Kachka

Tour De Glutton 2016 kicked off with a bang and $ 200 later we stumbled out of the warmth of Kachka and into the New Years Day cold fat and happy.
Ladies and gentlemens, it is official. This place rocks… even if they are a bunch of dirty commies. Décor ranges from old school CCCP signage to grandma’s kitchen wallpaper and nick-​nacks. Wonderful Russian Folk and Modern music played at just the right volume. It all works together and is very inviting. Lots of happy patrons filled the restaurant and lended an extra layer of comradery without being too loud.
Unfortunately for us, we got the kids table at the front with the tiny stools and bench seat. But hey a table’s a table da? We gents sacrificed our backs and sat at the pint-​sized stools offering the ladies more comfortable seating.
Our server, Ashley, joined us promptly and got to business after some genuine pleasantries.
We immediately ordered a round of amazing horseradish vodka with a pickle juice back and settle in for a tasty ride.
1. Fishboard (All): This little number worked out for me quite nicely as I noticed it had Mackerel (Saba in my mind) and a bunch of other tasty fishies in different forms. Fresh and well seasoned, every bite was a real treat. Everyone loved this board. If you like fish, get you some.
2. Taranka: Not for the faint of heart, Taranka is a cured Russian «fish jerky». It is very aggressive therefor, you should take the Menu’s suggestion and order a round of beers. Speaking of which, Kachka is good enough to offer Baltika. A fine Russian export that I am very well acquainted with, Nostrovia! Seriously though, you really need to like fish to enjoy the Taranka, or be drunk to begin with.
3. Veal Tongue: Delicious, delicate, well cooked. Man I love me some tongue when it’s done correct. This was correct by all accounts and everyone was pleased with this dish.
4. Tvorog Vareniki: This was the price for admission, insisted upon by our very awesome cousin. The Vareniki was exceptional and is most likely one of Kachka’s top sellers. A dumpling made with Russian farmer’s cheese not unlike ravioli or pirogi. Friggin’ delicious is what we decided to call it that night.
5. Crispy Beef Tongue: Perfectly cooked and seasoned, this was a winner from start to finish. The Lingonberry added a nice counterbalance to the beefiness of the tongue. I would order this every time.
6. Rabbit in a Clay Pot: I am a rabbit lover from way back. My grand pappy used to raise and slaughter rabbits at home. This rabbit was delicious with a rich velvety sauce that could have been put in a mug and called a winter grog and I would have been a happy camper.
7. Herring under a Fur Coat: This was not ordered, but was delivered and devoured nonetheless. A real fine appetizer/​side, quite pretty to look at too. Described as a 7 layer dip, it has a great combination of flavor, color, and texture. This should be tried if you have not already.
8. Oreshki: Little dessert cookies that topped off the eve of total gluttony. While they were good, I’ll try something else next time as their dessert menu offers some intriguing selections.
Overall, Kachka has made our list of no-​fail, go-​to pig out spots. A real change of pace that doesn’t try to hard to be more than it is. Great ambiance, clean restrooms (in this case, water closets), and solid service has earned our repeat business. Looking forward to another trip beyond the iron curtain.

A very special place with delicious food & drink!
Favorites include the farmer’s cheese dumplings in fancy broth I will keep coming back for. Yummy Moscow Mules served in traditional copper mugs, along with several infused vodka options.
Cute décor with a good amount of seating. I sat in the back room the last time I was there & it was much more quiet & intimate. Knowledgable & attentive wait staff.
Good for groups or a romantic dinner — just make sure to make a reservation, which you can do online. Price can add up quickly, but it’s worth it!

What a unique joint! Loved the vibe and the Russian music! We did the sampler option of cold small plates and it was a great way to try all their cold options. We also got a delicious order of the dumplings with farmers cheese. The standout item was a toast with egg and herring (smoked?) and a cheese spread with paprika, but honestly all the items were good. My boyfriend liked the caviar & beer (couldn’t partake bc pregnant). I will return to try more off the hot item
Side and re-​order our favorites. I was nervous to try it bc the menu is far from my ordinary fare, but am so glad my brother in law got us resos! (It was a Sunday night and packed so I assume resos are a must.)

I had no idea I needed upscale hipster Russian food in my live but I so did. Kachka is a great restaurant in terms of food, service and charm. Things were both familiar and completely different. I’ve eaten Russian, Ukraine and Polish food before so it’s not like the dishes were unfamiliar but I really like the take on them here. This is a place best to come with a few friends so you can try many of the dishes. The vareniki are as good as any you get in the LES in NYC. The beef tongue was excellent as was the fish board we had. The herring under a fur coat (shuba salad) is a good way to introduce people to the flavours of Russian food. The portions are much smaller than in a real Russian restaurant or what you would get if you were in a Russian home so order accordingly.
If you are looking for an authentic Russian émigré restaurant filled with Russian speakers this is completely not that place. From the servers to the faux Soviet knicknack décor this is not a Russian place and that’s ok with me as the food is good just be aware of that if you actually are Russian, have to been to Russia or are used to the Russian places on the East Coast.
The space is narrow and would be hard to move a wheelchair in. The lighting is dim and the noise quite loud. I knew more about the dishes than the servers did which a pet peeve of mine. The course came out in a good order although they should have been served at the same time but there wasn’t room for that.

Absolutely stunning food and service. I highly recommend the $ 25 per person appetizers. It was wave after wave of amazing food. We will DEFINITELY be going back. Reservations days or weeks in advance are recommended.

A friend decided we were catching an afternoon snack here when visiting Portland and I’m glad she did. Kachka has a great Happy Hour menu, great drinks (the Moscow Mules are amazing!) and awesome staff. Beau was really sweet and attentive, I was really impressed with their establishment. I can’t wait to visit again!

So I’ve been wanting to try Kachka since it opened. Unfortunately the timing never worked out or I flaked at the last minute and went to Trifecta Tavern (still my favorite restaurant in Portland) instead. Finally, last night, I committed to going with my roommates, and am absolutely thrilled that I did.
We showed up at about 6:45 and they said the wait would be 60 – 75 mins. No biggie, we strolled down Morrison to the lovely Star Bar (kind of a punky dive, right up my alley) for a beer or two to kill the time. We got a text around right as I was finishing my beer at 7:30 telling us a table was available in the lounge area. Perfect timing!
The lounge area was cozy but the seating was very low, cramped around tiny little tables, no biggie but for someone who is 6’3″ it wasn’t exactly comfortable. Whatever, we didn’t have a reservation so I’m not holding it against them.
Service was impeccable, very fast and our server (s) were EXTREMELY knowledgeable (and attractive). They broke down every dish thoroughly and even gave reason why some things were paired together. Wow.
We all ordered the Zakuski, which is apparently the Russian equivalent of a Omakase. We also ordered a couple flights of Vodka and the meat dumplings in «fancy» sauce.
The food was incredible, full of weird textures and fishy flavors, which are two things that I am an absolute sucker for. Some of the standouts were the eggplant dip (roasted salad with prunes, pine nuts, tomato, mint, parsley. lavash), the fatback mousse, house cured duck breast (coriander cream, candied kumquat, buckwheat blini), the baltic sprat (tiny smoked sh, parsley mayo, pumpernickel toast), the roe platter (not sure what it was in specific but it was amazing), the famous herring under a fur coat (7 layer dip but Russian, and actually a salad: herring, potatoes, onions, carrots, beets, mayo, eggs) and the dumplings, oh the dumplings, they were an amazing finish to the meal. An elevated version of the Russian «Raviolis» that my grandmother used to adore.
The vodka was… well it was certainly vodka! I’m not a huge vodka fan but, like the food, they certainly went out of their way to describe each of the vodkas and its characteristics. Some tasted less like rubbing alcohol than others but I embraced them as I wanted the full experience. I will note, however, that we did also get the horseradish vodka, thinking it might be a gimmick, but I assure you it is absolutely NOT a gimmick, it is mind blowing. In fact I think I might try to make some myself, can’t be too hard!
All in all a pleasant experience for sure. My only gripe is that we spent ~$ 50 a piece and still all left a little hungry. We could have used a little filler course of bread or potatoes or something. I certainly recommend giving this place a try, it’s definitely a unique experience!

If you are a Russian prepare to be majorly dissappointed. Seriously? Granted I only had a few «zakuski» but I would be embarrassed to bring any of my Russian family or friends to this restaurant. I’d be laughed out of town. All pomp no circumstance. Major let down.

Flavors are on point however,
CCCP austerity is in full effect when it comes to portion size. Better be a serious New Years Resolution try-​hard to be satisfied here.

On a cold and windy winter’s night…
nothing sounds more comforting than Russian fare.
We had a 6 pm reservation with visiting friends & were seated immediately when we arrived at 5:50. The best part about my friends is we share everything so we just started ordering and figured we could add more from there.
We got the assorted pickles, 2x short rib borsch, siberian pelmeni (meat dumplings) pan fried, tvorog vareniki (cheese dumplings) in fancy broth. We thought we ordered a lot already, but the server said that was probably good to start. So we pondered the rest of the menu as our food rolled in.
The assorted pickles this night had mushrooms, green tomatoes, cucumbers, and beets. The short rib borsh was served in a crock. They suggested mixing in a bit of the mustard smeared on the board. It was served with a moist molasses-​y bread. The mustard on its own was horseradish/​wasabi like and the bread was amazing. There were no signs of short rib, but I think it was used in the rich stock.
The dumplings were awesome! They had a thinner skin than most Russian dumplings I had before. The pan fried ones are incredibly addictive and the ones in broth were very delicate. They accidentally brought the vegetarian broth, but it was so flavorful we didn’t miss the meat.
We then ordered the fish board, schnitzel, crispy beef tongue, mushrooms julienne, and splurged on the tsar nicoulai select white sturgeon caviar based on our servers rec.
I’m pregnant, so I only ate a couple caviar eggs. It was indeed amazingly savory, nutty, and smoky. The butter was incredibly soft and good. I also didn’t partake in the fish board, but my friends said it was quite enjoyable.
The crispy beef tongue was super meltingly tender. The schnitzel was perfectly crisp and good with the accompanying fries, sauerkraut, and pears. The mushrooms julienne were filled with creamy mushrooms and smoky paprika. It was all so good, but we were slowing down.
Nothing could stop us from trying a dessert though! Apple ponchiki it was! It was dusted in granulated sugar and ligonberries. It was an almost crispy chewy texture to it. It was good, but needed more ligonberry.
We had been trying to go here for a while now and had high expectations. It surprisingly met them and has to be one of my favorite Portland meals this year.

Excellent. Friendly, funny, informed, attentive and polite service. AMAZING food (we had the khachapuri, cauliflower schnitzel, and sour cherry vareniki), the drinks are amazing (good draft beer selection, authentic/​creative cocktails). Fun atmosphere, feels like a corner joint in Kazan. I’m a fan!

This is my first Russian restaurant and we were very satisfied with the food and the service. If you’re going to Portland you must stop at this little gem. It is exceptional. Keep it up guys.

I have to start this off by saying I am a novice when it comes to Russian food. I went for the first time with a group of friends so we sampled a few different items. The highlight of the meal were the dumplings. We had the special dumpling of the day, it was pan fried and had a fish of some sort in the center. We also ordered the Siberian Pelmeni dumplings, served classic with fancy broth… those were amazing. The broth was creamy and savory and it made for a really hearty dish. Between pan fried or with the fancy broth, I say go for the broth. The herring under a fur coat was good because of the salted herring but the raw onions may not be for everyone. The bread with whipped salo wasn’t anything extraordinary. We ordered the house cured coho roe, which was fine, but I think if I come back, I’d rather order one of the higher end caviar options instead. The tsimmes chicken and dumplings dish was pretty hearty; it came with a lot of carrots and I wish it came with more dumplings and chicken. The drinks are nice and some very stiff. The service was great. Overall, do I crave anything here? Maybe the dumplings in broth. The rest of the items were fun to try and experience Russian food but nothing I’d rave over.

I had never been to a Russian restaurant before and this was the perfect place to start.
The staff was knowledgeable and made our party of 4 feel at home from the minute we walked in the door until we left.
The food and the infused vodka were great and flavorful.
No complaints from anyone in our party and I will definitely be back!

Today my partner and I went back to try and give this place a second chance. The last time we came the bartender/​waitress was very rude and mistreated our guest and forgot several items, but that was something I felt could be updated with time. I guess not.
The host turned us away at the door, said we were not welcome in the restaurant, and that they would refuse to serve «people like you» because they «could not accomodate» us. (Read: me and my girlfriend, a trans woman, went in and the door man waited a few minutes before deciding we could never come back).
For full context: Over a year ago when the place first opened my partner suddenly suffered alcohol poisoning when we were walking past and I ran into the place asking them to call an ambulance. Phoenix S. was taken to the back and paramedics came. The waitress at the time asked if they were «male or female,» and demanded we tell her «what they really are» for medical assistance. I was scared and I didn’t want to out my partner. The medical help came and did not pursue the question and apparently did not need to know.
We came several times after that, hearing good reviews and appreciating their happy hour meals. People did consistently misgender and give poor, sometimes even aggressive service to Phoenix. One day this summer we came with our friend Erika and the waitress did not bother to write down her order and did not bring her food until the end of our meal, saying it should have been our job to remind her if we didn’t get our food. I wrote them a critical but overall decent review on Unilocal for this (³⁄₅ stars) pointing out that although service here is spotty, sometimes even awful, the food is really worth s try.
Today when our apartment flooded I figured it might be a good time to go back and give them another try. Phoenix has recently started formally wearing a kippa in public. The host saw us and said it would be five minutes. The same surly waitress saw us and pulled him aside. Minutes later they told us they could not «accommodate people like us» and did not explain. I explained that I was sorry I left them a three star review but that I would like to give them another chance. Then he said he had heard of a binge drinking incident and pointed at Phoenix, saying she could no longer return and neither could I. We had been dozens of times since Phoenix went in simply to call an ambulance and we had not had alcohol there that night. In fact, the incident had stemmed from medication reacting poorly to alcohol, not binge drinking. He told me we were not welcome to come back and that we could peacefully «end all ties» now.
I explained I was an avid food blogger and would love to help them seem more open than the way they were behaving. I also told them I was a journalist. I don’t know why — I just wanted them to know I shouldn’t be kicked out, as if there were a good way to prove my humanity. I explained the waitress had been transmisogynist to my friends and pointedly racist towards me before. But when I left I cried because my home was flooded and I had hours to kill and I have never been treated like this so publicly before and I thought my degree and my nice coat and respectability politics would protect me but I was so wrong.
This is a truly awful place. And I’m sorry that people are still like this in 2015. It’s humiliating.
Edit: the owner cites that they could never serve us again after an incident that happened over a year ago, when we had been back several times since then without them turning us away. It is clear that this was not a problem until we showed up last night, as two women alone holding hands, one of us now wearing a kippa and presenting as visibly Jewish. I would suggest not doubling down and apologizing, creating a welcoming opportunity to *prove* you care about «not discriminating» but that is just not Kachka’s style, and they presume to know the OLCC guidelines better than their patrons, some of whom might be, I don’t know, lawyers, journalists, and otherwise professional people who know their rights and can distinguish between legal requirements and outright (and inconsistent, at that) refusal to «accommodate people like you.»

Great Russian Vodka and delicious Russian dumplings! I love that I found this on Unilocal and have been there twice in the last five months. Vodka is my favorite brand of alcohol, so that gives Kachka brownie points for me! For the amount of Vodka (even the premium options) and the amount of food, the costs are extremely reasonable. The music is different, the atmosphere is intimate and fun, and the décor is very Russian-​esque.
I have yet to try the $ 25 per person dinner special. Definitely go with more people to try out more dishes. It’s always more fun that way and make the server’s favorite an item you pick. They love that.

We had late night happy hour dinner, the menu is not vegan friendly but has one or two vegetarian options. We ordered the farmers cheese dumplings, pork dumplings and birds milk cake dessert.
They had funky and lively music. The farmers dumplings were a huge hit with ajika (walnut red pepper paste). The sponge cake was alright but nothing memorable. The Moscow mule is fantastic, be careful with those.
It’s also popular for vodka infusions if you are in the mood.
You won’t be disappointed having dinner here if you love dumplings and vodka !

First off… get a reservation! This place has not lost all the hype since they opened up about a year and a half ago and the crowds are still pouring in. This place is also relatively small. First come first serve at the bar so if you are solo or with one other this might be a good option.
Service here is great. The staff is happy to tell you their favorite menu items, drink options, and they explain each dish very well.
The herring starter is a must! Herring, potatoes, carrots, beats, and a creamy topping. This just simply melts in your mouth. A true delight! I tried the Russian soda for a drink. It was like a Coca Cola but a little more light and less carbonation. Tasty!
I went with the rabbit in a clay pot for my main course. Mom got the sweet and sour cabbage with pork. Rabbit was in a rich creamy sauce served with potato cakes. The waitress said to our the stew over the cakes to eat. This was good. Rich rich flavor. May be good to share in the future.
The cabbage and pork dish was also good. Very very rich.
I would love to come back and try the dumplings.
everything was good but very rich.

Amazing Russian food experience in Portland. We had heard alot about Kachka from our friends and had read rave reviews, so decided to check it out for our little celebration. And it was definitely the right choice.
We had the Zakuski (Russian tapas) experience and we got about 10 different things to try from the zakuski menu. If you have not tried Russian food alot or Kachka for that matter, I would definitely recommend the zakuski experience.
We also ordered the Khachapuri, which is described in the menu as a lovechild between a crunchwrap and a cheese calzone. It was warm and cheesy, just as you would want it. It had two dipping jams with it which were wonderful and gave it extra depth of taste.
Sweets: of course we had to try the desserts. We tried Bird’s Milk Cake and Oreshki. Both were good but Oreshki were my favourites. Will definitely order the oreshki’s again.
Drinks: Last but not the least, this place has a huge collection of vodkas. I tried the Imperia vodka and it was so smooth, loved it. My wife tried a cocktail, the Russian Summer, and it was also very refreshing.

We made it back to Kachka for dinner and were wowed by the food and service.
* Zakuski experience — $ 25 per person
A total of 5 plates of cold zakuski were brought to our table. The next plate was set before us almost as soon as we finished the previous plate. This was a great way to sample almost half of the menu. I liked everything, but my favorites were:
— Pickled watermelon
— Herring «under a fur coat» (a colorful 7 layer dip of egg, mayo, onions, beet, carrots, herring, potatoes)
— Beet cured king salmon
— Scottish mackerel
— Salo (cured fatback served with honey, garlic, Israeli pickles, coriander)
— Labios (Georgian kidney bean + herb salad)
* Zucchini oladi (crispy pancakes with kefir dill sauce) — $ 8
Delicious. The pancakes were perfectly hot and crispy, and the sauce complemented the zucchini batter beautifully.
* Crispy beef tongue with carrot, roasted sunflower seeds, black currants — $ 11
The lovely plating of this dish was inspiring. The beef tongue was perfectly cooked.
* Tvorog vareniki (scallion + farmer’s cheese dumplings) — $ 11
Just as good as I remembered.
* Chicken shashlik (kefit marinated and mangal fired chicken with charred onion + tomato over fresh lavash) — $ 17
The flavor of the chicken was really good.
The portions were all really good for sharing. The infused vodkas were on point, of course, and the cocktails were better than last time.