dinner desert) it works out ok.
Happy hour here is one of my favs, but they only serve it in the bar area, not on the patio. Bummer.
Back to the patio, the only real issue for me is the lack of attention to keeping the patio clean. The railing was filthy! When we asked for a wet cloth to wipe it down, the hostess /manager looked at us like "really" and came back and wiped down the area directly in front of us. Didn't bother to clean the remaining 2 ft behind my husbands head.
Our service was good and the food excellent, but then it always is here.
Good food & even better wine list. I have to warn you, the main course portion is a little sparse. I finished my entire meal, including the side dishes & 3 little raviolis that accompanied my meal. I usually eat HALF of my order.
They have great views since they are on the lake and the bar looked really cool -- low profile couches around a fire place & a full bar. I didn't go in there because I had my little ones with me, which brings up another topic -- children. They do not have a kids menu but they offer to whip up mac-n-cheese or other kids favorites. My son (9) ate part of my meal (roasted chicken) but wouldn't touch my salad or pasta & he LOVES pasta. He liked the bread though. Plus they gave him an EtchaSketch to use while we ate. We were dressed in shorts & shirts aka golf-ish looking. We also had my 6 month old daughter. Never once did I feel out of place.
EXCELLENT service. Elegant and attentive.
We were terribly disappointed with Fivespice. We wanted to love this place, or even really like it, but it just did not live up to its' reputation. First of all, we have been there on 3 separate occasions. So, our experience was not just a bad night. The first was a dinner, which we made reservations and requested seating in the restaurant either near a window or fireplace. They had few bookings, so "it wouldn't be a problem". When we arrived, our table was in the lounge. Not off to a good start. We asked for our "real" table and they had "other larger parties coming", so, "No it couldn't happen". We still had a view table, and we just made the most of it and ordered some wine (which is an amazing list, but the prices are screamingly high. For example, a bottle of wine which retails for $40 will be priced at $130)
On to the food. All and all the dinner cuisine was good, but a bit bland. It just didn't have that Je n'ais sais Quois! Lunch was even more bland and rather lack luster. Their fish is very fresh and good, but nothing memorable.
When there are so many other options in LO, I just can't see this one luring me in for a 4th time. Great location and views.
I rarely make it to Lake Oswego, as I live in Portland proper and I am literally surrounded by fantastic local restaurants. So, why drive to Lake Oswego for dinner? Well--to meet friends, of course. We met our friends here to celebrate a birthday dinner. It was simply great.
If it is summertime, I highly recommend you make dinner reservations and get a table outside on the patio with a view of the (yes, manmade) Lake O. It's so pretty with all the trees framing it up, and other lovely greenery.
The service was solid and very professional. Ambiance is what you would expect in an upscale suburban restaurant. The food was fantastic and beautifully executed, as well as artfully presented. Prices are a tad steep, but not really for the area. Drinks were good.
My friends dine here fairly often, given the limited number of really good restaurant choices in the area, and they said the menu seems to change a lot and is inconsistent--they never know what sort of dishes might actually show up on the menu--Asian inspired, or French-ish, or what. Still, everything was great, so I can't fault them for that.
If you're in Lake O., this is a fine choice--especially if you can sit outside in the golden sunshine on a lovely Portland summer eve.
Lake Views, substantial wine selection, pressed for time so I could only have a glass of wine, heavy pour, good prices, looking forward to returning for dinner.
I've never been disappointed in a trip to Five Spice.
The seared scallops were done just right, and the tomato bisque is just to die for. I've also enjoyed lamb and fish dishes there, always moist and delicious.
The Lake Oswego location is first-rate- beautiful views of the water at sunset, especially if you can get a seat outside (there's a nice little fire out there to keep things warm when it's breezy).
I'll give them them one thing: They have an excellent assortment of teas. They also had a good selection of happy hour drinks, which everyone at the table seemed to be happy with.
Over the course of my three-hour meal here with friends that might as well be family, we had our fair share of dishes. Oysters, curry, spring rolls, chicken cabbage salad, and $8 worth of Pellegrino later we are virtually experts on the cuisine of Five Spice. So, with that being said, it's better than the joke next door (Manzana), but only slightly.
The restaurant itself has nice views and aesthetic building features, making it a nice place to have a few drinks. I feel, though, that their menu is diversified in a way that they don't have one particular dish they do well on. When a restaurant has oysters available in one dish only, how fresh do you think those oysters will be? Same goes with the curry - they are probably not going to be trying anything new and awe-inspiring there either.
I suppose that's the best I can say for Five Spice. It's menu leaves quite a bit to be desired, but if your in a jam for a place to eat it would probably be your best bet in the area.
This is one our favorite Lake O. restaurants. It specializes in fusion cuisine. My fav appetizer is the Trio of Tartares -- beef, fish, and veggie. They also do a great grilled sea scallops. Five Spice is on the second floor of a new building in Lake O perched over the lake. In warm weather it's nice to sit outside but also quite enjoyable dining inside. The service is very attentive and the menu creative. We always make a point of taking out of town guests here if we're dining in town. Highly recommended.
FiveSpice bursting with flavor inside and out
Sometimes a view and patio alone can make a place. Throw in some rocking, free-standing fireplaces to warm you up and tasty food and you got me at FiveSpice whenever I can.
This Lake Oswego hotspot specializes in pan-Asian cuisine. I went healthy and ordered the chicken cabbage salad, which was bursting with flavor. The combo of seasonings was the most unique I've had on a salad with a mix of cilantro, grapefruit, peanuts and a spicy dressing. I highly recommend it.
Tip: Reserve a table on the deck ahead of time.
This is my favorite restaurant in Lake Oswego. The service and food is fantastic. This is a great place to hang out with your friends or to have romantic lunch or dinner. There is an outside seating on a patio that you can enjoy with the view of the lake. I wasn't a big fan of the fried squid but their fried five-spice squid was delicious; you can taste the spices in the batter,not just a deep fried batter. My two most favorite entrees are the Seared Sea Scallop and the Grilled Ahi Tuna. Their Chocolate Bread Pudding dessert, yummy. It's so soft and not too sweet.
I am astounded by the lower than 5 star reviews for Five Spice. Their complete bamboo interior is stunning as well as their lake-side view. My favorite part of their assortment of foods is their happy hour. It is a good balance of gourmet nw-fusion and classic asian flair. Their wine selection is excellent and it is easily one of my favorite places to take my fiance and or clients; just an impressive space.
Five spice wasn't as good as anticipated. The best thing about the restaurant was the view and the restaurant inside has a cozy setting as the decor was very modern but something was missing. The service was alright but not great and the food was just OK. The Duck Confit appetizer was pretty good. The halibut was just not that tender as they might have undercooked it or could be a few days old. Black cod was good and the chinese sausage did bring out some flavor. I don't know it is a nice restaurant and seem to have a good happy hour menu, but too many variables on my visit and I just have to give it 3 stars for now.
