Mami — Restaurant in Portland

Mami is an Izakaya brick and mortar restaurant located in Portland, Maine. They serve Osaka style street food and actually started off as a food truck and grown to what they are today. The atmosphere is simple and slightly boring with one table inside for indoor seating and mostly outdoor seating. Service was slow but friendly. The food made up for everything as it was very good and different for the area. This place tries to emulate how it would be eating in Japan as they bring things out as they are ready, not how you order them or how much you order. Most everything is meant to share so just an fyi for those reading this before eating there as we were unaware and were not told about this.

Our food came out one item at a time and we didn't eat anything until the dishes that we each ordered came out so we could both enjoy a meal together. I understand you guys are trying to keep the Japanese theme but you're in America and if you don't tell your guests how you do things then most people are going to assume the food will come out like any other place. Also, in Japan, they give their guests share plates for everyone at the table to share the meals brought to the table. The first dish that was brought out was the Pokedon, which was a rice bowl with cucumber, pickled onion, pickled ginger, marinated tuna, nori, seaweed salad and sesame seeds. They assumed we were both going to eat from the same bowl and just brought it out and put it in front of us. The bowl was good and had plenty of salmon and mix ins, however I saw a review not long ago that has massago of their poke bowl! I was really looking forward to having that on the bowl too but they didn't have it as you can see in the pictures.

My wife had the Okonomiyaki, which was a large, creamy and savory cabbage pancake with pork belly on the base and topped with kewpie mayo, bonito flakes, and pickled ginger. This was very delicious and much bigger than we thought and was very filling. Loved the crispy pork belly on the bottom and the creaminess on the inside was so flavorful and had a lot of umammi flavor that has you going back for more.

We also shared the Nikuman which was steamed miso bbq pork buns with pickled ginger, kewpie mayo, sesame seeds, benishoga and negi. These were also very tasty and flavorful. Not too big but big in taste. Lastly, we shared the Yaki Onigiri which is a Grilled Rice Ball with a rotating filling which today was a miso salmon, and had soy miso glaze, furikake, and negi. They also had some spices on top and this was also very tasty and I wanted like 5 of these things because they were so good. I'd definitely go back to see what other fillings they put into these.

The service was okay. She mentioned what the filling of the day was for the rice balls and recommend a beer but didn't tell us what they were about. We got water but it took a while to get refills as she disappeared into the restaurant for a while and didn't come back. When she came back she returned with a bottle of water to refill and the water in the bottle was ice cold. The water brought to our table was warm at first. Which makes me think the water was sitting out until someone came and sat down. Would have been better to bring out empty glassware and fill up the cold water from the bottles instead. It also took a while to get our check.

Also, the atmosphere is pretty disappointing. Our table outside was the only table without an umbrella and it started to rain slightly during our meal. I was figuring there would be more decorative features for a restaurant trying to imitate a Japanese Izakaya restaurant but they didn't have much at all.

Overall, the food here really helps this place but they need to work on their service and their atmosphere to really give a feel that I'm eating at the place they're trying to imitate. Do that and this will definitely be a 5 star place that everyone will be talking about.

Food - 5 ⭐ Service - 3 ⭐ Atmosphere - 2 ⭐ Overall - 3 ⭐

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We were walking around Portland on a Monday morning and the menu from Mami caught our eye. They're closed Sundays and Mondays so we told ourselves we'd come back and check it out. It didn't look like they had a set up for outdoor dining, so we called ahead on a Wednesday to pick up some takeout. We arrived ten minutes after the call and they said the food was almost ready. Their patio also happened to be set up and it was pretty empty (around 2 pm) so we asked if we could dine in instead. Tables are socially distanced, and they sanitize the table and even the chairs before you're seated. Our food came out almost as soon as we sat down. We had:

Pokedon (Maine Salmon rice bowl, cucumbers, seaweed salad, pickled onion, benishoga, citrus sesame soy dressing, spicy mayo, negi, toasted sesame, tobikko, nori) - for $15, I don't think it was really worth it. There also didn't seem to be that much salmon. It's definitely something you could make at home

Gyudon (shaved, marinated, grilled ribeye rice bowl, pickled onions, benishoga, fried egg, negi, toasted sesame) - this was way better than the pokedon and more worth it, in my opinion ($13). The beef was perfectly marinated, not too salty, and it was tender

Chicken Katsu Sando (chicken thigh katsu, toasted house shokupan, lettuce, pickles, spicy mayo, tonkatsu sauce, 7 min egg.) - this was our favorite. It's huge so it's a bit difficult to eat, but totally worth the effort. The chicken is perfectly fried and tender, and the egg was a nice addition to the sando. I would definitely order this again. Judging from this sandwich, I'm guessing their karaage would be good too

The Big Mami, which is a cheeseburger on a squid ink brioche sounded amazing as well, but that would have been way too much food for two people. The three things we ordered was already a bit much but those were the top three things we wanted to try. Guess I'll have to come back for that burger the next time I'm...

I have had the pleasure of eating at Mami about a dozen times over the past several years. I go to Mami on my most special occasions because I know that every time I go, the experience will be consistent and professional in the quality of the food, the presentation, the welcoming atmosphere and knowledgeable staff, and the timeliness and accuracy of my order. The location in the Old Port is great, and makes for a fun way to string dinner together with a night out on the town.

Pictured below are a trip to their food truck on Thompson's Point in 2019, and takeout (hopeful dog pictured) during the most difficult period of the pandemic in April 2020 when food from Mami provided delightful comfort.

My grandfather grew up in Japan and my mom spent her earliest years there. It brought me so much joy to bring my mom to Mami in 2021 where we were able to share a wonderful memory with the delicious food and kind staff who were still so incredibly mindful of the pandemic environment at the time.

In 2023, I brought takeout on the boat while I showed my closest friends up from D.C. a bit of Casco Bay, and stopped on the dock for a taste of Mami. I could barely snap a photo before the end of my buddy's Big Mami burger disappeared.

The last couple of photos are from my birthday this year that my wife and I celebrated at Mami this past April. We can't leave before having the karaage, nikuman, and katsu sando, and always enjoy trying something new when we stop in. We are so lucky to have a place like Mami in Portland, and have been meaning to write a review for some time now. I highly recommend checking it out for anyone who...