SHO

I cannot say give this company as much praise as it deserves. I used to live right down the street from this place and would come here all the time. The wait staff is friendly, helpful, and very prompt. The owner is very personable and frequently stops by tables to see how everyone is doing. I went here when this was a Koji Osakaya and I’m glad to hear that it did so well, the owner was able to buy it out. I’ve been to Japan and the food at Sho’s is identical to everything I had there. If you’re looking for authentic Japanese cuisine I highly recommend Sho’s. They also have a full parking lot!

I came here based on the Unilocal reviews alone… mistake. Now I’m just confused because this was the worst Japanese I’ve had, from the food to the service. We didn’t even get our drinks until the food came 30 minutes later, not to mention it took just as long to get a spoon for our soup and it was already cold at that point. This was after trying to get someone’s attention for a while. The sushi was bland, as well as the teriyaki. The person who seemed to be the manager was really nice and checked on us, but our server was completely absent and again… the food was horrible. Will not be back.

It’s Friday night date night with Wife N! This is the time of the week where we look forward to fleeing the kids and either heading out to a restaurant, or staying at home and cooking a nice dinner while banishing the loinfruit to another part of the house.
Tonight, it was the former. We made reservations for SHO for 7:00, and showed up at the stroke of seven. Wow this place is busy. There were easily 20 – 30 people just standing in a line waiting for a prized seat at a table. The host found our reservation and seated us at an available table way off in the corner of the bar. Wait… aren’t reservations supposed to get you a nice table reserved in the actual restaurant? It appears at SHO, making reservations just moves you to the front of the line when you show up, but you still get the next empty table, regardless of where it opens up, even if it’s that two-​top smack dab in the middle of the bar crowd. Meh.
We got seated, perused the menu and actually there’s some pretty good looking stuff on here. Wife N ordered a «Shocking Pink», saketini-​style drink with spicy plum wine, nigori sake and a splash of grenadine. Excellent, cold and yet warm at the same time. I ordered the house cold sake which was perfectly acceptable.
We started with appetizers of the «Tataki Beef» (Gyu Tataki) and Assorted Tempura. The Tataki Beef had a lot going on. The Ponzu was very citrusy — I’m used to a little better balance of soy and citrus but that’s probably just stylistic here. The beef was the centerpiece but there was tons of other stuff on the plate – cabbage, daikon oroshi (spicy grated radish), onion, spring onions. It was good, but sliced too thick and over-​complicated with condiments. The tempura was good, nothing terribly special. The shrimp were very fresh and flavorful, but the tempura itself was not particularly crisp and somewhat greasy. 3*s on the apps.
For dinner, I ordered a bowl of Kakuni (pork belly) Ramen in Tonkotsu (pork) broth. Wife N. ordered the Pan-​Fried Garlic Teriyaki Ahi. We also ordered some Nigiri sushi selections.
The Ramen soup was fantastic. The broth was so perfectly flavored, heavy bodied but not salty. The pork belly was clearly braised separately then added to the soup at the time it was served, and had an excellent flavor of its own. One of the better Kakuni/​Tonkotsu I’ve had. 4.5*s on the soup.
Wife’s ahi steak came with a salad on the side. But the salad was placed on the same flat plate as the tuna, and the teriyaki sauce bled all into the salad. The salad dressing in itself wasn’t particularly flavorful and the lovely teriyaki improved the salad, she said. The ahi itself was overcooked – medium bordering on medium-​well in parts. A seared ahi steak should always be served rare unless ordered otherwise. Wife N. is more tolerant of overcooking and said it was decent. I would have sent it back. The teriyaki sauce was fantastic. 2.5*s on the tuna.
Nigirizushi: Overall, the sushi was decent. Maguro (tuna) was average – just laid on top of the rice instead of being properly formed and «pressed» (which is what «Nigiri» means) – but the Hamachi (yellowtail) was some of the best I’ve had – it was cut from the belly, almost Hamachi Toro. Saba (Mackerel) was perfectly fine but nothing memorable. The Hotate (scallop) was very average – most have a creamy sweet flavor to them and this one didn’t have a lot of flavor. Sushi on their Nigiri menu is also very expensive. $ 5.50 for two pieces of average Maguro is outlandish. Sushi: 3.5*s.
Total meal: $ 85 and most of it wasn’t sushi. We came away thinking that the food was pretty good, but not at the prices they’re charging. For $ 20 less this would have been a 4* restaurant, but for the money I have to give them 3*s overall.
I would definitely return for a lunch of that Ramen bowl. Mixed feelings on everything else.

Still one of our favorite Japanese places in the Portland area! My personal favorite RAMEN… especially now that they added the «add-​on» options (think pork belly). Their Chicken Katsu is still my wife’s favorite fried chicken in town. Appetizers are mostly excellent! Especially the Agedashi Tofu and Hamachi Kama and Karaage. Sushi is good too — although we like some other sushi better than this one. The owner/​manager can’t be any nicer guy. If you’re looking for GOOD JAPANESE, come here ASAP!

Always one of our families favorite dining establishments in south west. Full menu with a lot of a variety of tasty Japanese dishes. Very kind and courteous staff. Our seven year old enjoys watching the sushi masters prepare her salmon nigiri while she watches sumo wrestling on the TV. Also known for their occasional special sake tasting events.

If I want great Japanese food, this place is my go-​to. For the quality of food received, their prices are a steal. I would recommend any of their sushi that involves tuna (their chef has a good eye for fish) and the yakiniku beef donburri. Oh, and that wonderful roasted green tea… I didn’t know green tea could be that good. In addition, they have a great cocktail menu and a broad selection of Sake. The icing on the cake is the staff, however. They bust their humps, and go out of their way to ensure that the customer experience is as good as it can be. Everything about this place gives the impression of a «well-​oiled machine»; the front and back of house work in harmony. The prices might strike one as being somewhat high, but upon tasting the food, one realizes that they are making out like a bandit.

The food was excellent. The sushi slices were kind of small for my size but I am a big boy. The ramen was off the chain. I was the only person at the bar and all the tables were full. If that paints any picture.

I lost interest in SHO a few years ago because the quality of the sushi was declining — I was a regular, but had about three successive mediocre meals and called it quits. Decided to revisit the place last night and I have nothing new to report, unfortunately. I ordered the unagi avocado roll and the triple roll (salmon, tuna, hamachi). Both rolls were on the small side and the presentation was disappointing — there was no color, pattern, or symmetry to catch my eye. I think sushi should inspire a «wow! That’s gorgeous!» reaction upon arrival — these rolls were nowhere close to making that impression. The unagi was flavorless. The triple was mildly fishy — I could not distinguish the various types of fish inside — but the overwhelming flavor was that of pickled onions. It’s a shame that the sushi seems to have surpassed mediocrity and gone on to truly unappetizing.

Delicious made to order sushi and a PHENOMENAL selection of sake with knowledgeable staff. Great décor with a classy yet laid back environment… Very SW Portland vibe, one that is both family friendly but also good for a first date. Two bits of feedback I’d give… Change the music. Top 40 circa five years ago does not fit the vibe. And it took a few minutes for the host to acknowledge us while waiting to be seated… Even though there were four staff behind the host station. All in all, a great first experience and I will fo SHO be back!

This place is ACE for all non-​sushi Japanese food. I especially love their ramen, but all of the entrees I have tried have also been delicious. The service is excellent, attentive without being overbearing. I’m not a fan of sake but can appreciate their wide selection — probably a good place if you do like sake. Their gen mai tea is phenomenal, though, and they are generous with the teapot refills.
The only reason this place gets four instead of five stars is that their sushi is just plain not good. It feels a bit like an afterthought, definitely not like a specialty. Premium prices for mediocre rolls. The rainbow roll I had the other night was topped with avocado that had started to turn brown, and each piece of the roll fell apart when I picked it up — not well built at all. So, I will probably avoid sushi here in the future, but will absolutely come back for the Japanese «comfort foods.»

When in portland oregon a must!!! If you like Japanese food and good sushi this is the spot!!! Past this place many time just driving
By! No clue what i was missing out on! This place is
!!! Miso butterfish to sushi to ramin all on point and delicious! Roll up and enjoy some authentic japanese food n sushi dont just drive by like i did, stop in check them out you will come back again n again i promise!

The service was friendly but very slow. It was not a busy night and our sushi took way longer than all the other food to come out. The sushi was pungent and dry looking. It had disappointing flavor. Both my friend and I who were dining that night did not eat much of the sushi since it seemed off.

Enjoyed a salmon teriyaki donburi and some vegetable tempura at SHO. Excellent service accompanied my dining experience. Although the food was tasty, it was a little oily. This restaurant quickly filled up on a Sunday. Looks very popular for groups and for their sushi. They have a sushi counter, cute private booths and open dining areas for groups. Parking was a breeze and I located this restaurant on my mobile Unilocal app.

All of our food was really good, but our service was sort of slow.
We went for a late lunch and got one sushi roll and bento box combinations. The salad dressing was delicious, as were the veggie tempura and teriyaki beef. I would like to come back and get some more sushi sometime, as our eel roll was very good too. Reasonable prices and everything seemed fresh, and the restaurant was nice and clean.

I wish I could give this place more stars, and the server alone (Hispanic woman whose name starts with an R I think) deserves 5-​stars, but the food was just not there.
I had been headed to another sushi shop on my way home when my car started getting fussy. I’ve been having some issues with it lately so I figured the safest thing to do was to pull off and stop for a bit. SHO had 4-​stars so I figured I’d be happy eating there. Nope.
First let me sing the praises of my wonderful server. She was sweet, attentive, not overbearing, improved my mood vastly after dealing with car problems and heat, told me to take my time, etc., etc… she was the best.
Ok now the rest of it. I ordered a simple sushi roll and pork katsu off the happy hour menu, then the shoyu ramen because it sounded good. The sushi roll had nothing going on, it was like a vacuum of flavor. The katsu did not have the traditional katsu sauce on it which confused me, and was bland until I bought a bowl of rice, added soy sauce, and ate it together.
Then there was the ramen. The sad, sad ramen. First it doesn’t come with anything in it, nothing. Bean sprouts is about as exciting as it gets. The kakuni wasn’t ready or something like that so I got the spicy beef, which turned out to be minced beef chunks, think taco meat. I have NEVER seen that in ramen before, and it really isn’t a good choice. I also added an egg that was so hard, overcooked, and horrible tasting I had to remove it and put it aside immediately. The broth was so bland I had to keep adding seasoning throughout the eating process. I love ramen so this was a very sad meal for me.
Overall I can’t say there’s anything at all that would bring me back here. I have no idea how they have 4-​stars because at best they should be averaging out to maybe 3. Benihana is a better choice than this if you want Japanese in the burbs. Sorry SHO, I wanted to like you but you just didn’t put out.

Fish is always fresh.
Not sure what was going on but I seemed to bite into sinew with a few pieces. Yes, I know I violated sushi etiquette by not putting the entire piece into my mouth, but I just prefer to eat smaller pieces.
Pickled ginger was a little dry. Rice was a little chewy.
Hamachi kama: delicious! Done perfectly. Crispy skin and juicy on the inside. Served with ponzu and green onion.
Angry dragon roll: OK.
Sushi chef did not greet us when we arrived but eventually warmed up and even became chatty.
No wait at 7 pm on a Sunday for memorial weekend.
Will return for grilled food but not sure about sushi.

SHO is SHO GOOD.
SHO, a casual-​intimate Japanese restaurant with a delicious selection of sushi and other favorites perfect for family gatherings or satisfying sushi cravings. I came for the ramen noodles, and I was definitely satisfied with my meal; except for the fact that they didn’t have Kakuni (pork belly) for my Tonkotsu Ramen (pork bone flavor). Despite not having my first selection, I enjoyed the warm and creamy broth that marinated the crisp ramen noodles. The spicy beef, which I got instead, was seasoned to perfection-​full of flavor and just the right amount of salt. The Nigiri sushi made a great appetizer. The rice was formed nicely and the Tako (octopus) had a fresh savory bite.

I had a friend take me here to lunch today. I liked the Bento lunch special. The only thing I wasn’t a huge fan of was facing the tv with sumo wrestling on. It isn’t very appetizing is all!!! I would have liked the sushi better too without the wasabi snuck in between the sushi and the rice. The potato salad side was a bit different too. I liked it though. :)

There were 6 of us, and we were there for a double birthday celebration. The waitress was very friendly and knowledgeable. The food was great. We ordered a lot and we all left very full and very pleased. Will recommend to friends.

Upping to 5 stars being that these guys are the real deal. We have been going more often now and although it’s not cheap it’s because they are doing quality, authentic work here that you just don’t find in these days in the masses cheap uninspired Japanese restaurants.
We also got around to trying the Shabu here which was very good although I would say a bit pricey and too large, the portions were actually too generous, a half order would suffice but it’s more of a special dinner here that is like a feast.

I love this place. It’s nearby and very tasty. Always good for a quick bite when you don’t want to do the regular pub/​grub fare.
This changed names a couple of years ago and I was afraid some of my favorites would go away. I think it must have been only a name change because all the old favorites are still there.
They have a happy hour that is a great bargain and you can get many small plates to try various things. A good thing if you think you might like something but aren’t sure.
I like have this option nearby and while not inexpensive I believe you get (quality) what you pay for. I would rather pay a hirer price and get good food.
All in all a good stop and take out if you want it as well.
They offer specials for different times of the year. Super Bowl take out special (not bad fare for the game) and right now they have a Valentine’s special (you have to make reservations in advance) so don’t wait.
I’ll definitely be back to check out more menu items.