Spicy 9 Sushi Bar Asian Restaurant

Restaurants on Franklin Street always have more of a “you pay for the ambience and atmosphere” vibe, but the one thing that drew me towards Spicy 9 was their prices. Ordering online is an automatic 50% off, while in person is BOGO rolls. I just started enjoying raw fish as someone who was strictly into tempura shrimp sushi, so I’m not sure how well my palette can judge the quality and freshness of their fish, but I have never had a problem flavor-wise. The Flaming Salmon is one of my favorites even though it has cream cheese, which oddly enough is what makes the roll so spectacular. I recently tried the Spicy 9 roll and it was a little underwhelming and came without ponzu sauce, but the seared beef on top is a very interesting concept that works well. For tempura shrimp lovers, I recommend the Dragon Roll. Very simple paired with cucumber and avocado drizzled in spicy mayo, but the rice to filling ratio is perfect and refreshing. I think the menu is very hit or miss as it has so many options, but I am still aiming to try all of their rolls. I’ve never tried any of their dinner dishes such as pad thai or hibachi, but I’d like to someday! Is this the best sushi restaurant I’ve been to? No, but as it is one of the only ones in the area, I would still say it is very good and satisfies the sushi craving. Overall for their location, prices, good service despite heavy rush hour, and their well thought out menu, I would say Spicy 9 is well deserving of 5 stars.

Came here with family over the holiday weekend, and had no wait time. All 9 of us were sat immediately served. The staff was very friendly the menu had plenty of options. Some members of my family don't like sushi, so they were able to order non-seafood items that they were happy with. I ordered a cocktail found it to be very watered down, so I wouldn't come here for drinks. The food was tasty and there are vegan options!

The sushi, dry noodles, appetizers are great! The tofu veggie ramen in shoyu broth was pretty bland though. Portions are generous. I'd definitely come back for the sushi, dry noodles and some sides, but not for the tofu veggie ramen.

Ordered a massaman curry for $12, it was $18.55 with delivery fees and tip. Delivery guy was a treat. The massaman curry was nice and creamy without using dairy which I love, had a savory and slightly sweet flavor from the sweet potato and loved the crunch of the cashews. My only complaint is that it wasn’t spicy at all and they gave me a pretty small portion which wasn’t worth it for the price. Especially with the rice— they gave me a MINUSCULE amount of rice which really sucks because I’m Asian and we’re not allowed rice cookers in the dorm so I’m really deprived of rice. I also was bummed to find it wasn’t even a little spicy despite asking for extra spice.

I come here every Wednesday so I felt like it was finally time to review. Food is always good and well prepared, including the sushi we’ve tried, the noodles, the ramen, the poke bowls, etc. I am a big fan of their miso soup. Today I got the drunken noodles with a side of fried rice and white sauce, and my boyfriend got the Yummy yummy roll and the Rainbow roll. Everything was very enjoyable. Sometimes the restaurant can get very busy and wait time is sacrificed for quality of service. I’ve worked in the restaurant business before. Im thankful they try their best to maintain good customer service. They did bring me and my boyfriends food out 10 minutes apart, but my food was still hot by the time his came so it wasn’t too much of a big deal. It’s also important to talk about the one time that my boyfriend and I came here on a Wednesday and we were sat but not served at all. I think that’s an outlier with their service but people should be aware that it happened to me once. I don’t think it happens often or it will happen again, as the other servers we’ve had have given us as much attention as they could. Would still recommend coming here to eat with a friend or family. Just remember it’s in a college town so it can get loud and busy.