Warsugai restaurant

Craving delicious Asian-inspired cuisine in Portland, Oregon? Warsugai restaurant in Southeast Portland serves up nostalgic Asian-American dishes in a fun, casual dining atmosphere.

Portland has no shortage of restaurants focused on Asian cuisine.

From Thai to Chinese to Vietnamese and even, finally, to Filipino, if you're craving a dish from your favorite Asian cuisine, you can most likely find it in Portland.

One of the newest restaurants to join the city's stellar lineup is Warsugai in SE Portland. Owner and Chef Kyo Coo (@KyoCooks), formerly of Danwei Canting and Mugaritz in Spain, opened the restaurant in the Spring of 2024.

With a casual, open dining room centered by a colorful, hip bar area, Warsugai serves up what Chef Koo calls a "nostalgic Asian-American" food. His dishes here are reflective of the different Asian foods he enjoyed while dining out with friends and family growing up in Portland as a native Oregonian.

Restaurant vibe

Located in a bright green building at the rounding corner of SE 7th and Washington streets, Warsugai is a comfortable, fun dining spot.

The vibrant bar anchors the restaurant's center, with a lush greenery wall adorned with neon signs and plush retro-ish bar stools.

Seating options include low booths lined along the windowed edges of the restaurant, as well as open tables toward the center.

At the back of the restaurant, you'll find the open kitchen.

Like me, Chef Koo grew up in Portland. And as an almost-native Oregonian who grew up on Filipino, Chinese, Vietnamese, and American food, I can relate to the nostalgic dishes he's recreating.

They evoke those strong core memories of meeting up with family and our extended family of non-relatives within the Asian community. Dishes that reminded us of our ancestral heritage, but made with local ingredients and given that Pacific Northwest twist.

Here's a look at what we enjoyed during our first - but definitely not last! - visit to Warsugai restaurant.

Drinks

At Warsugai you'll a host of creative Asian-inspired signature cocktails, with ingredients like yuzu and passion fruit.

They have a full bar, with a good selection of wines, beers, and teas also available.

Food

This is what we ordered for two people, and it would probably feed three people:

• Dungeness Crab Long Rangoons
• Chicken and Oregon Black Truffle Wontons
• Crispy Potatoes
• Warsugai Almond Fried Chicken
• Kampong Shrimp

Appetizers

We started off with the chicken and Oregon black truffle wontons ($15). These meaty dumplings turned out to be one of my favorite dishes.

The wontons were just the right consistency -- not too thick, not too thin. And the filling was so delicious, especially coated in the tomato sesame sauce.

The next dish, Dungeness Crab 'Long Rangoons,' ($17) brings together the popular Asian-American crab rangoon and Pacific Northwest Dungeness crab.

While crab rangoon is usually folded into squares or triangles, these are rolled egg roll-style. Stuffed with delicious Oregon Dungeness crab, creme fraiche, and served with a sweet & sour fresno chili sauce, I could eat so many of these.

One serving includes two large long rangoons, sliced in half. If it feels a little expensive for what you get, just remember that Oregon Dungeness crab is an expensive ingredient and the Oregon crabbing industry has faced some challenges the past year or two.

Snacks

From the Snacks section of the menu, we ordered the Crispy Potatoes ($13), and I highly recommend ordering these every time you go here. They're so good!

Thin, shoestring fries are tossed with garlic, 5 seed chili crisp, salt & pepper. They're so crispy, crunchy, and well seasoned.

Main courses

The restaurant's namesake, Warsugai, is a dish more commonly found in the Midwest. But if you remember some of the big Portland Chinese restaurants (Uncle Chen or Chen's Dynasty), you'll be familiar with this dish as an old school classic.

Chef Koo's version of Warsugai ($26) starts with Mary's chicken breast, deep fried, then laid on a bed of lettuce. It's topped with handfuls of sliced almonds, brown gravy, and chopped scallions.

This is definitely a main dish that can be shared between 4 people, especially if you're enjoying a couple of appetizers beforehand.

Another favorite of mine was the Kampong Shrimp ($27).

Crispy wild shrimp is coated with a sweet wildflower honey, tangy garlic, and topped with tiny scallions.

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