V&A Sushi — Restaurant in Portland

This is a really great sushi spot. Let me explain my 5 stars - I don't give it easily. Some folks rate purely on the food, some rate on the ambiance and some rate on the overall package. The overall experience here is superb. Easy parking. Easy accessibility, just off 82nd. Sushi is one of those things that if someone serves it too you at a fancy place with uppity waiters, they'd immediately give it 5 star. In this case, this is a VERY fair priced, extremely well made, with quality/fresh ingredients served quickly in a clean atmosphere. And portion size is RIGHT. Not tiny bites, and not bites you choke on. Just the right size, and thats important in sushi! I've eaten sushi at 'hole in the walls' and '5 star, wait a month for a reservation' places - and Kura Sushi stands up to them all by sheer effort. It's important I think to point out - due to Covid, there is no Sushi train running (obviously). The staff is safely masked and they are very conscious of my (and their own) safety. +1 for that. It IS my favorite Japanese cuisine spot in Portland. I've want to add a bit of a personal tiff, which is an Oregon thing really - alcohol selection. I would take .2 stars off because there isn't much sake to choose from. I'd like to spring ocassionally for top shelf unfiltered or branded sake, but the choices aren't there. In San Fran, every sushi place has a sake selection, but just not...

We ended up here by accident - we were looking for conveyor belt sushi. By the time we walked in and saw the owners and only the owners inside, and no belt, it was too late to walk out. That's on us.

Would I recommend this place? No. Was the food good? Yes.

I love a hole in the wall as much as the next person, but I draw the line at sushi. Instead of looking forward to the meal, I was worried about the quality and freshness of everything, something you don't want to think about when you're about to eat raw fish. The restaurant is stark and you can see into the back kitchen where inventory is stacked in piles. The energy savings sticker is still on the wall-mounted tv.

It was also a real turnoff to see the original prices scratched out on the menus and new prices written in $2-3 higher on each item. At least use a permanent marker or tape to hide the original prices. That means for seven or so dishes, we knowingly paid $20 extra. I'm happy to pay more, but with the stark design and it being empty the duration of our meal, it felt like we were filling the gap for the lack...

We were out an about looking for a new sushi place called 98 Degrees, however, we could not locate it. We ended up at Kura Sushi and said, what the hell, let’s give it a try.

I tend to love conveyor belt sushi, but my biggest peeve is long belts that are full of food that may have been out for, oh I don’t know, hours. It was a nice change to find the belt was small, there were more than 2 booths available.

The staff is very friendly and attentive. The tuna was amazing and the portion fir happy hour was pleasing. My friend had the salmon and the Ikura and she was also impressed.

Now this place has my favorites, seaweed salad, cucumber salad and sesame balls. The sesame balls were full of red bean paste instead of just a smidge. Even the cold one was excellent.

Last bit not least, the Ichi rolls I’ve had in the past usually have peanuts, but they put crisp Panko on top. What a treat. It was a nice change from the same old thing.

I highly recommend...