Aviary - Portland, OR

Aviary get kudos for its creativity, fusion, eclectic offerings plus one item right at home in the TV series Bizarre Foods.  Yup, the Pig Ear dish received a lot of dog chew toy comments.

Let's say upfront the waitress  recommended ordering 5 or 6 and we were confused.  What 5 or 6?  She explained the dishes were small and for two people, order 5 or 6 dishes to be satisfied. Let's say the dishes are small and the prices high.

Shigoku Oysters.  The oyster is halfway between diameter of a nickel and a quarter.  It was small  alright but at least it was tasty like raw oysters should be.

Artic Char.  About the footprint of a bridge sized playing card. This was nicely cooked crispy fresh tasting fish tasting somewhat like salmon and trout but not quite as rough.  It was gone all too soon.

Crispy Pig Ear.  This dish was a mix of ingredients that had distinct flavors and textures. The Chinese sausage and coconut rice blended into a nice savory sweet smooth comfort food. The Pig Ear had pockets of mild slightly off-putting piggy taste but was otherwise relatively neutral and inoffensive.  It wasn't quite crispy enough to be named Crispy as the steam from the rice had softened the ears a bit.  I liked the sausage and rice and would have preferred some other protein over the ears.

We also ordered an extra side dish of Kimchee. It was flat and the most bland Kimchee I've ever had anywhere.

The waitress was knowledgeable and quite helpful but appeared to give us the cold shoulder after we limited our order to 3 entrees.

I'm glad to have tried Aviary but high prices with too tiny portions and just good but not great food equals no  future stops.

Restroom Rating:  A community bathroom outside the restaurant.  It was in nice shape. 7.3

1733 NE Alberta St
Portland, OR
(503) 287-2400