{"id":13851,"date":"2017-09-28T18:31:07","date_gmt":"2017-09-28T22:31:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/?p=13851"},"modified":"2017-09-28T18:31:07","modified_gmt":"2017-09-28T22:31:07","slug":"new-wave-asian","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/new-wave-asian\/","title":{"rendered":"New Wave Asian"},"content":{"rendered":"

October 2017 | view this story as a .pdf<\/a><\/p>\n

A new wave of restaurateurs brings modern interpretations of authentic Thai, Vietnamese, Japanese, Korean, <\/strong>and Chinese<\/strong> food to Portland.<\/span><\/h3>\n

By Claire Z. Cramer<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\"Oct17-Hungry-Eye-Asian\"Portland\u2019s hunger for the food of Japan, China, and Southeast Asia continues unchecked. The more we learn about the cuisines of each country, the more they become vital to the restaurant landscape here\u2013and the more they transition from exotic to mainstream as their loyal fan base grows. Panda Express this is not. <\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

HEART AND SEOUL<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Yobo<\/strong> is proof that, in Portland, when one culinary door closes, another opens. When owners Bill and Andrea Boutwell decided at the end of 2016 to shutter Bibo\u2019s Madd Apple Caf\u00e9, the hippie-style pre-show dinner destination for Portland Stage-goers for 18 years, the place didn\u2019t stay dark for long. Sun <\/strong>and Kim Lully Chung\u2019s<\/strong> new Korean restaurant opened at 23 Forest Avenue this summer. Today, there\u2019s not a batik pillow in sight. Serene rooms with creamy-cappuccino walls are silhouetted with handsome black wooden furniture and banquettes. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYobo isn\u2019t quite traditional, but it\u2019s exactly what we intended: small and intimate with a short, thoughtful menu,\u201d says chef Sun. \u201cGood honest food.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Kim Chung, serving as hostess and waitress, starts us out with sake service. \u201cIn Korea, it\u2019s a form of hospitality to offer your guests a little gift of some sort.\u201d She places a stemless sake glass for each of us in its own small lacquer box. Pouring the ice-cold sake, she allows the glasses to fill and then overflow lavishly into the boxes. \u201cNow you have a glass of sake plus a little gift.\u201d She smiles.<\/span><\/p>\n

We feast on a mung-bean pancake with garlic-chive kimchi minced into the batter. It\u2019s nicely browned and cut into wedges for easy dipping in a soy-scallion sauce. Skinny steel chopsticks and serving spoons are the utensils here. \u201cMetal sticks are traditional,\u201d Kim says. Pan-fried pot-stickers have an irresistibly crispy skin; they\u2019re filled with pork and kimchi and are delicious. I take back every snarky thing I\u2019ve ever said about kimchi!<\/span><\/p>\n

Braised, boneless beef ribs are meltingly tender. Daily banchan<\/em> veggies of local, seasonal produce include cleaver-cut zucchini with toasted sesame seeds, spicy eggplant, and remarkable potato cubes dressed in Korean chili powder and sesame oil. Potatoes?<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m a County girl,\u201d says Kim of her Aroostook roots. \u201cIn Korea, banchan<\/em> are made of whatever vegetables are plentiful, just like here.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe ran Sunny\u2019s Table in Concord, New Hampshire, for years,\u201d Kim says. [It\u2019s now closed.] \u201cSunny was born in Korea. He came here when he was six.\u201d Kim is not Asian, but \u201cMama Chung says that after a couple of decades in the family, I must be at least half-Korean.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAsian cuisine allows people to try simple items like dumplings or pancakes in a whole new way with flavors and textures that are bold and comforting at the same time.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

And the translation of Yobo? \u201cIn our house, it means \u2018Yes, Dear,\u2019\u201d says Kim. \u201cYobo is an expression of communication between husband and wife.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

FINE CHINA<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Portland\u2019s ongoing renaissance for quality Chinese restaurants continues. Empire<\/strong> gave us a taste for elegant Cantonese dishes. Then Bao Bao<\/strong> arrived, with Cara Stadler\u2019s superior dumplings. This year we added Sichuan Kitchen<\/strong>, the neighborhood caf\u00e9 in the shadow of the State Theatre. And this summer, we gained Chinese food on wheels.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cGrowing up, this was rice for a special occasion, not every day,\u201d John Wen<\/strong> says as he hands out a small carton of Nou Mi Fan, a fragrant pilaf of jasmine and sticky rice studded with shreds of pork, tiny dried shrimp, and slices of Chinese mushroom. He\u2019s in the kitchen of Hakka Me<\/strong>, a Cantonese food truck.<\/span><\/p>\n

Wen\u2019s menu includes tasty braised chicken, pork dumplings, and plenty of veggie sides. \u201cMy family is from the Guangdong province, where people are referred to as Hakkanese, supposedly descendants of the Han Dynasty. I was born in China, and I came here in 1998. I grew up in Oxford, graduated from Oxford High School. My family has a Chinese restaurant there\u2013Ocean Pearl.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Hakka Me can be found on the block of Spring Street between Center and Union streets at lunchtime, the Eastern Prom, and at local breweries. \u201cI did the Cape Elizabeth Strawberry Festival, and I\u2019m going to Sugarloaf this weekend for the mountain bike festival,\u201d he says with the wide smile of a free spirit. \u201cI started the truck because I didn\u2019t want to cook American-Chinese like my parents. They haven\u2019t changed their menu in decades.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

INTO THE OLD PORT<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

C<\/strong><\/span>heevitdee<\/strong> has transformed the glass-storefront corner at Fore and Market streets into a sun-washed palace of delicious, healthy Thai food. And we do mean transformed\u2013a Dunkin\u2019 Donuts occupied this spot a few incarnations and light years ago. Spotless planked floors and simple wood-and-wrought-iron furniture, plus salvaged rough-plank wainscoting, set a sophisticated, minimalist tone. Even the ladies\u2019 room is pretty enough for a selfie.<\/span><\/p>\n

You won\u2019t find crab Rangoon on this menu. Cheevitdee\u2019s menu nicely exploits the trend in small-plate sharing, with appetizers such as Pla Goong (shrimp bites with lemongrass) and Gai Ta Khrai (grilled chicken skewer). There\u2019s papaya salad that, like much of the menu, can be served vegetarian or vegan. Entrees include Ping Ngob (grilled salmon curry wrapped in banana leaves) and Kanom Buang Yourn, a shrimp cr\u00eape with tofu and sprouts. <\/span><\/p>\n

Our waiter recommends Kanom Jeeb. \u201cThese are shumai<\/em> dumplings filled with shrimp and organic tofu, very light and tasty.\u201d\u00a0 <\/span>He delivers a rectangle of slate upon which stand four porcelain spoons. Each spoon holds a shumai<\/em> pouch in a pool of sweet ginger soy sauce, garnished with a few gossamer slivers of red pepper and infinitesimal dots of crispy-fried garlic. It\u2019s one of those simple masterpieces of presentation and flavor. \u201cCheevitdee means \u2018good life,\u2019\u201d he says.<\/span><\/p>\n

Out the window, the Old Port marches by as ever, in late-season tank tops, tattoos, and plaid flannel. But you\u2019re in an oasis of wood and bouquets of fresh flowers, tasting the subtleties of lemongrass, lime, and ginger.<\/span><\/p>\n

TRUTH, BEAUTY, FOOD TRUCK<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe wanted a casual place where people can come sit and relax and enjoy a bite to eat,\u201d says Austin Miller<\/strong>, who, with wife Hana Tamaki,<\/strong> owns the Japanese restaurant Mami <\/strong>that opened six months ago in a prime spot at 339 Fore Street. <\/span><\/p>\n

Mami debuted as a food truck a few years ago and quickly became a beloved member of the mobile food fleet. It was Tamaki, the daughter of Portland\u2019s first sushi chef, who introduced Miller to Japanese cooking, and he embraced it completely. They cook together in the Mami kitchen now. And the name? It means \u201ctruth, strength, and beauty,\u201d the hostess says.<\/span><\/p>\n

The restaurant is classic Old Port, with brick walls, a couple of sofas, a smattering of tables, and a glass front overlooking Boothby Square. Local breweries are heavily represented on a chalkboard drink menu, including Bissell Brothers and Austin Street on tap. \u201cWe started out at the breweries here, and everybody in Japan drinks beer. It goes great with the food,\u201d Miller says.<\/span><\/p>\n

The menu is also on chalkboard only, and as with so many of the new Asian places, it\u2019s very appealing price-wise. You order at a counter, select a drink, find a seat, and your food\u2019s delivered when ready. Yakitori or shiitake skewers are $3, octopus takoyaki is $7, and Donburi rice bowls run $10 to $14. My daily special of crunchy green beans and neat cubes of tofu dressed in a house-made tahini and garnished with toasted sesame seeds is delicious. Together with a molded cylinder of neatly cubed sushi tuna and ripe avocado garnished with pickled onion shreds, it\u2019s a perfect lunch.<\/span><\/p>\n

The couple has a three-year-old daughter and a six-month old son in addition to a restaurant and food truck. \u201cIt is a lot,\u201d Miller says, grinning, a black chef\u2019s bandana around his forehead. \u201cBut you meet someone and you just know, I can do all this. I can do all this with you.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

EAST BAYSIDE, OF COURSE<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

As ever, inner Washington Avenue is on the cutting edge of this new wave of Asian eateries. Head for the glowing pink neon PHO sign on the corner of the former J.J. Nissen Bakery and enter Cong Tu Bot<\/strong>, a new Vietnamese spot opened by husband-wife team Vien Dobui<\/strong> and Jessica Sheahan<\/strong>. Counter seats overlook the big open kitchen, d\u00e9cor is simple, and bright pink walls bring a smile.<\/span><\/p>\n

The pho here is strictly chicken. \u201cVien is really passionate about chicken broth,\u201d says Jessica, who is working as hostess and server on this visit. When Vien comes over, he elaborates.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIn Vietnam, a lot of places specialize in just one pho. We wanted a very small focus here.\u201d The concise menu comprises four noodle or rice bowls, a selection of add-ins such as poached chicken, pork patties, or a sunny-side fried egg, and side dishes of fried rice and vegetables. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u2019We keep the menu really short so each thing is excellent,\u201d says Vien. \u201cSome regulars walk in and already know what they\u2019re having. And we price it so we can have regulars who can come in once a week.\u201d Menu prices top out at just $14; sides and add-ons are $2 to $8. The kitchen is also geared for take-out. On this visit, it appeared Cong Tu Bot meals would be on tables all over the East End, so numerous were the hipsters dashing in and out with sacks of pho-to-go.<\/span><\/p>\n

A bowl of the house chicken broth is $3. Without noodles or so much as a sprinkling of familiar herbs, chilis, or even a wedge of lime, this broth truly is \u201cexcellent\u201d and sings with exotic flavor notes. Dobui\u2019s verve is there in each spoonful. So are \u201cstar anise, clove, cinnamon, black cardamom, coriander, black pepper\u2026\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

I bite into a bright, spicy side dish of cabbage slaw studded with peanuts and dusted with crispy fried shallots. Suddenly, my lungs are on fire\u2013my senses have been stripped, my hands can\u2019t feel to grip, my toes too numb to\u2026Just kidding. But this slaw packs heat.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBird\u2019s-eye chilis,\u201d Vien says, pointing to the red slivers. I should have heeded the menu, but a one-chili designation seemed safe.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe didn\u2019t want our parents\u2019 generation of Vietnamese-American restaurant,\u201d he says. His parents were refugees from Vietnam who settled in Southern California, where he was born. \u201cWe wanted it to be like Vietnam.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Washington Ave.
\nContinued\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

Don\u2019t miss Izakaya Minato<\/strong>. There are plenty of bar and high-counter stools as well as table seating in an adjacent room at this casual, Japanese caf\u00e9 that shares a block with Red Sea, Terlingua, and Silly\u2019s. D\u00e9cor is attractive, right up to the red paper lanterns hanging from the ceiling. It\u2019s a happening spot at happy hour. Chef Takashi (Thomas) Cooke<\/strong> and his minions are intent at their grill and frying pans in the open kitchen as barstools fill.<\/span><\/p>\n

Flame-haired bartender Lucy presents a tray of assorted sake cups, both porcelain and pottery, no two alike. \u201cChoose your cup,\u201d she says before placing a six-ounce carafe of cold Ozeki Sumo Junmai sake on the bar\u2013a tiny but charming gesture.<\/p>\n

A special starter of a fresh mackerel filet\u2013lightly pickled, sliced, and then seared on the skin side with a blowtorch\u2013is a sparkling gem. Slipping each morsel in the soy and dabbing it with wasabi makes a perfect pairing with the sake.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cPortland\u2019s kind of spoiled us,\u201d says a young, baseball-capped fellow from Amesbury, Massachusetts, sitting nearby. \u201cPortsmouth\u2019s pretty good,\u201d says his blonde goddess companion, \u201cbut we come here and there\u2019s always something new to try.\u201d<\/p>\n

They decimate an Age Ochazuke\u2013fried rice ball in seafood broth\u2013and a plate of tuna carpaccio with their chopsticks while sipping Campari cocktails.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis street didn\u2019t used to be like this, did it?\u201d asks the goddess. <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

October 2017
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