Saturday night in the Pearl had a plan: drinks at Teardrop, then dinner at Janken. The drinks half of that plan is already written up here — five stars, no notes. This is the dinner half.
And yes, I need to get this out of the way up front: I sat down at Janken and ordered a Last Word. It’s not on their cocktail list. I asked anyway. That makes three Last Words in three weeks — one in Cabo, one at Teardrop an hour earlier, and now one in a Japanese-Korean dining room in the Pearl. The streak is officially a thing.
The room
You walk in and the whole room is arranged around a tree. A full-size cherry blossom tree stands in the middle of the dining room, lit from underneath so the canopy glows over the tables, and everything else — the banquettes, the low lamps, the sushi bar working quietly behind it — orbits that. It’s dramatic without being loud about it, and on a Saturday night the place was full and humming.
Janken does Japanese-Korean fusion, and the menu runs long: nigiri and sashimi, A5 wagyu several ways, Peking duck, a caviar service if you’re feeling that kind of evening. We went the shared-plates route instead, which turned out to be exactly the right call.
The drinks
My off-menu Last Word arrived pale and cold in a coupe, same as it should be — gin, Green Chartreuse, maraschino, lime. Three weeks ago I didn’t know this drink existed; now it has followed me from Cabo to the Pearl and it just keeps being great. Consider the streak defended.
Melissa went with a glass of Granbazán Albariño — a Spanish white from Rías Baixas, poured by the glass. Crisp and clean, and exactly the kind of wine you want next to raw fish all night.
The food
Four plates between the two of us, and I’ll keep this simple, because there isn’t a complicated version: everything was exceptional.
The hamachi crispy rice came as four golden rice cakes, crisp at the edges, each topped with hamachi, a slice of avocado, yuzu kosho and ponzu — rich fish on a crunchy base with heat and citrus moving through it. The Dynamite roll is king salmon and fresh crab with cucumber and shiso, the chopped crab piled along the top of the roll. The crispy Brussels sprouts were charred dark and glossy in a kimchi vinaigrette, under a pile of fresh cilantro — the plate that kept disappearing fastest. And the lobster rolls: Maine lobster in toasted milk-bread buns with a kimchi remoulade, two to a plate, gone in about the time it took to photograph them.
The nightcap
Most dinners end. This one got a capper: Night Owl martinis — espresso tequila, Baileys, Kahlúa and Frangelico — served with the house name stenciled in cocoa across the foam and three coffee beans on top. Dessert and a nightcap in the same glass, and a pretty good signature for the whole night.
My Rating
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5/5
Highlights
- Everything was exceptional — four shared plates, not a miss among them
- Dinner under a full-size cherry blossom tree, lit from within, in the middle of the room
- A third Last Word in three weeks — off-menu at Janken, and they nailed it
- Hamachi crispy rice and the Dynamite roll doing the raw-fish side proud; lobster rolls gone in minutes
- The Night Owl nightcap — the house name stenciled right on the foam
Good to know
- Janken, 250 NW 13th Ave, Portland, OR 97209 — (503) 841-6406 — jankenrestaurant.com
- Dinner only: Tue–Thu 5–10 PM, Fri–Sat 4–11 PM, Sun 5–9 PM; closed Mondays
- A 20% service charge is added to every bill — it’s printed right on the menu
- Pearl District, a short walk from Teardrop Cocktail Lounge — drinks there, dinner here is a strong one-two
- Visited Saturday, Nov 7, 2026, with Melissa
