At this izakaya housed in the former Hillsboro library building, diners can find everything from cold small plates to filling dishes like seafood-packed Hokkaido chirashi. Sushi and sashimi take up sizable sections of the menu, but the restaurant also serves harder-to-find dishes like asari sakamushi, or clams steamed in sake. As is standard practice at an izakaya, order some beer, sake, or Japanese whisky to accompany your food.

Although Oyatsupan’s shokupan (milk bread) and baked goods can be found in select markets and restaurants around the city, pastry pursuers head to its Beaverton bakery to buy crunchy kare doughnuts and slices of red bean cheesecake fresh from the source. Oyatsupan’s fluffy shokupan supports a variety of sandwiches, in varieties like egg-and-cucumber and tonkatsu; they’re available by the whole or half. The bakery’s name is a compound word; “oyatsu” means “snack,” and “pan” is the Japanese word for bread.

Rice paper lamps and shoji screens fill the dining room at this old-school Beaverton restaurant. Here, loyal regulars often opt for the generous bento, including the classic makunouchi-style bento served in traditional sectionalized trays. Check the specials boards for things like the surprise roll (yamaimo, tuna, and oba), father and son roll (salmon and ikura atop a California roll), and spicy baked scallops.

This tranquil, light-filled cafe is the perfect pre- or post-Portland Art Museum stop. Cafe-goers sip cups of sencha or hojicha lattes while enjoying light dishes from owner and baker Tomoe Horibuchi, such as tea leaf pickle onigiri or chikara cake. Coffee drinks use Extracto beans, but tea is the focus here — customers can order their matcha tea ceremony-style, and for a sweet treat, try the matcha or hojicha soft serve with optional toppings such as azuki or brownies or in a parfait. 

At this sandwich and pastry shop from the team behind Japanese ramen import Afuri, a pastry case filled with desserts — sweets like squares of caramel bread pudding, yuzu cream donuts, and miso chocolate chip cookies — entices diners on their way to the counter, where they order the restaurant’s signature sandwiches and savory fare. Ingredients such as pork loin, Oregon rockfish, and tofu get the katsu treatment before they’re sandwiched between two slices of Tanaka’s house-made shokupan. Fruit-and-whipped cream sandwiches are another fun option here.

Family owned since 1988, this downtown restaurant is an ideal spot to enjoy a meal before heading over to the Keller Auditorium for a show or concert. Sushi chefs in pristine white coats work with different cuts of tuna, and in the kitchen, steaming pots of ochazuke and zosui are made with a fish-based broth. For something a little different, try Murata’s sweet vinegar marinated dishes — the sunomono moriawase (assorted seafood) is the way to go.

Like its sibling restaurants — Shigezo, Kichinto, and Yataimura Maru — Wa Kitchen Kuu serves izakaya standards such as takoyaki and chicken karaage. But the restaurant’s udon dishes, which use noodles made in-house daily, are must-orders. Options are plentiful, including kamaage udon or mentaiko kamatama udon — for the latter dish, diners stir spicy tarako roe and a soft-boiled egg into a tangle of thin udon noodles.

Serving vegan homestyle food, Obon Shokudo uses a variety of fermented ingredients made by owners Humiko Hozumi and Jason Duffany. Onigiri, or rice balls wrapped with seaweed, are popular in Japan for their portability. At Obon, onigiri are made with sprouted brown rice and filled with toasted miso in flavors like buddha’s hand with hominy and yuzu with pumpkin seed — they can be “made unseemly,” aka deep fried. First-timers should go with the combo, which includes a wide selection of menu items: two onigiri of your choice, a giant panko-crusted tater tot, a korroke, a kakiage, and a small salad.

The sister restaurant to downtown sushi spot Ichiban, Takahashi is chock-full of tchotchkes brought from Japan by original owner Seiji Takahashi. Special dinner sets allow diners to get a taste of varied items like pork katsu, tempura, and fried rice — or go the comfort-food route with classic Japanese dishes like curry rice or oyakodon.