Tagged: restaurants

May 5th, 2008

5 Spice China Grill Offers Springfield Fresh Twist on Chinese Cuisine

Chris and I love Asian food, hanging out with close friends, and trying new restaurants, so Saturday night was the perfect opportunity to check out Springfield’s latest Chinese restaurant. We met our pals Colby and Lyndsey for dinner at 5 Spice China Grill (5SCG), the newest restaurant from Johnson and John Tan, owners of Springfield’s popular Ocean Zen (OZ).

Springfield, MO, is known for its Chinese food and is the home of Springfield-style cashew chicken, and after eating in Chinese restaurants across the country and in China itself, I can honestly say there is nothing quite like Chinese food here. 5SCG was touted as a step up from usual Springfield Chinese cuisine, which is known for being quick and cheap, so we were excited to give it a try.

First Impressions
I could immediately tell when we approached 5SCG’s front doors that the restaurant belonged to the same family as Ocean Zen; the brushed metal doors were my first clue. Inside, a dark interior and a decor of wood, metal, and stone confirmed that the space had indeed once been OZ. Upon this reminder, I was eager to sit down and try the long-promised Chines cuisine.

Colby and Lyndsey were waiting for us, and we were fortunate to sit in a booth. Though the dinner crowd had yet to fill up the space, I could tell that the real estate around the free-standing tables would soon be crowded and difficult to navigate.

Family-Style Dining
5SCG crab crab encourages parties to eat family style, so the four of us shared an appetizer and three entrees. We started off with the Crispy Lobster and Cream Cheese Stuffed Wontons with Sweet-and-Sour Ginger Sauce ($7.95, 5 pieces). We were already lovers of OZ’s rangoon, so our decision to try the wontons was easy. In and of themselves, they were fantastic: the shell was slightly sweet and crispy, and the filling was thick and smooth. Side by side, I don’t know that I would be able to tell the difference between OZ’srangoon and 5SCG’s lobster wontons because I really couldn’t taste the lobster.

We studied the menu a long time before settling on our three entrees. Everything sounded so good, but we finally settled on the Chinese-style Wok Fried Rice ($12.95, pork), the Crispy Orange Glazed Beef ($20.95), and the Garlic Chili Tossed Crispy General Tso’s Chicken ($13.95).

Chris was eager to try the fried rice because ever since Gee’s East Wind on East Sunshine closed in the ’90s, he’s been unable to find fried rice that rises to his standards. Here’s what he had to say about it:

For the first time, I found fried rice that matched the flavor of Gee’s. It looked like a natural fried rice dish with natural colors and real veggies, egg, and spices. Even the pork was the real deal. The flavor wasn’t too strong, and the soy sauce complemented the other seasonings–it didn’t overpower the rest of the dish. The rice could stand alone as a meal on its own.

I was pleased with the fried rice, too. It was cooked to the right texture—not soggy and not crispy—and had a good mixture of veggies and pork, too.

The Crispy Orange Glazed Beef blew me away. I’m not normally a fan of beef in my Chinese food because the quality of the beef is usually questionable, but our server assured us that they used high-quality beef tenderloin for this dish. I could tell! It was tender and almost melted in my mouth with the tangy orange glaze that covered it.

The General Tso’s Chicken was my least favorite of our selections; it was excellent, but it paled in comparison to the rice and the beef. Again, I could tell the quality of the ingredients surpassed the quality at most Chinese restaurants. The chicken was moist and covered with just the right amount of breading, and the sauce had a slight kick but not enough to deter the average diner. And the green beans served with the chicken were good, too!

Between the four of us, we had exactly the right amount of food, and for once, I came away from a great restaurant not feeling like I had totally engorged myself.

Fantastic Service
We were really pleased with our service. Not once were our glasses less than half full! Our server Jody was polite, friendly, and knowledgeable about the menu. After confirming that we were finished with our entrees, he and another server promptly cleared our table, and he anticipated that we would want to split our check straight down the middle. Even though we didn’t stay for dessert, he didn’t mind letting us digest at our table a bit before leaving.

Final Rating
Hands down, Chris and I are going to go back. We loved the fried rice, and we’d like to try the cashew chicken and the sweet-and-sour chicken, too. Now that we know how much food we get, when we do go back, we’ll probably keep our choices simple: an appetizer, some fried rice, and another entree. Even with all that food, I’m sure we’ll have leftovers to bring home. Here are some other observations from our experience you might consider:

  • We went to 5SCG for dinner, but we think they have a smaller-portioned lunch menu.
  • They also have a drive through with select items from the menu, but we’re not sure if it’s functioning yet.
  • If the restaurant grows in popularity, parking will be hard to find during prime dining hours.


Have you been to 5 Spice China Grill? What was your impression of their food and service? Interested in what others had to say? Check out these other reviews:

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February 16th, 2008

Kai Disappoints On Valentine’s Day

I first reviewed Kai, Springfield’s downtown Asian fusion restaurant, in September, and Chris and I ate there again with friends in December to celebrate graduation. For Valentine’s Day, Chris surprised again with a date there. Under normal circumstances, I wouldn’t review a restaurant twice, but last night’s experience warrants one.

Bar none, Kai has the best sushi in Springfield, and the rest of its food is high on my list of favorites; furthermore, the atmosphere is unmatched. But all of that was ruined last night for three reasons:

  1. The worst table in the restaurant. If you want a table at Kai on any given weekend, you must have a reservation or resort to eating in the bar, so Chris had the foresight to make dinner reservations for Valentine’s Day in mid-January. To me, it makes sense that those who make the first reservations would get the better tables, but when we arrived just before 7 PM, we were seated at the worst table in the place: in the doorway from the main dining room to the banquet room where customers, hosts, servers, and managers all came and went. If Chris sat normally at the table, it was impossible for anyone to get from one space to another, so he had to scoot his chair in and away from the center of the table to let people pass through semi-unobtrusively. Clearly, Kai was trying to get as many people crammed into the restaurant as possible and didn’t consider how uncomfortable it would be for the customer who was sitting in that seat. The entire evening I prayed that no one would spill water or sushi down my husband’s back.
  2. A one-hour wait for our entree. We arrived right around 7 PM and were seated promptly. Kai had a set menu for the evening: appetizers of cucumber and clear noodle salads, a sushi sampler, and a meat sampler; an entree (we selected sea bass with wasabi risotto); and a dessert of cheesecake and banana/chocolate egg rolls. As soon as we ordered, the first appetizer stage (the salads) came right out, and the second and third stages promptly came out once we were finished with the prior stage. Because of this promptness, we expected our entree to come quickly, too; however, it didn’t come until 8 PM. We didn’t check to see what time we wrapped up our appetizers, but we’re sure we waited 30-40 minutes for our entrees. By the time they came, we were digesting our appetizers and were ready for dessert!
  3. No compensation or apology from the management. Now I’ve worked in food service, and though the restaurant wasn’t as upscale as Kai, I learned that servers should alert the manager of any problems with a table. I give our server credit for apologizing for our entree delay, but he should have notified his manager of our wait time, and the manager should have come to our table and apologized. Our server should have also noticed that I left more than half of my entree uneaten. I have a horrible head cold and the flavors didn’t mesh well with all the phlegm in my system (which is not the restaurant’s fault), but when a customer hardly touches her food, that should raise a red flag to the server, and the server should notify the manager, so the manager can make sure everything was OK. The managers/owners walked past our table several times during our meal but didn’t take any notice of the unhappiness on our faces.

Including the tip, we paid well over $100 for last night’s dinner, but based solely on last night’s experience, I wouldn’t return to the restaurant because the bad experience outweighed the great food and atmosphere. I won’t say that we’ll never return because we really do love the restaurant, and we have been treated well on prior visits (during our visit in December, my pal Lyndsey and I were comped our desserts simply because we had just graduated with our Master’s degrees), but we’ll reconsider spending our money there for a special event or on a busy night again.

Please note: I hate writing bad reviews, but if you search for any variation of “kai springfield sushi” in Google, my original review appears on the first page of results. That post is also one of the most popular pages on my blog, so though we didn’t (and maybe should have) complained to the manager last night, maybe this will compensate.

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October 19th, 2007

Why Don’t Family Restaurants Make Their Nutritional Info Available?!

All right, I’ve got a little beef with the “family” restaurants—Applebee’s, Chili’s, Cheddar’s, TGI Friday’s, Olive Garden, Zio’s. Of course, I’m trying to be a gazelle (a Dave Ramsey term) and be mindful of what I eat, so when Chris and I decided to go on a date for dinner, I raced to the restaurant’s web site to look up the menu’s nutritional information. What did I find? Nadda.

WTF? Every fast food restaurant (and even some sit-down places) I can think of has their nutritional information posted:

And since those family restaurants don’t have nutritional information on their sites, here’s what I could find thanks to other health-conscious consortiums:

And if there are any restaurants I’ve missed, here’s an index of restaurants with links to nutritional info. I guess, in this age of information, I don’t understand why I can’t have the nutritional information from the franchise restaurants I love. It just seems silly that fast food restaurants can have their nutritional info available while these other restaurants don’t. Don’t they know that obesity is an epidemic in this country? Some of us want to go out to dinner prepared for the decision ahead of us, for crying out loud!

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September 29th, 2007

Ocean Zen Brings Asian Fusion to Springfield

I don’t intend all my restaurant reviews to be of the Asian-fusion variety, but Chris and I had an anonymous gift card (evidence suggests it was from Chris’s bosses) to Ocean Zen, a 2006 Best of 417 winner. We also wanted to celebrate the completion of my thesis’s first working draft, so I made reservations for the hubby and I on Friday night.

We were greeted on the other side of the enormous wooden doors by friendly hosts. Our table wasn’t quite ready, so we waited in the foyer. This gave us time to take in the decor of the dining room. Another review I read referred to the interior design as having an “under the sea” theme—and not of the Little Mermaid persuasion. I really didn’t catch that theme until I read that review; the use of wood, metal, fire, and water made me think of zen-like feng shui.

But enough about the decor. I mean, as cool as it was, that’s not why we were there. The hosts seated us within ten minutes of arriving, and we had a seat right next to the kitchen in a half booth-half bar top table. Now, if we had planned a romantic dinner, this was not the ideal table; however, I happen to like being in the action, and we could see the kitchen, the bar, and the dining room from our vantage point.

Our server greeted us right away, but we had to remind him a second time to bring Chris’s iced tea. Our Blue Crab and Cream Cheese Stuffed Crispy Wontons were promptly brought to our table. These rich pockets of heaven are arguably the best in town and could easily be mistaken for a dessert rather than an appetizer.

Chris ordered the Mongolian Barbeque Glazed Grilled 12 oz. Ribeye with Szechwan-style Asparagus, Bacon Cheddar Smashed Potatoes, and Peppercorn cognac Cream Sauce. Chris says, “The ribeye was good but was a little disappointing. I expected it to be a little better, but part of that was my fault; I ordered it medium rare, but it was a little too rare for me. The glaze was fantastic and had a sweet, subtle kick to it. The steak was tender—not tough. It was a good piece of meat, but it wasn’t the most flavorful steak. The asparagus was quite possibly the best I’ve had—it wasn’t stringy or limp or soggy but was crisp, fresh, and flavorful. The smashed potatoes were also great. They had a good texture and were infused with real pieces of bacon that added a rich flavor, which complemented the steak. All together, it was a great dish.”

I ordered the Sesame Nori Crusted Seared Rare Ahi Tuna with Lobster Mousse Stuffed Shrimp, Wild Mushroom Risotto Cake, and Balsamic Lobster Glaze. The tuna was excellent at first bite—hot and seared on the outside and warm and rare on the inside with a subtle tuna flavor. The risotto cake was the best risotto I’ve ever tried; it’s flavor was rich with flavor yet light in texture. The shrimp was rich with the lobster mousse and was wonderful. Actually, the flavors of the risotto and the shrimp outshined the tuna. And perhaps I’m a slow eater, but by the time I reached the last of the tuna and risotto, they had lost their warmth and weren’t very yummy to eat anymore.

This was our second visit to Ocean Zen since its move to the Battlefield location, and so far the service and food has been consistent. Friday night, from our booth near the kitchen, we witnessed the teamwork of the staff, which was fun to watch. We’re excited to visit Ocean Zen again and see how its service and food continue to improve, and we can’t wait to pick out a favorite OZ dish.

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September 2nd, 2007

Kai Serves Up Sushi in Downtown Springfield

Last night, my hubby Chris surprised me with a date to Springfield’s newest Japanese restaurant, Kai. According to GO Magazine, Kai is owned by the same folks who own the popular sushi bar and grill Haruno in southeast Springfield, so I had high expectations for their cuisine. (If you’re not a sushi fan, don’t fret—Kai also has steak and seafood.)

Referencing Kenneth G. Henshall’s 1988 book A Guide to Remembering Japanese Characters, kai can mean “sea” or “shellfish,” appropriate definitions considering the restaurant’s fare. Of the twenty or so definitions of the word, another caught my eye; kai can also mean “to meet.” As the restaurant is set in downtown Springfield and has an inviting bar, this definition is also appropriate.

But enough about semantics, let’s talk about our experience. Chris and I were unable to make reservations because of our late-made plans, but the hostess was able to seat us immediately in the bar (the main dining room is upstairs). We were impressed by Kai’s modern Asian fusion atmosphere, which included chrome accents found in everything from our chopsticks and two-top bar table to the array of disco balls and wall hardware. Chris was enamored with the LED wall that seemed to dance with the rhythm of the trance music booming in the background (in general, Chris loves most interior and concert design that involves LED—especially the LED curtains flanking the stage on U2’s Vertigo tour).

Chris started with an iced tea; the GO Magazine reviewer said it was the best in town (quite an accolade considering that McAlister’s has held the long-standing honor for as long as I have lived here). After taking a sip of it myself, I agreed, as it reminded me of some tea I had at a Japanese restaurant in China a few years back. We didn’t sample the alcohol menu because we’re not big drinkers, but from my glance at the drink menu, there are as many drink options at Kai as there are sushi options. And if their bartenders are as good as their chefs, you won’t be disappointed in the alcohol department.

We started our meal with the Kai Gyoza appetizer. As we’re both fans of the Japanese dumpling, we were not disappointed in the subtle texture and flavor of Kai’s. They were served with a just-spicy-enough sauce that kicked their flavor up a notch without scaring off my hubby’s taste buds.

Our nigiri arrived next and was my favorite part of our meal (strangely, I like nigiri more than I like sushi rolls—most people seem to be the other way around). Nigiri is an oval-shaped sushi that includes a piece of raw fish over a bit a rice. We ordered two types: salmon and albacore tuna. When you place a sample of nigiri in your mouth, you’re awakened to the simple, yet unique, flavor of each fish. The rice cleanses your palette in preparation of your next bite. Whereas cooked fish often has more robust flavor from its juices, the nigiri requires its taster to look for and pay attention to its flavor.

Our “Memoirs of a Geisha” roll arrived last to our dinner table. The Geisha is an inside out roll where rice encases the roll rather than seaweed. Inside, the Geisha was laced with crab meat, cream cheese, and avocado; outside, the Geisha was garnished with a variety of roe (fish eggs). Though it’s a simple roll, the combination of flavors boded well with our palettes.

Our only “complaint” about Kai was our server. It’s not much of a complaint because he was fairly attentive, but he wasn’t super personable. We asked for recommendations from the sushi menu, and he offered a handful, but he didn’t seem too enthused about them.

For anyone who enjoys downtown Springfield, good sushi, or excellent interior design, we recommend Kai, but make reservations a head of time to get a seat in the dining room. Holistically, our entire experience was excellent, and we’re excited that downtown Springfield has a fun, new restaurant for us to frequent.

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