pai men miyake

bathroom needs work. let me start by saying that pai men is one of my favorite places to go out to in portland, cool atmosphere, great beer list,foodalways good, and the crack laced pork buns are incredible. on our most recent trip everything was fine, food, beer, service all good as usual. the problem i had was in the condition of the bathroom (guys in my case and i can't speak on the condition of the gals br). the soap dispenser was broken, paper towel dispenser not working or out. i'm not sure if the kitchen staff uses this bathroom as well but if they do it's not only a health code violation but also really digusting. they could have at least put some hand soap out if the wall mounted dispenser is broken. while i'm on it the condition of the sink is also prettty nasty, no caulking around the basin and the appearance of black mold around the rim, invest a couple hundred dollars and install a sink that doesn't make you feel dirtier by using it. management really needs to address these matters, really no excuse for it, dive bars have nicer bathrooms. i do hope they address this stuff because i do really enjoy going here but will not be back until they do

rounding out our weekend of ridiculously goodfoodwe’ve got pai men miyake. responsible for satisfying our cravings for asian...

there is some seriously goodfoodhappening at this place! great friendly service and fantastically flavored food.

pai men miyake , at 188 state street in portland, is one of the restaurants forming thefoodlovers' corner in longfellow square. when the restaurant opened, it was billed as a ramen bar with a few appetizers. since then, their menu has expanded to include not only several different kinds of ramen, but sushi rolls, several appetizers, and yakitori grill . in the beginning, i went early and often, but fell off in frequency as more restaurants around portland vied for my attention. but now that i'm a west ender, walking to the corner for some appetizers and rolls is a fine weeknight option. on this particular night, a. and i found the restaurant fairly full at 7:30pm, and so we grabbed seats at the bar. we ordered an appetizer each and some sushi rolls. a.'s gyoza were fairly standard pork dumplings, but had a nice contrast between the tender wrappers and the crisp char. the special of short rib buns with creme fraiche and pickled beets attracted me, but in the end, i wish i'd ordered my

starters and specials. the ramen is good but i think i'm too stuck on my longtime favorites (from away).

however, i love the rest of the menu and treat pai men as sort of an izakaya place. from fried pigs tails to hamayaki to the veg dishes, thefoodhas been so consistently interesting and delicious. haven't gotten too adventuresome with the sakes, but so, so enjoy what i get. can't get enough!

no matter what any one person writes about a place, try the place. the reason is because that person could have had unrealistic expectations or may have a chip on their shoulder that day or whatever. know this, this is not a conventional noodle shop and thats what makes it great. the broths are simple, delicate and have many layers as a beautifully constructed broth should. the noodles are unique, fresh and different than a traditional shop with many twists of flavors and a constancy that separates them from al others. the broths are delicate, smokey, savory and soothing. people, unfortunately (americans who love salty foods) will mistake some of the broths as no flavor. this is miyake version of noodles and other greatfoodthat are sooo worth a trip! the scallop, crab hyamiyaki is outstanding along with the pork ramen. everything i have had the 8 times i've been have been very good. yes not all was amazing but they are working out the kinks. the sake bar is what it is advertised as and the chef, when i asked for a small change was eager to help me. try this place for yourself, the prices are not bad and thefoodis good.

upon hearing thatfoodfactory miyake was opening a ramen joint, i knew i had to try it. no opportunities came up for a few weeks until we were supposed to meet our friends marshall and heather at norm’s for some pub grub

go for the gyoza, not the ramen. my wife and i went to miyake for lunch. we sat at the bar. waitstaff was very nice,foodwas not very good. i had the vegetable ramen. i knew what was in it and expected a lot more than i got considering the price of it. the broth tasted like it was leftover from the previous week. there was only about a cup of noodles in it and maybe a few mushrooms. in my experiences of living in japan, and eating ramen, this vegetable ramen was terrible and shouldn't be in the 11$ range. my wife had the miso ramen that had some taste but again few noodles for the 9$ they charged. we also had the gyoza, which was the highlight of the 'noodle' bar.
i won't be returning to miyake, instead i'll just dream of a noodle bar where vegetable ramen is loaded with noodles, scallions, shredded carrots, sprouts, and other combination's that warm one's belly up during these long winter days and evenings.

shaky start, but vast improvement. i went to pai men with my wife during opening week and though we were blown away by the space itself, thefoodwas good, but not exceptional. we both decided that our high expectations were not entirely fair to place on a new establishment so we revisited this past weekend. things have changed. the menu itself has about 8 new items, including a vegetarian broth, and the service has become comfortable without being overbearing. i tried out the spicy miso and it was incredible. just enough spice and the broth was not as salty as before. overall, the entire operation has become far more fine-tuned and you can tell that the more the place progresses the more interesting the menu will become

great ramen!. after having several excellent meals at miyaki, we found out that the owner was opening a noodle restaurant nearby. we drove up from the newburyport area with high hopes that we'd finally have somewhere to get authentic japanese ramen. we found just what we'd hoped for. we ordered all three varieties, miso,soy and tonkotsu. they were all excellent. i ordered the miso, which was a red miso, and slightly spicey. it was different from others i've had, but absolutely delicious. after tasting the soy and tonkotsu, i'm not sure i could pick a favorite. i think i'll end up rotating between them since they were all so good.

we also ordered the pork buns and gyoza (pork dumplings). they reminded me of eating at noodle bars in nyc. ahhhh, life is good :-)

the menu is small, but thefoodis delicious. if you like authentic japanese noodles, or you want to experience the real thing, you'll find it at pai men miyake.

really?!. i have previously written a review, but it was taken off by urbanspoon. so i will put this in a nutshell:

i have eaten at many noodle bars, including ones in nyc, boston, and london. i have never experienced noodles the way they are prepared at pai men. this is not a noodle bar, this is a ramen noodle bar with disgusting half dried out eggs, and slimy fatty pork.

noodles dripping with fat, slimy, greasy thick fat.
noodles smell like the draining from a tuna can.
if you have a shellfish allergy beware of thefoodhere. there was only one thing on the menu that was "safe" for me to eat. there is no warning on the menu about this, but be sure to ask.
service was rude. beyond rude. 20 of us waiting in line outside before opening were shooed away 5 minutes before opening. it was also slow and clumsy.
there are other things that i feel fitting to write on here, but i was told by urbanspoon that it "was more fitting for the health department."

the quality offoodand service was ridiculous, and i am sad to report it, as i love miyake's sushi. he never messes that up.

i would stick to miyake sushi.

that's it in a nutshell.

good luck