Restaurant Murata

06/07/2008 Posted by sushimagazine

I haven't had any vacation in past 30 years, and my old business partner invited me to US from Japan for my retirement anniversary . My friend asked me to try Japanese foods in the US, and we went to this restaurant. To be honest, this restaurant is not acceptable customer service at all. 1) We used a Tatami room, and waited 20 minutes for menu to come. 2) We ordered some sushi and dinner meals, and the waitresses forgot to serve an appetizer, and came after the dessert. 3) Bring the bill before the dessert. 4) No customer service except order, bring foods, and bills. 4) As I was a business man traveling around in the world, and as a Japanese customer, this restaurant should not be represented as a Japanese food restaurant. I went to several Japanese restaurant in the following weeks in Portland. This place is the worst ever in the US. I am writing this here because they should have had a good customer service and we would like to keep the quality of Japanese restaurant with both foods and customer service.

Pros: not authentic foods at all

Cons: Bad customer service

05/06/2008 Posted by sushi1886

fresh sushi, creative apps, Kimono wearing waitress at dinner time. Great place to go to for good authentic japanese food. Their rice soup is one of the best in town.

03/21/2008 Posted by kellerdrake

There was little Murata had to recommend itself to me, other than the fact it held up other reviewers' claims that the restaurant was authentic. Come to think of it, Subway, Denny's and Applebees are authentic American dining experiences, and so it is useless to equivocate "authentic" with "good." I don't know what all the stir has been about Murata. There are plenty of better Japanese places in town; I think that my experience of eating at Murata underscores the sad fact that downtown Portland has no decent Japanese food venue -- you're better off on the east side, out Woodstock, or even eating "fusion" Japanese on E. Broadway. Food: The rice was perfect. saba was cooked for goodness sake (!) and served without shiso, perhaps not a crime, but odd enough. Fatty tuna was a tough cut. Presentation was unembellished, the edamame was as tired out as the staff, and we left there lighter in the pocketbook but all the world wiser. Good authentic Japanese food? Go West, go to Hillsboro.

Pros: Harsh fluorescent lighting made it easy to see the portions

Cons: The exit was too far from our table

01/31/2008 Posted by serenewinds

I went to Murata because of all the reviews on it calling it (best of the North West!!) I was greatly disappointed. I ordered two things: salmon roll, soft shell crab roll. I was sitting at the bar, so had full view. 1) the salmon roll was basically a spread of rice, and a spread of mashed salmon over it. It tasted almost like tuna! No spices. Nothing. 2) I had to wait 15 minutes for the soft shell roll. The waitress even brought the bill before the chef gave her a hard eye. She pulled it, jumping with apology. 3) after 15 minutes someone came out the kitchen with a fried "alien". The chef put that lien as it is, over a spread of rice and rolled it and cut it up. Again, no spices, no art, nothing. 4) As I bit into the soft shell roll, it burnt my tongue. I had no idea they would be this hot. 5) the chef while preparing other orders, would heat and reheat fish in a small oven, over used aluminum. the fesh smelled stale. looked browned. 6) the waitresses were overly friendly. almost superficial. there was a continuing symphony of "hi" "bye" "thank you" in japanese, and it was intimidating to me since I spoke no japanese and didn't know how to respond. also, it was irritating having to respond twenty times. 7) I paid $20 plus tip. what a waste!

Pros: location

Cons: price, work hours, quality, freshness

11/22/2007 Posted by ddnmkun

Those are the best sushi I have eaten in the Pacific Northwest Area. I don't know why some people really hate the restaurant that much. ALL of the Japanese and Asia Pro Sports player who plays in the U.S major league, to name a few (Ichiro, Nomo, Jojima, Yao Ming) have been there and left signatures and photos with the chef. I can't see why their food is as bad as people mentioned. And I myself have been dining authentic Japanese sushi for over 15 years in Japan, asia, Canada and US. This is one of the three best sushi restaurant I have been to. If people think the food portion is too small, this isn't the right place for you, maybe Todai sushi buffet will be better for you to fill up your stomach. But this is Authentic Sushi, the size, the way the chief made the sushi.

Pros: Fresh Sushi, fully experienced (over 30 years) sushi chief

Cons: Food like Tempura just average, better save it for sushi only

06/21/2007 Posted by keithmbailey

Not cheap or romantic... just great sushi. Possibly the best sushi in Portland. Fresh and very tasty.

Pros: Valet parking

05/21/2007 Posted by food_reviewer

I have traveled all over the world and had some of the best sushi. I also owned my own restaurant so I know what goes into quality sushi and poor sushi that the owner is trying to save some money on. This sushi is really not good and I will not go back there. I discovered this revuew site a little too late. If I read the reviews I would not have gone. I do not understand how they claim to have fresh fish and it is not. No respecting chef would serve what they do. You do not have to listen to me, but you will not be happy with the service or food. You will only waste your time and money.

Pros: no pros

Cons: everything about them

04/04/2007 Posted by sushlvr123

I don't understand what people are saying with the good reviews!!! I read.... I went.... I ate.... it was horrible!!! I truly believe that they are now depending and surviving on their past reputation and reviews! Who serves smoked salmon and cooked mackerel as sushi?!?!? I asked why... they gave me the cold shoulder. The sushi rolls are mostly rice and tiny pieces of cheap fish and loaded with veggies (which is a way for them to save money).... No customer service at all! You can check it out and see for yourself, but you will be disappointed.... I wish I read the negative reviews on the restaurant before I went there! I found out too late! I don't think our family or my colleagues will ever go back there.

Pros: ?

Cons: fish is cheap quality, service is bad

03/25/2007 Posted by pinot123

I love sushi so when I moved to Portland recently, I asked for recommendations and checked the reviews on City Search. I have to say that although I've relied on the City Search reviews a lot, I've never really been compelled to write a review until now. I couln't believe that a place that received such great reviews served smoked fish and called it fresh sashimi! I think they're now getting by on past good reviews. What they should be really concerned about is keeping the quality of their sushi consistent, rather than now skimping on quality to save a few bucks! We went twice just ourselves and thought it was satisfactory. Service was not great but we weren't too bothered because we equated with the small business type dealings. So, when my family and our family Pastor and his wife flew in from out of state to see our new home in Oregon, we wanted to take them out to sushi. It was their last day in Portland and we wanted to make our last meal together for a long time special. We asked the waitress if the chef could make a special sashimi platter for our table. We stressed we wanted fresh fish and top quality. We were assured that for the $90 plate, we would receive the best. What did we get? Smoked fish! Anyone who really knows sushi, knows that this is very cheap for the restaurants to get and this is a way for them to charge a lot to their customers (by calling is sushi) and then serving them smoked/cooked fish! It's insulting to customers that they assume that their clientel wouldn't know the difference. I would never to go this place again. I would be embarrassed to take anyone to Murata and have them serve smoked fish- calling it sashimi! Sushi lovers-- there are so many quality sushi restaurants out there-- don't waste your money on this place.

Pros: Can't think of anything....

Cons: Horrible sushi! Smoked fish... not real sashimi! Below average service.

03/09/2007 Posted by porkee

I tried 3 different and two entrees on a recent visit to Murata. I had the california, spicy tuna, and river eel rolls. While the fish was extremely fresh and the flavor of the rolls was good, the rice was too mushy and the rolls kept falling apart (it seemed like they were not rolled especially well). If you don't mind bad texture, then you'll definitely like the rolls. I also tried the fatty tuna nigiri. I usually don't like tuna, but after reading the reviews on citysearch, just had to see how fresh the fish was. It was definitely fresh. Compared to The two entrees i tried were the tonkatsu dinner and fried oysters a la carte. the oysters were large and juicy, but lacked flavor. the tonkatsu was nothing to write home about. Service was somewhat slow despite it being such a small restaurant and there being two waitresses. The waitresses were not very attentive to our refill needs. for a resturant that is supposedly nice, i felt the ambience and decor lacking. it seemed to lack elegance and personality.

Pros: fresh fish, free parking

Cons: mushy rice, poor service