Mio Sushi

• Mio Sushi website
• Location: Pearl district (Hoyt/13th)
• Cost to fill up two people: $30 to $40

Gary and I hit up the Bullseye Gallery yesterday, some neat glass there right now. I got a kick out of Gary’s trick of asking gallery (and museum) personnel which piece they’d personally remove from their burning building. The answers were intriguing and not at all what I’d thought. (And as a bonus that question sent the guard at the Museum of Contemporary Craft all over the exhibit seeking unique PoVs for us…but that’s another story.)

Anyway, it was lunchtime, we wanted sushi, and there was a Mio Sushi right around the corner. This one was steeped in what I like to call “Northwest chic,” i.e., cold, greeny-grey concrete, pale blonde wood, a few old brick, liberal use of black, and lots of big windows. The chilled decor is usually a contrast with the folk working there, who–this being Portland–are warm and friendly.

We sat at the bar and opted for salmon skin roll, salmon roe in seaweed, salmon sushi (do you see a pattern here?), unagi (cooked freshwater eel), and a couple others I can’t remember. Service was efficient, presentation was a bit crowded but that was nice because we knew exactly what we were getting. The green tea had an interesting bamboo-ish taste I hadn’t experienced before, and I found myself drinking it rather than just sipping it with the meal.

In the end, though, it’s all about the sushi. If there was nothing especially memorable about our choices (they were pretty standard sushi fare, after all), the chef did absolutely nothing wrong with them so we got the tastes and textures we expected (and wanted). I sorta missed the “let’s have an adventure” feeling I get in some sushi establishments, but it’s equally nice that I now have a place that will deliver excellent sushi as expected, when I’m not in the mood for messing about.