[mcattrone]

Hopefully, we will get that PokPok equivalent out of the Japanese place that is opening in the Simpatica building...Anyone agree?

[Jill-O]

I do agree with that mcattrone.

Anyone know when Biwa is gonna open? Last month they said Feb. 20th, which obviously didn't happen. Website is still just a placeholder: http://www.biwarestaurant.com/

[Amanda]

I sent a note to Gabe Rosen and just got an e-mail back. There have been some construction delays, but he now hopes to open March 12th for dinner. If all goes well, a month or so later he may open for lunch service. Let's keep our fingers crossed for a mid-March opening!

Best regards,

Amanda

[Calabrese]

I hope that new Japanese place has some serious yakitori options. Back in the 80s I was in the best Yakitori joint in Kyoto (called Agatha's aka Agasa's). You needed reservations to get in but I used my big brown eyes and a sad, sad face to get us a seat in the bar. There were a multitude of seriously good skewers and since all of those ingredients even shiso are locally available, it would be splediferous to have a chance to try that again.

[kitchenmilitia]

this is all true-in fact,they just put the hood and walk-in yesterday. im not totally sure yet but the menu will have several udon options(shoyu,miso,ect..)ramen options(tonkotsu,shoyu)and a yakimono deal with variety cuts like pork"toro",belly,chicken livers,chicken skin,and plenty of other choices.the ramen and udon noodles will be made fresh daily on the spot,as well as the homemade gyoza.

[Calabrese]

I would love too see that cheese stuffed beef skewer wrapped in shiso that blew my mind so much that I still remember it 25 plus years later. I will be looking forward to this opening.

[Angelhair]

Yesterday's paper said April 2nd, I belive.

[polloelastico]

kitchenmilitia, on Feb 23 2007, 06:21 PM, said:

this is all true-in fact,they just put the hood and walk-in yesterday. im not totally sure yet but the menu will have several udon options(shoyu,miso,ect..)ramen options(tonkotsu,shoyu)and a yakimono deal with variety cuts like pork"toro",belly,chicken livers,chicken skin,and plenty of other choices.the ramen and udon noodles will be made fresh daily on the spot,as well as the homemade gyoza.

Pork bone ramen with fresh noodles? This can't open soon enough.

[unclepauly]

ever since i read about biwa on here in the ramen shop post a few months back i've been checkjing biwas website like everyday trying to get more info...sounds like more than a few of you have been doing the same...i'm DYING to try this spot...i love japanese food...can't wait for my first trip to the country in october! wife is supposedly taking me for my 30th bday to tokyo and countryside...CAN'T WAIT!!!!

[concreteoatmeal]

lucky bastard!LOL.....im turning 30 in may and my first trip to japan is still several years off!!!............oh well, maybe if Biwa lives up to the hype it can keep me satisfied til I get to go!

[kitchenmilitia]

opening date is march 12th i believe.

[Jill-O]

Noticed lots of work accomplished in the space: pendant lighting, grill/hood, banquets, tables, chairs, new doors... Website still isn't up, though.

[unclepauly]

thanks for the update. I'm dreaming about this place.

[kitchenmilitia]

suprise...more changes...opening date is march 15th.

[kitchenmilitia]

biwa website up and running..

[RM]

kitchenmilitia, on Mar 8 2007, 07:34 PM, said:

biwa website up and running..

http://www.biwarestaurant.com/ still only has a mailto link.

[kitchenmilitia]

RM, on Mar 8 2007, 09:20 PM, said:

kitchenmilitia, on Mar 8 2007, 07:34 PM, said:

biwa website up and running..

http://www.biwarestaurant.com/ still only has a mailto link.

something weird..

[Twitch]

I will be so happy if they have takoyaki.

[Angelhair]

From today's Oregonian:

Quote

And now comes Biwa, an anticipated Japanese soul food spot opening next week in Southeast Portland. Former Viande butcher Gabe Rosen, 30, will beam his obsession with everyday Japanese on noodle shop-cum-yakitori grill complete with handmade noodles and grilled cuts of meat mostly unique to Japan.

Rosen, a Western Culinary Institute graduate who also holds a Bachelor of Arts in Japanese language, hopes to reproduce the fun, steamy, communal, casual Japanese restaurants he discovered while studying sheep in Hokkaido in 2003-04. "Eating lamb is an anomaly in Japan," says Rosen. "They want nothing to do with it, except in Sapporo."

It was during this period that Rosen found his cooking path. "Living there was fantastically interesting," he says. "The food was not what I expected. Nothing that you typically see here. It's so much more than sushi and tempura."

Nothing about Biwa sounds typical, either, at least in these parts. Though Rosen says it's considered heresy to find ramen and udon noodles under the same roof in Japan, Biwa will offer both -- an indication of how Rosen will merge authentic rules with his own sensibility. His handmade ramen noodles are served in broth simmered with pork trotters and chicken feet, then garnished with sliced pork shoulder and hard-boiled eggs simmered in sweet soy sauce. Udon noodles, thick stands cut by hand, will come in four versions, including a hot soup with seaweed, dried sardines and fried tofu -- "it smells like the sea," says Rosen.

The menu will also include some izakaya classics, such as kimchi fried rice, and nearly 20 grilled yakitori skewers, including air-cured sand dabs, Japanese peppers and lamb "Genghis Kahn," a Hokkaido specialty.

Judging from a peek in the window last week, the 50-seat restaurant has the hallmarks of the indie-slick industrial eastside: 1,250 square feet of exposed ducts and warm, reclaimed Doug fir, an eating counter that faces the open kitchen, and hard surfaces everywhere (read: It will be noisy; prepare to speak in sign language).

Rosen and his partner, Kina Voelz, have invested some $200,000 to open Biwa, and recent conversations have revealed the usual first-restaurant opening jitters.

"It would have been so much easier to open a ramen stall at PSU," Rosen said on the phone last week after yet another construction-delay headache. "I'm a wreck. But I'm happy. This is very much the place I've always wanted to have."

(Biwa is scheduled to open March 15 at 215 S.E. Ninth Ave.; 503-239-8830; www.biwarestaurant.com)

[RM]

Anyone know if it will be open for lunch?