Portland Restaurant: Daruma

What: Daruma 
Where: 3520 NE 42nd Avenue (NE 42nd and Fremont)
When: Lunch 11:30-2:30pm, Dinner 5-9pm, 'late night' Omakase 9pm-close, Closed Sun & Mon
Honeys Heart: Sashimi

I love sushi. Almost as much as Adam does so we tend to have a lot of sushi when we go out. This date night was celebrating 14 years together so we decided to splurge at Daruma in northeast Portland.

This hole in the wall just off of NE Fremont has space at the bar and the window. We took a seat at the sushi bar, an excellent spot to view the techniques of the sushi chef since Adam is always trying to improve his at-home sushi skills.

We sat down around 8:30pm, but the omakase style option doesn't start until after 9pm, so we decided to order a few things to get started and then change to the chef's choice.

Off the appetizer section of the menu we went for the Inari ($4) described as "veggie rice pillows". At first we were suspect, but these were pretty delicious. They were like cold vegetable fried rice in a sweet tofu pocket. Okay, I'm not sure that description does them justice, but I really liked them.

We also ordered the Tsukemono ($4), a dish of house-pickled veggies. All good, but the radishes were probably my favorite.

Another procrastination technique was to order drinks. We started with some bubbly ($9) and a sake flight ($14).

Sake flights are proving to be a great way to learn which sake I like and don't like without committing to an entire glass. The flight included Dewatsuru Kimoto Junmai ($8/glass) described as bright, hearty, musk; Minato ($11/glass) powerful, funky, minerals (the descriptions on the menu are quite helpful!) and another that I can't remember. I actually liked all three, while the Dewatsuru was Adam's favorite.

It was creeping up on 9pm but we couldn't wait any longer and ordered the Maguro ($16) aka tuna sashimi. I used to really be partial to nigiri versus sashimi, needing that bit of rice to soak up some sauce and provide some variation in texture, but I've grown to love the sashimi and prefer it now. The flavor of the fresh fish is really phenomenal.

Once it was finally 9pm, we went with about $35 each worth of omakase. Live it up, right?

To start we got miso soup, edamame ($3), another bean of sorts that I'm having trouble recalling..., a cucumber salad, and sunomono ($4). The seaweed salad was a bit of a let down. I usually like it, but this one lacked flavor.

Following the array of veggies we got the Bincho - Albacore ($14) which was truly excellent and may have been ordered again towards the end.

To continue my sake education, I tried a few more samples and ended up going with the Denshin Ine Junmai ($9/glass) described on their menu as delicate, pretty, sprouts. It was light and refreshing.

After the albacore, the plates kept arriving with pieces of nigiri and two rolls. The only downside to the omakase style is that dishes just show up in front of you and unless you're paying attention (which at this point we were chatting up our neighbors at the sushi bar) you don't remember what you got!

Somehow I missed the photo op, but we also got the Hotate ($8 - scallop nigiri) which I was a bit nervous about, but the texture was soft and the flavor was creamy and buttery. I would definitely have it again. 

The downside to sushi is the bill at the end. We spent a pretty penny this night (it was a special occasion so it's okay, right?) but we could have toned it down and still had a great meal. I highly recommend the omakase option here (after 9pm) and at Boxer Sushi. Writing this makes me want more sushi...perhaps for my birthday next weekend!

Portland Restaurant: Boxer Sushi

What: Boxer Sushi
Where: SE 20th and Hawthorne
When: Wed - Mon 5:30 - 9:30pm
Honeys Heart: Omakase 

Work travel is pretty awesome when it takes you to cool cities, especially one that your sister lives in, and then you get to go on adventures the following weekend. Like skiing Mt. Snow in Vermont or hitting up Brooklyn Boulders.

It is always nice to sleep in your own bed and get back to a routine though. I flew home from NYC on a Monday and Adam was leaving in the morning, so we headed out for a sushi date night.

Micah Camden, who seems to be building a little Portland food empire with Little Big Burger, Boxer Ramen, Boxer Sushi and Blue Star Donuts, is sure doing something right. We opted for the Omakase, a Japanese phrase meaning "I'll leave it to you," which runs $45 per person. The experience starts with miso soup, then moves to salad, sashimi, nigiri, vegetables, sushi rolls, and ends with mochi.

A few things about the Omakase experience and Boxer Sushi's approach that I really liked:

1.) Eating the fish in this order and taking time with each course was so much more enjoyable than digging into a bunch of rolls at one time and not really appreciating the fish. I also liked having a little surprise each round!

2.) The fish was served with garnishes and sauces that enhanced the flavor. Unlike dipping a roll in soy sauce and wasabi which consequently covers up some of the flavor, each selection seemed to really shine.

3.) I would prefer to always order family style and try a little of everything. I love getting a little bit of many things versus committing to just a few items.

The salad was crisp and firm with some tasty spices on the top.

Miso soup is always nice on a cold day and the tofu in this was a little sweet. I liked the unique variation.

This was one of my favorites. I should have taken notes because I can't remember what they all are, but I have photo documentation so I can just show them that on my next visit, right? On top of the freshness, the plates were all visually appealing with their flavor-intensifying sauces and garnishes.

Okay, this was a favorite too. The clementine and pepper added a sweet and spicy flavor that complimented the fish perfectly. I could definitely go and just have this.

I guess the sashimi is where my heart is. This salmon was also fantastic and next to it was a lump of crab meat, both drizzled with lemon oil and baby cilantro. Seriously delicious.

Following the sashimi selection was a unique plate of veggies. The green beans were covered in miso and were probably Adam's and my favorite. Next to those was spaghetti squash and at the top was pickled onion.

Next was nigiri with seven pieces each. The plate was set up to be eaten right to left with the lightest, less fatty white fishes at the beginning, moving to salmon, tuna, trout, mackerel and eel. I was really into the white fishes, while Adam declared he could eat tuna every single day. Each was slightly different in preparation with either a little garnish, wasabi, or the decision to keep it simple.

The last savory item on the list was a roll filled with crab and asparagus, topped with fish and a pepper. Again, this didn't disappoint.

The meal ended with blueberry and green tea mochi. Blueberry ice creams always remind me of lip smackers so my favorite was the green tea. I love the texture of the rice cake/dough around the ice cream. Boxer Ramen downtown has many flavors and I would recommend wrapping up your lunch there with one of these delights!

After having this sampler experience it would be easy to go and pick just a couple things that I really wanted, or for special occasions I would gladly do it again! Perhaps when the McNany's are in town...

Introducing Thursday Night Suppers!

Problem: So this thing happened where Kelly and I realized that even though we're kinda good (ok, kinda awesome) at making drinks, we don't really know our way around the kitchen when liquor is not involved. Shoot.

But don't worry, we're pretty awesome at problem-solving too and we came up with a solution: Thursday Night Suppers.

Each Thursday, one of our three "member" households (Kelly & Adam, Jenna & Michael, and me &... me?) is responsible for making dinner and a complementary drink.

Every Monday, we'll post the recipes for both the dinner items and drinks we made.

Fun for us and educational for everybody.

Check back on Monday for recipes from our first Thursday Night Dinner: Sushi Night w/ Kel & Adam!