Shigezo Izakaya

Had an extra night in Portland to explore after a fun weekend celebrating a great friend’s wedding! A friend of my girlfriend and I sent us this restaurant and we were super impressed with our visit. The restaurant has traditional Japanese style tables where you remove your shoes before sitting, and also has standard booth/tables if you would rather. Our waiter suggested the Kumamoto Ramen so I gave it a shot and this broth was one of the best tasting broths I have had with ramen ever. The red ginger and green onions gave the broth a unique but not over powering flavor. The Shoyu Ramen was phenomenal and we added some fried garlic to the broth. The Tuna Krab Salmon roll was loaded with fresh seafood and topped with a delicious house-made unagi sauce. Everything from service, to food to ambience was amazing here!

OMG what a fantastic restaurant. The best Japanese meal I have ever eaten. The food was delicious and reasonably priced. The restaurant was busy but not noisy. The staff were friendly, helpful attentive and respectful. The concept of eating on a chair with no legs and my shoes elsewhere was a novelty but not discomforting. If you are looking for somewhere to eat then look no further. I will definitely return before I leave Portland. Thank you for a fantastic experience.

Stellar! I'm not an easy five and this was a great experience. Originally went for sushi and before a show and the server asked if we were going to a show at the Snitz, and let us know that they only had one sushi chef. Kindly recommended we order alternate because good sushi takes time. We ordered ramen and katsu curry. Really excellent food and attentive service. Even when they got busy soon after we ordered. Can't wait to try their sushi

What an experience! We did a spontaneous trip to Portland and found this gem randomly on our walk through downtown. What a wonderful place to stumble upon! We chose to sit in a semi traditional Japanese booth. Our first real Ramen experience and boy did it not disappoint! We ordered two Sushi Rolls, the Spicy Roll (with Spicy Tuna) & the Tuna Krab Salmon Roll. Both were equally delicious! The Ramen we chose was the Kumamoto Ramen with substituted Smoked Cashew Chicken. There was so much depth in flavor packed in this dish! HIGHLY recommend. Our server was so nice and very prompt even during the dinner rush! We will be back! Thanks again, for spoiling us and giving us an unforgettable experience!

Service was great! The staff were super friendly and happy to help us out. The food portions were a little small. The rolls were tasty, but getting the spicy poke don was a little disappointing. It wasn't a lot of food for what we paid for. This place seems more like a fancier sushi place than to get a couple of cheap rolls. It was still good though!

It’s not really an izakaya . I was disappointed. The chicken karaage and gyoza were oily not at all like ones I’ve had in LA, Osaka and Tokyo. Also the takoyaki was so disappointing - barely any octopus , without the golden crisp and way too much sauce. The balls seemed doughy too. Again not what I was expecting. The ambiance is kinda cool but it has that Portland unfinished look. I think if it focused on only small plates and Japanese beers it could be better - if the quality of the food increases. This is a chain (from Japan) not sure if anything good made it over. To be fair I didn’t try any of the noodle dishes.

So amazing, can't recommend it enough. Come prepared to wait for an hour or so, since the only chef cooks everything fresh to order. We waited on the left with drinks as the staff is very attentive. Once we were moved to our table, food was served quickly. One of the best Japanese restaurants we've been to outside of Japan. The interior architecture is in a traditional Japanese style, and there are private rooms with shōji doors and tatami floors which may need a special reservation.

My coworker and I came to town for a work trip and stumbled upon this place. I’m so glad that we did! I had the chicken katsu curry, and she had the shoyu ramen. Of course, we had to get taiyaki as well! Everything was delicious, and best of all, our server was so kind, attentive, and helpful! I highly recommend.

The fish was very fresh. The hand rolls had a lot more rice compared to the filling. The servers were very nice

A friend and I, came to this establishment excited to have sushi, ramen and dessert. We were greeted at the door, appropriately, but after seating us and giving us water, that was the last appropriate gesture of our stay. We then sat, unattended, for more than 10 minutes without anyone coming to ask if we needed help with the menu or if we were ready to order. The young man who sat us, brought the check to the adjacent table, food to two others and cleaned two tables. In the time it took him to do all of that he still never checked on us. We decided to leave, and on the way out, after not saying anything else, he said , "Have a good night." This was one of the worst restaurant experience I've had since moving to Portland.

Service has become very poor. Extremely slow. We waited 25 minutes to get served sake and over 30 minutes to get our sushi order. Another long wait to get check and receipt after asking for it. Sushi was average quality at best.

Without my daughter delving too much about Shigezo in Downtown Portland, all she said was, "I only get the Miso soup". The space is woodsy and kept up nicely. With the exception of a few people on the right side of the restaurant (hibachi?), we were seated on the left side by their sushi bar and practically had the space to ourselves on the late Sunday afternoon we visited. The rolls aren't tight and include very little seafood. I mean...this is the West Coast after all. And with so many...ahhhh- forget it. On another note, my Sunomono salad (tiny) was almost too pretty to eat and included a nice chunk of crab meat in a delicate yuzu sauce. I was craving more. Between hubs' 3 rolls which weren't rolled tightly, my tiny Crab Salad and a Veggie role, this wasn't easy on the pocket. Service is incredibly pleasant though.

I don't know if it was because it was Thanksgiving or what but this was the only place open and thank goodness. Because it was delicious. The service was incredible. We sat at a fun Japanese style booth. We took off our shoes and sat cross legged. The ambiance here is amazing. Trust it when the server tells you about their favorite ramen. I got the vegan ramen with gluten free rice noodles chili vinegar style. It was excellent and spicy. Add a soft boiled egg and pork and it is epic. The chicken katsu was excellent per my husband as were the steamed dumplings. The drinks were good and it was the perfect place to spend thanksgiving!

I came here after a long day in downtown as it seemed to have pretty good reviews online. When we got there, it was about 6 pm and not many of the tables were taken, however, we were still asked to sit at the bar/the other half of the restaurant with drinks. We waited there for about 20 minutes, not ordering any drinks as my friend was only 20 and there was no one else seated (or working) there. After a while of chatting, we decided to talk to the hostess and after about 10 minutes, we were finally seated. At this point, I was starving and my friend and I ordered two bowls of ramen. Those took another ~20 minutes to come out and I was beginning to get hangry. Overall, the food was alright and portions were good. Service staff was also nice, but not super friendly. The place is okay if you're in the area, but I wouldn't go out of my way to come here.

Amazing food everytime for the past 10+ years of coming here. Not so pleasant when your server has big attitude and looks pissed off trying to talk to you or assist you. Our main server and another came to bring our food when it was finally done, and when the other was putting the plate down our main server rolled her eyes for some reason and just walked away like she wasn't having it. That wasn't pleasant at all and makes you not want to be there anymore.

Pretty solid place, but nothing too special. # Kama-tama Udon It says on the menu how this dish is meant to let their house-made noodles shine. It's got the noodles, a soft boiled egg, scallions, chicken, and crunchies. And it's in this bonito flavored soy sauce and onion oil. The noodles were nicely cooked and good, but didn't knock my socks off or anything. The chicken picked up the flavors of soy sauce and stuff, but was a little on the dry side to me. I liked how the egg was very runny, but some might be turned off by it. Even the whites were a little runny. Overall I thought this dish was good, but lacking a little bit of flavor. It was also a little small, portion-wise. And slightly "large" price-wise at $16. I needed to order something else to feel satisfied. # Chicken Katsu Curry I liked this dish. I'd probably get it again if I was nearby and in the mood. The curry was really great. It had this awesome, deep flavor to it. Meaty, smoky, well seasoned, some sort of vegetable-y flavor mixed in there, a little hint of spice. Very satisfying, but also has depth and complexity so as to wow you a little bit and not be boring. The rice was fine. The chicken had a really awesome crunch to it. Those panko breadcrumbs are magical, but at the same time they did a good job with it. I didn't love the texture though. I favor chicken breast over chicken thigh so I might be biased, but the texture was kinda tough, somewhat effortful to chew, and just not chicken-y. That's ok though. The crunch and the curry made up for it. # Tamago It was a little underwhelming, tbh. The rice didn't have enough flavor for my taste. It was a little too warm. The tamago itself could have been a little firmer and sweeter IMO. Also it's a little pricey at $6 for two rolls.

You feel like you stepped in Japan once you enter this restaurant. You can either shoot for modern seating or traditional seating. Where are you takeoff your shoes put them under the step and then sit down on the comfy chair cushion with a low table which I'm familiar with since I've traveled to Japan a couple times with the old wife and love it as everyone else does. The food is great and the Ramin gives you two or three different kinds of broth mixed together, apparently? It tastes bomb Diggity, amazing. I chose to get the Okinawa style Roman with handmade noodles, and it tasted delectable, and the pork was tender and you could just smell that pork right away. We had a sock a flight of three different types. One is a light white and the other ones medium and then there's a dark thick one which I prefer as it's not as strong. For dessert we had some mochi ice cream, which I love and some crème brûlée, which was creamy and cheesy. The service was great and accommodating as usual.

The worst experience. Awful slow service. Giving me the wrong order. I wouldn't go back if someone paid me to eat here.

I came in during a dinner break and chose to sit at the sushi bar. The host was respectful & friendly, got my drink out asap and took my order. My rolls came out in a to-go box. I'm sitting there with my drink and I never mentioned that was taking this order was to go. I was hungry, so I just ate it... but no acknowledgment from the staff about placing my rolls in a to-go box. Didn't appreciate that. The California rolls were ok. The avocado roll were meh. The restaurant was clean and the environment quiet. I would give the place another shot... but this wasn't a particularly great experience.

Japanese isakaya that has a Japanese pub decor. You cannot reserve in advance so you put your name on a waiting list. However, they seat you on another section where you can start with drinks. We tried the tasgy takoyakis and karaage, followed by kumamoto and shiro ramen, as well as a more dry-based ramen. Everything was delicious and service was great!

Nothing blew me away about dining here. Okay sushi, okay service. Better ambiance. They're doing okay. Okay?!

I am not a Japanese food lover, But something about this place is great! This place inspired me to explore a new genre of food

Our party of 5 was seated at the very side of the restaurant (the left side after walking through the front door), so wasn't able to experience the atmosphere persay. From what I could tell, the place was clean and well organized. The server was very nice. I ordered the Shoyu Ramen. Food came after ~20 minutes all at once. My biggest complaint was that the soup has a very clear layer of oil on top and it would congeal after 30 seconds of not being touched. Portions aren't very filling. The meat was not particularly flavorful. The ramen noodles and other toppings were good. Price was pretty standard for a ramen shop. Overall, was an okay experience, but probably won't come back again.

Nice genuinely Japanese decor and seating arrangement, perfect quality food and friendly service. Great location

Interior seemed nice and comfy if you like it a little warm. Went with my husband and we both got one of the noodle dishes and one sushi roll. Food took quite a while but the sassy boy was sweet and convinced us to get some cocktails which we never do! The noodles came out hot and tasty and the veggie roll gave that bite of freshness that complimented our soup. Highly recommend to try this place at least once if you're in the area.

Yeh I'd come back here. Shoyu Ramen is the best! Good service. Little bit of a wait but worth it.

I have now been here 3 times and enjoy it more each time. We have been for dinner, snacks, and just to drink saké, it is a great spot. I strongly suggest the takoyaki.

I haven't written a yelp review in years but I haven't had service this bad in a long time. We got there at 5pm and were told that the mid-day 3-5:15 menu was being served so they suggested we go to the bar to have a drink to wait for the dinner menu. Other than the bar-style seating, this place has weird glass half windows, kind of what you'd see at a Subway. Not once in 10 minutes did we see a person come behind the bar to serve anyone and almost every seat was taken, I don't recall seeing anyone with drinks. At this point I went back to the hostess stand and told her we'd like to be seated and would just order a drink from our table and wait there. Side story: After I walked over to the hostess stand, another party stood in front of me. They had 6-7 people there out of 9 and requested to be seated. The hostess refused, spouting some policy of having full parties before seating. They then issued a rebuttal statement, reminding her in a quite kind voice that that they had called ahead. They told her it was a surprise birthday party for one of the guests who was not there yet, and they wanted to order all the food ahead of time. Again, she restated the policy. They pleaded again and she restated the policy in a non-caring, robotic manner. Back to the main narrative: We were promptly seated as the incomplete party stared in disgust. I didn't blame them. Part of me wanted to give the Katniss Everdeen salute in solidarity, but they likely thought we were assholes. We were sat at our table, given the mid-afternoon menu which would be over in 15 minutes. I thought i had explained to her that we'd just order wine until 5:15. We were completely ignored for 15 minutes. The hostess then evolved like a Pokémon and turned into our server. She got our drink order, it was brought out fairly quickly, to their credit. However my husband's double jack & soda in a pint glass came out as a single in a short class with coke, not soda water. The pork gyoza came out first. Little did we know this would be the highlight of the meal. Next, the miso soup and my husband's shoyu ramen came out. My soup was off putting and under salted, kind of like a 10:1 mixture of chicken broth and dishwater. Luckily I still had a White Tiger sushi roll coming out. My husband took his pork out of the ramen, it was about 50% fat. He attempted to eat the noodles, but he said the broth tasted like ass. He asked me to try it, and I hesitated but decided to accept the challenge. He was right, it indeed tasted like ass. After this we had a movie to go to out in Beaverton so I told him I'd send in a mobile order to Shake Shack to grab a quick burger before the movie. Finally, my White Tiger roll arrived! Side Note 2: My friend and I came here 2 weeks ago on a Friday and had a completely different experience with service AND food. It was amazing and I was so excited to come back. I'm still getting over my guilt over this experience, as my husband initially wasn't a fan of the idea of coming here, as he doesn't eat sushi. Immediately I knew this was not the same. I even went back and checked the photo I posted on Insta, and it was clear this was a far cry from my first. Instantly, I realized the love was gone and it was time to move on. I placed my debit card on the table with a little more velocity than usual as I let out an exasperated sigh, and we waited another 20 minutes. My husband decided to stand up in the aisle waiting for someone, impatiently shifting his weight like a pendulum of annoyance. Finally, we paid up. It was on a screen and I didn't get to look at the bill so I wasn't sure if we were charged for a single or double drink. For anyone wondering, we still tipped 18%.

The ambiance was nice enough. The service was prompt but not particularly friendly. The sushi was satisfactory, but the ichiro ramen was extremely bland. The noodles had nice texture but the broth was nearly flavorless. A bit pricey, too. I can't recommend this place.

The inside of the place is the best part! I love the traditional Japanese dining. The rooms you can go it to to eat are traditional ways Japanese would eat. You have to take off your shoes to go inside. You sit on cushions and they have low tables with sliding doors. This is a super romantic place to go on a date or with other people as an intimate celebration.

The veggie veggie tanmen is incredible, especially on a cold day. Tasty, nourishing, and delicious. We also tried the negitoro roll, which was just okay and overpriced. We would definitely come back for the cooked food but maybe not sushi. Love the traditional decor and seating options.

I decided to give this place a try when I was in downtown portland and tbh it wasn't exactly what I imagined. On Yelp it had so many good reviews but the food wasn't exactly that.

Lol your waiter told us to leave and said the food there was terrible. We were next on the wait list and to be honest, you guys looked REALLY busy. So I do not know if he was telling the truth or just trying to keep your workload down. Either way, not going to recommend this spot to anyone. I'll tell them exactly what your waiter said.

My friends and I ordered food from here! We were on a trip from Atlanta. Everything we ordered was flavorful and fresh. We ordered a chicken katsu dish, poke don, and a tofu dish. The only thing we didn't like was the tofu, and that was just a personal preference regarding Tofu in general! So for that, I still will give it five stars! Great food and fast service!

Immaculate vibes. Great ambience with many elements of Japanese design! What really surprised me was that Japanese style floor seating was an option! Really helped tie in the cultural experience for our lunch. They gave us a booth-type area--except the table was low and the seats were these leather-legless chairs. I loved it! (i'm 4'10, so I sat comfortably. My 6'0" boyfriend did not lol). Menu-wise, they offer a wide range of options. From rice to noodles, they all had detailed descriptions. I was being quite indecisive so our waiter (who looked like vin diesel) really helped me pick a good one. The Okinawa noodles were sooo good. Right amount of saltiness and umami in the broth, with thicker noodles than your typical ramen. I also got takoyaki as an appetizer (I secretly judge how good a japanese restaurant is based on their takoyaki), and boy it was yummy! Overall, I would recommend for a nice meal in downtown pdx! (also--the women's bathroom has bidets!!! i've never used one until i went here, i pressed a button and i didn't know how to turn it off for a second. definitely a nice first experience lol)

We were delighted by the cold noodles today. It was a quiet 2pm, but I wanted to try there menu with a variety of sushi roolls and cold noodles. We had an ume and a natto hand roll and I had mentaiko kama tama udon and my wife had cold ramen with vegetables and lots of tempura puffs (tanuki) for a crispy contrast to the softness of the dish. That and a beer and we were happy as clams. Staff was friendly and present, allowing us to dawdle after our meal.

I've been to most of the Japanese restaurants in the area and they all have great dishes and concepts but this restaurant is definitely in my top 3! - Extremely friendly staff! - Delicious Food - Traditional Japanese Setting - Great portion sizes! - Good timing for service and when food comes out

We enjoyed our visit immensely! The service was friendly and welcoming. The food was delicious! We asked our server for recommendations as we are new to exploring Japanese foods. We were thrilled with what we had. It was a great Sunday afternoon dining experience.

I would negative ratings if it's possible! Extremely ignorant staff, they are too busy to serve, super long waiting time, and super salted food. And the food portion is like kids meal, DEFINITELY WONT GO AGAIN and NOT RECOMMEND

Went at a weird 5:00 to 5:30pm time period (apparently) on a Saturday- terrible service - we were refused a dinner menu until 5:30 and wouldn't be seated until dinner menu would start. We asked to sit at the bar to wait...apparently nobody works at the bar despite being given a drink menu. Shoyu ramen tasted like ass. Asked for a double Jack and soda - got a less than a shot of Jack and lots of Coca Cola. Whole experience was just odd and unwelcoming- and we dropped $80. Please advise? Don't advise.

It takes a lot for me to write a negative review for a restaurant, especially as a former service industry worker myself. But we had a truly unfortunate experience at Shigezo about a week ago, and will never return because of it. My friend and I showed up around 5pm, hoping to have a quick dinner before we caught a show at the Newmark Theater. We were totally prepared to wait, especially as there was a large group ahead of us, but the host was able to get us seated after just a 5-10 minute wait, which was great! We were put in one of the tatami rooms, which I had never been in before, and would never agree to go back to now. The room was overheated to the point that we were immediately sweating. We both had to take off every layer possible, and were still debating whether we could handle staying in there for an entire meal. It was not a very cold night outside, so I don't know why the room was so incredibly overheated. But when we were down to our t-shirts and both sitting in front of the room's door for airflow, it was bearable enough that we stayed. We ordered two items - a don bowl for me and a sushi roll for my friend, along with two glasses of wine. The wine came quickly, but then we sat for quite a while. We were trying to be understanding -- we know most places are dealing with staffing issues and at the time we still had plenty of time before we needed to leave for our show. Finally, after about 30 minutes, my don came out. No sign of my friend's sushi roll. We waited another 15 minutes, at which point a (different) waiter came by to "make sure everything was tasting good". We pointed out that my friend hadn't gotten their food (so therefore I had also not started eating, out of politeness). We were assured the kitchen was "just making it now". It felt weird for a single sushi roll to be taking so much longer than a don bowl, but whatever. We waited another 20 minutes, at which point we started getting worried about making the show on time. We waited a little longer and another 10 minutes went by, and we finally realized we had to go if we were going to avoid missing the show. At this point we were still sympathetic to whatever had gone wrong... again I've worked in food service and know that sometimes things happen! But when we went up to the host (a different guy than the original person who had seated us) to pay our bill and explained what had happened, that we'd waited over an hour for a sushi roll that had never appeared, and now had to leave without having dinner... he just shrugged and said "Oh, bummer" and told us it would be $42. There was no apology, no offer to comp anything, nothing. Not even an offer to box up my food, which I said I hadn't eaten b/c I was waiting for my friend's food to come out. After the ordeal of waiting and sweating and being hungry and hopeful for over an hour... I really was hoping for at least some acknowledgement that it was a pretty bad experience for us. Anyway, this is not the first time I've been to Shigezo, and I've had some decent meals there in my time, but after this most recent visit, it will sadly be the last. I just can't take a chance on spending money to sit around for over an hour and never get the food we ordered. It was rough to spend the next few hours with growling stomachs at our show. Lesson learned to go somewhere else in the area next time.

Ambiance and service was great. Not my kind of menu. Not enough vegetable options. I wanted spinach or mushrooms in my ramen. The tuna hand roll was very fresh and crisp.

4.5/5 Food was great, service was also amazing!! It was such a great experience. I went with a group, total 5 people, had a private room, with a table that had that hole in the floor experience. I loved the food. Just beware, the assorted plate, is just a plate of assorted fishes, not rolls.

It's been several years since Señorita Chupacabra and I have been here together, but while we were gone something great happened in the kitchen! This place is always been tasty, but the food is much better than we we recall! The agedashi tofu is world changing, and the spider roll was the best we've had. The sushi that we didn't has been fantastic, and the vegetarian udon, delicious! We're not going to wait as long to come back this time!

Although the staff was unwelcoming, the ambience inside was cool. Food was ok. Highlight of the visit was the fancy Toto toilet in the restroom.

The fish quality here has become a little funky I used to order just the beef skewer and veggie roll I might have to go back to doing that or find a new place. Because even the rice tastes weird.

A group of 5 came here for dinner Labor Day evening. Upon entering, I immediately fell in love with the decor, especially the art behind the sushi bar and the intimate seating area up the steps to the right. The decor really transports you to Japan! Make sure to bang the drum in the entryway 2 times for good luck because who doesn't need some extra good fortune! Since several in the group had specific food avoidances, we had to forgo the typical family style ordering and sharing an opt for individual dinners. The satisfaction ranged from 2-5; hence the 3 star rating for food. Note: if I could rate the waiter, I would give him 5 stars! Two people ordered rice dishes, specifically the Beef Don that came with tender beef, onions, red ginger and a soft egg; and the Chicken Katsu Don which had crispy chicken cutlets coated in panko and deep fried, also served with a soft egg and over rice. Both scoffed down their bowls and enjoyed every bite. They said they would rate the Don a 4. Good, satisfying but nothing that made it next level. Another ordered the Tokyo Ramen, a combo of chicken and pork broth with mushrooms, green onion and pork. He liked it, but felt the broth lacked in flavor. One friend ordered the Abu Ramen, which has no broth. The ramen (or udon if you choose) was tossed in garlic oil and chili paste along with a soft boiled egg, green onions, bean sprouts and pork. When you mix it all together, the egg creates a creamy coating and adds amazing flavor to this bowl of various textures and tastes. I requested a bite and it was exquisite! Immediately I had food envy!!!! This was the 5 star dish of the 5 we sampled, hands down. For my dinner, I selected the Kumamoto Ramen, a broth of chicken and pork. It had some depth but was lacking in flavor so I asked for chili oil and wasabi to add heat and complexity. The Pork was in large chunks, not sliced thin, and it was overcooked. Even though it was in the broth it was extremely dry. I didn't even eat half of the ramen. As an add on, I ordered chicken katsu because I love a chicken cutlet, who doesn't? It didn't arrive until we had all finished our dinners and it was so overcooked it was literally inedible. While the food ranged in satisfaction, all of us appreciated our waiter who was attentive, efficient and friendly. He took and brought us our drink orders quickly, explained the menu and answered questions about specific items. When I told him the chicken Katsura was overcooked, he apologized immediately admitting that he forgot to place the order so they cooked it fast and evidently too much. He promptly and without hesitation let us know the katsu would not be on the bill and he also gave us HH prices for the drinks we had ordered. He more than made up for the error and if I was rating the waiter, I would give him 5*s for customer service! Since this restaurant is in my neighborhood, I will give it another try, maybe during lunch or HH.

While traveling to Portland we stopped here for dinner on our last night. The owner was very sweet and accommodating. We got seating fairly quickly. Service was great. The atmosphere was very warm and comfortable. Our food was absolutely delicious and the sushi was very fresh. Prices are very affordable. We had a great time here and will come back.

absolutely love the veggie ramen w tofu (bottom dish in the pic) and the ambience is very nice :)

The ramen options are on point. And they have soba noodles! That are gluten free and delicious. There is also a full sushi bar at this location --and the sushi is solid. They tend to stick to the classics a bit but they have some cool new stuff pretty consistently. The vibe/interior seating arrangement is good too: Tables where you sit on the floor, private booths with Shoji screens and regular tables and chairs. The service has been fantastic every time I've been there --they're fast, and they don't say no, they go the extra mile if you want something special. So if you haven't been I recommend you check it out. It's definitely a go-to where no one will be disappointed.

The real authentic Japanese food. The owner Chef is from Japan and been a chef for 36 years! Everything is made from scratch. He makes fresh noodles every day, home made ramen noodles, Udon, soba and new flat noodles is my favorite! Must try this place! Only the authentic Japanese food in the town! This place could be the best in the U.S. for sure. Many of Japanese restaurants don't make homemade noodles, but this place does! Be addicted to his noodles Curry rice is the best too! You must try the chicken katsu curry.

I totally understand there are restrictions during COVID, As I came in w/o a reservation. The lady told me that it would be a 40 min wait for a table. I said that would be fine. She grabbed my number and called me when my table was ready. She calls, my table is ready....I arrive, the lady informs me that although my table is ready, the food will take 40 min to an hour. I'm Sitting by the bar by myself...... still waiting for my for 40 min later for ramen. Whatevs- think twice before you dine here. You're Going to wait a while.

So we had Tatami Room to Accommodate our large group (11 of us) . In the beginning they told us "using Tatami room will cost $5 per person" I don't know why??? Then guess what I realized after 4 days later looking at my receipt, they charged me 25% of total price. $27.75 for using this Tatami room and on top of that $5 x 3 people for Tatami room again. ( occupied charge plus tip $7.77 ?. So end up $15 + $27.75 + $7.77 = $50.52 My total meal charge was $111.00. So I was paying almost 50% service charge here. If I pay 20% tip will be $22.20 plus $15.00 for Tatami roon... so total should be $37.20 if I agreed to pay 20% as tips...This is absolutely mis-reading customers. Food was amazingly poor. That was not professional made. I will not reccomend anyone to go there... that was not Japanese food. Restaurant looks good from outside and inside but sorry to say food was no good. Quality was better before...they still use Covid as their excuse... How about other restaurant, they are on the same boat but they never cheat customers like they did....

Just ok all around. Service was ok. Table was ok. Food was ok. I dont recommend spending more than $20 tops. I arrived a few minutes after they opened and they seated me at first table to main door. There were only a couple of people in the place. The menu is nothing special. I paid over $80 for just myself dining alone. Funny thing for a place where I ordered sushi is that they limit the amount of soy sauce per diner. They gave me a little tiny dish of soy sauce and I actually did not have enough for the three rolls I ordered. Unbelievable. They also limit the amount of ginger and wasabi per person. I've never heard of such a thing. I went in to treat myself. Food was just ok and nothing was worth adding up to $80+ for a light meal alone. I suggest going to Bamboo Sushi or someplace else. I went in here tonight because I had a vague memory of having pleasant dining experiences here in the past -but that was all pre-covid. Service and meal have declined and everything is just ok. If you want ok then this is your place. Ok?

Came here with my wife before a show and everything was going well, and the food was pretty good. Then some very bad service came about. My wife's noodles that were supposed to come out spicy came out with no spice. The classic case of looking at a woman and assuming she can't handle spice. I had had the same dish here before and it was quite flavorful and spicy. They just made hers with no spice. I asked the waiter for some chili oil to spice up the dish and he said it would be a dollar charge. I told him that we would not be paying the charge because the dish came out wrong. He insisted that despite the mistake that he would charge us a dollar for the chili oil. And that there was no mistake at all. I, yes somewhat curtly, said that I'd love the chili oil but the dollar would be removed from his tip. Which is very fair for a restaurant that would not right a wrong here. The guy flew off the handle saying that he would not serve us then and let us be. Never coming by again. The funny part; I still tipped the dude, but remove the single dollar from the tip. Tipping 18% instead of 20%. Will never come back here again after that display of profiling of my wife and not being willing to right the wrong.

Do not go to this restaurant unless you want to be treated with discourtesy and a lack of hospitality. The restaurant does not take reservations. I arrived at the restaurant hoping to have lunch for 2 people before a symphony matinee. I arrived a few minutes before my friend arrived, but they would not seat me because my "full party" had not arrived. I was told there were plenty of tables available. When my friend arrived 5 minutes later, I was told there were no tables, and a 20-30 minute wait. Of course, this is not possible when you have theater reservations. Clearly, this restaurant does not care about it's patrons.

Surprised this place has this many reviews. First off $13 for a "large" size bowl that is across the board considered normal in most of California is ridiculous. My husband got the Kumamoto ramen and I got the small sized Tokyo ramen (also jokable how small the small actually is) they were decent but nothing to brag about. We also got the chicken Karage, pretty tasty but only 6 small pieces. I also got the hamachi hand roll. This was a HUGE joke, first of all, it came out last, it came out so late that I thought they forgot about my hand roll. Secondly it had ONE TINY piece of hamachi. I had ONE bite of the hand roll WITH fish and the rest was rice. Sooooo disappointing, I don't recommend ANYONE go there to waste their money. On the bright side, the staff was friendly and the food was borderline decent to good. Portions were negligible and definitely not worth it. I've been to japan and got bigger sized bowls of ramen there... and everything is smaller portion in Japan! Also, they gave me my ramen in a chipped bowl and the audacity to do tip suggestion starting at 18% rather than 15%. Is this an Oregon thing cause in California they start from 15% and end at 20%. Ugh, definitely can't support this establishment.

This is one of my go-to places any time I'm in Portland. When I lived there I would go at least once a week. Their hand rolls are incredible as well as their ramen. The ambiance and the staff are amazing. They also have a great happy hour. I love this place. Can't wait to go back.