Boke Bowl

I’ll give it 3 stars.
Not great for ramen, donburi, or buns, but passable.

This place was ok when they were the only competition in town but now with all the other, much better, places it only seems a little less than mediocre.
Also, it’s hard to tolerate all the «misses» now with better options around. The counter service was always so smirky and smug. It was like you knew «Becky» was going to give attitude if you had a question.
I love love love their fried oysters but too many times did they come way after the point.
I LOVED their hot sauce in the beginning but it was obvious when they started to water it down.

Boke bowl has all the fixin’s to be an amazing ramen spot: fresh ingredients, top-​notch chef, and spot-​on branding with a killer logo and instagram photos that’ll melt your brain. Unfortunately, true to its namesake the ramen bowls are a bit «boke» (or «out of focus» in Japanese) and have missed the mark each time I’ve given them a shot.
For me, the broth is the main attraction in any bowl of noodle soup and, personally, this broth was way too salty. Typically I don’t leave a drop of soup left but this was so concentrated with sodium I had a tough time just gettin it down. On top of that, the pulled pork was just as salty and a bit dry which didn’t help the situation.
All that being said, the FRIED CHICKEN STEAMED BUNS are the absolute best I’ve ever had! Perfectly fried and tender chicken paired with a dollop of creamy mustard? and crunchy cucumbers, all wrapped in a warm, fluffy bun just makes this a little cloud of heaven in your hands.
Honestly, I wouldn’t mind if Boke Bowl just turned into Boke Buns — I would be all up on that.

Went to boke bowl cuz I’m craving on dim sum and bf wants some soup. So we ordered the siu Mai and shrimp ramen! The siu Mai is really subpar compare to a regular siu Mai. My bf’s ramen takes like soy sauce water with oil. The pros, staff are friendly. Cons, it’s too pricey for a dim sum and a bland ramen.

Ramen ⁷⁄₁₀ soup ⁷⁄₁₀ siu mai ⁷⁄₁₀ ice tea ⁸⁄₁₀ me coming back ²⁄₁₀ overprice for a Chinese guy eating instant noodle and siu mai anywhere

We came here after having a couple beers at Hair of the Dog down the street. I wasn’t feeling like ramen so we got some steamed buns and a fried chicken rice bowl. The food was pretty good but I’m not sure if I’d be back. Honestly, I hate a place that makes you stand in line to order right when you walk in the front door. Plus, the menu on the wall lacks any kind of detail of what comes in an order. Example — how many buns in an order (it’s 3), or what comes in the rice bowl other than the meat of choice (a few pickled things). It just looks like a list of ingredients with no details of how it’s prepared or what to expect. It’s just not my cup o’ tea.

Ramen is all about the broth, and this broth is subpar. It has no depth of flavor and basically tasted like soy sauce water. The pork somehow had no flavor and was dry despite being immersed in soup.
The girl at the counter taking orders was surly and just seemed annoyed. I get that everyone has off days and that customer service isn’t the greatest, but a little effort to be pleasant would have been nice.
Forget the hype and go somewhere else if you’re a real ramen head.

Ramen: got the pork. Very good, strong pork flavor. Would maybe try the miso next time. Wife got the duck. Very gamey, but tasty. Maybe I’ll get that next time.
Kimchi: sour. I personally don’t like sour kimchi.
Brussels sprouts: get it. Pretty good. Good size portion.
Fried Chicken: was ok. The batter was moist. Was expecting crunchy.

After hearing so much about Boke Bowl from various social media outlets, I had high expectations. I’m very proud to say that all these expectations were met.
The delicious food was quickly served by the helpful, friendly staff. I had the duck confit ramen bowl, and my boyfriend had the pulled pork. We also split an order of the steamed buns (which were freaking delicious, by the way).
The duck was better than the pork, and we both brought home a generous serving of leftovers.
I will definitely be returning to Boke Bowl when I have a craving for ramen.

We’ve been a number of times. The ramen is good, the add on’s can be pricey if you don’t pay attention. We like the fried chicken steamed buns but feel like they have been pre-​fried then simply heated back up in the oven. It doesn’t have the texture of fresh fried chicken and for $ 10.00 it really should considering the cost to make them. I would say dine in vs carry out because the portions we’ve had both ways seems to lean towards more of a value to eat at the restaurant. My rice bowl seemed much smaller than the portion I order at the restaurant.
The most glaring issue we have is it that the owners should in the future not allow their staff to choose the music that we all have to listen to. Three consecutive times we’ve been in it’s been blaring hardcore punk rock. I admit that I’m an old punker but it simply doesn’t jive with the model they’ve created and frankly, some of the songs were just inappropriate. If this is something that is sanctioned or encouraged by the owners, we just won’t go back. I want to relax and enjoy my meal and not have to endure someone screaming in my ear for an entire hour. Not to be hyperbolic but it is very irritating to listen to. We had two couples in their 60’s next to us. No bueno.

Wanted ramen, heard Boke bowl was good for that… Pretty cool joint, awesome ramen, steam buns were good (little pricey: pork belly buns are 3 for $ 10) and bottled cocktails were fun and tasty, though small. Don’t get the iced coffee… $ 4 for a 6oz IKEA water glass? ouch.
Boke bowl uses the «order at the counter, then take a seat» method, which works fine. Boke bowl runners do a great job of informing those who don’t read the signs, that they need to order before sitting, and cannot sit even if a member of their party is in line to order due to the small dining area. I think they were polite to those who don’t follow the rules, given that they were slammed.
We’ll most likely be back soon, there are more things I want to try!

We made a wrong turn on our way back from the airport and I noticed this place as we waited in traffic. Something drew me toward this place; it looked warm and inviting. A quick check on their Unilocal page ensured me that they had vegetarian options. Although it’s in an industrial area and wasn’t extremely close to our hotel, we ventured here later that day and did not regret it! I ordered the caramelized fennel dashi ramen that includes Japanese eggplant, rice tots (delicious little things) and loads of other goodness. My fiancé ordered the spicy chicken ramen and it did not disappoint. The ramen is deliciously homemade, and the broth is perfectly spiced. I don’t remember what the drinks we had were called but they were citrusy, fizzy, and delicious… they came in a little glass bottle that said BO KE.

I am not a connoisseur of Asian cuisine by any means so my review may be naïve… but I was quite overwhelmed (in a good way) by the variety of items in my tofu rice bowl. Aside from the rice, tofu, avocado, and poached egg that I expected, there seemed to be eggplant, kimchi, sweet potato, sprouts, etc. etc. My meal was a disorganized gestalt of flavors.
They inform you when you pay that they’ll bus your table for you, so it’s maybe mildly awkward for a moment as you feel pressured to tip preemptively. I think they could easily take that part out of the equation, I’d rather bus my own table…
There is plenty of seating and it’s an open, airy space. I’d visit again.

If you want trendy scene dim sum, where everyone making it is Latino and everyone serving it is white, this is great! They have a lot of vegan options, which was good for our group. They had good coffee for my elitist taste, and I think they even had beer on tap. The meat stuff was good too, and the best was the oxtail soup dumpling, although it wasn’t soup inside. But it was delicious!
I was also into the turnip thing and the wide flat rice noodle with mushrooms. The fried sesame balls were kind of over my threshold for fried carbs. Pork shumai was standard, salty like usual. They didn’t seem to have the sweet bright red vinegar you find at other dim sum.
We went the day after Christmas and expected it to be swamped but it was practically empty!
We had a toddler with us and they had kid seats and funny dinosaur chopsticks for children… probably meant for older children. The toddler was about to poke her own eye out the whole time.

I happened to park by this spot on my way to get some coffee. Looked in and the décor looked fun and trendy, a good amount of patrons and the menu looked different … I love ramen and here you can customize and choose what to put in… Avocado in ramen and fried pears? Anyways a fusion of Chinese and ramen sounded interesting so thought we’d give it a shot, but alas… We were not very impressed with the food.
The pork broth was recommended but tasted more like instant noodle base — rather unidimensional and uninteresting. The noodles were ok but on the thicker, denser side. Portion size was small and the ingredients looked a bit aged. (being from Seattle and vancouver bc, we kept things simple and just got a soft boiled egg in addition to the standard things that came with it). Again, the idea /​concept is interesting but the ramen… Fusion or not… Especially at $ 11 a bowl has a ways to go.

Pretty good ramen but I think it’s over rated for what it is. Not authentic Japanese ramen, the noodles are too hard.
This is your typical overrated Portland hipster restaurant. It’s not bad though.

THIS time I only tried their steamed buns. At $ 3 a pop (the entire entrée is $ 9, with three steam buns per dish), the price is pretty steep for what you got. Nonetheless, the flavor was good and the fried chicken was delicious, crispy and juicy! I also liked having the acidity of mustard and pickles to balance out the dish.
I looked over and saw people with bowls of super amazing-​looking ramen. Must return to try next time.

I took a real chance on this place, considering we only had one day in Portland and it only has a 3-​star rating but it looked too good to pass up. I’m so glad we took the risk, because I LOVED this place! The area its in really reminded us of a neighborhood we have in Denver.
Between the two of us, we had an assorted order of buns, a ramen bowl, the fried chicken rice bowl, a beer they had on tap and a Steigl Radler. The buns were delightfully fluffy but the fried chicken rice bowl was my favorite! So many delicious pickled things and that chicken is so perfectly breaded and fried.
If we find ourselves back in Portland, Boke Bowl will definitely be on our list of places to return to!

Meh.
I LOVE ramen. And this just wasn’t cutting it for me, Don’t get me wrong, the fresh noodles were amaaaazing! mm so good so fresh! But the rest of the bowl was just kind of there. There wasn’t much flavor to the broth and the bowl wasn’t very full either. If I don’t have left overs I know it’s a small portion. I mean I go to chipotle and burrito bowls will last me 3 meals… So it really was not a lot of food. For the price at least. I added sooooo much of their seasoning to the broth and it still wasn’t enough flavor for me. It was just kind of watery.
Oh well. Maybe that’s how they intended it to be?
They do serve some alcohol and they have kiddy dino chopsticks! Which are cute, of course. Service was great, very very nice people. Oh! And it’s family style in that everyone sits at long tables :)

I stopped here for a late lunch. The interiors are crisp with the white and orange theme. The open kitchen concept is nice too. It’s nice to see how clean the kitchen is and how the food is being prepared.
The food on the other hand can use some work. I got the dry seafood ramen. It was a little salty and the noodles were a bit chewy. It’s a ramen place and this basic needs to be perfect. I liked their steam buns but again nothing extraordinary.
My overall experience was meh and I don’t think I will go back.