Kame Japanese Restaurant
228 North Evans
McMinnville OR 97128
503-434-4326

Disclaimer: All reviews and original content Copyright © Mike Blackwell [remove "nospam." or it won't work] of Oregon Sushi -- All Rights Reserved.

Kame is McMinnville's oldest sushi bar, dating back to 1991 if memory serves. This traditional Japanese restaurant is run by Mieko Nordin and her sister Yoko Imholt. I've eaten here many times (my office is about five minutes away by car), but this is the first time I've set out to review the place for my website.

Kame is a traditional-style Japanese restaurant, emphasizing home cooking: nothing mass-produced here. In addition to standards like tempura, teriyaki, and a number of noodle dishes, there's a four-seat sushi bar in the back. Bottles of wine and sake adorn a shelf behind the chef's area, and Japanese scrolls and ceramics decorate the walls and windows.

Kame's a la carte sushi menu is a little different. You can tell by the prices that instead of ordering in pairs, you order by single pieces. For example, if you want a pair of nigirizushi, you write "2."

The California Roll uses real crab meat and is garnished with sesame seeds. A bit rice-heavy compared with other California rolls I've had, but a very smooth, pleasant taste and texture. The Spicy Tuna Roll is fresh raw tuna wrapped in lettuce and rice, with a mild orange sauce. Not as spicy as I like, personally, but the lettuce adds a nice crunch.

As for the nigirizushi, I ordered maguro, sake (salmon), kani, unagi, scallops, and a few others, including real cod, a last-minute addition which was penciled in on the menu. The maguro was served in large portions, with good flavor. Very generous with the wasabi. The kani was a generous portion of (naturally) real crab leg meat, bound to the rice with a ribbon of nori. The sake (salmon), tobiko, unagi and scallops were all also very good.

All in all, a very nice place, high quality, and I consider myself a semi-regular. It's a little spendy compared to other places I've been, and I can easily drop $20-30 here, but it's the best sushi between Portland and Salem.

P.S.: Since I wrote this review, a second sushi bar, Sushi Ninja, opened in McMinnville in December 2002. While I prefer Sushi Ninja's tempura (their batter seems to stay crisper in the dipping sauce), Kame's sushi is consistently superior in freshness, texture and flavor.

P.P.S.: On Friday, May 2, 2003, I learned that Mieko had hired an additional sushi chef and expanded her sushi menu (perhaps to compete with Sushi Ninja). Some combination plates, new rolls, donburi and chirashi, and an expanded nigiri list. I couldn't resist, and went there that night. I ordered the $14.50 sushi combination plate, which included a California roll and eight pieces of nigirizushi (maguro, sake, hamachi, albacore, kani, ebi, tamago, and one other I forget). Portion sizes were generous, and the quality was excellent, as I have come to expect from Kame. The new chef is very skilled and is a worthy addition to the staff.

With the expanded sushi menu, Kame has strengthened its position as the best sushi for miles around.

P.P.P.S.: On May 21, 2003, Kame began offering take-out lunches (no dine-in service) on Wednesdays and Thursdays between 11:00 am and 1:00 pm. Eleven different items are available, including all the standards: chicken teriyaki, tonkatsu, salmon shioyaki, etc., for $4 to $6. On May 22, I tried the Chicken Katsudon (panko-battered chicken breast on a bed of cabbage and rice, with katsu sauce). Wonderful: very moist and tender, and a nice batter and sauce. I didn't feel the rice was up to Mieko's usual standards, but let's face it: rice seldom fares well in take-out containers, and it's only the second day of business, lunch-wise. They'll figure it out.

P.P.P.P.S.: On Thursday, June 5, 2003, I came here for dinner again. I ordered three dishes I'd not had yet: the $14.50 sashimi combo, the $7.25 Kame roll, and the $9.00 tuna tataki (today's special).

You know, I think I'm starting to get spoiled, or jaded, or whatever the word is. If I hadn't been to Syun Izakaya in Hillsboro only two nights before, I would have declared Kame's seared tuna the best I'd ever had. And perhaps comparing Syun's seared albacore with Kame's seared maguro isn't really fair of me, since they're not really the same fish and they don't have the same flavor. I did enjoy Kame's tataki, however, which was served on a bed of mixed greens and slivered cucumbers, with a sweet sauce poured over it just before serving. The tuna was especially good dipped in soy sauce, which really enhanced the flavor of the fish.

The Kame roll is quite large in diameter, containing spicy tuna, real crab, avocado, asparagus, cucumber, lettuce and tobiko. Very nice.

Tonight's sashimi combo included the familiar maguro, sake and hamachi, along with kani, hotate, ebi and (I believe) suzuki. (I'm still not good at identifying the various white fish.) Garnish included lettuce, grated daikon radish, lemon wedges, and slivered cucumber. Everything was good, especially the hamachi, sake, and hotate. I must admit, the portions could have been larger, but I'm more familiar with nigiri than sashimi, so these portions could be typical. And I certainly can't complain about the quality.

Now, the only major item I haven't tried yet at Kame is the chirashizushi. I'll keep you posted. :)

P.P.P.P.P.S., Early 2004: A couple brief updates. First, the lunch service described above is no longer available. It was a short-lived experiment that apparently proved unsuccessful financially. Second, I have indeed tried the chirashi, and it was excellent.