PALMBEACHPOST.COM - Asian flavors star in variety of dishes
By Kate Diaz - Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
After getting a co-worker's recommendation, my friend and I headed to 5-Spice Asian Street Market. We wanted something hip and scrumptious that wouldn't make us late for a play that evening, and we found it at this street-food inspired restaurant.
5-Spice's menu includes items from Japan to Singapore. With options as varied as meaty family dinners and create-your-own noodle bowls, no one with a pan-Asian inclined palate will go hungry here. We started off our culinary tour with the vegetarian curry samosas ($4.49). Six perfectly fried triangles filled with a tamarind ginger chutney arrived at our table minutes later. Here, patrons order at the counter and wait for runners to bring the food to them. The samosas had plump peas and corn and a delicate curry flavor. They're a great introduction for anyone who's hesitant about this spice blend.
For the main course, my friend chose the ever popular chicken Pad Thai ($7.49). There were plenty of noodles to fill her up, but halfway though she was searching for more chicken. Noodle dishes come with chicken ($7.49), roasted pork, tofu, beef or shrimp and an extra helping is $2 more. Extra veggies are $1.
I ordered the Chinatown roasted pork ($6.99) and enjoyed the meat's sweet and smooth honey-glazed flavor.
Flame-roasted meals come with a hearty Chinese bun and two sides. I went with the brown rice and Thai curry vegetables. I love curry, and while the long beans, red peppers and zucchini were crisp and fresh, I was wishing the spice wasn't so subtle.
We didn't forget dessert. A small cassava cake ($1.99), with a crunchy outside and gooey inside, was a great complement to the Pocky sticks we picked up at the register. We tried two flavors of the thin biscuit sticks, one dipped in a bittersweet chocolate ($2.79) and another with a yogurt-like green tea coating ($3.59).
The market's motto is "real dining happens on the street," and they offer diners the option to eat near the street with plenty of outdoor seating along the sidewalks of the Shoppes of Blue Lake. The atmosphere inside is just as inviting, with reddish walls, dark wood seats and even a rickshaw to greet customers who enter.
