Kalé

Portland, United States

4.1

Closed now

26 reviews

Accepts Credit Cards

Contacts

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Telephone:
+1 503-227-5253
Website:
www.kalepdx.com
Address:
900 SW Morrison St, Portland, OR, 97205
Southwest Portland, Downtown
Nearby public transportation stops & stations:
220 ftGalleria/Southwest 10th Avenue
280 ftLibrary/Southwest 9th Avenue
340 ftSouthwest 10th & Alder
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Bussiness info

Takes Reservations
No
Delivery
Yes
Take-out
Yes
Accepts Credit Cards
Yes
Good For
Lunch
Parking
Street
Bike Parking
Yes
Wheelchair Accessible
Yes
Good for Kids
Yes
Good for Groups
Yes
Attire
Casual
Ambience
Casual
Noise Level
Quiet
Alcohol
Beer & Wine Only
Outdoor Seating
Yes
Wi-Fi
No
Has TV
No
Dogs Allowed
No
Waiter Service
No
Caters
No

Today

Today 11:00 am – 8:00 pm
Closed now
Local time (Portland) 10:30 Thursday, 28 November 2024

Business hours

Monday 11:00 am – 8:00 pm
Tuesday 11:00 am – 8:00 pm
Wednesday 11:00 am – 8:00 pm
Thursday 11:00 am – 8:00 pm
Friday 11:00 am – 8:00 pm
Saturday 11:00 am – 8:00 pm
Sunday –

Description

Specialties

At Kalé, we serve the dish that has been the ultimate comfort food to over 128 million people in Japan. This savory like stew consisting of meat, onions, carrots, tomatoes, and other vegetables, is enjoyed over Japanese rice. Americans who have been to Japan and tried it mostly say, «It’s addictive.»

Based on data by the government, a Japanese person on average is likely to eat the dish 84 times a year. It is undeniably one of the most popular foods in Japan.

We proudly serve these Japanese dishes in a home-​cooked style that has been tested by the toughest critics for over 100 years: mothers and children!

We now offer a Kale’ Rice that is vegan & gluten free!

Our latest addition is Baked Pork Cutlet. You can have it with your favorite Kale’ Rice or Doria! Enjoy!

History

Established in 2011.

We have operated in Goose Hollow from the April of 2010 to March of 2011. After seeing this dish gaining popularity in Portland, we have decided to move to a more convenient location for many of our customers. We hope to see you at our new location in downtown SW 9th Ave & Morrison St!

Meet the Business Owner

Makoto Y.

Business Owner

Originally from Kobe, Japan, the owner, Makoto Yoshino, immigrated to the U.S. to attend college in Michigan and stayed for twelve years to work and attend graduate school in business, before returning to Tokyo in 2005. Since moving to Portland and becoming a U.S. citizen in 2008, he has been on a quest to find restaurants in the U.S. that replicate the comfort foods of his native Japan. Seeing a gap, he has decided to fill it. He looks forward to your feedback on this simple but culturally important dish.

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26 reviews of Kalé

No registration required
Place rating: 4
Bothell, WA
The food here is AMAZING and delicious. Its also located in a very convenient spot if you’re traveling with the MAX, as its right around the corner from the Galleria station.
If all you care about is how yummy the food is, you can stop here.
The atmosphere is really weird. Its like they cobbled a nice little Asian restaurant together with an old office cafeteria. Where and how to order is a little confusing, and they could really use a large, easy-​to-​understand menu. They also gave my friend the wrong order but it seemed like more hassle than it was worth to complain.
Place rating: 3
Danville, CA
So simple, so warm, so Japanese Comfort food. Yep, that’s Kale’ and don’t expect to get any Kale, though they have spinach.
This restaurant only does one thing, and that’s Japanese Curry, the tradititional comfort food of Japan. But they do it in several tasty ways.
1. Beef, chicken, or vegetable curry
2. Kale rice (curry next to rice) or Doria (curry over rice and baked with cheese)
3. Katsu, or other toppings.
There’s something to be said for simplicity. We visited on a cool February night after all the downtown food trucks were closed at 6 PM and Kale’ was open until 8 PM. It was nice to chat with the owner about his recipes, and enjoy the warm plate of curry sitting on elevated Japanese mats. All the food is already made, so dishing and serving is quick, even the Doria only takes a few minutes.
The curry was slightly spicy, and when the Doria was baked with cheese it is somewhat reminiscent of the love child resulting from crossing an Indian buffet with a Mexican casserole. Not much meat in the sauces, and the Katsu Cutlets were all slightly overcooked and dry.
Give it a try if you’re coming in from the rain, and you like curry.
Place rating: 3
Oakland, CA
The thought of a Japanese curry house is not appealing… This is a more home oriented meal with friends and family… Plus, making of the Japanese curry its a really easy process and no one can mess up the recipe, therefore there is no complexity in the culinary art… This is perspective from a native Japanese. Please, very stingy on the substance — meat and veggies… its a tease.
Not impressed, I would give a two star to be honest…
Place rating: 4
Portland, OR
Solid place. The owner is pretty amusing and the ambiance somewhat quirky and interesting.
Place rating: 5
Portland, OR
this place is BULLETPROOF!!! what more can i say? you get a great portion of curry for 7 – 10 bucks (at least coming from the appetite of an infant); there are vegetarian, vegan, and meat options for THE WHOLE FAMILY! the guy at the counter said that the vegetarian curry can’t be legally called vegetarian because of food facility conditions but big shocker right. i can only assume the same (if not worse) applies to most places, but i wanna give the guy Big Props for being as helpful and informative as he was being. the staff here is always very friendly and welcoming, plus the place’s vibe is like a classy cafeteria which makes you feel at home. the food is excellent. it’s one of those places you can always count on.
Place rating: 5
Portland, OR
They have the best Japanese curry here. The rice is good as well, sticky and yummy. The curry tastes like authentic curry. The atmophere is prett quiet and relaxing. They decorate the restaurant just like how restaurants in Japan are. Highly recommend.
Place rating: 5
Portland, OR
I just love this place. I’ve been eating at this place for a long time, when they started the restaurant in Goose Hollow. Mr. Yoshino recognizes and greets us every time we go! Love the atmosphere along with Jazz/​Classic music in the background. It’s awesome that every time I go, there is always a new menu! The food there is wonderful of course, and his team is very nice.
Place rating: 4
Portland, OR
I rate this a 3.9
If you’re looking for some comfort food, Kale is the place to go. In Japanese tradition, they focus on only 1 thing: Japanese curry. If you’re not familiar with Japanese style curry as opposed to Indian style curry, I would say Japanese flavors are more mellow like a stew (they use carrots and potatoes) where as Indian style is more spiced in the same way Chai is a spiced tea.
My favorite item there is the one with cheese. It’s not available togo, but they take their curry and they broil cheese on top to create an extra rich and creamy meal. The space is large and quiet. In the back they have japanese style tables. With each meal there are red pickles (I can’t recall the name) that really tie the dish together.
Great for when you want something warm and filling. Counter service so it’s easy on groups.
Place rating: 3
Boston, MA
A good bang for your buck, especially in this neighborhood. Didn’t disappoint, but didn’t blow me away either. Great place for a quick-​ish lunch, the limiting rate being how hot the food is since I’m pretty sure they just throw the whole plate in the oven and serve it immediately
Beef doria — doesn’t skimp on the meat and definitely doesn’t skimp on the sauce and rice. The flavors are good, but nothing jumps out at you.
Great for groups!
Place rating: 4
Los Angeles, CA
Japanese «comfort» food, aka curry. This place is pretty much Curry House (you’ll notice I mention lots of California/​Los Angeles staples in my review, but it’s useful if you’re also travelling out of LA!).
Had some great food and it’s a pretty big restaurant/​eating area. Come by if you’re looking for some warm food and to get out of the rain and kind of to have a dining on your own experience without the hassle of having wait staff bother you, this place is a great, no-​fuss easy dinner option!
Place rating: 4
San Francisco, CA
It is what it is. Simple Japanese comfort food for the cold rainy months. Kale is a great stopover if you’re downtown. No frills but the curry dish is addicting. Good for a quick pop in and cheap, satisfying meal.
Place rating: 4
Portland, OR
Yep, I definitely recommend this place to anyone that’s looking for some warm and delicious Japanese curry! The best curry I’ve had is from CoCo Curry House in Japan, and Kale is pretty close to it. They serve your curry with rice and some pickled radishes which are to die for! Love those things!
The service is quick and it’s super reasonably priced! You seat yourself and bus your own table as well. Will definitely be going back!
Place rating: 5
San Diego, CA
Delicious Japanese curry which is perfect in Oregon weather! Just visiting and trying to catch a flight so it was a bit rushed since we got it to go but it didn’t disappoint me as I scarfed it down in the car.
The restaurant is actually REALLY nice and big. They even have a modernized style of tatami (what Japanese people sit on for dinner)! The owner of the restaurant is so friendly and made sure that the food we wanted would be ready in a short time. My friend recommended the Doria but unfortunately couldn’t eat it because you have to eat at the restaurant for it (they bake it and serve it with cheese) so they didn’t do to go orders of Doria. We also added a hard boiled egg for $ 1.00. The food here is more than reasonably priced ($ 7-​$ 12) depending on what you order and the portions are perfect. I ordered the Kale rice with beef. It was soooo good but I do wish there were actually more pieces of beef in it.
Place rating: 5
Berkeley, CA
It’s not quite curry but it’s close! You can get a large plate of stew or doria (which is like a baked cheesy version of the stew) for what can only be described as extraordinary comfort food. I wish they had tonkatsu.
Our server was a cool dude. We talked about law school. He did the biz thing but there was some strong commiserating. Apparently Michigan law has a good cafeteria with apathetic ID card checkers.
And the beer is cheap! He said they don’t bother with happy hour and just make it cheap all the time.
Place rating: 3
Portland, OR
I went here with my friends for lunch, hoping to get some amazing, chunky Japanese curry. I usually make Japanese curry at home with the packages from the store, so it was fun hearing the guy introduce their curry to us. They simmer their curry for many hours before it is ready. The downfall is that I don’t get chunks of potatoes or carrots (my favorite part). I really enjoyed the toys and mangas they left around the tables though. It’s a good place to sit back and hang out with friends.
Place rating: 4
Portland, OR
Let’s get down to it.
I thought it was good. I thought it was kinda pricy at 9 $ but it was good. Nice people. The interior décor is pretty cool, Japanese style. You should go at least once. I wouldn’t go back personally, but since my girlfriend loves it, I’ll be going back.
Place rating: 4
Chino Hills, CA
This place has some damn good japanese curry! They offer curry Doria, where they bake it and add cheese… I mean, what else more do you need??? The curry isn’t as flavorful as I prefer and I like my stew with chunks of potatoes and carrots. There weren’t very many. Overall this really hits the spot. I ordered mine with ½ a pork cutlet… Can I just say that was the saddest pork cutlet ever!!! Kind of disappointing compared to how good their curry was. But the curry definitely stole the show and was worth this review. The service was kind of weird. One of the cashier’s was really nice in explaining everything to us, but another guy who helped my family that came later wasn’t very helpful in explaining the menu to them.
Overall a great Japanese curry spot for those cold Portland days.
Place rating: 3
Portland, OR
After always passing this place downtown Portland I decided to give this place a try.
What my boyfriend and I ordered was the beef rice place and a side of egg for about 8.50 each.
The dish was decent, but wasn’t the best. The reason for my low score review is because the beef dish only had 3 pieces of the smallest beef chunk. (Included a pic) I should of read some of the reviews because of the other reviews complained about the same thing. It was good for a one time try, but nothing is telling me to go back.
Place rating: 3
Portland, OR
Have walked by this place a few times and always smelled good so we thought we’d give it a try.
Interesting set up, you order cafeteria style and they only have a few options to choose from but they have several add ons.
Quick service, you seat yourself, get your own water, or tea, and bus your own table.
We both had the chicken doria and it was definitely good. A bit spicy so good thing it came with rice. I didn’t know you could get brown rice otherwise I would have tried that. The egg add on was probably good too. I added on the chicken katsu cutlet and I didn’t eat it cause I couldn’t bite into it. It was too rubbery and chewy. I couldn’t handle it, yuck! Makes me sick just thinking about it. The chicken that was with the doria was shredded to small pieces and I finished that. It was good.
I am half Japanese and I have never had anything like this before. Japanese curry, who knew. Unsure if I will be back though, nothing to write home about.
Place rating: 5
Portland, OR
Delightfully different lunch… a great curry sauce, a very filling meal for under 10 bucks. I had the vegetarian version with a hardboiled egg and added spinach… just delicious. Very nice owner too.
Can’t wait to go back!
Place rating: 4
Portland, OR
The owner of Kale will tell you the full story of Japanese curry and there is a menu card with the detailed history.
They have assumed the location of an older Japanese reataurant with tatami seating for low tables as well as conventional tables. The furniture is a little hodge-​podge and the owner serves food on cafeteria trays. But you can get a Japanese restaurant experience at a small price that is delicious!
The curry is tomato, carrot, onion and peppers, the edge of a hot spice, with optional meats and melted cheese on top. Best thing is that you have a choice of healthy brown or white rice. A nice neutral green tea is available iced.
This is relatively healthy food, for a cold rainy day, at a great prices and with a story.
Place rating: 4
Portland, OR
DORIA!!! This restaurant may have a very simple menu, but the dishes are executed flawlessly. Ordering is as simple as talking to the host what you want. After that is complete, get a table and minutes later a piping hot plate arrives to be consumed. I’m a sucker for meat and rice dishes and this place satisfies that appetite. For $ 7.45 you can pick a beef, chicken, or veggie plate. For a couple dollars more, you can DORIA and it will be baked with cheese topped off. Extra’s also include adding a boiled egg or spinach for a $ 1 which is also a great deal. Drinks are super affordable too given its downtown location.
The portion is just the right amount and the flavors simple, fulfilling, and can please most folk. The owner is very friendly and is proud of the food that he cooks. He likes to try out new dishes and only puts them on the menu after many trials have passed. You can also buy the kale’ broth to take home and make your own cuisine. This place is great for rush lunch hour or a relaxed dinner evening — cheers!
Place rating: 5
Portland, OR
Friendly little Japanese restaurant tucked away in the heart of downtown. A little difficult to find which gives it an aura of homeliness and exclusivity at the same time, a feeling magnified by the kindness of the owners. I went for lunch and got my food to go, so I can’t comment extensively on the interior, but from what I saw it was clean and well-​maintained. The food was very efficient – they have a little chalkboard outside telling you about how long most dishes take, and the 2 minutes estimate for chicken Kale was fairly accurate.
The food itself was delicious, striking a perfect balance between hearty and refreshing. The brown stew-​like dish is rich and comforting and mixes very well with the accompanying structure-​providing sticky rice. Kale also offers free tea, hot or cold, which was unassuming and subtly tasty.
Place rating: 5
San Diego, CA
Their website says it’s the Ultimate Japanese comfort food. I agree.
This was probably one of my favorite places to eat at while on my vacation in Portland. I’ve never been to Japan so I couldn’t say if this was authentic Japanese curry, but the curry was still pretty darn delicious.
We walked in here, saw a cute Totoro placed on top of some mountain in their waiting area and was instantly sold on eating here. The positive Unilocal reviews helped a bit too. The owner explained to us that they only specialize in a few dishes, which was fine by me. I love Japanese curry and they specialized in it. You got a happy girl right here. We ordered both Kalé rice with chicken and the Kalé rice with beef. The beef dish definitely had a richer and more flavorful taste with more of a spicy feel to it. I was still pretty satisfied with the chicken dish though. They also offer tea as opposed to water, which was awesome. It gave it more of an authentic feel to it.
Their place is kind of difficult to find. I couldn’t find their name on the front of the restaurant. Only did I walk in and find a Japanese setting that I figured we were at the right place. If you cannot find it, do not be deterred. The food is worth it. Keep looking! Their décor is simple and homey. You order at the register, pick up your food there, and then choose a place to sit. After you finish, you bus your own table. For $ 7 a dish, I can’t complain. I’m sad I don’t live in Portland or else, I’d come here all the time.
Place rating: 4
Monterey, CA
As soon as I came in, the nice woman greeted me with a smile & told me it would be a minute until I was helped. I looked around for a seat, very spacious & quiet despite the construction going on five feet from the doorway. The prices for each plate was extremely affordable, I had to try their gluten free option, which came with a vegan plus!
The sweetest lady served me quickly & as soon as I got to my table I whiffed my plate. It was heavenly. The red ginger was delicious, the rice was just the right amount (I ordered extra rice) and the curry was just the right amount of spice. Not burning your face off hot, but definitely on the milder scale.
Truly a treat for someone on a budget, the place was quaint, & the service was quick & polite. Authentic Japanese curry. Definitely stopping by here next time I visit!
Place rating: 3
Frisco, TX
I got the beef curry plate. While everything was delicious, there was barely any meat in my curry. That was really a big disappointment. On top of that, the beef wasn’t as tender as I expected it to be. I think it was pricey for how much meat was given.
curry — 10⁄10
beef in curry — 5⁄10
red ginger — 10⁄10 (canned?)
rice — 8⁄10 (it got cold too fast)
side salad — 5⁄10 (not all the leaves were fresh, and the Caesar salad dressing packet was not very good at all)
I would have rated the flavor of the curry alone 4 stars, but everything else brought the experience to 3 stars.