The kinds of izakayas that typically land newspaper reviews are places like Seattle’s Itsumono, where Japanese drinking food staples are sent on a global tour, or San Francisco’s Rintaro, where former Portland chef Sylvan Mishima Brackett amplifies tradition with solid technique.
But these restaurants, as serious as they are about food, sometimes forget what might be the izakaya’s most essential mission: to provide a casual, convivial place for friends and colleagues to gather over food and drinks.
So while the skewers, sashimi and fried bites at downtown Portland newcomer Hachi aren’t exactly changing the game, the relaxed atmosphere, late-night hours and surprisingly low prices are spot-on. Hachi is the affordable, everyday izakaya we didn’t know the city was missing.
I first heard about Hachi in July, when a friend inquired if the new restaurant in the former Tasty N Alder space had any connection to the Los Angeles izakaya of the same name. Turns out it is an expansion, but this Hachi has roots in Las Vegas, where the dimly lit original sits in a Chinatown strip mall.
On that first visit, some old friends joined me inside one of the four booths built inside a sort of wooden cage in the middle of the dining room, sake bottles ringing the top like a bandolier. Each new customer was greeted by staff with a welcoming, “Irasshaimase!” Food and especially drinks — from one-ounce pours of good Japanese whiskey to oversized mugs Sapporo — came out with lightning speed.
If you go, you should start with a mixed sashimi sampler, a wooden pedestal topped with nine slices of tuna, salmon and yellowtail on a bed of ice ($19.65). Hachi also offers more elaborate maki, handrolls and carpaccio-style plates of seared tuna ($14.85) or beef ($8.75) in pools of garlic ponzu. But unless you’re feeling fancy, the straightforward sashimi is a better bet.
Salads and fried items are fine, if not worth a special trip. Still, there’s no better pairing for an iced whiskey highball ($5.95) or frosty mug of Sapporo ($6.50) than a basket of fried chicken ($3.65/two pieces). The specials menu often offers fried oysters ($3.75/two), while the takoyaki, or battered octopus balls, come under a shower of bonito ($6.98 for five).
If there’s a dish to skip, it’s probably the tonkotsu ramen, with its wan broth, barely cooked egg and super-fatty slips of pork chashu — odd, since Hachi shares an owner with nearby Ramen Ryoma, where I’ve had decent bowls in the past. And despite the low prices, the chewy steak ($8.65) isn’t essential either.
Yakitori, on the other hand, are both traditional and tasty, with everything from glazed chicken thighs ($2.75) and wings ($2.50) to sweet corn ($3.98) and grape tomatoes ($1.95) to buttered scallops ($3.25) and yellowtail collar ($12.50) skewered and grilled over Japanese binchotan coals. The house specialty is a pork version of tsukune ($3.65/each), the oval-shaped meatballs formed around skewering sticks, seared over coals and served here with grated daikon and ponzu or sour plum and basil.
There are better yakitori joints in larger cities, but even without considering Hachi’s low prices, I don’t think there’s a better one in Portland.
Chicken thigh skewers at Hachi, a new downtown izakaya that nails the essentials without revolutionizing the format.Michael Russell | The Oregonian
My sense of the ideal izakaya was formed in Taipei, where I lived before moving to Portland, and where multi-story beer houses with red lanterns, seafood-heavy menus, serve-your-own rice and fridges full of big green bottles of Taiwan Beer are found near every Metro station. Hachi’s simple sashimi presentation brought me back to that time, and to late nights eating and drinking with friends under the stars.
In Portland, the izakaya experience is often translated into something more refined, with a focus on quality food, carefully curated sake lists and five-ingredient cocktails. Those can be good things. But those same restaurants sometimes lack the atmosphere that makes you want to linger deep into the night, ordering another plate of grilled squid with the next round of ice-cold beer. Hachi’s food might not blow you away, but it does get the most important part right.
Details: Hachi serves lunch and dinner from noon to 2:30 p.m. and 5 to 11 p.m. Monday-Thursday, noon to 2:30 p.m. and 5 p.m. to 2 a.m. Friday, noon to 2 a.m. Saturday and noon to 11 p.m. Sunday at 580 S.W. 12th Ave., 503-265-8085, hachiportland.com.
Recommended dishes: Skewers, sashimi, fried chicken karaage and frosty whiskey highballs.
Vegetarian options: Various sushi rolls, salads and skewers focus on vegetables rather than seafood or meat.
Accessibility: Hachi sits on a single level with a dining room dominated by four booths arranged in a box, with several wheelchair accessible tables near the windows.
Public transportation: TriMet bus lines 15, 20 and 63 all stop nearby, as do the blue and red MAX light rail trains and the Portland Streetcar’s B and NS lines.
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Dining and Cooking