Obon Shokudo

This has become a staple during my Portland eating expeditions. I visit often specifically for the amazing vegan food scene and I keep coming back to Obon Shokudo. There's a lot to love about this spot.First of all, Japanese comfort food?? Just shut up and take my money.Second of all, it's actually really dang delicious. I love the curry udon, katsu curry, okonomiyaki, and onigiri. They also offer seasonal specials!Third of all, it's centrally located and a great meetup spot when dining with friends.If you're on the fence about where to eat tonight, you won't be disappointed here.

I thoroughly enjoyed dining at this all vegan spot. They call themselves Japanese comfort food and I can agree. Especially on a chill, rainy day this warm food was all kinds of comforting. To start we ordered the Curried korokke which were crispy and bursting with flavors. I hadn't had anything like this before and I enjoyed the taste. I tasted some of the kenchinjiru which is like a vegetable stew. Again bursting with flavors and very comforting. For my entree I ordered the Tempura udon and it did not disappoint. They make their noodles in house and that was just a selling point. Again a very comforting dish when it's rainy. Service was good and very attentive. This place is very inclusive and had a nice, comforts vibe. When I ever visit PDX again I will return.

Unexpectedly delightful vegan japanese comfort food. If you're in central eastside stop on in.

My best friend and I came here to grab lunch and overall, it was just okay. We both ordered the gluten-free tempura udon, and honestly for me , the noodles were the best part--they really hit the spot. She thought it was too salty. I also tried the hand-battered karaage, which was alright. The sauce was delicious, but the fried part itself tasted more like sausage, which was a little strange. My friend is vegan but I like to try everything.My friend got the garlic with white miso onigiri and didn't love it. She said the rice had this wet texture that was off, and she couldn't finish it. On the plus side, the service was great, and the food came out fast, but the dishes were kind of a hit or miss. Not sure I'd come back.

Horrendously overrated, overpriced, and simply doesn't deliver the goods despite the ambition and creativity. But still okay.My friend & I had dinner here on a Monday evening when it was pretty quiet. Ordering is done by phone. They offer new school, creative, all-vegan Japanese cuisine. They have lots of Onigiri ($4 each), which are a nice way to start the meal. For our mains, we each got an udon ($16 each): my friend got the tempura udon and I got the chilled pistachio miso tantan udon. They must have messed something up, as I had to remind them I ordered something 15 minutes after my friend's udon arrived.Sadly, both udons were underwhelming. Though the noodles were nicely done, the portions were measly for the price, quite insubstantial and not satiating. My tantan had barely any broth, which was fairly abrasive and lacking refinement. The toppings were frankly pathetic, 2 slices of cold tomato, 2 pieces of tofu, and 2 tiny pieces of eggplant.This would get a 3 if the portions were better and if the service didn't mess up my order. But, frankly, the food quality is not fantastic, especially for the price. I wanted to like the place, but they simply don't deliver the goods. I would not return nor recommend the place.

The flavors here are so amazing! Beautifully crafted tradition style Japanese food. The staff were friendly and helpful. We would love to come back here!

First of all, the location is great! Plenty of free parking on Sunday night, and close enough to downtown that you can catch a bite before a show without having to limit yourself to the pricier downtown restaurants that may not be as dietary inclusive or fast. The menus are the QR code ones, but they do have paper ones on request. I'm vegan, so it's always good that I have my choice of whatever I want from the menu. My partner has celiac, so it was a bit more difficult for him to decipher the QR code menus. While things are labeled as gluten-free or gluten-free optional, some items contained deep-fried foods that were made in a shared fryer. However, our server clarified all our questions fairly easily and double checked on things they weren't sure of. All that out of the way, my partner was still able to pick three onigiri and a few of the noodle options. I ordered the rhubarb onigiri and a curry udon soup. Our food came out fairly quickly after ordering- we arrived around 6:45 and were out of there by 7:30pm to catch at 8pm show downtown and didn't feel like we were rushed. The food itself is pretty good. Flavorful broth on the soups, nice onigiri that held together. We spent about $50 for the two of us with three onigiri to take home. One suggestion- the QR code ordering is nice, but the system they use doesn't allow for shared tabs, and we ended up paying for our meals separately because we both ordered from our own phones. I've seen ToastTab at other restaurants that put all the orders on one list and have the option to split the check.

Was super excited to try this spot when my family was in town - we're Japanese-American and we're all vegetarian, plus my sister in law is on a strict gluten free diet atm for health reasons, so we were pumped to find a spot with food we love that accommodates dietary restrictions. FOOD (4/5):We ordered a bunch of different items to try, the katsu curry, the tempura udon, the creamy lobster mushroom udon (a special and fave of the evening), and a bunch of different onigiri. The food was all quite tasty, I'm not sure it fully scratched the nostalgia itch of traditional Japanese food, but we appreciated it for what it was and had a great time trying all the experimental dishes and flavorsSERVICE (3/5):The service was pretty disappointing and brought down my opinion of this spot. There were three of us and 1.5 year old and when we got there restaurant was busy but not too crowded that there were no tables available. They sat us near the window and immediately brought us a high chair and kid friendly cups and utensils. For a trendy restaurant in Kearns we were touched at how accommodating they were. The minute we sat down before we looked at the menu for food for ourselves, we quickly ordered the "kids Onigiri"(which is just a plain ball of rice) to tide over the little one. We had brought snacks and toys to keep him occupied but wanted to make sure we had real food coming for him straight away. 30 minutes later, long after we had placed our full order, the Onigiri had still not arrived and the baby was starting to get fussy. At this point the restaurant was fully packed. When we asked the host (because we hadn't even seen a server yet) to check on the Onigiri (and explained it was for the baby) we were waived away with an eye roll. Having worked in food service, I totally understand the stress of a packed restaurant and how easily a small kitchen can get backed up. I also don't think parents should get special treatment at restaurants and there are some restaurants that are not the right spaces to bring your kids. However, if your restaurant is intentionally welcoming to children (your menu has a specific kids menu items, you have high chairs and baby utensils), I think some level of empathy for a parents situation is totally reasonable to expect. If we were bugging them about the food for us I would also tell myself to eff off but it was a plain ball of rice for a hungry child. It took another 10 minutes before it came out and the server made a point of telling us that the kitchen was backed up and that their dedicated rice ball making station fills the orders...in order... (this came across as defensive rather than apologetic). The onigiri was shortly followed by the rest of the dishes we ordered, which made getting it pointless because the baby was going to share our food anyway. I keep re-reading this to decide if I sound unreasonable and maybe I'm feeling overly sensitive about it but the interactions honesty really impacted our dining experience and how we felt leaving the restaurant and so I felt compelled to share. I get being slammed and maybe they were feeling in the weeds but hopefully they take the feedback to heart for future situations.

A last minute Google maps search ended up gifting us with an amazing dining experience. The restaurant was super cute and the servers were both friendly and clearly into the food, which is always a nice addition to your meal. We had the miso corn, the pickles sampler, garlic onigiri, the udon salad and the lobster udon. Everything was wonderful. Super flavorful, nice portion sizes and it felt like an adventure to try so many different items. Really loved this place.

This is the most flavorful noodle soup and udon I've ever eaten! It's full of flavor and texture. The veggies are crispy but not to the point when you can't taste them. The tofu soaks up the broth. Literally can't be better than that. I still dream of this soup and want to come back! Everyone is always nice and helpful! It's not loud inside and music is pleasant.