This week we had the immense pleasure of trying out Boke Bowl, located in the Industrial District of Portland. Walking into Boke is like walking into an Ikea inspired street food festival. The open kitchen emits the aroma of hot, savory meats and spices being prepared with expediency for a seating chart of about 50 people. A gigantic menu to your immediate left offers Tonkotsu, Shio and seasonal options (with slide out panels), along with a wide range of starters and add-ons. Among choices for small plates are Momofuku style pork buns which come with an impressive medley of sub-fillings for a mix-n-match.
I started out with three steam buns. Korean fried chicken, pork belly, and beef brisket. Each came topped with it's own signature sauce, slaw for the brisket and a few pickles for zip. As I chow down on the goodness, I look to my right and the dough chef is hard at work, pounding out and shaping the next round of delicious, steamy buns. Moments like this make eating the cute basket of slightly sweet morsels even more of a treat. Like reading the back of a cereal box on a macro level, I am all at once entertaining my foodie curiosity, learning more about the cuisine I am consuming, and almost participating in the instant gratification of the person creating it all. A nod or a smile in the chef's direction and all has been said, these are some seriously good buns. The chicken was thick cut surrounded in crumbly buttermilk fry, the pork maintained my need for a classic, and the beef brisket was a wholesome back end to the lighter first two. I think if I could have switched one, I would have gone vegetarian and tried the Miso mushroom. Next time.
About half way through my buns experience, the bowl of ramen that I ordered came to the table. As tempting as it was to order the famed Tonkotsu broth pork ramen, I decided to splurge for the $15.00 bowl of Duck confit with an add-egg. This was a really…REALLY good decision.
First off, perfect amount of broth here. I am not soaking in it, all of my bowl items are present at the top (aside from the sunken squash), and the whole dish looks extremely appetizing. The noodles are very obviously house prepared and the way they bounce indicates a really well executed recipe. The veggies include collards, squash, green onion, and some very scrumptious soy braised-n-seared brussel sprouts. The duck is likely a mix of leg and breast. It's a hearty portion and leaks savory oils into the already flavor packed broth. My add-egg is cooked just above soft boiled and the yolk dances throughout the incredibly nuanced symbiosis of Northwest and Japanese styles in my bowl.
For their variety, for their atmosphere and for their obvious mastery of NoodleTimePDX's favorite dish, I will be trying everything on this menu. Not sure if a rating is appropriate here but what I can say is that I will be back many more times. Boke Bowl is a noodle shop which I can see rising to be the standard among creative Portland ramen shops/carts. Their weaving of modern and traditional menu planning is a smart, well executed introduction to the deliciousness of really great ramen.
So go get some!
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