36 Best Japanese Restaurants in Portland

“You can tell this chef is very passionate about cooking. Each dish is plated so beautifully. The menu is seasonal with high end local produce from the farmers market. The staff is very warm. The interior is very nice, with very nice furniture(eg marble or quartz tables, I believe). It’s not inherently the chefs fault, but at this price point, the food is not what we really crave? Also, we were kind of feeling hungry with such a carb light menu. We just split one medium meat dish, so we do eat less protein than average? But I feel like it’s not enough food for vegetarians fyi. They did GRACIOUSLY make us some handmade tortillas off the menu and essentially didn’t charge us. Plus, we received complementary dessert wine tasting, since we complained about wanting some bread or tortillas. One bummer about this was that no one followed up about our request until we asked three different servers. Overall, I think this could be a great place. But just not for us at the moment.“

“Excelent tapas and coctails.“

“Friendly staff fast service, best sushi I’ve ever had“

“The husband and I were on a ramen rampage, and the weather was our perfect excuse. Then, out of nowhere, we stumbled upon this restaurant. The service was spot-on, the food arrived in record time, and that ramen? Sheer perfection. The broth was a flavor bomb, the chashu was tender and divine, and those noodles? Freshly made and sublime. We left feeling like we just discovered ramen nirvana.“

“Excellent! Fast, friendly service and absolutely delicious food. We had the tempura udon and curry plate. We also enjoyed the sake flight. Cannot wait to go back.“

“This place is one of a kind. The food was deliciously balanced and nuanced. Every dish we indulged in was so wonderful. It is a charming intimate spot and will be a go to whenever we visit Portland. The staff was also wonderful and so accommodating. Thank you again for the wonderful experience“

“One of my favorite restaurants! I just love a place that does one dish and does it well. Every time I go to the Portland art museum I always come here afterwards. This food is just so warm and filling I would highly recommend getting the roasted vegetable add-on. The staff is so lovely too. I also love that they have this melon cream soda. It makes me feel like I’m in Japan. Also! Occasionally they have free barley tea and that stuff is delicious!“

“Overall awesome in every way!!“

“Good food!“

“I was looking for a place to pick up an onigiri in the morning from time to time, and this place opens at 9am which is great! Really cute shop, they have taiyaki, musubi, and a nice variety of onigiri, and it is affordable and exactly what you want. There is really nothing quite like this in the Portland area...its a little treasure. The staff are so friendly, i will be sure to recommend this place to all my passengers, friends, and family!“

“Everything. This is not just going to dinner. This is a dining experience. It’s a small reserved venue. Yes it’s spendy, but worth every penny. You’ll try food you never thought you try. The mostly seafood menu it so well prepared. Plus you can watch the prepared each course. A fun night.“

“The serrano based tequila drink on the menu was amazing! We started with the fresh rolls. Delicious pork belly and sauces with those. The oysters were unique and tasty with a light spice and trout roe. We finished with the duck empanadas which were outstanding! Service was great and the space is nice. I'll definitely visit again some day.“

“We love the food here and always take friends and family when they are in town. The service was extremely slow this time. Ramen came out for those who ordered it way before our sushi was ready. We had an amazing experience over the summer and the last two times have been lacking in service and atmosphere. It was busy, we had a party of 7. Seated pretty quickly, but the rest was slow. Other tables received orders before we did. Hope to continue going and have better luck next time.“

“This place was adorable!! And the food was amazing quality and priced so well for the experience! It may take a bit for things to come out but we got a ton of fried things which take longer! The appetizers come out right away!! Especially because the fried stuff is a type of katsu style. Honestly the best deep fried rolls I’ve ever had!! We got the st. John’s Bridge roll and the fish was so yummy!! I’m a real stickler about fish quality but this fish was so good!! I really hope as they get popular they won’t ever change the quality of their rolls because this will keep me coming back for more!!“

“Sho is our favorite restaurant in the neighborhood. Katsu and his team are awesome.“

“Really delicious, and so happy to have a Japanese sandwich cart in Portland. I loved the Pork katsu!“

“Perfection in the mind's eye in every regard.

Flavor, freshness, execution of literally every single detail (even ones you don't think about until you're made to notice), and the fact it's all accessibly priced kinda made me cry when i tried food from here the other day.

For lack of a quicker comparison, this is like Elden Ring coming out after years of being told the best you can get is sysco-sourced AAA reboots of the same "deliverable" concepts.

I want to experience this place's food for the rest of my life.

I just woke up, but this was very much in my dreams last night after yesterday's dinner, so I was compelled to just get something out. I'll come back some other time to detail the experience.“

“Atmosphere off the rip, is something that must be noted! Incredible. If you've heard of Janken then you have seen the ambiance and the famous white cherry blossom in the middle. Food was fantastic. Service was phenomenal. I've seen and heard that the portion sizes were small, not my opinion at all. We were more than full leaving this place with leftovers to take home. We ordered an array of items off the menu and we were pleased with every single one. The A 5 wagyu was impressive and the bingsu for dessert would be the highlights for myself. I would certainly recommend this place and would most definitely be back to try other items on the menu.“

“This hands down is one of my favorite restaurants in Portland OR. It the same quality of other top spots in the US like Nobu , O-Ya , and Morimoto . The location is perfect located in the Pearl district. The chefs are high quality and the fish is extremely fresh. They have a great but simple flavor approach. The service is warm, helpful, and appreciative. I always ask for Joy as she is a true professional and loves providing an exceptional experience on every visit.“

“Fresh food at a reasonable price, loved my own pot of green tea:). I’ll be back!“

“Some of the best sushi in Portland for decades, going back to when it was Sushi Takahashi 2 (at a different location). Highly recommended. Great options for vegetarian sushi as well!

Vegetarian options: Several vegetarian options available, and when they're not too busy, the chef makes fantastic custom rolls as well.“

“Great food, fast service and great atmosphere. Highly recommend.“

“Great Sushi.. must eat place.“

“The karaage chicken is extremely flavorful and tender, while also being crispy. Mix in some gyoza and you've got the perfect meal. Great portion size, especially for the price. The pickled cabbage could use a bit more pickling to really stand up to the richness of the chicken, but it felt very Japanese in that it was more delicately flavored.This cart pod has tons of seating, booze, and way too many vegan places.“

“High quality jet fresh seafood from Tokyo“

“Nice little high end food court with craft beer, cocktails, ramen etc.“

“super friendly staff and awesome manager who didn't blink an eye and replaced my mom and aunts order to accommodate their health conditions. bomb food and and super fast serve time. will be back again Special shout out to Damont for being an awesome manager!“

“Soen/Courier Coffee is a small Japanese café. It's one café and one counter for ordering, so there is no functional distinction between Soen and Courier Coffee, I think the coffee menu and small baked goods selection is from Courier Coffee and the rest (norimaki, kakigori, and tea) is Soen. Kakigori is available seasonally - I was lucky that I visited during the last week of kakigori for the year.
It's a pretty small space, a few tables tables inside and a few outside on the sidewalk. There's not much room for standing, but the staff will bring your food to your table so you don't have to stand around waiting after you order. The staff members were very nice!
I got there 45 minutes before closing. They were out of most of the norimaki but had one ume-taku norimaki left, so that was what I ordered, along with an apple cinnamon kakigori and buckwheat tea. I really enjoyed the norimaki even though it wasn't my first choice. The pickled plum and radish gave it a big pop of flavour and the inari added some nice sweetness. Perfect interplay of sweet, savoury, and vegetal flavours. The kakigori looked huge but since kakigori is mostly ice it wasn't heavy or hard to finish. The apple cinnamon flavour came with a creamy sweet potato sauce, a shot of hojicha, and of course baked apples. It was a really interesting and unique combination of flavours. Very good. The tea was a nice warming accompaniment to my meal. I think for the high quality the prices were fair.“

“Good food, super nice staff. Was there for happy hour, good prices on drinks. Got the corn ramen which was underwhelming, so if we come again it'll definitely be for the sushi which was delicious. Brother had their curry and loved it. And the takoyaki was bursting with flavor.“

“so lovely! delicious mocha latte and macha brownie. shared a salmon and locks bagel with cream cheese too! lovely staff!“

“Dined here on 11/23, and was really happy with my experience. The front of house/waiter was really nice and knowledgeable, and the two chefs were heads-down and preparing amazing food at a good clip.

We went with the following:
starters: miso soup, cucumber salad, edamame, fresh wasabi (for the nigiri)
mains: hamachi nigiri, eel nigiri, nishi futomaki (maybe the best roll I have ever had) and a seasonal dish that was crispy-skinned trout, fingerling (I think) potatoes, chanterelles and a chestnut sauce (amazing small dish)
drinks: hiyaroishi (fall) sake sampler, asahi draft, ume highball, one cup cloudy sake

total was $170 including tip.

Service was timely, with each dish coming out when we were done with the previous one, and as mentioned, the wait staff was really great. this is more of a fine-dining kind of spot, so expect to have somewhat small portions that are not cheap, but also expect high quality ingredients. the seasonal dish of crispy trout, nishi futomaki, fresh wasabi and the sake sampler were standouts.

the only thing that kind of bummed me out was that I was hoping the nigir was a bit larger of a portion. for the price, i would have rather ordered the crispy trout two more times rather than grab the nigiri. not that it wasn't delicious, but again, the size of the actual cuts of fish (mainly the hamachi) were a bit on the small side from what I have experienced in the past (granted, i am comparing this to places in japan).

I think I will come back next year for my birthday and take the plunge on the omakase. on that note, I see people in the reviews complaining about how long the service takes for that, but it literally says on the menu to expect a ~2 hour 7 course meal. it is meant to be enjoyed slowly, so if you are tight on time, this might not be for you.

so glad to have finally eaten here, I can't recommend it enough for an elevated japanese dining experience.“

“I would love to give this place five stars. They're are often not open during their scheduled business hours. I've been here multiple times in the last few weeks at 12:00, which is when they say they open yet they are closed. I'm sitting here right now at 12:15 and their food truck is closed.“

“THE FOOD! Excellent service. Fabulous food. Wonderful vibe. 🔥🔥🔥“

“Yama is our favorite spot for sushi. Great sake menu too.“

“Food was super yummy! Me and my friend got the chicken katsu sandwiches, one classic and one spicy. Both delicious. Strawberry sandwich was a perfect sweet treat and the DONUTS!! The consistency of the bread was everything. I recommend the special ranch for the sandwiches. I personally didn’t like the dirty fries. Service was mediocre at best. It was completely transactional. No smile, no greeting, just “what would you like. ok, we’ll have it out.” I just think customer service should be more meaningful or at least—friendly? Also, the seating is convenient only for a quick bite, not meant for groups or a party over 2. Worth trying once for brunch/lunch. Will probably not return for the price.“

“We came here for my daughter’s bday and she had a great time. There’s so many choices of maki and nigiri sushi along with lots of desserts on the sushi train conveyor belt. It’s a lot of fun just watching my kids pick whatever they’d like and chow it down with a smile. The staff is quick and fine about ordering any sushi not on the sushi train or straight from the non-sushi options on the menu. It’s a fun place for a birthday or happy hour!

Vegetarian options: Good selection of asparagus, tofu, cucumber, avocado and tempura options.

Parking: There’s a good amount of spots available about a block away.

Kid-friendliness: Kids have a great time picking from all the options on the sushi train.

Wheelchair accessibility: Roll right on in!“