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.

Portland Restaurant: St. Jack - New location!

What: St. Jack
Where: NW 23rd and Raleigh
When: Opens at 5pm 7-days per week, Patisserie to open soon!
Honeys Heart: The new digs

Katie and I first experienced St. Jack at their old SE Clinton location where we were introduced to Kyle's (now owner of Expatriate on N. Killingworth) excellent concoctions.

It's where we photographed this quote, which describes us well:

It's where I returned with my family to enjoy a fantastic, and expectedly pricey, French dinner:

Steak Tartare ($11) hand cut steak, cornichon, capers, red onion, quail egg yolk, & toasted baguette 

Butternut Squash Soup En Croute ($11) 

Roasted Beet Salad ($10) chèvre, arugula, toasted walnuts & red wine-dijon vinaigrette

Onglet Steak Frites ($24) with shallot, red wine demi-glace & pommes frites with bearnaise

Lamb Navarin ($28) braised lamb shoulder, cream, sherry, potatoes

It's where Adam had his "favorite cocktail ever"...it involved plum whiskey, but it's been a while so I can't name the drink.

So when we heard St. Jack was relocating to our hood, we were on board! It absolutely brings some cool points to NW, which seems to be making a bit of a "trendy comeback" with the recent additions of Barista, Little Big Burger, Pacific Pie Co., Bamboo Sushi, and Salt & Straw.

Adam and I met third-cousin Chase and his fiance to check out the new digs and try a cocktail. The space is much larger with a more open bar to one side of the restaurant and the restaurant to the other. On a Sunday night it was busy but we didn't have a wait, which was excellent.

I opted for White Lady ($11) with gin, lemon juice, and something else... it was very good. In hindsight it was a cocktail that I could have made at home so on my next visit I will branch out.

KB (Chase's fiance is also a Katie so to avoid confusion she'll be KB on the blog) ordered the L'Americain ($11) with campari, lillet rose, combier pamplemousse rose and chilled seltzer.

The important thing to note here is this drink is available by the carafe for $32. Yes please on a warm sunny day!

Adam and Chase went for the St. Jack Manhattan, but it's made with rye so though my inexperienced whiskey palate kind of liked it, it wasn't Adam's favorite.

We didn't order any food during our visit but the guys next to us had each ordered the cheeseburger ($9) and were sharing the fries ($5) off the bar menu and it smelled so good.

It's not in the budget to become a regular here, but it's definitely a worth while stop on NW 23rd and I'm sure we'll be back!