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    West Coast Bento

    4.0 (71 reviews)
    InexpensiveJapanese
    Open 10:30 am - 2:00 pm

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    yasai kare (veggie curry)

    Friendly owner, fast service, giant portions. I had the yasai kare (veggie curry) and it tastes identical to golden curry blocks I've made at home. Believe it or not, that's actually the traditional way to make japanese curry - was introduced to the Japanese by the British navy in the 19th century. I'm not kidding about the portions - the other half of this was dinner the next day. A really solid lunch option if you're in the area.

    a group of people painted on a fence
    Elizabeth N.

    This place is a good find. Made to your order, inexpensive, and quick! There are a few menu items to choose from, but all of them taste rather good. I'd say stay away from the Shumai side dish though, it doesn't taste great. So, you go in, get food, and go out and find seats, it's very limited and is more of a pick-up for food.

    It's a hole in the wall
    Heather H.

    Reviews are funny. Either people post them that had a crappy experience at a place or a person posts them in rebuttal to a crappy post. There is a very small group of yelpers that review because it's what they do. I fall somewhere in the middle of each category. West Coast Bento -NW Thurman location. I originally started coming here back in 1989. Dan Dan The Bento Man fed me all thru college. He opened another location down by the lotus (which later was closed) but the NW was always my favorite. . However it's not owned by Dan anymore., another nice fella owns it. And his name is also Dan. He bought it from Dan 22 years ago. 7 Years ago Dan moved to the current NW location. The food however is exactly as it's always been. A big pile of perfectly cooked rice (white or brown) and a quality kabob of meat- perfectly cooked. Your choice of chicken, beef or if you are lucky Lamb! There are some other foods to order but I then to stick with the basics. Things to remember - this place sometimes runs out of food. It happens. Get over it. Plenty of times I have swung in only to be told they sold out of the lamb or beef or even the chicken. Sucks, but it is what it is. His hours are 10-2:30. So if you roll in at 1:40 you may be shit outta luck. Or call and place your order! There isn't really much seating - benches under cover or 2 picnic tables out front no cover over these. Parking can suck - it's NW duh. He takes cash and credit cards now. It's really a 2 man show, the owner runs the BBQ and the register, his helper cooks, preps and fills the 100s of trays with rice. It's a great system and quick going. Relax, and prepare to take a nap after eating all the food. I try to eat only 1/2 and save the rest til later, but usually fail as its so damn good.

    Cindy L.

    This is good. It's a lot of food for what you pay and the guy is super nice. The yakitori isn't the most tender or flavorful I've had, but you get so much food that I think of you had a hankering for grilled meat skewers and rice, this would hit the spot 100%. I probably wouldn't swing out of my way to come here, but I know a solid option in the area if I'm around. FYI their spicy is a sweet chili sauce, not really that spicy

    Best bento place in NW is closed until April 2016.

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    3 years ago

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    2 years ago

    Big Dans serves the best bentos. Open on weekdays only. Do yourself a favor and grab a bento. 5 STARS from me and I'm a bento nut.

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    5 years ago

    West Coast Bento the best Bento in Portland I've been eating this Bento for over 20 years hands-down the best around

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    5 years ago

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    4 years ago

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    5 years ago

    Been eating here forever. Great chix on a stick. Very good baos too. That's about all I ever get. Great stuff.

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    7 years ago

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    6 years ago

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    9 years ago

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    4 years ago

    The original bento spot in Portland. Dan has created the best lunch i know of in the Portland metro. i drive here 30 minutes for this stuff!

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    9 years ago

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    7 years ago

    Excellent food. We enjoyed the owner and the food and ambiance was great. A ton of good food and great appetizers. Definitely will be back!

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    3 years ago

    very friendly and the excellent flavors match the quality of service, def a smash all around

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    Takibi

    Takibi

    3.9
    (184 reviews)
    0.7 mi
    $$
    Locally sourced ingredients
    Vegan friendly

    I visited Takibi twice during my stay in Portland--once for the Winter Omakase course and once for…read moreà la carte--and left highly satisfied both times. The highlight of the Omakase was an unexpected one: the "ramen." To be honest, I was a bit skeptical when I saw it on the menu, but it turned out to be an incredible dish--more akin to a refined, cold soba experience--that truly impressed both me and my companion (who is not Japanese). It was so good that it convinced us to return for a second meal. The service is nearly flawless. The staff was incredibly accommodating, even preparing a dish from the Omakase course that wasn't on the à la carte menu upon our request. If there is one area for improvement, it would be the beverage pairing for the Omakase. While the food was excellent, I felt the quality and the portion size of the pairings could have been a bit more ambitious to match the standard of the cuisine. I also missed out on their lunch-exclusive ramen due to timing, which is definitely on my list for next time. Takibi offers a level of satisfaction that goes well beyond any star rating; it's a place that genuinely cares about the guest experience. Highly recommended.

    A restaurant connected to Japanese outdoors company Snowpeak? Sure, it's interesting. I like that…read morethey use some of the Snowpeak gear for the service, such as their stainless steel cups for the sake flight. The restaurant itself has a Japanese wood-modern and simple aesthetic. It's cute. They've got the sushi bar and then the back wall with the fire going for the meats. We came in to try the Portland Dining Month menu. It was good - 3 courses, with simple but varied flavors. My only complaint is that the portion of fish was so small, especially compared to the amount of rice they give. I might be annoyed by the smaller portions if I were ordering a la carte. Service was decent, but not particularly amazing to go along with the higher price point here. Happy hour seems like the way to go, considering that the food was good, but now WOW. My cocktail was also good hit on the sweet side. We had a good time for dining month, but I think we will stick to HH if we come back.

    Photos
    Join us on our outdoor patio for lunch, happy hour, or dinner.
    Join us on our outdoor patio for lunch, happy hour, or dinner.
    Takibi
    We use a live fire grill for many of our dishes during dinner service. Enjoy our Black Cod, Salmon, Ribeye, and more from the hearth.

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    We use a live fire grill for many of our dishes during dinner service. Enjoy our Black Cod, Salmon, Ribeye, and more from the hearth.
    Afuri Slabtown

    Afuri Slabtown

    3.9
    (117 reviews)
    0.3 mi
    $$

    My friends liked this restaurant so much, we came here back to back nights. For our group of four,…read morewe didn't have much of an issue getting seats on Friday or Saturday night, but I'd recommend making one if you're able to plan ahead. The food: My recommendations - Yuzu Tsuyu Tsukemen - my first no-soup ramen experience and it didn't disappoint. Got the nontraditional "warm" noodles instead of cold, but with the cold sauce, I thought it was pretty good. Reminds me of other Asian cold noodle dishes (which I typically love) but with the added fun of dipping). Tangy, sweet, savory, saucy. Yuzu Ratan - Their menu highlights a type of ramen that isn't commonly found in the US. The broth has definite citrus flavor from the yuzu, but it also reminded me of beef and tomato. I quite liked the noodles here - thin and very good chew. Quite a unique experience. It's not my favorite style of ramen, but definitely worth trying. Tori Karaage - slight fried texture on the outside and still juicy center. Another dish with yuzu from the sauce. This is a good one! Ota Tofu Yakko - firm tofu, yuzu ponzu sauce, and bonito flakes. The combination is cool and refreshing. The other dishes - Kaisen Don - I thought this dish was fine, but nothing special for the price. 4 pieces of fish with ikura and tobiko. Tonkotsu Shio - flavorful broth, but not very creamy or oily. I tend to like very rich tonkotsu. Crispy Broccolini - oven roasted to the point where the leaves tasted a bit like kale chips. Looking for a different style of ramen? It's worth a stop to Afuri to try their Yuzu Style

    The only reason this isn't 1 star because Afuri's Tsukemen is really delightful! However, everytime…read moreI come here, the service is truly abysmal (honestly both locations). I did recently experience something that was really frustrating. I went in to order a to go order, the lady said it was going to be 15 mins but I had a meeting to get to, and I was trying to be a good customer by not rushing them and saying, hey, let me come back to it in about an hour- so no rush! The girl said that wasn't possible. What?? What's the difference if I got it the second it was done vs if I got it a little bit later? She said they only do that for phone orders... ok, can we pretend this is one? Anyways, she was nice enough to ask the kitchen if they can speed it up, which they did. Great right? Now, I don't know if it was out of spite or just truly forgetting but my tsukemen (noodles you dip in sauce) didn't have the tare (the sauce)- which of course I only find out when I was back home and far away from the restaurant- so it was a really frustrating surprise to come home having just bought $20 + tip noodles that I couldn't really eat since I didn't have any sauce to go with it. I don't think I'm gonna come here again

    Photos
    Restaurant
    Restaurant
    Yuzu-Tsuyu dipping sauce on the side
    Yuzu-Tsuyu dipping sauce on the side
    Inside

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    Inside
    Langbaan

    Langbaan

    4.4
    (315 reviews)
    0.0 mi
    $$$$

    Langbaan is a fantastic, special-occasion destination. The tasting menu, accompanied by wine…read morepairings, made for a memorable evening. We were lucky enough to get counter seating for our reservation, so we got to watch both the activity in the kitchen, and the team that was plating all the courses on the other side of the the counter where we sat. The variety and creativity were spectacular. One example was a dish that looked like Pad Thai, but the 'noodles' were made from sliced squid. Each of the 12 items in the 5 total courses were described in great detail as they were being served. Portion size ranged from exquisite small bites to bordering on entree sizes. All in all, everything added up to a perfect amount of food for the evening. I was pleasantly surprised by being able to get a reservation on relatively short notice, so if you've been considering the Langbaan experience, don't be discouraged by reports of how much lead time it can take to get a table.

    . Honestly, probably a high 3 / low 4 for us. The experience and presentation were great, and all…read moreof our servers were awesome. But overall, the food itself was just okay. Some dishes leaned pretty salty, and the gelatinous fish dish was probably our least favorite. A few of the curry/stew-style dishes also felt like they would've been better paired with rice or sticky rice. The mains were decent, but nothing that really wowed us. We also added the lobster and oysters--the oysters were great, but the lobster felt extremely small for the $45 upcharge. Overall, it was a really cool experience, but for all the hype, I'm not sure we felt the value matched the price point for what we ended up paying.

    Photos
    Watching things come together on the other side of the counter
    Watching things come together on the other side of the counter
    Watching things come together on the other side of the counter
    Watching things come together on the other side of the counter
    Panag gam wua, or beef brisket curry.

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    Panag gam wua, or beef brisket curry.
    Tanaka

    Tanaka

    3.9
    (341 reviews)
    1.3 mi
    $$

    Found this place on tiktok and was amazingly surprised it was as good as the hype…read more I got the chicken katsu and yuzu egg salad sando combo with fries and drink (an option to upgrade to matcha latte) between 2 of us. It was a great balance of sweetness and citrusy zing. The fries unexpectedly came with a delicious curry dip. There's a lot of seating inside for a quick meal. I went around 5 pm and they were no longer serving matcha :( . Many of their pastries were running low so if you want any, would recommend going earlier in the day.

    This spot has been part of our regular Portland rotations for a few trips - we liked it so much I…read moreeven bought their shirt. But lately, it hasn't been as good. The matcha drink and tofu katsu sandwich are my favorite items here. However, they do have misses at times. The pork cutlet sandwich is okay, a little dry in my opinion, and the sauce doesn't quite come together. The strawberry cream sandwich is a miss. I would save your sugar intake for something else! The service can also be lukewarm at times, depending on the staff. The bathrooms are a bit of a disaster (sticky floors, toilet paper strewn everywhere), and the lock is not intuitive (you need to press a button to lock it), so I witnessed two instances of people not locking the bathroom when I was waiting to use the bathroom. I asked my companion afterwards, and they thought it was an auto-lock, but really, anyone with the code can enter if you don't press the lock button. I might give this spot another try but probably need a break for awhile.

    Photos
    Inside
    Inside
    Ube Cream Doughnut. 5/5
    Ube Cream Doughnut. 5/5
    Latté. I can't remember which one. 5/5

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    Latté. I can't remember which one. 5/5
    Momoyama

    Momoyama

    4.3
    (236 reviews)
    1.0 mi
    $$$

    We like sushi. We eat it fairly regularly in DC. When local family says they have a new place to…read moretry in Portland...yeah, interest already increases. Momoyama definitely delivers in the flavor department. What I was struck by was not just the freshness of the fish, nor the expert cuts...but the diversity of flavors. Perfect example - the King salmon with truffle knocked my socks off. I am not really a fan of salmon. I find its raw texture to often be a little soft to my taste and the funk of the omega 3s in quality salmon is just... not my bag. The truffle completely transformed the experience for me. I was not prepared for how well the earthy notes of the truffle complimented the King salmon. It made the sushi something to be savored without any of the traditional off-putting (to me) fishy funkiness. Highly recommended. Similarly, the octopus Sunomono was perfectly prepared. Often, octopus can be chewy. Not in this case. Additionally, the sauces and the salad greens complimented the dish and elevated it from traditional "sushi tastes." The bracing acidity made me want to eat more and was a delightful preamble for the rest of the meal. Service was prompt, friendly, and accommodating. We had a large group of eight and they were dutiful in informing us they had included gratuity in the bill so as to avoid double tipping. This small courtesy was not wasted on us. Service was always readily accessible without being intrusive. Orders were executed without defect and questions were answered pleasantly and with expertise. The restaurant has a pleasant and serene serving space. The bracing refrain of the "Irashai!" Greeting was a welcome touch that made me smile. Overall highly recommended. The prices were quite excellent given the quality of food and I would not hesitate a second visit. Sushi well, my friends.

    Momoyama is in the Pearl District! I love coming here, I mainly come here whenever I am craving…read moretheir squid ink pasta topped with Uni. The oysters are a treat (add uni if you're adventurous), and the ceviche - this time first time trying it, was also fantastic. The welcoming atmosphere and super friendly service make it even better! Never a wait here so you are sure to be seated and the food comes out fairly quickly too. Plenty of street parking, too. Go for the food - you won't regret it!

    Photos
    Clean and comfortable interior.
    Clean and comfortable interior.
    Unagi nigiri
    Unagi nigiri
    Takoyaki

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    Takoyaki

    West Coast Bento - japanese - Updated July 2026

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