Sushi
Bamboo Sushi
Make like a panda and eat your Bamboo…Bamboo Sushi, that is. Your sushi comes with the finest eco-pedigree around, and just like its namesake, the restaurant is uber environmentally friendly and oh so green, bearing the impressive distinction of being the first certified, sustainable sushi restaurant in the country. Head Sushi Chef Brandon Hill’s menu combines flawless sashimi, delicious sushi rolls, simple salads, and more complicated dishes that introduce pleasurably unique flavor and texture pairings–like the grilled kobe flank with sweet potato, sauteed garlic greens with bacon, pickled mushrooms and herbed momiji sauce. The dinner bill can add up fast, so if you want a side of budget-friendly with your emerald-green meal, go for happy hour – $5 nigiri and select half price rolls and small plates are all the tastier for being sustainable and cost-effective.
- Location: 310 SE 28th Ave. Portland Map it!
- Phone Number: 503.232.5255
- Hours: Nightly 5–10 pm * Happy Hour Mon-Fri 5-6:30pm
Hiroshi
Eating at Hiroshi is almost a spiritual experience. Entering the pristine dining room, accented with only the most serene of decorative touches—a tall vase of white orchids at one end, a glittery school of metallic silver fish above the sushi bar—you feel yourself slow down a bit, wipe your harried brow, sink into a soft buttery suede banquette, and sip some green tea reflectively while you ponder the menu. The sushi is divinely fresh, and the lunchtime bento special is a veritable jewelbox of edible treasures—spicy tuna roll, a delicate but perfectly seasoned cucumber and shrimp salad, two gyoza dumplings and utterly delicious chicken teriyaki, salmon, pork cutlet, or fried shrimp, plus the most exquisite little panna cotta with berries you’ve ever seen. For a real (and real expensive) treat, sit at the sushi bar and give Chef Hiro carte blanche to slice his way into your raw fish-loving heart–he won’t disappoint.
Masu Sushi
Masu is a stylish downtown den of flickering candelight, flowing white drapes and sushi goodness, and just walking inside will make you feel prettier and more sophisticated, kind of like a human Nemo roll (shrimp tempura, dungeness and avocado topped with whitefish and salmon finished with ponzu, green onions, toasted white sesame seeds and smoked bonito-WoW!). Masu has looks and personality–the service is warm, inviting, and efficient, and the sushi is as gorgeous as the space. The sashimi and nigiri are gleamingly fresh and expertly prepared, and the sushi rolls are delectable bite-sized works of art. When I say bite-size I mean it, no cumbersome baseball-sized pieces of sushi here, in keeping with the delicate, glamorous surroundings, so you won’t look like you’re chewing your nori cud when trying to impress a hot date or your mother, who still secretly wonders if she should have sent you to finishing school.
Murata
Murata makes me feel so American, bumbling and undainty and in need of chopsticks lessons. The most gracious of little sushi restaurants, humble Murata is practically invisible to the naked eye, tucked into a little parking lot mini-mall across from the Keller Auditorium. The food is fresh and authentic, the little dining room and semi-private tatami rooms are serene and inviting, and the amiable, kimono-clad servers are more than happy to answer any and all questions. The chef works his magic quickly and quietly, and with a reverence for his craft that includes touches like sending out each piece of nigiri separately so it can be properly appreciated.
Sushi Mazi
When the grasshoppers arrived at the table bound to a pyre of sushi rice by a thin thread of seaweed, legs in the air, eyes glazed and sightless, I blanched. They were by far the biggest grasshoppers I’d ever seen, I suppose they’d been building up muscle playing the fiddle all summer, and I wondered why I hadn’t just played it safe and stuck to the Pop Rocks roll–spicy tuna and avocado topped with real Pop Rocks, or the hot-sauce and caviar topped Firecracker roll. Grasshoppers and pop rocks are just a few of the fun pieces of flair you’ll find at this pretty little sliver of a sushi joint on SE Division, where a sometimes rather wild sense of artistry and whimsy abounds behind the sushi bar. Unconventional preparations aside, the food is good, the fish is fresh, the sake flows freely,, the atmosphere is relaxing, and the menus are so colorful they instantly alter your mood for the better. I’m also quite fond of the roasted rice green tea, which tastes like shredded wheat.
