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    Urban Bliss Life » Restaurant Reviews » Portland Oregon Restaurants » Russian Food Portland: Kachka

    Published: August 31, 2016 / Updated: May 28, 2022 by Marlynn Jayme Schotland · This post may contain affiliate links.

    Russian Food Portland: Kachka

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    The words Russian Food Portland may seem like an odd combination, but one local eatery is looking to change that. Kachka offers a large happy hour menu with the most interesting and delicious array of Eastern European dishes and house vodkas.

    Russian food Portland: Kachka restaurant expands happy hour. Mouthwatering food photos and details on UrbanBlissLife.com

    I fell in love with Kachka under the most intense summer sunset. 

    Feast Portland Night Market 2015 on UrbanBlissLife.com

    It was at Night Market during Feast Portland, and every time I think of Kachka, I think of that plate of near perfect little pelmenis.

    Feast Portland Night Market 2015 on UrbanBlissLife.com

    Until that night, I didn't even know what a pelmeni was... and since that night, I can't stop thinking about them!

    Luckily, you and I can both get our fill of these delicious Russian dumplings at Kachka.

    Russian food in Portland

    Chef Bonnie Morales and husband Israel Morales opened Kachka in 2014. A long, narrow space on Grand Avenue in Southeast Portland, Kachka envelopes you into its world of Eastern European cuisine and casual, comfortable vibe as soon as you step through the doorway into the low-lit restaurant. Here, Chef Morales creates dishes from the former Soviet Union, including many dishes she grew up eating with her Belarusian family.

    Russian food Portland: Kachka restaurant in Portland, Oregon. Mouthwatering food photos and details on UrbanBlissLife.com
    Kachka restaurant in Portland, Oregon. Mouthwatering food photos and details on UrbanBlissLife.com
    Kachka restaurant in Portland, Oregon. Mouthwatering food photos and details on UrbanBlissLife.com

    Happy hour

    Kachka is open daily from 4pm to midnight, with the full dinner menu being served from 4 pm to 10pm. Meals here, both during happy hour and dinner times, begin with traditional zakuski, plates of various Russian appetizers. If you're new to Russian cuisine and Kachka, I highly recommend checking out their happy hour, which is served between 4 and 6pm and again between 10pm and midnight. This year, Kachka expanded its happy hour menu with some exciting new additions. Prices for dishes shown below are for current happy hour prices, unless otherwise noted.

    Start with the caviar, because it's probably not something you order every day in restaurants, but the caviar served at Kachka is accessible and served in abundance. And, it's currently a summertime special (although that may change).

    Kachka restaurant in Portland, Oregon expands happy hour. Mouthwatering food photos and details on UrbanBlissLife.com

    Caviar & Egg Salad ($10) Egg and cheese salad served on rye grenki and topped with sustainably raised Tsar Nicoulai white sturgeon caviar.

    Kachka restaurant in Portland, Oregon expands happy hour. Mouthwatering food photos and details on UrbanBlissLife.com

    Now that you have indulged right off the bat, move onto some of the plates that are meant to be shared.

    From the Dacha ($6) is a delightful plate of crudités inspired by the summertime produce grown in the countryside farms of the former USSR and served with buckwheat honey butter and dill vinaigrette. From the Dacha is pictured above alongside Semechki ($2), which are black sunflower seeds.

    Another great sharing plate is Slava’s Drinking Board ($12). Named after Chef Bonnie Morales’ father, this platter includes a spread of house made pickles, cured meats, Russian druzhba cheese -- all the proper foods to consume with vodka, according to Slava.

    Kachka restaurant in Portland, Oregon expands happy hour. Mouthwatering food photos and details on UrbanBlissLife.com
    Kachka restaurant in Portland, Oregon expands happy hour. Mouthwatering food photos and details on UrbanBlissLife.com
    Russian food Portland: Kachka restaurant


    You can also order a plate of Assorted Pickles ($6), which usually consists of watermelon, patty pan squash, cucumbers, tomatoes.

    Kachka restaurant in Portland, Oregon expands happy hour. Mouthwatering food photos and details on UrbanBlissLife.com

    Crimean Mussels ($5) are a tasty little happy hour treat! These are soy-marinated Mediterranean mussels.

    Kachka restaurant in Portland, Oregon expands happy hour. Mouthwatering food photos and details on UrbanBlissLife.com

    One of the more adventurous and unique offerings at Kachka, which is on both the dinner and happy hour menus, is Taranka ($3). It's like fish jerky, and it's a great happy hour dish to nosh on while enjoying one of Kachka's many, many, MANY vodkas on the drink menu.

    Kachka restaurant in Portland, Oregon expands happy hour. Mouthwatering food photos and details on UrbanBlissLife.com

    You can, of course, order those delicious dumplings I mentioned in the beginning. During happy hour times, you can choose from the Tvorog Vareniki ($8), which is the beautiful dish of scallion and farmer’s cheese-filled dumplings pictured above, and the Siberian Pelmeni ($9)  which are dumplings filled with beef, pork, veal and onion (pictured at the top of this post).

    Kachka restaurant in Portland, Oregon expands happy hour. Mouthwatering food photos and details on UrbanBlissLife.com
    Kachka restaurant in Portland, Oregon expands happy hour. Mouthwatering food photos and details on UrbanBlissLife.com

    For a super light, refreshing happy hour menu item, try the Pickle Soup ($4). Also known at Kachka as "Russian Gatorade" for its ability to restore electrolytes, this chilled soup is tart & cooling, made with pickle brine, sour cream and herbs.

    Russian food Portland: Kachka

    Many of the happy hour menu items pictured above are also served at dinnertime, and one item that is on the dinner menu but not the happy hour menu is Baltic Sprat Buterbrodi ($7) - tiny smoked fish with parsley mayo on pumpernickel toast.

    Drinks

    Kachka restaurant in Portland, Oregon. Mouthwatering food photos and details on UrbanBlissLife.com

    Of course, I would be remiss if I were to write about Kachka and not mention the vodkas.

    The drink menu is extensive, with plenty of cocktails and wines by the glass, and, as you might expect, an impressive selection of vodkas. Earlier this year, Kachka released their Horseradish Vodka, which you can enjoy at the restaurant, or purchase at New Deal Distillery and select Oregon liquor stores. This vodka is MADE for bloody marys, y'all!

    Kachka restaurant in Portland, Oregon. Mouthwatering food photos and details on UrbanBlissLife.com

    Visit

    I adore Kachka, and the hardworking and fun team behind it. This is probably one of my fave picks for happy hour in Portland, and a great place for date night happy hour, or to meet up with friends or co-workers after a long day's work. It is kid-friendly (there have always been kids here in the three times I have visited), but if you have super picky eaters like mine, try starting with the pelmeni or vareneki before diving into the other items.

    Whether you go for happy hour or dinner, I think you'll enjoy the casual, jovial vibe, the attention to detail Chef Morales and her team pay to each plate, and you'll soak up the fact that you can have a happy hour that is more elegant than baskets of heaping fried everything.

    720 SE Grand Avenue
    Portland, Oregon
    HOURS: Daily, 4pm - midnight
    Happy Hour: 4-6pm and 10pm-midnight
    Dinner: 4pm - 10pm
    kachkapdx.com

    Have you enjoyed a meal of Eastern European zakuski before? 

    I attended a happy hour media event as well as the launch of their Horseradish vodka and enjoyed the food and drinks pictured here courtesy of Kachka, but I have also eaten here on my own dime. As always, all opinions and photos are my own. I only write about places, events, experiences, and products I personally enjoy and believe you will as well! 

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      Reader Interactions

      Comments

      1. Katie says

        September 01, 2016 at 2:19 pm

        The Drinking Board looks so good!! I will definitely check this place out if I am ever in the Portland area!!

        Reply
      2. Tazim says

        September 01, 2016 at 2:05 pm

        Looks like a huge happy hour menu! Wow! Hope to be going to Portland again soon.

        Reply
      3. Mary @ Vindulge says

        August 31, 2016 at 6:07 pm

        Ahh I love that place! If we had free childcare we'd be there all the stinkin time! The first time I went I was skeptical when my friend said we were going to a place known for vodkas. I was all, "Whaaaaa??? I'm a wine gal, not a vodka gal." HOLY deliciousness! Those vodkas are a treat. And the food is awesome.
        I've never been for happy hour though. Didn't even know they did one.
        Now trying to figure out how soon I can book my next babysitter!!!

        Reply
      4. Catherine says

        August 31, 2016 at 5:55 pm

        Wow, that really is a variety of happy hour eats! I am a big fan of hardboiled eggs and different pickled veg, so I'd definitely order those dishes. Yum!

        Reply
      5. Erin @ Platings and Pairings says

        August 31, 2016 at 4:30 pm

        I finally made it to Kachka a few weeks back and it was an amazing experience. We sat at the bar and the friendly bartender talked us through everything. The food was great, and I even splurged for a $20 shot of vodka that she said was a "must try." It was amazing, as was the food - Can't wait to go back!!!

        Reply

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      Marlynn Jayme Schotland 2021 profile pic

      Hi! Thanks for stopping by! I'm Marlynn - a cookbook author, writer, photographer, and mom of two teenagers + a lovable lab retriever. Here you'll find my fast, easy, and delicious recipes, wine pairings, and travel guides. I hold a WSET 2 with Distinction in wine, and am a member of Society of American Travel Writers (SATW) and the International Food, Wine, and Travel Writers Association (IFWTWA).

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