Bamboo Sushi — Restaurant in Portland

I had such a strange experience at Bamboo that made me feel like the staff wanted us to leave before we even sat down; from the moment I walked in the door to the moment I left, it was quite unpleasant. The food was impeccable, so I won't fault that at all. I had an 8.15 reservation, I was stuck waiting for a train to cross the tracks, so rang the restaurant to tell them I'd be there hopefully by 8.30 - we arrived at 8.31. When I walked in the host said "I was about to call you and get your order in, I wouldn't even care if you would have shown up at 9 pm then". I thought that was a weird comment - how would I have known what to order before I saw a menu? We were seated, and placed orders for a cocktail and a bottle of sake, as well as appetizers and shortly after our mains (the experience). Our food came promptly and was very tasty. Around 9.20 our server, Matt, came by to say it was last call on food and drinks - we didn't order anything further. However, from that moment on, the staff at the sushi bar were extremely loud, chatting and yelling to each other, very unattentive and unaware of us. It was like as soon as last orders were in, we didn't matter anymore. We were sat at a table directly by the sushi bar, about 5 feet away, so we could hardly hear our own conversation as they were speaking very loudly while they cleaned up - especially a blonde chef wearing a black cap with tigers on it. Our server didn't offer us a dessert menu when he said it was last call, so when we did actually finish our meal, we weren't able to get dessert - it would have been good if he would have told us dessert needed to be ordered then. I felt very rushed the whole time - if the restaurant really wants to close up so quickly and promptly at 9 pm, perhaps reservations should not be bookable online after 8 pm. I asked the host who previously made the strange comment to me for an extra glass for sake, and he kind of just plopped it down and didn't offer to pour it for me; usually when I order a bottle of something I would expect that it would be poured for me. We left the restaurant after we finished our food and took half the bottle of sake home, since I did not feel comfortable in the restaurant any longer. I felt like we were a nuisance for dining there - mind you there were still a couple other tables and the waitstaff certainly were not subtle about informing their colleagues about which tables were still dining. Considering we spent over $250 for 3 people to dine, I would expect a bit better class of service. Sadly, Bamboo isn't what I remembered it being and we won't...

Had an awful experience here. We ordered online on a Tuesday, and we were told our takeout food would be ready at 7:10. We arrived at 7:15 and they acted like they had no idea why I was there looking for my food. They said they would check on it, and then continued to take in other guests. The entryway was incredibly crowded, there was nowhere to stand that isn't in another guest or a workers way. The music was so loud that I had to plug my ears. I am disabled and have sensory issues, so standing in one spot, surrounded by people and loud noise was a horrible experience. I continued to wait for 20 more minutes while the hosts sat more and more dine-in guests, completely avoiding eye contact with me. There was at least two other people waiting for to-go food that they completely ignored.

I also saw a reservation come in that they didn't have a table for, and the hostess asked a man sitting at a table to move somewhere else.

Finally there was no one at the hostess stand and I asked about the status of my food. They looked behind them and said "oh, this is it". I have no idea how long the bag had been sitting there, but it was definitely quite a while. possibly since I came in. I asked how long it had been there, and they said "I don't know". I politely told them that they should probably update the wait time for orders, because I waited 25 minutes for my food, there is nowhere to wait, and the environment is very loud and crowded to wait that long in. They just stared at me, didn't say anything, and didn't apologize.

I have worked hostessing jobs in busy restaurants, and I understand sometimes the kitchen gets backed up and that the host stand can get busy. I almost never write negative reviews. I would have been okay waiting for my food if there was anywhere to wait, or if I had received any type of apology for the experience or acknowledgement of my extraordinarily long wait time.

The food was fine when we finally got it, but wasn't even cold anymore- probably because of how long it sat behind the hostess stand. My partner also said it tasted like grocery store sushi. So not worth our 50$. We will...

I am a cook who has fine dining, Japanese, and sushi experience. I was visiting Portland to see and taste the killer food scene here and I'll have to say that I really enjoyed my meal at Bamboo Sushi.

Sustainability is really important when it comes to fish and the oceans, and I was so amazed to find this restaurant. I'm sure people in Portland are educated in this matter so I'll leave it at that.

I arrived on a Wednesday at around 7:30pm and the place was packed. Luckily for me, there was a seat available at the sushi bar which was perfect.

Since I was sitting at the sushi bar, I was told to order any kitchen food with the wait staff and the sushi with Diego, the chef. I could see this becoming problematic.

Anyway, I ordered a la carte: tuna, albacore, Ora King salmon belly, house wild salmon roe, house mackerel, geoduck, sea eel, truffle avocado, hachimitsu trout, garlic butter spot prawn, salmon sunrise, I heart coho, Thai tako, tamago sashimi, the Highway 35 roll and finished with the genmai cha creme brulee.

My favorites were the house wild salmon roe, geoduck, Ora King salmon belly, albacore, hachimitsu trout, and the tuna.

They gave me complementary Edamame and a small cucumber sunomono. The water was also cucumber infused which was such a pleasant surprise.

Overall, very good experience here. Diego was the real star tonight though, he was very hard working and friendly. He seemed so happy to be working for Bamboo and he did an amazing job. He definitely needs a raise because he does so many things here and the restaurant is doing really good. Management, please reward your hardworking staff, and they will in return provide better food and service. Total for everything was ~$75, not bad at all.

I highly recommend dining here. Whether you like American sushi or Japanese sushi, you will like Bamboo sushi. I'm pretty sure.

I couldn't take a picture of the avocado, albacore, I heart coho, or the creme brulee because my phone ran...