Michi Japan Restaurant - Tigard, Oregon
One of the best meals I ever had was a Burger King Whopper when I was in Michigan back in 2005. I’d been hitchhiking (read: homeless) for several months, and I hadn’t eaten anything for several days prior. I spent the morning busking at a popular touristy area and was eventually able to scrape together a handful of bills for a meal and a hotel room for the night.
I ate that Whopper while sitting on the edge of a ratty, disgusting hotel room bed in the middle of Detroit. I could hear gunfire occasionally that night. But it was absolutely the best meal I’d ever had in my life. And I know that’s the payoff from our brain to reward us for staying alive and eating some food, right? We’re programmed to have a reward system that says, hey man, good job keeping your brain alive today.
As I said, it was a shit hotel, but it was also the best shower I’ve ever had, too. To have hot water running down your body for the first time in weeks. The absolute luxury of knowing you are safe and consuming the grace of running water and food.
I sometimes think about that whopper when I go to hole in the wall restaurants. I wouldn’t say that Michi Japan is a hole in the wall restaurant or anything. But I’m much older than I was in 2005, and I don’t worry about getting a hot meal or a hot shower these days. I don’t even worry about gas prices most of the time, and I recognize the absolute grace and fortune that I have in that.
But I don’t want to become a person that doesn’t love and appreciate the beauty in a hot shower or a simple meal that may never get placed upon the front cover of Food and Wine magazine.
To that end, some days you just want sushi and ramen and you want your kids to try something new as well. Though, my daughter fucking loves ramen already. She would eat it for every meal if she could. But she’s not fond of sushi and most other Japanese dishes, and I can understand that. It took me until my early 20s before I recognized all the wonderful parts of cuisine that I was missing.
My son, on the other hand, doesn’t like most things. To his credit, he tries everything that I ask him to try, and he doesn’t usually complain. That’s a rather amazing trait in anyone, and I’m glad he’s able to make the effort. But that also means that eating Japanese food can be a trial by fire for him.
First, we ordered the tempura battered veggies and the edamame appetizer. My son tried both and more or less hated both. My daughter, on the other hand, loved both. They truly are absolutely different people and I will never understand biology or DNA or upbringing, I swear to God.
The tempura was light and crispy and didn’t have the overwhelming taste of oil in it. The sauce that comes along with it was tasty, but I wouldn’t say it was remarkable or memorable—mostly a modified sweet and sour sauce of some sort. I would say that for the price, $12, it was on the spendy side for a small smattering of veggies and two shrimp. Frankly, just give me more tempura battered veggies and no shrimp for that price and I would be fine with it.
My daughter ordered the tonkotsu ramen and I got to try it out. The noodles were cooked perfectly, and the broth was deep and complex. Not the best broth in the world, but certainly not the worst either. It was maybe a little thick for my taste, but that’s entirely personal preference and I’d seen it much thicker when I was in Tokyo last year.
The pork was perfectly cooked, flavorful, and didn’t taste like it’d been made a week ago and sat in the fridge. Which is a small artifact I’ve run into at some ramen shops in the area. I would order that ramen if I ever came back.
My son ordered the chicken katsu with rice. He loves rice, so I knew that would be an easy dish for him to eat. I would warn you, though, that if you order it for a similarly picky eater, they do put some dried bonito shavings on top and that might freak your kid out if they’ve never seen/tasted it before. But past that little dollup, it was fine. The chicken katsu was fried really well, and had good flavor in the breading. I would say that the chicken was just slightly on the dry side, but nothing so egregious that I wouldn’t try it again. We all have our off days, after all.
I ordered a few different sushi dishes. I don’t remember which ones now, so I apologize because this has been a few days. They were fresh, wonderfully prepared, and I left feeling full and satisfied with my meal.
It’s hard to rate a restaurant like this because it’s obviously not the best food in the world. Nor should it be. It’s a place to come and sit and eat with your family and enjoy the trappings of Japanese cuisine without having to cook it yourself. For a not-fancy restaurant, it was good. Not great. But good. The servers and waitstaff are kind and patient, especially given that my kids love talking to everybody whenever they come by our table.
If you live in Tigard or Beaverton, you love sushi and/or ramen, and you want something that is good but not necessarily great and you don’t want to drive into downtown—this might be the right place for you. Since it’s not far from my house, it scratches a lot of the right itches without being inconvenient. It would be hard to recommend if you were coming from a long distance, as I’m sure you could find a place that’s just as good closer to you.
The Portland Critic Verdict
Cost: 6/10 thumbs up. Not the cheapest sushi or ramen in town, and portion sizes for some of the dishes were on the smaller side for the price. For four diners, two of which were kids, and an appetizer and drinks for everyone, it was $100. Certainly not the worst, given the cost of living insanity right now, but there are better priced options that are just as good.
Taste: 7/10 thumbs up. Authentically, unapologetically Japanese. Not perfect. But squarely in the good enough.
Staff: 8/10 thumbs up. Patient when my kids want to ask about everything on the menu, but the food took a bit to arrive at the table. My sushi came after everyone else was nearly half done with their meals. I am a patient man and I don’t anyone to feel bad for something that is out of their control, but I also like to give an honest review.
Ease: 8/10 thumbs up. The restaurant is situated in a strip mall sort of area near two grocery stores. Not the most convenient if a lot of parking is being eaten up by the other stores, but not too bad, either.
If you’d like to give them a visit, you can find them at:
Michi Japan
12282 SW Scholls Ferry Rd
Tigard, OR 97223
