Portland Restaurant: Boke Bowl West

What: Boke Bowl West
Where: 1200 NW 18th
Honeys Heart: Brussels Sprout Salad

When Kelly and I first tried Boke Bowl East about three years ago, Boke Bowl was the hot new spot in town. It was only open for lunch and it was PACKED. Kel and I went in with high expectations and when those weren't exactly met, we just never went back.

Now, a few years later, Boke Bowl has a second location on the westside and after a few months of driving by it everyday on my way home from work, I realized that I really wanted to give Boke Bowl another shot.

Kel and Adam visited the westside location first, both opting for the Pork Dashi ($10) ramen and though they thought the noodles, veggies, and meat were all good independently, the overall dish was a bit too rich and didn't quite hit the spot for them.

Our first joint HHH meal at Boke Bowl West came after a rock climbing session with Adam and Doug. We ended up arriving just in time for their Dim Sum brunch, which is served on Saturdays and Sundays from 11am-3pm.

Boke Bowl says "this is our non-faithful recreation of the Cantonese-style, tapas-like, small-plate/pushed cart service offered at more traditional Chinese restaurants." I've never had dim sum, so I don't have much to compare it to, but it is a fun concept.

After you're seated, servers come around with a few different carts. They share their offerings with you, all of which range from $3.75 to $5.75, and you can opt in or wait for other plates to come around.

We tried a few different plates including Potstickers, Spicy Wings, Baos, and Sui Mai (dumplings), but our favorites were the Chinese Greens with Oyster Sauce and a special crawfish and spicy pork stew with rice.

Everything was good, but even with the plates we liked best, we were all left with the same feeling Kel and I had after our first Boke experience: one of slight disappointment. Like, why aren't we more excited about this? Why does it feel so overpriced? It certainly wasn't bad... we just wanted more from the experience.

Still, I wanted to give Boke one more chance so when my friend Kendall wanted to meet up for lunch in NW, I suggested we grab food there.

The server at the front counter was very friendly on this visit. He told us the warm Brussels Sprout Salad ($10) with cauliflower, citrus slices, tofu croutons, and Thai vinaigrette was his favorite item on the menu, so we decided to split that as well as an order of three different steam buns ($9).

The server knew what he was talking about. That salad was my favorite thing I've eaten at Boke Bowl- east and west. The combination of perfectly cooked Brussels sprouts and cauliflower with bright touches of citrus and savory bits of tofu croutons was just delicious. If I go back, I'll definitely order that.

Our Brisket, Miso Mushroom, and Fried Chicken buns were reasonably tasty too, but that salad was hard to top.

So, after each giving Boke Bowl two more chances each, how do Kel and I feel now? Pretty indifferent, I think. I would go back for the Brussels sprouts and... that might be about it. Guess Boke just isn't for us.

Aspirations II

Back in January, I made a list of eight bars and restaurants I wanted to try in the next two months.

It's a little past my deadline, but here are my results:

Happy Hours:
The Box Social- Fail. Haven't made it here yet.
Night Light Lounge- Eh, read my post about their hh here.
Nostrana- Obsessed. Combined, Kel and I have probably eaten there once a week since we first tried it. Post coming soon.   

Restaurants:
Olympic Provisions- Made the mistake of taking my not-so-meat-loving mom here. She was not a fan. I would like to try it again before making my final decision.
Boke Bowl-  Not so much. Read Kel's post here.
Tasty n Sons- Fail again. Still need to try.

Bars: 
Apex- Doug was not as impressed as he wanted to be and God, that screen displaying their beer options is horrible. Hurt my eyes to look at. We might be back.
Firehouse- And still need to go here too.

Let's try again.

Here's my list of spots to try by May 19: 

Happy Hours:
The Box Social
Driftwood Room- have been for drinks but not food. Planning to take the girls soon.
Sniff Cafe- Kel and I want to take her pups here. Drinks & doggies = woot!

Restaurants:
Mi Mero Mole- was reminded I wanted to try their tacos after seeing them in Willamette Weekly's 2012 Cheap Eats guide.
Olympic Provisions- hope to giving the SE location a try this time.
Tasty n Sons- will be kicked out of Portland if I don't go here soon.

Bars:  
Firehouse
Clyde Common- 2012 James Beard semi-finalist for Outstanding Bar Program.

Portland Restaurant: Boke Bowl

What: Boke Bowl

Where: 1028 SE Water Ave

When: 10 am - 3 pm Mon - Sat

Honeys Heart: Fried Pears

Katie and I were introduced to Boke Bowl over the summer at a World Forestry Center fundraiser. Their food was awesome and we have been anxious for them to find a permanent location. Having heard nothing but rave reviews about Boke Bowl's recently opened restaurant on SE Water Ave, and getting a tweet from Boke Bowl saying "bring it ladies" it was definitely time to hit up this hot spot.

We know this is the darling of the Portland food scene right now and we know we might upset some people by saying this... but we weren't so impressed. Now, before you go getting all defensive, let us explain why: 

After placing our order at the counter, we found a spot by the kitchen and began our lunch with Pork Steam Buns ($6). The pork was tender, the buns were warm and soft, and the pickles, though kind of surprising, added a nice flavor.

So no complaints there really. And $2 per bun seems pretty fair. Moving on.

Due to our convenient location, or the generosity of the chef, we were given some complimentary Fried Pears ($2.50) which were probably our favorite part of the meal. The sweetness of the pears, combined with the tart flavor of the vinegar was really delicious.

But then came the ramen. Katie chose the Pork and Chicken ($9), and so did I... I thought. But I was served the Seafood Miso ($10), which ended up being okay with me. Katie's meat-filled ramen was heartier, with a darker broth. The flavor was subtle and lacking the complexity we expected after the pork buns and the pears. A bit of a letdown for sure.

The seafood ramen, made with boiled shrimp, was lighter and we thought more flavorful. You might expect garnishes such as greens, braised bamboo or water chestnuts in a ramen, but we thought the butternut squash in these was a nice addition.

So what didn't we like about the place? Though our bowls were good, and despite the fact that Boke Bowl is competitively priced with other popular ramen places in town including Wafu, Biwa, and Mirakutei, we both felt slightly unsatisfied.

Perhaps we did it all wrong and we should have added some of the sauces on the table or Pork Belly ($1.50) or Buttermilk Fried Chicken ($3) off the menu, but then our bowls of ramen would have been $11 to $13, and that just seems sort of crazy for a bowl of soup (which, come on, is what ramen really is).

Or maybe we just played into the hype too much and set our expectations higher than they should have been. (But really, have you been on Twitter lately? @Bokebowl is blowing up.)

Or maybe we just aren't huge ramen fans to begin with.
 
Anyway, the point is, we probably won't be going back soon. Which means two more spots open at the lunch table for the rest of you. You're welcome...?

Oh, and we also decided to try one of Boke Bowl's Miso Butterscotch Twinkies ($1.5) for dessert, which we enjoyed because we liked that it wasn't overly sweet. But would we order it again? Probably not.

But hey, Boke Bowl also does a Korean Fried Chicken Night on Thursdays from 5 to 9:30pm so perhaps we should try that?

Aspirations

Right now I have a list of all the restaurants, bars, and happy hours I want to go to on my phone. And in a spreadsheet on my computer. And saved in a Google doc that Doug and I share. And on random pieces of paper around my apartment.

But so far I haven't been very good about actually making it to any of those places. So the obvious solution is to post an abridged version on the blog and give myself a two month deadline to make it to all of them (and blog about it.) So here goes: 

Happy Hours:
The Box Social- recommended by Eat Beat
Night Light Lounge- recommended by Karissa of Delectable Dates
Nostrana- recommended by Dana (for a girl's night)

Restaurants:
Olympic Provisions- recommended by... everyone
Boke Bowl- see above
Tasty n Sons- ditto

Bars: 
Apex- Doug's addition
Firehouse- recommended by Abe of BePortland

I'll keep you updated on my progress...