5ive Spice

Omg!!! Must have their iced coffee made with New Orlean’s Café Du Mond! I would fly to NY any time just to have Phoa and coffee here! Best Soup of my life with that lemon grass grilled chicken!

My boyfriend and I came here on a slow Monday night. Sow as in WE WERE THE ONLY ONES IN THERE. The girls working there were totally unprofessional… screaming, goofing around, texting on their phones, and talking about their boy problems; they were so engrossed in their own business that our waters weren’t refilled once (even though my boyfriend blatantly and pointedly poured an empty carafe), our apps plate weren’t cleared at all, and it was perhaps 15 minutes sitting with our empty entrée plates before we were even greeted again. Great food but the terrible service will never make me want to go here again.

My go-​to place of a quick dinner in The Slope. The phở is savory, so satisfying and so well priced. The staff is crazy quick and crazy friendly. I get the house phở with the brisket, and never regret it.

The service here is friendly and attentive. My friend ordered a phở, which she says is one of the best she’s had in New York. I tried her soup and it was flavorful. I had tacos, which were just as good. I finished every last bite! However, it can get a bit messy to eat since they are generous with the toppings. It was also a bit too oily for me. Other than that, I would return and I would recommend for others to try.

My second time around here and looooooove it.
We ordered, my daughter and I, 2 beef phở, spring rolls, summer rolls pork.
Yes, we were hungry and finally got out of long traffic which kept us forever on Atlantic.
Anyhow.
The broth was at perfect temperature for my much hurt throat from cold. Haha
Brisket, super tender, plenty of mint leaves to add the flavor… What else to say? Just perfect.
Peanut sauce from summer rolls? OMG!
So tasty! With crushed peanuts bits on top? Again, what else to say? Haha
Now on to spring rolls, okay, we were greedy. Couldn’t touch it. So full!
But taking them home for late night snack.
I can say, they were beautifully fried, with nice crispy outside.
So we are definitely coming back again, and again!

Cash only place, gets crowded!
This place should get 5 stars but the service is a bit off and they didn’t tell us the menu on wall, which was behind us, had different menu items then what’s on the menu given when you sit down. We tried 3 different tacos. Catfish was amazing! Short rib were so good but super spicy, almost tough to eat. They should warn you, and I can handle spice. The lemongrass chicken tacos are blah, no flavor.
The corn was really good!
It’s definitely worth trying again, maybe service will be better.

It’s Tuesday night and the place is packed! A very good sign. I plan on trying a dish from all four categories over the course of a few weeks so stay tuned.
First up… the short rib taco. It was excellent! Don’t order this on a date because it’s messy but it’s messy deliciousness! It’s also very filling.

**CASH ONLY — it’s the first thing they tell you when you walk in**
While eating at 5ive Spice before a game or concert at Barclays Center is ideal since they’re not too busy beforehand and it’s fairly quick, my group found the service here to be quite abysmal. Something was just totally off with the crew here — I’m not even sure if they get along to be honest. And just a few little weird things here and there made for a strange experience.
Case 1: staff openly arguing with each other because they can’t figure out which food goes to what tables.
Case 2: We find a LIVE BUG crawling in our romaine lettuce that came with our spring rolls, which by the way, was the END of a romaine heart. How does one expect us to wrap our spring rolls (as is what you’re supposed to do) with pieces of the end of a romaine heart? When we told the worker that there was a bug in the lettuce, he took the lettuce, threw it with anger into the trash can, yelled at some workers in the back, put new lettuce on to the same plate that he took away (with one roll missing because we already ate it), shoved it back on our table and told us «sometimes there’s bugs in lettuce.» WTF? Zero apology, whatsoever.
Case 3: whatever they use to clean the tables smells like straight up bleach or a swimming pool. The entire restaurant reeked of very strong cleaner smell to the point where someone at another table asked us «do you smell that?». Pretty much toxic and hard to breathe. Luckily we were on our way out.
As for the food, the spring rolls were fried well and the filling was meaty and savory. The broth of the house phở does not taste authentic (I didn’t see one Vietnamese person or anyone of Asian descent in the kitchen, if that says anything) and is way too sweet and doesn’t have the taste of the authentic phở spices. That being said, however, it wasn’t a bad broth… just a little too sweet from possibly the short rib, which was plentiful but a little dry, which is surprising. The noodles were of perfect texture and there was plenty of food to stuff us up before the concert — serving sizes are generous. Prices were very reasonable at $ 9 for a bowl of noodle soup. I liked the spicy touch to the house phở.
The food is cheap, but mediocre, at least in our experience. The service we received here and that awful toxic cleaner smell would not make me want to return.

Loved loved loveddd the summer shrimp rolls (they were really cold when they came out); crisp, fresh and the accompanying peanut sauce was bomb.
The classic Bahn mi was really yummy as well and honestly huge considering the price ($ 7)
Finished it off with the iced coffee which came in a mason jar and packed a punch
I left a happy and very full girl!

Food is absolutely awesome! I have been here 3 times now, and have ordered something different each time, and it always comes out delicious! You can’t go wrong with anything on the menu, but my favorites are the tacos and the vermicelli noodle salad. I just found they are BYOB and will bring some beverages with me next time!
Be warned, it’s cash only!!!

BYOB should be posted all over the entrance so you know to turn yourself around and go buy some beers. We had already sat down and told our waitress our order and asked what beers they had… um, none. I’m hoping they’ve been trying to get their liquor license and will serve adult beverages soon. There were huge waits at all the surrounding restaurants but not at 5ive Spice… that was why.
The food was really solid. Short rib phở was totally yummy. And so were the pork belly Vietnamese «tacos.»
So then I was thinking, «Hey, since they don’t serve alcohol, this would be a great place to order delivery from!» Um… nope. They don’t deliver. Oh COME ON. Seriously?
If they served beer there or offered delivery, I’d give them four stars. If they did both, 5ive.

A pretty tasty spot! The phở is completely untraditional, but this should be expected from a place that is selling phở and tacos. However, the brisket phở still warms your soul with its hearty flavor, and is utterly filling with flakes of tender beef. The ultimate comfort food.
The brussel sprouts are forgettable, undercooked, and not crispy but has pretty good flavor from the fish sauce and chile. The boys enjoyed the catfish tacos which was muffintopping out of its double layered tortilla shell. I loved the spring rolls (which here are the egg rolls) — which arrived crispy and oh so hot from the fryer, and the pork summer rolls (rice paper rolls) featuring thin slices of grilled pork.
Welcome new flavor in Park Slope, and perfectly positioned near The Chocolate Room for dessert :) !!!

Being Vietnamese myself, I might be biased, but how can I not be?
Cash only, window seat on a nice spring night.
Started with the brussel sprouts sautéed in fish sauce, not enough sauce and a little too much oil. Limeade was too sour, it’s usually sweeter.
Shrimp summer rolls — halved shrimp with pickled carrots, blasphemy!
Beef cube rice vermicelli salad — noodles were overcooked but edible, too much rough chopped lettuce and not enough other vegs, beef was tender but lacked flavor. I dipped in the Vietnamese chili vinaigrette which lacked a sour taste that I’m used to, but fixed it with more sriracha.
Banh xeo tacos — shell (rice flour) was thick and a little oily, prob needs to be eaten STAT. Meat filings ample but lacked flavor.
I’ll still try a banh mi.

Things I like:
— The dining room. It’s not too big so it’s comfy. I came around 3pm so it wasn’t crowded at all.
— As mentioned by others, they are cash only and are very clear about it before seating you.
— Mint water! They serve water in a bottle filled with mint leaves!
— They’re creative. The banh xeo taco is a cool idea, but I didn’t try it. Next time.
Meh:
— I like to drink, and would really really appreciate at least having beer and wine available. Or, you know, a whole bar. Yes I know I said I was there at 3pm lol.
— I got the house phở and honestly wasn’t blown away by it. It’s a good size bowl though.
— Cards! Please take cards! I know you told me but still… maybe someday?

I was pleased with this find! There’s been very few places with genuinely good Vietnamese food in the five boroughs, this place has come the closest.
The item I was most enthusiastic about was the spicy braised short rib phở. It was delicious, especially the broth, hot and a bit spicy! The short rib was soft, tender, and fell apart easily but what I loved most was just the soup!
The vermicelli bowl with grilled shrimp and spring rolls was good but could use a little improvement. There should be more fish sauce and it should be a bit sweeter. There was carrots, mint leaves, bean sprouts, green lettuce in the bowl but I felt like some variety was missing, can’t think what though.
They also have tacos here — the catfish taco was good, the fish wellbreaded, lots of veggies on top, a bit of salsa with avocado on the side.
But overall, I would stick with the Vietnamese food, particularly the phở.
This place is a little nicer than most Vietnamese establishments, nicer bowls, nicer décor, less rundown. It almost doesn’t seem authentic in that way. (But the cans of café du mode are somewhat reassuring.)

I really like the tacos here. I like the location too, the décor. Also ordered veggi dumplings, not bad.
Want to come back for phở sometimes.

I’m a fan! I came here based on awesome reviews from my friend and I tried their famous short ribs phở which was delicious and I tried the short ribs bahn mi (no I didn’t order two entrée if that is what you are wondering) I came with a few friends and we each ordered different things so I got to try their regular phở, their bahn mi… Personally I liked my short ribs phở over their regular beef phở. This place is cash only so keep that in mind before coming here but the nice waitresses will remind you at the door and I had a limeade which was delicious I just wished they didn’t put so much crushed ice in it so I get a few extra sip for $ 4. Overall I had better phở in Williamsburg but this one is slightly closer so I will definitely be coming back, I am very tempted to try their short ribs summer roll and crab meat spring rolls! Till next time.

Arrived 9.30pm found the resturant busy. was greeted by the hostess and sat at the bar.
Atmosphere is cozy a semi casual dining vibe.
Ordered Grilled chicken phở which was quickly served hot with lemon and sprouts as garnish along with a proper chinise soup spoon instead of a metal spoon which was a nice touch.
The soup was missing star anise and other essential flavorings tasted a lot like chicken soup in addition the garnish came with jalapeños instead of the thai red chillies which in my opinion a very non traditional substitute.
All in all a nice exprience of warm fulfilling meal of chicken soup a kind of extreamly toned down fusion of viatnamise and westren food.

How did I not know this place existed in the neighbourhood sooner? Thank goodness now I know!
Upon entering, my company and I were welcomed by friendly faces. They were really accommodating when we were ordering — they had suspected my company was vegetarian and offered to make the side of brussels with a different type of oil than fish oil. The brussels were darn good! Salty, crispy, slightly sour — a good medley of flavour and texture… though it probably wasn’t good for me, there was a pool of oil at the bottom of the bowl once we ate it all. I got the fish vermicelli and it was very tasty, though I found that the saltiness of the fish did overpower the rest of the dish. The few bites of the veggie phở I had were really good, I’ve never tasted veggie phở as good as that before, it was pretty similar to non-​veggie phở.
I want to come back and try other items on the menu. With such friendly staff and great prices, why wouldn’t I?

The newest addition to the neighborhood! If there’s one thing this area was short of, it’s phở. There’s a few respectable banh mi spots on 5^th, but no real sit-​down noodle restaurants.
Stopped by 5ive Spice on a weekday and had their house special phở, which featured spicy braised short rib. Not exactly traditional, but it was good. Great meaty broth, and throw in some Hoisin sauce and their special green Sriracha, and baby you’ve got a stew going!
Washed it down with a delicious Vietnamese iced coffee, which I assume had a ton of calories but sometimes you gotta treat yoself.
Speaking of nontraditional, their menu is basically ton of fusion. It features tacos (they come two to an order, so maybe better for sharing as an appetizer). They also have noodle salads with meat options that looked pretty good.
But next time, I’ll be back to try the banh mi.
Oh, and there’s a hidden speakeasy type of bathroom, which is equal parts confusing and awesome.
My only knock against them is that they’re cash only!