Wanting to try the newest Chinese restaurant in town, my wife, her sister and I went for an early dinner tonight at 5 Spice China Grill. Located in the old Ocean Zen (OZ) location on South Glenstone, 5 Spice is run by the same owners as Ocean Zen.
We arrived just before 5pm (it is Friday) and found the parking lot nearly empty so snagged a spot right in front. The parking situation at 5 Spice has not changed from the Ocean Zen days – so if it is as popular at OZ was – be prepared to have trouble finding a place to park at peak times.
Once you get a look at the menu -You will see some familiar menu items like ‘Springfield Style” cashew chicken and General Chicken. You will also notice why 5 Spice is different than most if not all of the other Chinese restaurants in town – and that is the prices; $12 for the cashew chicken – $8 for spring rolls – $21 for orange beef. After we saw the prices, we were hoping for something really special – especially considering the OZ connection.
We ordered lobster wontons ($7.95) as a starter, General Chicken ($13.95), Orange Beef ($20.95) and a side of mixed vegetables ($6) to share between the three of us. 5 Spice encourages ordering and sharing entrées family style (or so the little card on the table said). We received 2 small bowls of rice to accompany our entrées.
The lobster wontons would be better called ‘lobster’ rangoon – cream cheese filled fried wonton wrappers. We were hoping that for $8 we would actually see some lobster in the wontons – but we didn’t. They were good – but not really any better or significantly different than a crab rangoon from almost any other Chinese place in town. There were 5 ‘rangoons’ on the plate sitting in a nice sweet sauce and there was a little bit of salad at the end of the plate with a tasty oriental dressing. The sauce was I think the same sweet sauce that comes with several of the dishes at OZ.
The General Chicken was not very spicy. I thought that some of the pieces of chicken had an off flavor. My wife suggested that perhaps it was just a combination of spices I wasn’t used to – but I’m not sure that was it. The chicken was cooked well and was all white meat in nice big chunks. The dish also had green beans tossed in which I thought were good.
I liked the Orange Beef better. The sauce was one of the better orange sauces I’ve had and the beef was in nice big pieces. I would say that the beef itself was several steps up in quality from what would be considered typical in Springfield for Chinese beef dishes – it was tender and flavorful – but then at $21 it better had been. There were two large pieces of broccoli served with the Orange Beef.
The mixed vegetables were ok – some broccoli, cabbage, mushrooms and onions sautéed with some mild garlic.
The actual dishes the entrées were served in didn’t work that well for doing a family style meal. The Orange Beef plate was way too big for the table, the plate the mixed vegetables were served on didn’t have any sides so when you went to spoon some out you ended up pushing vegetables onto the table. The bowl the General Chicken was served in had one side higher than the other which made it difficult to scoop food out of if you were on the ‘high-side’.
Service was very good – my diet coke never sat empty, water refills were offered often, our food was delivered promptly and we were pleased with the friendliness of all of the staff.
No that is not a satellite dish in front of the building – if you look closely it is a really big wok (but it does look like a satellite dish). The interior of 5 Spice has had a minor facelift from the OZ days and has more Chinese-style art on the walls now. Gone is the large fish tank – replaced with a wine rack. Also gone is the techno music that was always nagging me in the background at OZ. 5 Spice kept the same crowded table layout as before – which is not a good thing – I do not like having to walk sideways to keep from brushing against people’s heads while navigating the dining room.
The driveway has a “Drive Thru” lane painted on it, but the menu board outside is empty so at least for now, there is no drive through service.
The food was good – but none of us thought that it was worth the prices being charged. I’m not sure I’ll be back.
2058 South Glenstone Ave – (417) 799-0215
Regarding the General Chicken, I did not have any pieces that tasted “off”. In fact, I liked the flavor. Also I noticed that the chicken become more spicy as we worked our way to the bottom of the bowl. Although the food was flavorful, I agree that it wasn’t different enough or the portions large enough to warrent the high prices.
they have figured out a lot of people will pay extra for trendy atmosphere. the jalili’s(owners of touch/flame) know this as well. so food quality is so-so, but style is over-the-top.
Well it is a great job of regional flavor fusion,but too pricy for what it is.
When we pulled up, I had the same reaction as you did. The room had the same Ocean Zen elegance and atmosphere. The service was great, but the food didn’t match our standards.
We started out with the Lobster Wontons as well and they were excellent. Smooth, creamy, but didn’t see or taste the lobster. Then we went to go on with our order.
Ben had the Sweet and Sour Chicken and didn’t like it so he gave me a piece. Biting into the chicken it was an explosion of flavor. I could taste the Sweet and Sour based sauce, but there was a distinct citrus taste that threw everything off. They just went too far with all the flavors.
Steve had the Noodles with all of the combination of meats. My initial thoughts were, it was well presented and looked appetizing. The first bite of the beef was excellent! Moving on to the noodles we ran into some taste issues. “It was just ok” he said sorting through his bowl. While the journey began sorting through the bowl we found tough pieces of meat. The pork actually tasted like you just got your food from China King (tough, dry and it tasted old), and the excellent flavor of beef, declined dramatically.
Myself, I had the General Chicken. Again, good presentation with rice mound on the bottom covered with asparagus and fried chicken portions. Most of the chicken was tender and fried to perfection, but I did run into tough pieces. The asparagus was cooked to the ideal crunchiness. The sauce was a bit peculiar! It definitely had the little spice ( as General Chicken should), but it had different taste that I couldn’t put my finger on. Later, I started to taste the bourbon flavor that he infused in the sauce.
In conclusion, the food was just alright! Sounds like they tried to do the gourmet Cashew Chicken and got a little crazy with the sauces. By the way I love Ocean Zen and I am not saying anything bad about the Tan brothers! But, it was just alright for me….
I have been here twice. Sadly, I have enjoyed better chinese food from the deli at Dillon’s. I am not impressed with “trendy atmospheres”. They do not make up for extremely high prices for mediocre food with poor service. >sigh< When will the restaurant owners of Springfield learn? We want great food, great service, cleanliness at reasonable prices?
The reason Springfield restaurant owners will not learn to make great food at reasonable prices is because it is impossible. Every Chef in town orders from the same purveyors so all the food can only be so good and usually tastes the same.
I am a Chef and have been working in local organic restaurants around the country for many years and just decided to move back. What Springfield needs is a change in food culture.
I worked at 5 Spice the first three weeks because I heard good things about Oceans Zen. Everything comes in a little box labeled Sysco. The Chef is very talented as is the whole family, but when your ingredients are poor and shipped halfway across the country there is little hope for great or reasonably priced.
Clean women’s restroom!
The women’s restroom is clean here!
Coming from a chicago market, i can honestly say that this restaurant could hold its own back home. My meal and service were excellent, and the freshness was never in doubt. It was a superior upgrade from hog through buffets, and it was nice to sit in a restaurant with ambience and flair and be treated like two adults dining out. We had some type of garlic chicken, excellent, and the lettuce wraps were great. The side of vegetables were uninspired but not inedible. I would highly recommend this restaurant for people who want a decent meal and a decent dining experience. If you want to just shovel, go to the other restaurants of which there are many.
It would be a real treat for Springfield to have some real Chinese (Guandong or Sichuan) or Thai food. People won’t ask for it if it is never offered… but the owners figure new variations on ‘cashew chicken’ (yuck) is good enough for the ‘guailo’ in this town. Bambu and Soo’s are about the only authentic places I’ve seen here.
high price
maybe you should try picking up the chicken with chopsticks? There’s a reason why Asians prefer chopsticks over clumsier forks and spoons.
Had a birthday lunch there Thursday for a lady at work. It was a very disappointing meal. I ordered the Spicy Mongolian Beef which was “okay.” However it took over an hour to get our food, I was given a diet instead of regular pepsi and our server didn’t bring out the correct drink until he brought our food – an hour later! One of the ladies had to go find our server to get a refill, I would have left had it not been a birthday party. Probably will not be returning. I can get that quality of food at a lower price with better service elsewhere.