Bon Appetit at Bamboo Sushi

Restaurant: Bamboo Sushi
http://www.bamboosushipdx.com/
Cuisine: Japanese

Location:
310 S.E. 28th Ave
Portland, OR 97214
(503) 232-5255

Hours: Dinner 7 nights a week 5 – 10 pm
Happy Hour: M-F 5- 6:30 pm

Bamboo Sushi is a chic and modern restaurant in SE Portland. It sets itself apart from other Japanese spots by being the first certified, sustainable sushi restaurant in the world! Dedicated to provide the freshest fish, meats, and produce with a consciousness towards marine stewardship, sustainability, and the wellbeing of the overall environment, Bamboo sushi is a great option for all you sophisticated eco-friendly foodies.

My sister, Alex, and I arrived for dinner on a Tuesday night at around 7:30. The restaurant was active and full without being overly crowded. After some friendly banter with the host, we were immediately seated at a quaint two top against an open glass window wall, which created an inviting indoor-outdoor atmosphere. We were given ice water with a fresh cucumber slice and a complimentary serving of edamame, which we gratefully nibbled while debating what to order from the vast and elaborate menu. The edamame was an appropriate compliment to the turquoise “peapod” ring, designed by Johanna Becker-Black and worn by Alex.

We had heard rumors that Bamboo is known for some pretty outrageous cocktails and a great wine list, but since neither of us drinks alcohol, we opted for green tea as our beverage, which had a sweet toasted rice flavor, and definitely set the tone for the Japanese experience.

We were somewhat overwhelmed by so many enticing choices on the menu. The waitress could sense our indecisiveness, so she kindly offered some suggestions to help us narrow things down. To start, we ordered two Kaiso Seaweed Salads and the Assorted Pickled Vegetable Plate. The seaweed was bright and crunchy and the pickled veggies, which included diakon, eggplant, onions and mango, were artistically presented, beautifully colored, and offered a dynamically zesty palette of flavor.

The waitress told us that the one dish we absolutely HAD to order was the Alaskan Black Cod. Alex and I had not been planning to get this, but our server delivered a hard sell, informing us that GQ magazine voted it to be one of 5 best dishes in the WHOLE country. It was indeed delicious. It came in a dramatically large white bowl, covered in a savory garlic sauce. The portion was perfect to share as a taste-tester. There were two equally sized spears of fish, which allowed us to avoid a familiar sibling squabble over the biggest piece.

After the first round of courses, we had some time to digest and enjoy our tea, until a huge multicolored platter of sushi rolls arrived, almost too lovely to eat! We ordered two different signature rolls: the Highway 35, which involved a crazy combination of crab, avocado, asparagus, cucumber, sake poached pears, eel sauce, tobiko, and tempura crunchies. This mixture of flavors was delightfully complex, and ended up being our overall favorite choice. The other signature roll we chose was the Salmon Nation, definitely a fish lover’s dream. It included house smoked wild ivory salmon, fresh raw salmon and a salmon skin salsa. We felt like we got a healthy serving of omega oils with this one!

As a default ‘safe’ order, we opted for a traditional veggie roll, which was crunchy, fresh and simple. In hindsight, we both agreed it would have been a more exciting choice to get another signature roll instead, but for only $5, it was a tasty bargain.

We also tried a traditional “Press Box”, which is a customary form of sushi that has been layered rather than rolled. The Hoki Poke box came with six pieces of a delectable red crab, ahi tuna, avocado, and green onion combo. The tuna was extremely tender and the avocado was perfectly ripe, making the whole thing feel like it just melted in the mouth. This was definitely another favorite.

Once we cleaned all our plates, we still had high hopes of trying one of Bamboo’s creative dessert options, like the Chocolate Eggrolls, or the Plum Wine Cheesecake, or the Coconut Panna Cota, but after so many delicious entrée dishes, there was just no way we could put anything more into our full and happy bellies!

Overall, it was a fantastic experience with a great atmosphere, friendly and knowledgeable wait staff, and truly spectacular food. It was my first, bust certainly not last visit to Bamboo Sushi!

Jewelry worn: On Johanna: sterling silver and 22k gold Tibetan turquoise ring (local designer, Johanna Becker-Black), sterling silver branch and nest necklace with blue opal, seed pearls and rubies (Johanna Becker-Black), and carved green coral rose earrings (by Hawaiian designer, Veronica)

On Alex: sterling silver turquoise ‘peapod’ ring, oxidized silver bird silhouette earrings with moss agate, and sterling silver branch and bird necklace with lemon quartz and green amethyst (all by designer, Johanna Becker-Black)