Izakaya Minato - Portland

I had an amazing experience at this restaurant—one of the best I've had in the US. We opted for the omakase menu, which was $40 per person, and it was a delightful surprise as the chef curated a selection of dishes for us. It truly was a culinary journey! We enjoyed everything from oysters with yuzu to fresh seafood, and even Japanese fried chicken. The highlight was the best salad I've ever tasted, drizzled with butter sauce. The service and atmosphere were excellent too. I highly recommend this place!

This restaurant is a fantastic place for incredibly simple and delicious Japanese cuisine. The small plates give you the flexibility to sample as much or as little as you want, and there's a great option for sharing family-style. The drinks were also excellent.

This meal was truly outstanding. The raw items were unquestionably the highlight. It was the season for Main Diver Scallops, and the freshness and quality of the seafood were exceptional. The selection of sashimi was also excellent, and I genuinely enjoyed deciding the order in which to savor the three different pieces. The garlic edamame appetizer was fantastic as well; whatever the garlic was marinated in left me picking up little flecks to savor every last bite. Compared to the raw dishes, the cooked offerings were slightly less exciting, but still enjoyable. Be warned, the portion of Japanese Fried Chicken is quite large and easy to share, so make sure you have some room. I also found that the rice egg yolk was the perfect side to accompany it; you'll want something lighter to balance the richness of the chicken and mayo sauce. Lastly, while summer waits can be up to two hours, we were seated in less than 15 minutes during our visit in January. This restaurant is definitely one of the places I must return to in Portland.

Amazing food, interesting drink menu, friendly staff. Can't wait to come back for Omakase.

Udon and sashimi and yukke, oh my! I just want to keep shouting out menu items because it was all so good. You can easily eat your way through the entire menu of small plates and that’s exactly what you should do! Bustling vibes with the servers bringing out dishes as soon as the kitchen calls out the order. There’s the option for outdoor and indoor dinning but we opted for a seat at the community table near the bar so we didn’t miss any of the action. The drink menu is just as striking from sake flights to gin and maple cocktail creations. I’d recommend Wasabi Island for a spicy tropical breeze shaken and poured to perfection!