Boke Bowl

Boke Bowl started as a pop up ramen noodle place in Portland and recently opened a permanent location on the east-side next to Bunk Bar, and Clarklewis restaurant. It is best known for it's ramen noodles which come in several flavors: pork, seafood, caramelized fennel dashi - Japanese eggplant, and miso black cod. I have tried the pork and seafood bowls and both were good, however I found the pork to be a little greasy. Be warned, they are very big, so you may want to consider splitting one if you want to try the other stuff. And I strongly suggest you try the other stuff, so if possible, go with a big group of people so you can share.  Also, it's family style seating, so if like me you don't like sitting by people you don't know, a larger group will insulate you.

The steam buns are like little sandwiches, with three to an order for $7. You can get fried chicken (by far the best of the group), miso mushroom (vegetarian), pork belly (again a little greasy/fatty - I wish they would switch this to pulled pork), grilled zucchini (vegan), ham w/tarragon mustard and pickles, and peanut butter and jelly ($6). The snap peas, pea tendrils, pickled radish, avocado, napa cabbage salad with a tahini miso vinaigrette is a great option as are the pickles for an appetizer.  If you are still in need of something sweet to close it out, the Twinkies are a fun choice.

On the website I saw that they host a weekly Koren fried chicken night. If this fried chicken is the same as the stuff they put in the steamed buns, then I will definitely be putting that on the calendar.

Boke Bowl
1028 SE Water Ave.
Portland, OR 97214
503  719  5698

Monday to Wednesday
10:30am to 3pm

Thursday to Saturday
10:30am to 9:30pm