eatingout
Epiqueerean
BY JENNY NGUYEN
Gentrific-Asian
s many local diners already know, P-town
A
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CAFFE
MINGO
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-»bbV on nroaaway^
Odessa’s Cafe
serving dinner nightly @ 5pm
in nonh west Portland, we don't do reservations
is terrific for two things: 1) authentic
Authentic Southern BBQ
regional and worldly cuisine and 2) trend
ing them up into something completely
different and marketable. How do you
upgrade authenticity? Dress it up, add an umbrella
and a shiny penny to the tab. Voilà! Out with the old,
in with the new (and improved?).
Silk Bistro & Lounge •
1012 N.W. Glisan St.
From the same owners as Pho Van comes Silk,
*
Slow Cooked Homemade Sauce
Now Serving Beer & Wine
simple Italian cooking
simple Italian food
serving the same food with a Hollywood makeover.
Though the menu options are pared down, more
exotic dishes like sesame-encrusted ahi grace the
pages. Thankfully the pho, banana blossom salad
and hot pots are just as good as ever and even more
Feng Shui than before. An extensive Asian-
inspired cocktail list is sure to please those with
MiNGO
serving lunch mon-fri, dinner 7 nights
happy hour in between
more boozy inclination, while the décor is stunning
and the lighting can make even yours truly look
like a movie star. With a killer happy hour, spot-on
food and a prime post-op locale, the bold and risky
transition to Silk is sure to pay off.
3445 NE Broadway - 503-2SS-3369
WH
1 tam-Spm Mon-Thurs & i tam-çpm Tri & Sat
Dine-Tn or Take Out
Hirosushi • 926 N.W. 10th Ave.
Famed Lake O sushi man Hiro Ikegaya shuttered
*
his 17-year success story, Hiro Sushi, to open up new
digs in the Pearl. Not only a slight change of scenery
but a complete change of form: The tiny yet spacious
dining room looks like a French eatery with white
Violet*» Café
tablecloths and flatware (chopsticks can be request
ed), both terribly misleading. The menu is riddled
with culinary conundrums, so be prepared to ask as
many questions as possible—it’ll be well worth it.
Though the entrees are delicious and innovative, the
East-meets-West fusion doesn’t hold a light to Hiro’s
mad skills with his first love: the fish. The overall
quality of the seafood is hands-down Portland’s fresh
est. His mastery of knife work, style and presentation
is understated in comparison to showstoppers like
Sinju, but the umami (deliciousness) is tenfold.
Though trendy and spendy, with a sushi list twice the
size of any I’d seen in town, it is worth every yen.
5204 NE Sacramento at 52nd & Sandy Blvd
Open 7am-2pm,Thurs-Mon
Masu East «310 S.E. 28th Ave.
This second site could be the opposite of
“gentrific-Asian,” in that it has done less and
gotten better. The attitude is less haute-to-trot, the
décor less svelte, and most of all the food is less
pretentious. Though some menu items remain ill-
conceived—like venison with mushrooms and filo
wrapped oysters on ramen—many hit their stride.
The black vinegar-dressed quail and bibb lettuce
with quail egg is delicious and sensible. The udon
and soba noodle soups are terrifically savory and
deep. The sashimi is good, but the maki are where
Masu excel. The Ring of Fire roll pairs oyster and
yellowtail with jalapeno, while the I Heart Unagi
is a tribute to freshwater eel with asparagus and
cream cheese. More suburb and more subdued, this
Masu is a definite upgrade.
J enny N guyen
would love to hear from her readers.
Contact her at epiqueerean@comcast.net. Happy
new year, folks!
°3) 28PASTA . pastaban#0
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