Portland’s Best Restaurants and Bars, Spring 2025 | Eater Portland

"It’s hard to understate how influential this Buckman Russian restaurant is: When Bonnie and Israel Morales opened Kachka in 2014, it ushered in the great Eastern European culinary renaissance, as restaurants around the country popped up celebrating the cuisines of the former Soviet republics. The iconic herring under a fur coat is a staple here, a colorful layered salad of pickled herring, beets, potatoes, and carrots; so are the dumplings, from beefy Siberian pelmeni to Ukrainian sour cherry vareniki with sour cream. For mains, go for tender rabbit in a clay pot, swimming in a braising liquid of cherries, porcini, and garlic. Drinkers should opt for a few pours of the restaurant’s fun vodkas infused with the likes of sea buckthorn or horseradish, available in flights or single pours. The house rassol — pickle juice — is the ultimate back to any savory vodka here." - Katherine Chew Hamilton