The word ârevivalâ is getting thrown around Northwest Portlandâs re-re-gentrifying Slabtown district. âLove a revival?â asks the LL Hawkins condos, while a development across the street promises a âvintage revival.â
Whatâs being revived is unclear. Northwest 23rd and the surrounding neighborhoods have gone, over decades, from hippie enclave to trendy shopping district, and now are rebranding as a semi-bougie condo hub, with the food and drink scene to match.
For instance, Hem 23, a hip new Vietnamese spot on 23rd is next to, well, a not-so-hip old Vietnamese spot. Not that the two are exactly in competitionâLelaâs Bistro is a counter service lunch spot with a mom-and-pop feel in an old house. Hem 23, meanwhile, feels huge: high-ceilinged and airy but painted in dark black and blues, comfortably in the Portland sweet spot between over-branded and unfinished. Thereâs a manufactured slickness to the whole affairâlike a big, drippy âHEM 23â faux-graffitiâd across one wallâthat undercuts personality and feels just a hair too gastro-bro for comfort.
It might be the influence of the design, but Hem 23âs food feels like it was probably described as âelevatedâ in a pitch meeting. Itâs not mind-blowing, but itâs adventurous enough to invite some serious menu exploration. Happily, each dish is also good enough to inspire another visitâand big enough to require one.
After appetizers or salad, the ox tail phoâmaybe the best soup on a soup-heavy menuâis easily big enough for two. With three fist-sized bones covered in tender meat thatâs ready to slip off at the slightest poke from a chopstick, grabbing mouthful after mouthful of noodles feels like Mary Poppins going through her bag ($13).
The non-roll or -salad starters are also enticing. The quail is an easy recommendation based on both quality and quantityâweâre talking two whole birds for $12. Shiny and sticky with a sweet, salty, and lightly spicy glaze, they stand out even on a menu with an awful lot of items pushing the boundary between meat and candy. If youâre craving crunch, soft shell crab might hit the spotâfried and fairly lightly seasoned, served with chili sauce ($13).
Non-soup main courses are all over the place, but donât go looking for vegetarian options: beef, pork, seafood, and even frog legs are on the menu, but literally nothing comes without an animal on the plate.
The standouts for me are the slightly more adventurous dishes. The frog legs feel light and appropriately jumpy with a smack of lemongrass, served over rice ($14). Meanwhile, the âfull moon crepe,â stuffed with prawns, scallops, and vegetables, is a fluffy, overstuffed mess, ready to be doused in fish sauceâanother instance of almost unseasoned seafood made to shine with after-the-fact saucing, Hem 23âs secret weapon ($16).
Happy hour is offered seven days a week, including discounted well drinks, drafts, and wines; a few starters and soups at a discount; and three bucks off the gingery, lemony Fernet-and-whiskey cocktail called a Shift Drink, the hallmark of a menu designed by libation luminary Jacob Grier.
The rest of the cocktails all wink at Vietnamese flavors. The Menta Iced Coffee is boozed up with Brancamenta (a sweet, pepperminty spin-off of Fernet Branca), Plantation O.F.T.D. rum, and a rusty red Angostura whipped cream ($12). Itâs not the only colorful cocktail, either, with the Taro Readerâs cachaça and coconut cream tinted a lovely lilac by an addition ofâduhâtaro ($11). Some nice Alsatian and German wines complement the food if liquorâs not your scene, and if youâre not into alcohol, mango juice, peach iced tea, and even sea-salt-whipped-cream-topped iced coffee, milk tea, or matcha ought to hit the spot.
Though itâs open by 11 am, thereâs no cheaper lunch menu, and with portions pushing the limits even at dinner, itâd be nice to see a lunch menu appear. But for Lelaâs Bistroâs sakeâthe sake of the neighborhoodâs balance between homey and hipâmaybe we shouldnât hope too hard. Perhaps its almost clubby âcoolâ vibes are just ahead of the curve for the new Northwest, but for now, Hem 23 is a solid 23rd Avenue option thatâat least as of yetâdoesnât have a line out the door.