Pure Spice Chinese Resta Reviews

Went there for lunch back in August. It was dim sum. Not the Cantonese style. It was more of Northern China style. Delicious. I liked it because it was different and not just shrimp in every dish. Service was friendly and prompt.

Stopped in for a quick dinner after arriving at PDX around 6:30pm. Nice greetings, menus provided, suggestions and recommendations for the daily specials were quick and very nice. Have been here before for various meals. Again, no disappointments. Food was delicious, nicely flavored with ample portions and priced very reasonably.

Had a large take-out for 8 people and everything was delicious. We ordered the squid, a beef dish, kung pao chicken, eggplant, bok choy, and buns filled with pork and spinach. All the portions were huge, and we had lots of left-overs. Yum!

My criteria for great Asian dining: 1. Must have a name that probably makes more sense in its original language (i.e. Butterfly Belly Pho, So Good Taste Noodle.) 2. Absolutely NO tablecloths or candles. Carousel with Sriracha, duck , soy and hot vinegar sauces, OK. 3. Mostly or all locals at the tables, several generations, enjoying huge plates of food and talking all at once. 4. Handwritten specials menu on the wall not in English. 5. Only nod to décor Asian airlines calendars (4 or 5) and/or Kirin or Hite beer posters. Pure Spice hits 5 out of 5, and has some amazing, tasty and unusual dishes at very reasonable prices. Plus it's open late (until 9:30) the service was very friendly and fast. Highlights of our most recent visit were Salt Pepper Chicken Wings, Vegetarian Sauteed Eggplant, and Very spicy Lamb with pickled cabbage (Kim Chee!) and enoki mushrooms.

We arranged to have my mother's 85th birthday celebration in the banquet room of this restaurant. Despite being very busy, the owner greeted us, and the staff were very friendly and attentive. Our group ranged in age from 20s to 80s and everyone enjoyed the selection of delicious dishes and friendly service. This is definitely a place we will return to and recommend to our friends.

We decided to check out OregonLive's dim sum smackdown winner, Five Spice, last Sunday. Strip-mall atmosphere- nothing special. Seated within 20 minutes. No carts, which is a bit strange, but agree that the dim sum is probably the best in town. The steamed items definitely have a thinner wrapper than other places in town, which is nice. The shrimp with scallops is especially good! All in all, an excellent dim sum meal-- we'll be back!

If you are visiting Portland and want to have great and interesting Chinese food, check this place out. Although this jewel in the rough is located in a small strip mall, it is not your typical American suburban Chinese restaurant. Come during the day and try some of the dim sum treats as well as dishes from the regular menu. Come in the evening for a dinner feast. A meal at Pure Spice can be a culinary adventure. It's best to come with a group because the "appetizers" will quickly fill up 2 people. ( Chive pockets, special Peking shredded pork with buns [that's in the pork section of the menu], hand pulled noodles, and beef roll to name a few.) Other favorite dishes in no particular order are the Singapore noodles (some of the best ever), dry fried string beans, Chinese broccoli with oyster sauce, garlic pea sprout, garlic bok choy, (They make it easy to get your veggies in), spicy garlic eggplant clay pot!!, lettuce wrap with duck, Five spice duck and taro hot pot. There are other great dishes we have had. Look at the menu on line for photos. When you arrive, check out the specials board. During mushroom season, don't miss the matsutake dishes. Watch for the razor clams. Fish filet over vermicelli is another wonderful dish we have seen. Shrimp and fungus dumplings, yum. Thai Style Flounder (crispy). There is so much more on the menu. Check it out. Come for the food.

We had the salt and pepper squid, greasy and did not pack a punch, and the mu shu shrimp which was a pile of cabbage...again very oily....and a few shrimp. Also two beers and a forgettable appetizer. They were out of flounder. The waitress seemed bored with her job. So we are still on the prowl for the elusive family-run authentic Chinese restaurant.

I've eaten a lot of dim sum in Portland now and wanted to try someplace new. Well, new for me. Pure Spice did not disappoint at all! It was different ordering dim sum off a menu instead of waiting for the usual cart to come around but I didn't mind at all. Lots of items to choose from. Since I was alone, I stuck with the must haves of haw gow, shao mai, and black bean spareribs which all were very good! New for me was the noodle plate which I ordered with shrimp and I enjoyed that as well. All dishes were $2.85 and I even brought half of it home! I recommend Pure Spice for a quieter, smaller dim sum venue and the food was fresh and hot!

I attended dinner with a friend and his 12 year old son. We stared at the TV that featured a revolving display of their main dishes. We ordered mushu shrimp, marinated brisket, Duck hash with lettuce cups and scallion pancakes. Each dish encouraged overeating. We ordered a beer and a shot of Johnny Walker and to our surprise, presented with giggles were half cup portions of whisky. Needless to say I vowed to return. When I returned about a week or so later, no one was eating dinner. I asked for shrimp dumplings and because was past Dim Sum, they made it for me only. Unfortunately they innards were uncooked and cold and I returned it by walking directly into the kitchen where the staff was laughing and talking to each other. The focus of their day were two homeless women camped out near their door. They wanted to feed them but did not want them to feel that they were thereby invited to stay living there. It was sad and sweet. I will probably eat there again, but only if I look in the window and there are many folks eating there.

We were here on a Saturday, mid-day, and it was a little busy, however, the slow service was simply from having only two-servers, working hard, but could not keep up. Now, about the food. We ordered five dishes: pot stickers, salt-pepper squid, house special stir-fried rice, (had meat, shrimp, veggies, rice), dry stir-fry green beans and pumpkin pancakes. The food was freshly cooked, hot and tasty. My only complaint was that the salt-pepper squid was a little too salty, otherwise crispy and delicious. This is a simple, no frills place, clean, good food. The eating area is divided into two rooms and would be suitable for private parties, banquets, etc. Parking is in a small lot shared with other businesses or on the street. Our total cost for the meal was a little under $40-a bargain.

We had heard about their dim sum but tried Pure Spice for Friday dinner around six pm. We were seated in a room with round tables set for eight. The dishes were served one at a time about ten minutes apart, a bit different but made for a leisurely eaten meal of seven dishes. Their sautéed green beans were probably the best ever; huge portion of bitter melon; never had salt and pepper oysters--delicious! Will be back to try the other items on their menu

Came across this restaurant in Portland on a trip. Since we were hungry we took our chances to try it. Pleasantly surprised how good the food was. Dim sum was very good as was the Singapore noodle dish we tried. The portions are generous and prices are reasonable. We had 3 dim sum dishes and the noodle dish- came out to $22- a bargain! And we had to doggie bag what we couldn’t finish. Not an expansive menu but a good enough selection certainly for lunch. Will come by to try again and for dinner. The restaurant is in a small strip mall with a limited parking lot but we found nearby street parking.

To be fair this experience was on Christmas Day dinner. The restaurant was full as well as a line of take outs. The food was very good, four stars at least. Well seasoned (no msg), tasty. Singapore noodles were spot on. Spacing was a bit tight between tables and a little uncomfortable when every seat is taken. The service was spotty. It took 10 minutes to get menus, 30 minutes for water. Water was served after our first dish. Extremely bad was the tea which was undescribeably bad, leaving a dirty mouth feeling. Easy parking and access to freeways in the southeast section near the 205 freeway.

Fresh, hot dim sum to go made to order. A decent roast duck and very good BBQ pork both served room temperature. Takeout only during covid-19. Avoid the crowds and exposure. Call ahead for faster service you. This is not my go to barbecue pork restaurant.

My favorite was the salt and pepper chicken wings, Crispy and spicy. The spicy eggplant is great too! Service can be slow but the food is fantastic! Try the Peking Pork in a bun. Tasty and the buns are very fresh! They also have chinese barbecue pork , roasted duck and chicken. The prices are low too! Family friendly. They also have dim sum.

Today was the first of many trips we're sure. After reading many local reviews we decided to give it a try and were blown away. You can easily drive by this place if you don't notice the sign for this strip mall but it is right at the signal light at SE 87th and Powell. I had Beef Chow Fun, and my wife had Fish Fillet Sautéed with XO sauce, and both were heavenly. This restaurant may surprise you as you are seated at a table with a small plate with cup and chop sticks, no silverware. Since our arthritic hands can no longer use them we asked for a fork which our waitress kindly provided. (Knife, fork and spoon however are not usual tools here) You will also not find many americanized Chinese food like you're used to but don't let that stop you, just go here, http://www.purespicerestaurant.com/menu.php, and you will find many menu items (though not all) listed. Click each icon for what they have under that heading. They are open 7 days a week and well worth any trip it takes to get there.

We had dim sum here today , and it was not very good. We ordered the chow fun noodles with shrimp, most places give you 3-4 shrimp in the noodle, ours had no shrimp in some and the rest of the noodles only 1 shrimp, then we ordered salt and pepper chicken wings, used to be perfectly seasoned and not greasy, today no salt and pepper seasoning and super greasy and bleeding at the bone😡. Then we ordered the Singapore curry noodles and again 1 shrimp in the whole plate and not much curry flavor. Sad to see this place going down hill, but like all Asian places once they start to make a profit , they get greedy and cut back on the quality! , very disappointed, won't be back! Best taste across the street is WAY better .

I read a review in the Oregonian saying how wonderful Pure Spice is - so I finally went. IMHO, save your time! The dim sum was fine - nothing special in the least. Regular old dim sum. No carts, they cook it for you - so it was fresh, but nothing special. The place is a dump. The waitress was sloppy and had a sharp nasty personality. Like she was doing me a favor! The service was horrid. I'm trying to be nice, but the over all ambiance was terrible. Oh, and don't venture into the restroom... The price was nice however. $2.95 for anything - big or little. I won't be returning.

Very good indeed! A good assortment of dim sum options and very well laid out with corresponding pictures. The service was also good and the food very fresh.

Lunch for 3 adults. Basic diner decor average table/chairs. Had dim sum pork, bar b qued pork, greens with oyster sauce, crab won tons, pork dumplings. Pork bar-b-que dry and tough, greens good, rest was average. Good complimentary jasmine tea. Kitchen staff ate at tables next to us towards end of our meal.

The dim sum here was okay, but disappointing if you're lucky enough to live in an area that truly celebrates the awesomeness that is dim sum done well (Los Angeles, San Francisco, etc.). Service was slow, as the place was definitely understaffed. Dim sum took a longer than average time to arrive at the table. I'm a bit nervous about Portland's dim sum offerings, since this place seemed to be reviewed as one of the better ones available.

I saw this place in a list posted in social media of the 10 best restaurants in Oregon. It appears tiny from the street, but is actually good sized and spotless. The menu has some interesting items like the scallion pancake, which was good. I had the salt and pepper tofu which was really delicious, crusty outside, perfect salt and pepper spice, and nice soft tofu inside. My husband had the duck with white rice and he enjoyed that very much. The service was good, the food is good, but not sure it reaches that top 10 in state status.

Each dim sum item on page 1 was $2.85 each. Every dish we ordered was good except for the cold beef shank and tendon (tendon was great, but the beef shank had an off flavor). We also ordered the scallion pancake $5.50 (which I thought was overpriced for no meat in it), scallop and shrimp dumpling (excellent), spareribs w/ blackbean (healthy serving size) and 1/4 5-spice duck (cold, but tasty). $21 and we were full and satisfied.

The food was just OK, I'm not bragging, I'm Cantonese and have worked in Chinese Restaurants (cooking/waiter etc.) for over 25 years and eating it for 58 years so that kind of qualifies me to be a critic. Service was poor, they took our order, brought us the food and that's it. Here is what really made us mad. They brought us a lamb dish we did not order, by the time we realized what had happened half of it was consumed. Waitress/owner comes out looking totally puzzled then just walked away. Of course they charged us for their mistake without even the courtesy to talk to us first. Here's another complaint, as I've said we're Cantonese so it goes without saying we need bowls to consume rice (I'm talking about long grain rice not the sticky stuff). Try eating long grain rice with chop sticks on a plate (which by the way were way too small). It takes forever to eat rice one grain at a time. If they are too cheap or too lazy to wash more dishes and utensils they should at least furnish us some forks. Get a clue please. We'll never go back to this place and would definitely not recommend this place to anyone.

Slow service-meal was a bit on the greasy side. Not the tastiest dim sum in Portland only went as rest of family wanted to go there. I ordered an item that was suppose to be vegetarian and it came with sausage on the tofu-yuck. Food came out a little at a time-there timing was horrible

This highly reviewed restaurant has delicious dim sum. Instead of carts you order off a numbered dim sum menu. When the food arrives it is fresh & hot! Amazing for dim sum! Usually on the weekends there is only a short or no wait. Try it! You’ll thank me.

Been coming back for years. Portions large. Tastes good. Staff friendly. Prices fair. We found by mistake a long time ago.. good mistake. Referred many friends who liked likewise also.

Five Spice, or Pure spice? restaurant Portland – we usually stop at Wong’s King just down the road from this restaurant. This place is smaller and food is more home style, delicious and large portion, good parking out front and on street, will come back again, very enjoyable.

Definitely one of the best dim sum restaurants I've ever tried outside of Oakland, Ca or China. Great service, fast, fresh, and delicious!

It was a dinner for 30 people, with 10 courses and only the Five Spice Duck was rated as "good" by the Chinese from Asia.. The beef with bitter melon was acceptable, as were the garlic fried mustard greens. And unless you love Thai sweet chilli sauce do not order the Thai style fried chicken wings nor the stuffed eggplant- they were soaked in the stuff - making it sticky and hard to eat. The salt and pepper fried tofu cubes were tasteless, and the kung pao chicken is nothing like the real thing, using bell peppers instead of dried chillis.

We came for dinner midweek, and found the food average, at best. The hot and sour soup was justvchinese-buffet quality! Our two stir-fry dishes were short on protein, short on authentic Chinese veggies, and lacked depth of flavor. Service was cordial, but spotty. Perhaps this is place for dim-sum only, as that is what it is best known for!

Initially went to one dimsum place and there was a 30 minute wait. Came here instead and was seated right away. Food came out in phases and was very tasty. Highly recommend the shrimp and fungi, the pumpkin pastry and the lotus patty.

Its name is Pure Spice. I used this restaurant few times during few last years and it was always very good!

No Dim Sum carts, which I all love, but the personally prepared shrimp dumplings, scallop dumplings, pot stickers, green peppers stuffed with pork, were all so excellent, I started appreciating the NO cart, fresh prepared dishes, hot not tuff. Families, mostly Asians.....a photographer was there taking pics for a local newspaper......Can't wait to try their Hot n Sour soup next time!!!

I love this little place! It can be a bit hard to find since it sits at the end of a small strip mall but it's worth the search. First let me say that they do NOT use MSG. Give them a great big gold star for that. I'm sure there are many reasons why the do not use it, however the top reason may be that the food they serve is so nicely spiced that nothing else needs to be added to it. I've eaten here numerous times and have tried several different dishes all of which have been delicious! I am a salt -n- pepper shrimp lover and this place can take my money any time! I also love that they serve dim sum ala carte during the week days and they have added the radish cake to the dim sum menu!! Double gold star for that! The menu consists of mostly traditional Chinese dishes however they do have an Americanized menu for those who don't want to be adventurous.

They now have a sheet of paper with a list of dim sum that you check yourself like at a sushi restaurant. Choose from the menu with pictures that includes the usual items. Don't miss the specials on the board at the front. We had the Matsusake mushroom nicely seasoned with tender pieces of ginger. Everything is freshly cooked, not cold from sitting on a cart rolling around the restaurant.