Yokohama Skyline Eatery — Restaurant in Portland

I went to this restaurant about 2-3 weeks ago and I was thinking if I should write a review, but I decided to do so because I have given this restaurant 5 stars before. I live in Seattle and used to be a chef before moving into management after expanding the chain to 4 locations. I always go to this restaurant every time I’m in Portland for business and have eaten here for 4-5 times in the past years.The first 1-2 times I was very impressed and gave them 5 stars, but the quality has dropped since then, especially the last time. When I entered the restaurant, I saw the new furniture in the restaurant which looked nice. But I lost my appetite immediately when I smelled a musty smell in the restaurant which could come from the accumulation of oil fumes for a long time. This should only be smelled in old restaurants and definitely not these kinds of restaurants. It could be due to a problem with the exhaust system or ventilation system that has not been fixed for a while. Also, when you leave the restaurant, the smell of the oil and food will stick to your clothes, body, and hair all day long. It is like a typical Chinese restaurant, which is unlikely to happen in a Japanese restaurant, especially a ramen restaurant.

I guess the restaurant has a new owner or a new chef. I usually order gyoza and ramen every time I come here and this time it was the same. I ordered gyoza and shoyu ramen. The taste of the ramen soup has gotten darker and worse, and the chashu pork was hard, dark, and not soft and didn't melt in my mouth like the first two times. But the worst was the gyoza. I understand that the chef will apply tapioca flour or corn flour on the base before frying in a pan to make the bottom crispy, but doing this makes it seem like the chef has no or less experience and lack of understanding of Japanese food at all. Because of this, you will get the hard and toughness from the flour, but most importantly, will lose the softness of the gyoza wrapper.

I would like to advise the restaurant owner since I was someone who used to be in the same business that the restaurant must urgently improve the smell in the restaurant. Because customers, especially women or office workers, definitely do not want to go into the restaurant and have to leave with the smell of oil and food all day long. Also, they should find a chef who is experienced in Japanese food to help work. Otherwise, the restaurant may have business problems, especially restaurants that do not have a variety of food to choose from. The food should be excellent in that aspect, but it turned out to be the opposite. From what I saw on the day I went to eat, it was a weekday at noon, but there was only 1 more customer beside me until I left the restaurant. This does not include the problem of the freshness of the ingredients and the food served to customers if there were fewer customers than there should have been. I am not sure if the problem with the chashu pork was caused by reheating the pork repeatedly because it sold less.

I am not sure if customers who are dissatisfied with the same problem as me will come back to the restaurant again. But I will definitely not go...

I really enjoyed eating at Yokohama skyline eatery. Located in the yard building, I really liked how their layout of the restaurant is. When you walk through the door, there is sitting to the left and right of you, and they present their menu on a large screen.

When I went, it was not busy, however, it got busy when I was about finished with my meal.

I ordered the Tonkotsu Ramen with Black Garlic Oil. When my order was being taken by the server, he was very kind, sweet, and informative. He provided us with a number, and we picked out a table and waited for our food. The wait time was not long, since it was not busy.

The Ramen is extremely good. I really like how the Ramen comes with the noodles and various toppings. The broth is one of the best broths I've had ever.

I think next time I would try the Gyoza or a different type of ramen. Definitely a good place to check out if...

Put this place on your list!

What a charming place, with very delicious food. Since moving into the neighborhood, I’ve eaten nearly their whole menu and they are consistently good.

I have not tried:

Tomato ramen Vegan miso

I have tried every other flavor of ramen, and their seaweed salad (tasty), gyoza (excellent), edamame (passable), takoyaki (surprisingly good) and karaage which is great.

Is there room for improvement in the food? Yes! I actually think the protein could use work. All of the ramen broths, and the noodles, are excellent. The protein can be a bit on the dry side, and especially the chashu, could be enhanced.

The staff are super friendly, the space is impeccably clean, the haste in which food is prepared is amazing, and with more traffic, I believe they could be a part of the “best in Portland,”...