I came across Five Spices House after googling "best Dan Dan noodles in Boston." I had a craving, and it was the first match! Since then I've been to Five Spices twice for takeout, and dine-in once. The Dan Dan noodles are solid, but certainly not the best compared to other places. Hard to describe, but they have a little "off" taste. I typically order the wontons in chili oil as well, which have that same bit of an odd taste and while you'd expect there to be some oil, there is a LOT of oil. I was excited about the Ma po tofu, even though it was a vegetarian version without pork, and this unfortunately disappointed. Again, a lot of oil, and not much flavor. If going to Five Spices, I would stick with the "safe" American Chinese dishes (their chicken and broccoli and pork dumplings were solid) but the riskier ventures I found weren't worth it. read more

While the spicy hot pot soup was good in flavor, but it was too greasy, there's a thick layer of oil on top of the bowl that could give you a cholesterol attack, plus they put too much MSG and alot of different spices. I asked for mild, but it's still too spicy for me that I eaten just half of it. Dan dan noodle and cumin spare ribs were decent but I thought they used the same seasonings for every dish or something, it tasted the same to me. Couple hours after the meal, my husband and I had upset stomach and felt nauseous. Even though there's good reviews on dry hotpot that I want to try, but I'm afraid to come back to try any dish here. read more

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On a cold night, szechuan-style food cures the body of all its chills. The food came out quickly and was satisfying though the issue with most szechuan foods is that they all have relatively similar flavor profiles. Most dishes are doused in chili oil and chili flakes, and this place is no exception. To prep the palette for a fiery spice fest, try the cold sliced spicy ox tail and tripe. You get a healthy portion with a good balance of meat and tripe (a little more meat which is a plus), and it's not too spicy. The spicy beef noodle soup was good, but the portion is really lacking relative to other restaurants in Chinatown. There's just enough to share among two people (assuming you're sharing other dishes) but it's probably best as a single serving, There's also very little baby bok choy. I believe we had 2-3 small pieces. It's nice to have a bit more veggies to cut the oiliness. Lastly, the fish in the spicy sliced fish dish was tender and had a mild flavor. The bowl is filled to the brim with sliced fish which sits on a bed of chinese cabbage, all smothered in a thick spicy, chili oil sauce. Accompany the fish with a nice bowl of steamed rice ($1.50) to mellow out the spiciness. Tip, if you pay in cash, you get a bit of a price break. Your savings is equivalent or slightly more than tax. There may be a minimum ticket total for this offer to apply, so ask the staff for specifics. read more

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Decided to forgo the traditional Seafood in Boston tonight and head to Chinatown. Many choices with "traditional" neon signs but I opted for this corner restaurant with 5 four tops, 2 two tops and a circular table that would seat 6. At 8:30 on a Thursday night there were 12 patrons plus myself. The menu contains choices for beef chicken and lamb along with a lobster tank option. I opted for the spicy beef with peppers. It was asterisked with a spicy warning icon. I was not asked for a spice level (I do enjoy flavorful spicy, not OMG pass me the milk I can't feel my tongue spicy). The meal arrived within 5 minutes. The beef was well trimmed and tender. No gristle or fat that you sometimes get. The level of heat was perfect. Added flavor to the dish without covering it up. Personally I would rate it close to the left of medium in spice but if you are sensitive to spicy food you probably would call it very hot. There is a radio station playing inside the restaurant at a low volume, easy to hold a conversation and the atmosphere was family oriented.. Meaning I felt like I was somewhat in someone's home but there were all adults. I definitely recommend to try them out. read more

Five Spices House - Boston - Spicy beef with peppers - Szechuan Near Me - Boston, Massachusetts

Our family goes here every single time we are in Chinatown. I don't recommend make your own dry pot rather do the ones on the menu. Get the fish in pickled cabbage, and other dry pots. The place isn't cheap but the taste is always superb read more

Five Spices House - Boston - Szechuan Near Me - Boston, Massachusetts

Love the mala dry pot---you can pick the ingredients that you want and they cook them in a delicious spicy base. Lotus root, bean curd, enoki mushrooms, pork intestine (try it once and you'll never go back), beef trite and noodles are go super well. The beef spicy soup pot is also great and pretty similar to the dry pot--the thin cut beef are similar to what you would see in a hot pot. read more

My favorite place in Chinatown. Pro meal for 2: Hot & sour soup app Veg lo mein Szechuan wontons Crispy beef read more

5 Spices House occupies the former Vinh-Sun spot on Beach Street. The space is pretty much the same, they have cleaned up the look and perhaps more seats downstairs, I didn't go up top though. They have a similar menu for lunch but they are charging $8.50 vs $7.95 and $21.50 for 3 dishes. The lunch comes with broth/soup and rice. I had sauteed Napa Cabbage with garlic and peppers (4/5). I also had Ox Tendon and Tripe in Chili Sauce, it was a little heavy on the oil, slightly metallic but good(3/5). I also sampled the Chive Pie (chives, eggs, cellophane noodles, and scrambled egg) 2 pies with ginger soy sauce, that were crispy and delicious (4.5/5). There is a chef specials menu that had some interesting items. * new and shiny, flower bouquets in the foyer and all! (didn't see firecracker paper) * the staff were very attentive. * Solid Taiwanese, with other Shanghai and Szechuan items and some generic dishes. * Entree Soups and Hot Pots were seen as well as Lion's Head(meatballs). * parking, nope, the usual suspects lots. Would not leave my car in any of the availble spots in Chinatown. read more

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We got cumin chicken and double cooked pork. Both dishes were great but would have liked a bit more spice and ma la flavour. Still, good value for tasty food read more

We stopped in on a Sunday afternoon and were seated right away. We had the Chengdu liangfen (Sichuan style cold jelly) and Sichuan wontons with chili oil. The cold jelly was refreshing and soft, swimming in delicious Sichuan chili oil. The wontons were warm, stuffed with pork, and similarly swimming in umami, spicy, and slightly sweet chili oil. I would honestly drink the stuff. We hadn't seen liangfen at many Sichuan restaurants in the area so my boyfriend was excited to find it here. We do eat a lot of Sichuan food and this is some of our favorite so far. We'll be back for more! read more

Five Spices House - Boston - Szechuan Sichuan Style Cold Jelly Szechuan Sichuan Wonton with Red Chili Sauce - Szechuan Near Me - Boston, Massachusetts

Alongside their sister restaurants Five Spices House in Cambridge and Ibasaw in Malden, this is hands down the best and most authentic Sichuan place I have been to in Boston. I say this as a first-generation Chinese American with Sichuan parents, and as someone who has traveled to Sichuan at least a dozen times throughout my life. It's bewildering that this restaurant is rated so low!! For classic delicious dishes, try out the Beef Chow Fun, Sliced Pork Belly in Garlic Sauce, Hot and Spicy Chicken, Chilled Chicken in Chili Oil, Sichuan Style Double Cooked Pork, Mapo Tofu, and Shredded Beef with Spicy Green Pepper. These are all excellent. If you're more adventurous, try out the Beef Tendon and Tripe with Chili Sauce and Mala Pork Kidney. On top of that, the Ibasaw location in Malden also has all-you-can-eat hot pot (A++) and all-you-can-eat-sushi (A-). read more

Was in town for a conference and wondered over to the Chinatown area for some food. My group was able to get a table during the lunch time rush with little wait. We ordered a spicy hot pot with seafood (one of their specials), Singapore Noodles, and a bbq ribs dish (not pictured). Sorry I don't remember the exact names, don't have a menu to reference. We left satisfied, but not overly impressed. Prices very reasonable for Boston. At the end of the day, I would come and eat here again. read more

Five Spices House - Boston - Singapore Noodles (I think) - Szechuan Near Me - Boston, Massachusetts

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Must try: Grilled fish. Had take-out from this newly opened restaurant and the place was packed when we were there. We didn't know what to get and asked for advice and the lady at the cashier patiently explained to us what types of dish are popular. Will return def! read more

Review on my dan dan noodles to go! ETA was 50-60 min, but my order via Eat24 was ready after my 15 min stroll to Five Spices! The portion was smaller than expected for ~$9.50 including tax, more disappointing than that was the sauce. It wasn't very flavorful or spicy, but it was still quite tasty. Dan dan is really all about the sauce, so I was super disappointed they couldn't get this right. I don't know why Boston is lacking great Szechuan, I need my spicy goodness! I'll be back to try their dry pot and other dishes to give Five Spices another go. read more

This Taiwanese restaurant just opened in Chinatown where Vinh Sun used to be and it's a good place for big groups, but I wasn't too impressed by the quality of their food. Although their portions are quite large, they are a little more expensive compared to other restaurants in the Chinatown area. Ordered the: -Taiwanese style rice cakes with beef and vegetables ($8): pretty big portion, but I don't think the quality of the dish was worth the price I paid for it. You get A LOT of rice cakes...like more than I'm comfortable with, and that is what really fills you up. Some people are okay with that, but I personally dislike it whenever there is a drastic imbalance of ingredients in a dish. The beef, vegetables, and sauce were decent, but I probably won't order any of their rice cake dishes again. Overall, I'd really only come here for Taiwanese food if I'm with a larger-sized group since Taiwan Cafe, across the street, has very limited seating. However, I'm still open to giving them another shot the next time I'm with a big group. read more

Five Spices House - Boston - Taiwanese style rice cakes with vegetables and beef - Szechuan Near Me - Boston, Massachusetts

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I love love love their Dan Dan noodles and cumin favored spareribs. They have so much flavor! The sizzling beef on crispy rice wasn't bad either but you really have to eat that first or else the rice gets soggy and falls apart. Service was a bit on the slower side but honestly I don't mind it unless I'm in a rush. Food is a bit pricier compared to other Szechuan places I've been to but for good food I say treat yourself. read more

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After calming down and thinking over how terrible the service is, I decided to type an honest review. If you eat here, be ready to use your voice and stand up for yourself. The food is good, but it might have something to do with me missing home. However, the price and quality really don't match up. I do recommend getting the spicy pot but be careful, they add a lot to drum up the prices despite you saying that's enough. I don't mind all the rushing people are complaining about. Instead, I mind the most about taking advantage of "tourists." We came up from New York for the weekend. After paying and putting down a tip, the woman hovering over us told us the minimum tip accepted is 15% and that's how they do things. No where on the menu is this stated. If we felt like their bad lunch service warranted more tip then we would've done so already. She had the nerve to tell us that is how things are done in Boston and it's customary everywhere. Seeing we didn't immediately succumbed to her request as humble customers, she just kept standing there, staring until we add up numbers. If you are looking for a service that "encourage" you to rewrite your tips with stares and pressure, come and enjoy the stares! read more

I'm a big fan of this place. Sichuan is one of my favorite cuisines and this place delivers the spice for sure. The price is good for what it is (good ol Chinatown) and the service was attentive as well. The cleanliness is what you'd expect in Chinatown, it is what it is. But the food is 10/10. Definitely will be going back for more tingly spiciness. read more

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Overall this place was great! Waitress was very nice, very clean environment, FANTASTIC orange chicken and lo mein! I would definitely give this place 10/10! read more

Asian review: authentic Chinese food, better than other places in Chinatown! The spic dry pot fish filet is to die for!!! And you can never go wrong with the dry sautéed string beans and eggplant with garlic sauce. Their 土豆丝 (shredded potato with green bell peppers) is good but not incredible. read more

I ordered the beef watercress stir-fry, the deep fried shrimp with peppers, and the fish spiced pot. The beef watercress and fried shrimp were delicious. The beef watercress was light and flavorful and perfect seasoning to eat with white rice. The shrimp were huge with a light flour batter and good seasoning. It wasn't anything special, you can't really mess up fried shrimps. The fish was highly recommended to us by the server who said that many customers gave them very good reviews. The fish looked amazing but the flavor and seasoning of this dish was very disappointing. Because of the bright red color, I expected the fish to be spicy with chili and seasoned with salt but it tasted different than what I expected. The only way I can describe the flavor is this: it seemed like someone went to their spice cabinet and threw in everything they had in the pot. The sauce/broth of the fish had so much spices and it was definitely overpowered by the cumin. I would eat here again but I wouldn't order the fish. The stir-fry and shrimp were good. I would recommend this place to friends and I would probably just come again for their lunch special hours, not for dinner service. I do, however, want to try their hot pot the next time I go there! It looked yummy! read more

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stopped in here on a Friday night and we were seated immediately. i ordered the stir fried tomatoes and eggs and my friend ordered general gau's tofu- both were so delicious. tomatoes and eggs is a favorite chinese dish of mine and i don't often see it on menus, so i was really excited and it was so tasty. the tofu dish my friend ordered was so good- tofu was crispy and the sauce was very tasty with a great amount of spice. we ordered some veg dumplings to share but they were meh. overall the food was great and the service was very quick, we were surprised by how quickly our food came out. will definitely come back! read more

This is an authentic Sichuan restaurant, which for those who don't know, is in the Southwest part of China. Their food is special for the term "Ma-La" which represents a type of spicy. "Ma" being the term, "Numb" and, "La" meaning spicy. Contrary to the generalization of food from this region of china being flavors of only spicy and cooking off your taste buds, this place serves their food proudly and represents Sichaun dishes very well. The dishes you get here are so full of flavors and cooked to perfection. The hot pot special is always a great choice. How it works is that you pick the meats and veg that you want from the cooler stand, have it weighed out and then the staff will cook it up for you in a pot of delicious Sichuan the flavors of "Ma-La" Located in the middle of Chinatown, it's super easy to get to, but if you have a car, good luck finding parking. The best option is to take the train in, and you can enjoy an amazing Sichuan meal with a beer.....and being that you trained in....have a few extra beers and Uber home. read more

This place has the right spice omg. The wait here varies from time to time but it usually busier on nights. The wait varies from 20-40 minutes (sometimes). Get the double cooked pork (twice cooked pork belly) and it also has some vegetables in it with spice to it. This dish is bomb diggity and I get it every time I go there. We also got the dry pot which was good and spicy but it was honestly pretty expensive, at around 40$ (for 2 people) and it didnt even look like a lot of food after it had been cooked. But the taste is really good and I would get it if it werent for it being so expensive. The service here is pretty good. One time we came here the waitress forgot to put in our order, so we just watched as other people who came after us got their food and we been sitting here and still eating air and drinking that water. You know that feeling. read more

Come here for the dry pot and the other food, not the service! They're pretty brisk and not terrible attentive. My stars are based on the food which is so tasty it eclipses the service. For the dry pot - You get to pick an assortment of meats and vegetables (it will look like a lot, but it boils down so go big) and they'll make you a dry pot - kind of like hot pot cooked for you with no liquid and options of how much spice you would like. Pricing is based on weight. I shared with a friend and we over-selected and ended up with leftovers at around $20 per person. Pricy for lunch, but we had a ton of shrimp and scallops in ours. Definitely get the potato slices - they soak up so much flavor! Spicy actually means spicy here - which I love - but don't get spicy if you're afraid of heat. Another really excellent dish sounds deceivingly simple - the boiled (fish/pork/etc) in spicy broth. The fish version of this is incredible. It's perfectly cooked and has an incredible spicy, garlic packed sauce. So much flavor! read more

Five Spices House - Boston - Szechuan Near Me - Boston, Massachusetts

In every of my Yelp review, I say this upfront: this post comes from two taste buds that have lived in the north part of China for over 22 yrs. And I want to tell you, this is NOT how spicy pot supposes to taste like! Food: skewers of tofu skin w, needle mushroom (kao bai ye jing zhen gu): 2 skewers in one order. The dish is very spicy, but only has the spicy flavor. There are no other flavors. It legitaly tastes like mushroom rinse in hot spicy water, without pepper corn, without salt. I believe they / anyone can do a better job seasoning it. spicy pot (ma la xiang guo): they price the dish by weighing it onsite. Vege and meat are two prices per lb. You would think you ordered a lot, but 1/2 of them will shrink. They cook it super fast, HOWEVER, how can a spicy pot taste like this!! The dish is not well seasoned with other spices. The only flavor in the pot is: spicy. BTW, I am great at spicy, it's not like I can not handle it. This dish is not even spicy for me, even though I ordered most spicy level. The dish needs other elements as well, like hua jiao, star anise, dou ban jiang. I am not happy with the spicy pot at all. Spicy tofu stewed with fish fillet (Ma la dou hua yu) : well well well. I don;t understand why the chef doesn't know how to use spices. There are hundreds of Chinese seasoning materials you can use, the chef choose to only focus on a single one... You can tell the fish is premade, because the fish is saltier than any other things in it, which I am fine with it. But the soft tofu has absolutely zero flavors. It tastes just like plain tofu. This is mainly due to tofu is not stewed with the soup. Usually, the soup of this dish is with very stronger flavor, so the rest of the material will absorb the flavor. It's a pitty the chef wastes the good quality tofu and fish. Service: the waitresses tend to chase people out of the restaurant to make more business. I understand it and am ok with it, but not when you have 2 floors and the up-floor is 60% empty. With more and more Chinese restaurants in Boston, this restaurant will have no future if it keeps running like this. read more

Real good beef tendon, if it's your cup of tea. Chicken with hot chili pepper might as well be chicken jerky. Dried out and coated with batter then over fried. Disaster. read more

The inside of this restaurant is a little offputting, but the dry pot is delicious. We got the spicy dry beef pot and had no regrets. Rice cakes had good flavor but not much garnish or volume--definitely looks more unappetizing than it tastes. read more

Five Spices House - Boston - Szechuan Near Me - Boston, Massachusetts

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Been here twice: expensive drypot with questionable weighing method, nasty waitresses and mediocre taste. Had the dry pot and it's extremely expensive even compared to nyc dry pot. I highly doubt they weigh the food properly. For food that left me hungry somehow my bill was $28. I don't even have a ravenous appetite Heck if it was good taste I would say that's negligible but The taste was mediocre. Second visit had lunch special - satay beef with green veggie. Veggie was not fresh. Also waitress was eating her lunch and came over, chewing and talking at the same time, hovering over me with her food spitting. Disgusting. I specifically asked for no msg. She dismissively said no msg in our food and....the food for sure had msg. I ordered an egg drop soup - Jesus that soup had no flavor except msg and it was extremely fishy smelling. I've never had any egg drop soup this bad. I asked for a tiny bit of sesame oil to be added in order to eat it - the same waitress goes "no we don't have that." I questioned her politely and the other lady jumped in and got some for me. Would not recommend - the vibe overall just seems like a poorly managed place with bad food and poor service. read more

Like the food, but the lady who makes dry pot is very rude. Does not listen to when I say enough, keeps putting more stuff to get more sale, hate that attitude. Have to say food is great, people not so much read more

Diners beware. So many things wrong with this place. 1) We ordered the country style lamb, and instead got a plate of fatty pork in sour sauce. We asked if this was really lamb meat because NONE of us could taste the lamb flavor. Waitress faltered and stammered it's because they use "beef broth" and soak up the meat to cover up the lamb flavor. BULL. Ma'am, I've lived for over 25 years and I know the difference between lamb and pork. We ended up paying the pricey lamb price for a cheap pork dish. 2) NOT spicy at all. None of the dishes have the authentic Sichuan spiciness. Like others said, come here for mild or lackluster flavors. 3) Tacking on one star because the service was fairly prompt. To the restaurant: treating your customers like they're idiots (i.e. swapping lamb meat for pork) is the reason you're going out of business. You've already lost a group of what could have been loyal return customers. read more

This is some of the best Chinese food I've had in the Boston area, and some of the best Chinese food I've had period. Bright, vibrant flavors, amazing variety on the menu. Cabbage with vinegar was delicious; and the vegetable dumplings were truly unbelievable. And the dry pot vegetables-- spicy, warming, and yummy. If you are on the fence about trying this food I am telling you: GET IT, you won't regret it! read more

21st October, 2015 My first dry pot was in Flushing, New York and my second was at Rochester. I guess my first and second time set some high standards for the dry pot at 5 Spices. It was okay-ish. I asked for mild spicy and it was not spicy at all. Sure there was a lot of peppers but it lacked the spice! The dry pots that I've had even though it was mild was still spicy. Like my previous experiences I thought maybe I would start feeling it as I continue eating. But nope, it tasted bland. Still though I am happy that there is a restaurant that serves dry pot. I have gotten addicted to it. Perhaps next time, I'll order really spicy. Oh and don't try the egg drop soup unless you like vinegar-ish flavoured soup. It was the second nastiest soup I've ever had. How can you mess up an egg drop soup?? read more

Five Spices House - Boston - Szechuan Near Me - Boston, Massachusetts

The pan fried pork Ravioli are excellent. The dipping sauce is good too. I give the ravioli 4 out of 5 stars. The Sichuan spicy pork dumpling has a large flat area of cover which can be coated and carry hot oil. There is chili oil in the container under the dumplings. The cover absorbs the oil and turns dark red on the bottom. It has very little filling. The filling is tasteless. I would not order these again. These were not eaten and were discarded. 0 stars The Sichuan wontons with chili oil have slightly more meat inside and the covering is pleated and will hold more oil. These come swimming in hot oil. The oil lacked the Sichuan peppercorn mala flavor. I would not reorder these. 2 stars The hot oil, used for both the dumplings and the double cooked pork, did not live up to my expectations. It was red oil with no crunchy bits at the bottom. The taste was only of chili in oil. I expect a Sichuan restaurant to have at least used Sichuan peppercorns as well as red peppers to give the oil and the dish the mouth tingling sensation. For a clear oil the peppercorns could have been added to the heated oil with the chili flakes and strained out with the chili flakes. A recipe for a good mala hot oil may include various other spices including star anise. This was not good hot oil. I could not see or taste any sichuan peppercorn in the double cooked pork. Otherwise the double cooked pork is excellent. 4 stars The shredded beef with chili peppers fried rice was the high point of the meal. This is an excellent dish. 5 stars I can give high recommendations on the shredded beef with chili peppers fried rice, and pot stickers. I also recommend the double cooked pork with the warning that the Mala flavor will be missing. read more

Five Spices House - Boston - Pan Fried Pork Ravioli, Sichuan Spicy Pork Dumpling and Sichuan Wontons with Red Chili Sauce - Szechuan Near Me - Boston, Massachusetts

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Went here for lunch with a friend. The prices are pretty reasonable for the amount of food that you get. It's $11 for a dish, rice, and a soup. The soup was sour and salty. The green beans were delicious but the green peppers and beef were a little too spicy and too fatty for us. read more

Five Spices House - Boston - Dry Sauteed Whole Spicy Green Peppers Shredded Beef with Spicy Green Peppers - Szechuan Near Me - Boston, Massachusetts

We went here for Fresh Fish with Pickled Vegetable Soup (酸菜活鱼锅). It ended up both my friend and I don't like it at all (plus the fish is expensive! ). It's very plain, which, i think, is caused by the poor quality of pickled vegetable they used. The service is fair. Anyway, I will not go there again because this dish gave me bad impression of the restaurant. read more

Five Spices House - Boston - Fresh fish with pickled vegetable soup - Szechuan Near Me - Boston, Massachusetts

We got this place for takeout and thought it was pretty good. We ordered rice, green beans, calamari, green onion pancakes, and a spicy mixed vegetable dish. All of it was pretty expensive but not too bad overall. Although the squid was really chewy and the vegetables were super spicy (coming from someone who had a fairly high spice tolerance), it wasn't bad. read more

The dry pot was super wet and salty. It was hardly edible. We paid $30 for the 1.5lbs and the food was tiny. Worst food ever.

The service is not good. The front desk had an attitude. We don't want to get back to this restaurant.

Great crab Rangoon and Lo mein. Not sure if I would order again based on other better takeout places in the area, but it was a very fast delivery. read more