THE LAST TIME I made a trip to Revelry, the buzzy new Korean-fusion bar-restaurant-hybrid in inner Southeast, Rider Strong (Shawn Hunter from Boy Meets World! Squeeeee!!) was there. Revelry is very much a be-here-now kind of place: a spinoff of Seattleâs popular Revel, from James Beard award finalists Rachel Yang and Seif Chirchi.
The reception to this slick buildout from our frenemy to the northâcomplete with a late-night DJ on weekends, vibrant murals, and an art piece of decommissioned boom-boxes suspended from the wallâhas mostly been welcoming. (At just over eight weeks in, itâs been called a 2016 ârising starâ by Portland Monthly in a hail of breathless hyperbole).
With a fantastic cocktail program, service that shows how itâs done, and a menu coming into its own, Revelry will hopefully maintain its forward momentum. Itâs just going to have to decide what it wants to be: a bar with great food, like Expatriateâor a restaurant.
If itâs the former, Iâm sold. Thereâs a roster of fantastic plates that wave hello to Korea, then fold in flavors from wherever the chef prefers. After multiple visits, the already-famous Mrs. Yangâs spicy chicken ($14) isnât my favorite dish, although it is very good: a sweet-spicy pile of bird waiting to be shared, coated in a peanut brittle that adds crunch to a sensory-forward experience. It can lean a bit heavy if there isnât perfect execution, but itâs still worth sharing anytime you step in the door.
Personally, I live for the spicy beef black bean sauce and crunchy Chinese broccoli over Korean rice cakes ($15). Those rice cakes, which often traditionally appear in soups or stir fries, are oblong disks of glutinous rice molded to textural perfectionâand here, when the kitchen is on, they have an unbelievable outside crunch that gives way to the toothsome cake. The sauce has more than a hint of cumin, making it taste like taco meat, in a very nice way. Christ, itâs good.
The other star is actually a dessert, so save room: The $7 Revel Motherload is an immensely rich miso caramel brownie with chocolate tempura puffs, in a swirling sea of lightly-toasted marshmallow crĂšme.
Allâs well on the cocktail front. Often cocktail programs at Asian restaurants struggle to create drinks that fit the flavor profile of the food, and wind up straying oversweet. Bartenders wisely play with mostly herbal flavors at Revelry, like the refreshing Kimmâs Cup ($11), with gin, Pimms No. 1, cucumber shrub, lime, shiso, and Rachelâs Ginger Beer. A Phogroni ($10), was a little gimmicky, mixing Campari and sweet vermouth with blackstrap and white rums and a pho vinegar, while the CafĂ© OlĂ© ($10) was my personal favoriteâa smooth blend of Reposado tequila, cold brew and bitter cynar. Also fun: the fortune cookie soju ($4), the Korean liquor infused with fortune cookies onsite, served cold in a shot glass with a fortune stuck to the outside.
The menu also winds through some falafel ($7), a Middle Eastern staple turned vermillion by mint and other herbs, with a Korean harissa. Thereâs a very good seaweed noodle ($17) with lightly sweet Dungeness crab folded into red curry and crĂšme fraĂźche.
The rice bowls give the best bang for the buck: At $15-17, theyâre certainly large enough to serve as an entrĂ©e, and actually donât lend themselves to sharing very well, unlike the rest of the dishes, many of which are so flavor-forward, they almost have to be shared to avoid overload. The restraint of the barley seared tuna layered with an egg yolk, seaweed and kimchi over a generous scoop of white rice almost makes the rice bowl out of place at Revelry.
If Revelry is aiming to be a restaurant, itâs a got a bit further to go. Consistency has been a minor issue: Our mochi doughnuts at dessert were just this side of too doughy, and that signature fried chicken has been different each time weâve tried it. The savory pancakes are small for their $12 price tag, and none are especially memorable. Also, if itâs trying to be a restaurant, Revelry has got to close the doors it shares with Seattle-based outdoor store Evo. Iâm just not feeling the vibe of being peeked at by some dude looking for a Patagonia vest.
Revelryâs food is like its carefully-curated soundtrack (Yang and Chirchi are partnered here with Portland club owners Eric and Karen Bowler of Tube and Fortune): Not everything is a Top 40 hit, but itâs all going to keep the club jumping.
Sun-Thurs 5 pm to midnight, Fri-Sat 5 pm to 2 am. DJ Thurs-Sat 10 pm to close. Reservations for parties of four or more.
