{"id":3781,"date":"2010-07-14T05:49:07","date_gmt":"2010-07-14T12:49:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/burgersdogspizza.com\/?p=3781"},"modified":"2010-07-14T05:49:07","modified_gmt":"2010-07-14T12:49:07","slug":"lake-oswego-or-five-spice-seafood-wine-bar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.peterstromquist.com\/?p=3781","title":{"rendered":"Lake Oswego, OR – Five Spice Seafood & Wine Bar"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Mrs. Burgerdogboy and I have switched our weekly happy hour nite out to Tuesdays, instead of Wednesdays, as she has a crack o’ dawn biz obligation every Thursday, and works entirely at home on Wednesdays. So we can be a little footloose on Tuesday nites. <\/strong><\/p>\n

We stayed close to home tonight and went to downtown Lake Oswego to hit Five Spice Seafood & Wine Bar, sit outside overlooking the lake, and have a few happy hour noshes and quaffs.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The menu is similar to many Portland happy hour offerings these days, with everything from roasted nuts, marinated olives, beet salad to grilled squid, or some various tartares, oysters, and of course a burger. Five Spice pretty much sticks to a $5 price point, for cocktails and wine, and $2- $13 for the food items from 3-6P. <\/strong><\/p>\n

Mrs. BDB had a couple of pours of the happy hour French Rose, and I went with one glass of Trumer’s Pilsner.\u00a0 Trumer is an old label from Salzburg, which also brews in Berkeley, CA, claiming the water at the California location is nearly identical to the Austrian site.\u00a0\u00a0 To me, beer is beer.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I opened with the marinated olives at $2, Mrs. BDB went for five on the half-shell for $6,\u00a0 \"\"<\/a>sourced in the\u00a0 NW, with a vinegar peppercorn marinade, which she adored. <\/strong><\/p>\n

Next up was a trio of tartares for her, beef (grand), seared ahi (left something to be desired) and a pureed edamame with rosemary-orange oil, the latter which should have been left in the test kitchen.<\/strong><\/p>\n

For $8, I went with the cheeseburger, with hand-cut fries, the fries were great, the burger, served plain on a charred bun, was a hand-formed patty of at least a third pound, overcooked to the point of producing its own arid-like ecosystem on the plate.\u00a0 The sesame bun was very similar in taste and texture to the buns Foster Burger fetches from their neighbor Vietnamese bakery.\u00a0 As the burger was so overcooked, I really am unable to comment on the flavor of the meat. Nice pickle, tho.
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Curious footnote:\u00a0 no salt or pepper on any table in the joint, but available upon request.
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Total tab, including tip, was $46, spending for happy hour, not as bad at the tab at the Benson the other week, but service was pleasant as are the surroundings.\u00a0 The ambiance is modern\/tech, but the air of sophistication was clouded with two televisions in the bar with sports airing on them, totally not necessary for the place or the zip code.<\/strong><\/p>\n

We finished the evening with a coffee and pastry from the St. Honore bakery, which is nestled underneath the restaurant, along the shores of the big lake they call Kitchigumee<\/span>,\u00a0 er, Oswego. Coffee and pastries at St. Honore are over the top, as French as one might find in Western Oregon.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Will we return to Five Spice? Possibly we’ll try their dinner offerings at some point.<\/strong><\/p>\n