Saburo’s House of Sushi

• Restaurant website
• Location: Sellwood/Westmoreland
• Price to fill up two people: About $30

Until I had dinner at Saburo’s, the words “sushi” and “jumbo” weren’t related. Now they are.

Robyn suggested Saburo’s for dinner; I checked it out with Trever, my resident Asian/Middle Eastern restaurant expert. “It’s really popular, but the pieces are a little big for me.” Didn’t seem like a huge problem, so we headed over there.

I arrived late (thanks to the closing of the Sellwood bridge, which sparked my quest for GPS, an entirely different story) and Robyn had already ordered so I’m not entirely sure what we ate. There were a couple different types of marinated eel sushi, a couple of rolls with crab and avocado, some salmon sashimi, but from the looks of it, just about anything on the menu is good.

Ours were delicious. They were also absolutely, completely ginormous, well beyond the realm of handling with simple chopsticks. At a guess, the slices of maki (rolls) were a good 3-4 inches across. The grilled (teriyaki?) eel on top of my favorite piece was longer than my hand.

I tried picking up a slice of roll with one hand–Robyn snickered–and discovered that sushi really isn’t structurally sound enough to hang out in space while you chew at the other end. It’s meant to be eaten in one bite, but I’d love to see the guy that could get one of these beasties into his mouth at one go. (Uh, come to think of it, I would NOT love to see that)

I don’t know if there’s an imperative here to follow the crazy American custom of barrel-sized sodas and supersized fries, if perhaps making one roll instead of six cuts down on labor costs, or the chefs are channeling Paul Bunyan, but I’m with Trever: Their sushi is too big.

Size aside, however, this is really good sushi at a bargain price. We couldn’t finish the $27-worth that we ordered, and we were both hungry. Our table-mates, a couple with a little girl, couldn’t finish half of what they ordered–it filled a take-out box maybe 12-inches square. “Uh, that’s for the dog. We have a Japanese dog,” the guy deadpanned.

Like many neighborhood bistros in Portland, this one is very crowded with neighbors and friendly chatter. The service is pretty good. The location, in one of those little boutique enclaves old Portland is famous for, is good for postprandial strolling. There are a couple of nearby parking lots and street parking for different lengths of time, I found a close-by parking place without a problem.

Definitely, put Saburo’s on your list.

Tip: Pay attention to the words “very crowded,” in this review; there were at least as many people sitting outside on the sidewalk, waiting to get in, as there were inside the restaurant…and that was on a Tuesday night. Took maybe 30-40 minutes to be seated, so pick your parking space accordingly.

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