FIVE SPICE
I think it has been exactly a year since my last visit here. The last time too I had been here with my Sister and a friend, This time it was just the younger cousins, not so young anymore but we are still the generation today and we came here at ten in the night. Be sure of one thing when you step foot in Bandra on a Sunday Eve looking for a decent enough place to beat the hunger - You have got to have made a reservation or be prepared to wait! That is what we did, we gave our names, parked the car and put our feet up till they ringed us up. Then we ran for our lives before they gave away our spot to the next in line. My cousin Brother in particular was like I have never seen girls being so excited and eager for food. Well, the one thing I like about my family or rather how I like to refer to it - Chidiya Ghar (out of affection only! Well, most of the time at least! :P) is that we don't shy away from food. We love our Biryani and Kebabs and are not scared of taking a second or third serving even!
This place has 2 levels to it and even then has a long-waiting list, so you can imagine the popularity of the place. Families, friends, couples, you will find them all here. Though I generally don't do fine-dines unless I am with family or else it will lead to uncomfortable situations where my parents or some elder will be gawking and making faces at a couple who might be cozy and not ashamed of some PDA. I have made the mistake of that and since then have sworn off those places when with family. Better be safe than sorry. Point? My cousin Bro though the youngest us of all, is a little like that. Which is probably why I suggested this place. That with craving some chineeese!
Five Spice is generally crowded even on Week day lunches, so you can imagine what Sunday evenings would be like. But no complaints, once you are seated inside it is all so so worth it. Moreover, since we had like a half an hour wait, we had already utilized the time to decide on our menu before hand instead of being seated and then taking half an hour to decide (The wonders of Zomato!). Yes, we are that people. Plus the menu has so much in it that it can get so very confusing, should I order this or that? or maybe that? and it never ends. So with pre-decided order, it took us hardly 5 minutes to give our order. One more thing, as tempting as it is don't order more than you can have especially since this place is known for the quantity they serve as well. Lets just say 1 fried rice would be more than enough for 3 people or 2 and a half. Depends on your appetite. So keeping this in view we ordered for 1 rice based dish, 1 noodle based and 1 gravy on the side. Yes, I know 2 for 4 and as a result we had to take what was left over as take away. Though that's not a bad thing either. I have always said, food cooked today, always tastes better when reheated tomorrow. :P
Initially, when we got the seat in the secluded corner, our hearts screamed with joy. But it did not last so long. The place might have been ideally the best on the floor, no over-hearing of conversations, you can do your own thing, seated next to the glass overlooking the huge chandelier. The only problem? All the attendant on the floor? Pay no heed to you and it will be quite the task asking them to even re-fill your empty glasses of water. But our excitement was not to die down or so we had decided and so we put up with it. After all our stomachs were growling.
Our Order for the day was Spicy Pot Chicken, Crispy Chicken Rice and Prawns Hakka Noodles. Though I was tempted to order a starter too, my sister gave me the eye which translated to you are not going to be able to eat all of that. So with a sad face, I kept to the three and my sister indeed was right, when the food did come, I was like Are we going to finish all that?!! As soon as the food was served, we dug in like we had not had anything to eat for days probably. The Crispy Chicken Rice was topped with a sumptuous quantity of what do you know? Crispy Chicken! :P In General, I am not a fan of Hakka Noodles as I like my food to have a little spice to it, and Hakka Noodles is plain bland, I generally say, if it is actual Chinese, if it is road side, then its another thing. But here I actually savor the Noodles. It might be devoid of traditional spices but it is not devoid of flavor. It is subtle but it hits the right spots on your flavor palette, I mean the tongue. Generally, I do like the gravies that are served here. But this day, very honestly I did not. I felt like it was something that is served to the sick who are bed ridden and even though it is a source nourishment then, I was not bed ridden or sick. I would just say that I ordered wrong and should have stuck to the Wok. Another thing, that you have to have at 5 spice is their dessert. Well, you will be tempted to as the first thing you see when you enter is the dessert counter. Nice strategy I would say. Just reading it off the menu is not as effective as seeing it all there, calling out to you, waiting to be had. Hence, it was decided that we would have dessert. Being a cheese cake loyalist and well, nothing tastes better than cheese cake, I did indeed stick to cheese cake. The question was, which one? Since they had 4 different flavors in those itself. My cousin being a chocolate addict, stuck to chocolate. So 1 death by Chocolate and 1 strawberry cheese cake it was. To be split among 4. As much as it killed me. I hate sharing cheese cake. If you asked me cheese cake was the winner, if you asked my sister, chocolate. So you can pick.
Most of you have probably already been here. Because who hasn't? The food here is simply delish! Add to it the generous quantities. You have got a clear winner.
WHAT WE HAD - Crispy Chicken Rice ( Double the Yum!)
Prawns Hakka Noodles ( Double the Yum!)
Spicy Pot Chicken ( Avoid)
Strawberry Cheese Cake ( Marry it!)
Death By Chocolate (If you are a chocolate addict!)
DAMAGES - Rs 1500/- (Approx)
WHERE - 5 Spice, 3/4, Dheeraj Pali Arcade, Dr. Ambedkar Road, Pali Naka, Pali Hill, Bandra (W), MUMBAI
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