MiHO Izakaya

I hadn’t been here for a few years but I will definitely not be coming back. Service and food has gone downhill beyond getting another chance from me. The food was either too salty or completely bland, the ramen was inedible with an oily broth and everything was just mushy. Our server was so rude, I felt like I was in trouble every time she talked to (at) us. Maybe she is the owners wife? Not sure why anyone would think it’s acceptable to talk to customers that way unless they had no risk of losing their job. It’s also sad that it’s become the norm to see every employee on their phone nonstop, what happened to doing a little cleaning? This place could use it. Too many great Japanese options in town to settle for being yelled at and served mediocre food.

Recent shakeup at Miho has rectified earlier service-​related problems, as the friendly front-​of-​house staff have sound management.
Miho is a SHOCKING value, not only for the portioning at price, but also for the quality of both product and execution. You really cannot go wrong no matter what you order off the menu.
As this is an Izakaya, expect to order several plates and share them around your table. The DIY water, and not-​quite-​counter service can be offputting at first, but you will quickly come to be familiar with grabbing a napkin and a number and being pointed to a table, after which everything will be normal again like any restaurant…
…that is, until it’s time to pay, in which case you run your # back to the counter and use the little machine to run your card. It’s a bit odd, but, hey, it works.
And the food is AWESOME.

Delicious and couldn’t believe how much food we got for our money. A huge plate of pickled vegetables for $ 2 is a total steal and I could eat the asparagus with miso butter everyday. We got a vegetarian «spam» slider that I’d skip next time, but highly recommend this place and will be back for sure.

Pretty good food but one of the two servers was nothing short of downright rude. Went in on a Saturday night around 8pm and the place was about half full. There were a few small tables available but the waitress at the counter insisted that we we’re only allowed to sit at the bar despite this fact. When I asked if we could sit at the small table (typically used for a two top in every other restaurant I have been in or worked at) which was directly in front of the bar she said ‘No. Thats a four top.’ I looked at her confounded and she stared at me with a look of disdain. A look as though I shat on your couch and attempted to clean it up with the baby blanket her grandmother made for her when she was born.
Needless to say I was confused as to why someone would insist that we sit HERE and not THERE when the space was abundantly available is beyond me but I felt like she needed to have her moment of power, so I left it alone. Typically, I would have walked out on the principle alone but my date wanted to eat here so, we complied. We ate and drank and laughed for about an hour and that table sat empty until about 5 minutes before we left, when a single guy came in and sat down at the coveted ‘4 Top!’, which was interesting because no one said anything. Makes it hard not feel as though she simply didn’t want US sitting there. But again, I left it alone.
Too bad really, its going to be hard to visit MiHo again after that. There are too many other places that are accommodating and welcoming that I would rather support.

Went here on our first night in Portland. Boyfriend ordered the onsen egg, he loved it. I ordered edamame, and I loved that. They had them in salty sauce that was really good.
We both got the roast pork ramen. Overall, the ramen was decent. The portions were honestly huge and loaded with noodles. But the noodles were slightly chewy. I put a ton of chili in oil in mine which made the broth pretty good. It also had a good amount of bean sprouts which I love. The pork looked like pulled pork which I’d never seen in ramen before, and also had fish cake.
TBH I’d go back for the edamame more than anything.

Our party tried all of the menu with the exception of 2 items. Everyone agreed their favorites were the pork belly and the ramen. Yum yum yum yum.

At first, sad face, because they guided us to the tatami room and someone was already there. So we were told it would be a 20 mins. wait. We wavered between leaving and staying, looking at the all 10 of the full tables, whilst every couple of minutes a server kept assuring us, in diminishing terms, that a table would be clear soon. Then only 10 minutes later, voila! This is when the fun began… Since we’d already seen the menu, it was a slam dunk to order the mochi with mushrooms, the firecracker mussels, yam noodles, eggplant, teriyaki chicken, broiled mackerel, and miso soup. This was the best.food.ever!
Flavor profiles were consistently challenging yet satisfying to the nth degree. I don’t usually eat Japanese cuisine, so everything (save the teriyaki) was brand new to me. Sitting at home having just returned, I am more than happy that I went out on a personal limb to try this goodness. So are my lips tasting the last of it, and my tummy, not doing backflips, but processing Jesus…
Though the place is small enough that the wait could be long on a weekend night… the staff does their best to put it down for you. Whoever is cooking… massive kudos to you and your crew…
Thank you Miho, we WILL be back!

Finally! I made a dinner pick that didn’t suck! Miho was the best place for getting together a couple of friends I haven’t seen in awhile and catch up over some delicious plates and beverages. As the dishes came out we all commented on how awesome everything was.
The favorites were the mochi and mushrooms (the buttery sauce and the surprise brussels sprouts in the dish made it for me), the tuna poke, the togarashi salmon, the smoked tofu (the tofu was so fresh and delicious!, the onsen egg (a must get for $ 1) and the Vegan Mazen (the noodles were the right ramen consistency) .
Plates came out 1 – 2 at a time which was perfect. We had 7 different dishes and this was enough for 4 of us. We were stuffed at the end of the meal. I can’t wait to go back.

I had such a great meal here. The sesame pork meatballs are amazing and the monday fried chicken special was the highlight of my week. There are so many choices on their menu that it was hard to choose. It seems pricy but the small plates are very filling and easy to share. They have a really good vegan AND gluten free menu which is important for some.
I had a cocktail that had a very unique flavor of pear and tequila. The only downside was that it was very strong and I wasn’t able to finish it.
The service is nice, the decorations are fun, and the food is great. Very fun atmosphere — great for a date night!

The ramen isn’t good, I didn’t like the broth or pork. The atmosphere is nice though.
Edit: said I didn’t like the ramen and still had to pay for it.

We had the Yam Noodles, which are Gluten and Carb free, and the Sesame Pork Meatballs (yum). Everything was Fresh and Healthy, yet Flavorful. Perfect for two.

This place was a great find. I love Japanese food. And especially coming from Hawaii, this place has a little bit of both. The menu is really easy. I love the ala carte style of the menu. The prices are pretty good. When I came the special was a roast chicken and pork. Very sweet and succulent. I rather enjoyed this place. I recommend the sweet pork and egg. And the yakisoba. The plates are easily shareable.
New account making sure I get all my reviews in.

I’m not so sure this place really knows what they’re doing. The food was ok, pretty mediocre actually. As soon as the edamame came out I knew they were trying but failing. The beans were overdone and over-​seasoned. We were a group of seven and my girlfriend and I had our food brought to us while everyone else in the group was forced to watch us eat. Our friend from Phoenix just wanted some fish and our server recommended the salmon, which was FARM-​RAISED. Come on, a Japanese restaurant in Portland serving farm-​raised? Forget about it.
Nothing we ordered was much of an eye-​opener. The restaurant was so hot (no A/​C) that nobody was eating inside. When we walked up the steps I got a gnarly whiff of something septic, and once we got inside I detected a strong cat urine scent. Other than all that, this place was just ok. I wouldn’t go back, but I’m glad I know what’s up now.

It’s been a while. Back in Portland for a visit and took our host out for dinner. MiHO nailed it. The best dish was a blackened salmon with avocado and wasabi mustard. It was awesome! Everything else, excellent. Three people, drinks and dinner, $ 70 including tip.
It’s becoming an Interstate Institution!

Walk into the house and grab a number at the bar. Our number 25 was an omen.
Approving — clean house vibe indoor, plenty outdoor picnic bench seating with the occasional train passing by.
Okotte:
Roasted Pork Ramen Noodle — broth no depth; imagine Cup Noodle Instant Noodles, chicken flavor with tough bland pork slices. The noodles were balled together and required chopstick disection.
Pork Belly & Sweet Egg — the carmelized half inch thick slab tasted like leftovers from a couple nights before that was microwaved a minute too long for jerky texture. The split egg was just a candied sliver wedged in the yolk.
After a few disappointing bites, we were out in 25 minutes.

Traveled all the way here to the industrial part of Portland and decided to try the ramen, because I was on a personal ramen quest! Trying to find the best ramen in Portland!
I love how intimate the restaurant was. Sets up in a house where the living room and dining room was set up with some dining space.
I ordered from the different prices of menu, got the $ 7 tuna poke, the $ 10 ramen and the $ 5 skewered meat balls! My favorite was definitely the Asian marinated meat balls !! The ramen noodles itself was delicious and chewy. The broth was just okay.

If you’re looking for someplace that will flatter you and offer you saccarin pleasantries upon walking in, this isn’t it. If you’re looking for a place to grab some really, REALLY amazing bites, well Miho just might be your jam.
We’ve been here twice now. Once on a date between the two of us, and once with some friends from Colorado who really wanted some tasty Asian bites. I can’t even recall how many things we ordered between the two trips to Miho, but among them were the steamed snapper, squash, onsen egg, spam (vegan) musubi, firecracker oysters, roasted mackeral, yam noodles, udon noodles, and smoked tofu. Really, that truly is the short list! And all of those things were spectacular. I particularly enjoyed watching my wife’s beautiful face awash with a look of horror when I bit into the roasted mackeral that was notably fishy. My friend was also quite mortified. I, however, found this to be one of the best whole fish dishes I have ever had. It was perfectly cooked and seasoned and tasted just enough like the ocean to satisfy the seafood lover’s soul.
The prices are reasonable here; for the flavors you get, you’re not going to feel bled dry when the check arrives. The drink selection is superb, and aside from forgetting that you have to grab your own water and flatwear, it’s a flawless experience. For larger parties, they will make you spread out your orders and order a couple of things at a time. Our party likes to order Costco style– all of it. All at once. Now. But we enjoyed the experience as a party of four nonetheless and we walked away very satisfied. My only complaint is that they’re not open earlier!

Main reason we love this place is their Yakisoba noodles. And they were just as good. Also had the chicken katsu and fried pork belly. Chicken katsu was very good. Fried pork belly was a little on the sweeter side and was huge portion! If you go in a large group, 7 – 8, they’ll sit you in tin their private dining room which had tatami mats, kinda cool. Also had the spicy mackerel fry. Very tasty.

This is a comfy place where you order at the bar and they bring the food out to you. Yes, you have to get your own glass of water, napkin, and utensils but that doesn’t bother me. The gal who took our order was nice.
My husband ordered the vegan «spam» musubi, I explained to him it’s a Hawaiian thing that is a big block of rice with a thick cut of spam on it and wrapped with a piece of seaweed, so he went ahead and gave it a shot. He didn’t like it. Said it was «interesting» as I nodded in agreement at the fact that spam is just interesting (not really in a good way), even if it’s vegan. BUT, he did really enjoy his yakisoba noodles, claiming that if we ever come back that he would order two of them.
As for me, I was craving the pork belly ramen, but really all I wanted was that soft boiled egg ;-) It was a hefty sized bowl of ramen. Not complaining though! The pork belly was aiiiight. Not the best I’ve had. The flavor was a little lacking but I guess cause it was diluted in all that ramen broth. The thing that really threw me off-​bean sprouts in the ramen and it’s because 1.) I don’t like bean sprouts all 2.) if I have to eat them, I prefer them cooked so I don’t have to taste them or eat that crunchiness, and these were fresh not blanched bean sprouts, and 3.) is it just me, or does anyone else think bean sprouts shouldn’t be in ramen?
I’ll have to come back her to try the other stuff on the menu. Don’t want to give up just yet because I want to like this place!

So bummed it took me this long to try out MIHO! It is delicious, and the staff was so friendly and helpful. My partner took me here for my birthday dinner last night. We had the following:
Firecracker mussels: One of our favorites. Mussels with a spicy sauce and tobiko.
Pickled veggies: Good, but nothing amazing.
Misoyaki eggplant: Excellent texture and flavor. Full of umami.
Chicken katsu: I was told this wasn’t authentic by the waitress, but it reminded me of what I always used to get in Hawaii. Crispy outside, juicy dark meat inside. The katsu sauce was some of the best I’ve had.
Tuna poke: Not exactly like the Hawaiian poke I’m used to, but it was still great. Avocado, cucumbers, sesame seed, and big chunks of raw ahi.
Seared scallops w/​chili jam: Perfectly cooked scallops! Another highlight of the meal.
On top of the great food, we had a really nice server. I’m assuming she is one of the owners or is related to them. She took great pride in the restaurant, as she should.