Biwa

Portland, OR
biwarestaurant.com



The Order: Biwa Hamburger, medium rare. Seasoned ground beef, Kimchi mayo, and Chasyu.  Served only after 10pm.
Side Order: Comes with small amount of potatoes and slaw (pickled.)
$8
Drink Order: Shibuya Sling - cocktail
Burger Menu Rating: 14/15




I was working out in LA a few weeks ago and decided to take a side trip up to Portland, OR to visit my friend Tim.  Now, Tim loves burgers, and he loves beer, so we've had many a trip to partake of both of those lovely things.  But as of yet, I'd not been able to visit up in Portland, and all he'd been telling me about was how awesome the beer was, and how good the food was.  So I figured, what the heck, I've got the time and the money, I might as well do this while I'm on the same coast, right?  Right.

When I first got into Portland, Tim immediately asks me what we're gonna eat, and how he's been freaking out about which burger joint he was going to take me to, because he wanted my first Portland burger experience to be an awesome one.  Instead, we headed to Pok Pok Noi, a Northern Thai restaurant, owned by Andy Ricker which has expanded across Portland and also into NYC in the past few years.  Absolutely everything we ate was incredibly spicy (Ricker didn't want to dumb down the flavors and spiciness for the American palette), but amazing.  Huge wings smothered in a sweet red chili sauce, green papaya salad, and boar collar with lettuce.  All just so delicious, and so incredibly spicy.  As a first taste of the kind of fare that I could expect in Portland, this was perfect.

We tossed around a few ideas for where to get a burger for dinner the next night, and landed upon Biwa.  Tim had heard about this burger before, and it had gotten a great write-up from Nick Zukin as being one of the top 10 bistro burgers in Portland.  Other places weren't open when we wanted to go, and Biwa's burger sounded intriguing.  Now, Biwa is a Japanese restaurant in Southeast Portland that does not take reservations.  They have a limited amount of seating, and the place fills up really quickly.  We arrived at about 9:15 to make sure we could get a table, and ended up sitting at the bar, where we split a few appetizers to kill time.  By this point, we were starving, and the anticipation was killing us.  We watched as the chefs started to prepare the burgers almost immediately at 10pm.  Mouths watering.  When it arrived, the burger was a beauty to behold; the top bun placed off center to show off the Chasyu, pork belly that's been cured in various sauces, rolled up and sliced, and the dollop of Kimchi mayo, and the potatoes and pickled slaw on the side to complete the picture.


Cross section of the Biwa Hamburger

Now, this burger was cooked perfectly.  The above picture makes it a little difficult to tell because of the stark angle of the lighting, but believe you me, this was juicy with a deep red center that transitioned to pink towards the outsides.  The grind was extremely coarse, and the meat had definitely not been worked over, providing a perfectly crumbly texture with the fats and juices mixed all the way thru, and this was a super thick patty.  The bun was lightly toasted, just enough to provide a crunch, but still soft and absorbent.  A nice thickness too so that when it got to absorbing the juices, it didn't get all completely soaked, but still maintained some of its airy quality.

The kimchi aioli was light and perfect.  It didn't overwhelm the taste of the patty and added an awesome and intriguing slightly sour flavor.  The greens were a great bed upon which to lay the burger, though they seemed to only add texture, and not much in the way of flavor.  The Chasyu was a thin slice, fried, and crunchy.  It added a nice texture, is slightly salty, but I was torn between wanting a thicker piece for the usual soft texture that pork belly provides.  It definitely added to the overall richness of this burger, but the meat is no second contender to the Chasyu.  The meat flavor hits you in the first bite, and lasts til the end.

The potatoes on the side had mustard seeds, which are a nice and surprising texture, and flavor, when combined with the potatoes.  The slaw was made up of a few pickled items: carrots, onion and some kind of pepper.  It was very reminiscent of traditional Japanese tasting menus in that with its sharp flavors, it cleansed the palette in a fantastic way.  Eat a bite of these every few bites of the burger to re-experience your first bite in a whole new way.  And the fact that these sides aren't just a companion side, like fries, but are intended to compliment and change how you taste the burger is amazing.  Some real thought went into the flavor combinations and the presentation, making this burger well worth both the $8 and the wait til 10pm.




Cooked Correctly: 5
Design/Ingredients: 3
Plating: 3
Value: 3