Penny pinchers are similarly not going to feel good about the bill. Those who aren’t looking for flourish need not make a reservation. A dark chocolate lava cake with caramelized bananas was also a delight, and so was a strawberry cheesecake that comes, naturally, with 24k gold flakes on top. It’s like ice cream and a snow cone had a baby… a baby that you cannot stop eating. The spoonfuls of the snow hit your mouth and dissolve into a milky sweet bite. Bingsu is a Korean “snow” dessert, made with condensed milk, and topped with strawberry meringues and cookie crumbs. Where the over-the-top presentation wasn’t always the right choice for the main courses, it was deeply happy-making on the sweets, especially the bingsu. The cocktails were all delicious, but it’s worth looking into the wine and sake list for some good finds, like a fine chablis for a reasonable $20 a glass, and a nice pour of classics like Yuki No Bosha “Cabin in the Snow” sake for $17.įinally, whatever you eat, order dessert. Fat seared Maine scallops are given a hefty heaping of black garlic, blending the soft ocean with the fermented funk. Just when you think you’ve had fried Brussels sprouts every way imaginable, you’ll try them at Janken, given a bit of heat and a lot of complexity thanks to a kimchi vinaigrette. Chef Rodrigo Ochoa holding translucent pancakes and a serving of Peking Duck - Photo by Thomas Teal Get a half bird so you can add more from the rest of the menu.
#Porthole restaurant portland skin#
The skin is crackling, the meat succulent, and instead of being served with puffy bao like many places, Ochoa puts out translucent pancakes in which to roll your duck, pickled veg and hoisin. It’s traditional, but every element is dialed in. Ochoa told Portland Monthly that Peking Duck was one of his signature dishes, and on that I can agree.
Do not skip the hamachi crispy rice ($19), four pieces of fried sticky rice with yellowtail and citrusy yuzu kosho paste on top, layered with creamy avocado.
There is plenty of umami and interest there-the truffle aioli once again detracts rather than adds to the celebration of quality ingredients.īut those are small quibbles in what is overall a super solid menu. A steak tartare is gorgeous ($29), paired with braised mushrooms and a milk bread toast that I want to be a part of every sandwich I eat. You can spend $46 on a surf-and-turf roll that combines king crab, torched a5 tartare, champagne aioli and truffle ponzu, but frankly it all got lost mixed together and overwhelmed by the truffle oil. Sometimes, though, it seems like the pricey ingredients are simply gilding the lily. The caviar and the bubbles pop, and the sugar of the vintage brings out the crab’s natural sweetness, too. You’ve never felt so fancy to eat king crab nigiri dotted with spoonfuls of caviar and topped with gold leaf, paired expertly by the sommelier with a 2008 Andre Clouet brut champagne. Truffle is folded into a mushroom bao buns ($15), alongside lightly battered and fried maitake mushrooms. Of course it’s good: Fatty tuna with fatty goose liver and funky truffle are all knock out ingredients. Sure there are basic sushi rolls like eel and avocado ($16), but there’s much more in the way of nigiri topped with maguro tuna, a sliver of foie gras, and some truffle ($24) for good measure. You can see those influences across the wide-spanning menu. The menu thrives under the auspices of chef Rodrigo Ochoa, who was raised in Medellín, Colombia and gained experience at a number of high-end steak houses in Miami (among them Komodo) before moving here to open his first restaurant. The smokey Pineapple Express - Photo by Thomas Teal The drink itself is quite good: mezcal infused with grilled pineapple, cardamom bitters, lemon, and cointreau add a lot of good spice and citrus to go with that smoke. Getting a coveted seat under its branches adds to the feeling of high drama.Īt the forefront of a few high-end restaurants in Portland charging $20-plus for a cocktail, Janken's signature Pineapple Express ($21) arrives under a cloche-filled with smoke, released at the table to billow out. The centerpiece of the open-plan dining room is a massive cherry tree, permanently blossoming above the room.
Janken-the name taken from what the game rock, paper, scissors is called in Japan-is a Japanese and Korean fusion restaurant in theory, but in reality it's a practice in decadence.
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