The Rangoon Bistro team has done it again. From their humble beginnings at a farmers market stand, the trio of friends, Alex Saw, David Sai, and Nick Sherbo, eventually grew their business into a two-restaurant operation, and on July 17, they opened their third: a Burmese eating and drinking tavern called Bone Sine.
The Burmese name Bone Sine refers to the communal, affordable eating and drinking taverns you’d find in Myanmar. Accordingly, no food item menu here costs more than $16—you could order the entire food menu for under $100—and everything is designed for sharing.
“David was telling me about the concept of bone sine—these places where it doesn't really matter how much money you have, or what your status in society is. People pool their money, and everyone shares equally,” explains Sherbo.
Bone Sine is located right next to Rangoon Bistro’s Mississippi Street outpost; the two restaurants are connected by an arched doorway. The Bone Sine space will serve as extra seating for Rangoon Bistro during its normal hours (4 pm to 10 pm daily)—a boon especially during the winter when patio dining is less than desirable. But after 10 pm from Thursday through Sunday, the team will roll out a late-night menu of Burmese snacks and small plates, coupled with a menu of cocktail and non-alcoholic beverages from Tyler and Devon Treadwell of Tulip Shop Tavern.
“We want people to stay out past their bedtime,” says Sherbo.
Highlights of the food menu include sticky tamarind chicken wings, grilled housemade lemongrass sausage, and lahpet htamin, steamed jasmine rice mixed with fermented tea leaves and topped with a fried egg. While tea leaf salad is a much more well-known Burmese dish in the States, lahpet htamin is a staple dish in Myanmar, eaten first thing in the morning, for lunch, or as a midnight snack, explains Saw. There’s also an herby beef salad, cold sesame noodles, and a twist on bar nuts with lime leaf and brown butter. The menu also includes a few carry-overs from Rangoon Bistro, including the khao pyan sane, a giant pork dumpling wrapped in rice paper, and the shan tofu, made in-house with chickpeas.
Beverage-wise, you’ll find everything from a coconut fat-washed old fashioned to a snap pea and lime leaf gimlet. A milk tea martini scented with freshly grated black cardamom offers an alternative to the espresso martini that’s ever-present elsewhere, while a mango margarita is spiked with a hint of heat from Thai chile. There are also a handful of thoughtful non-alcoholic options on offer, including a lemongrass Arnold Palmer, a snap pea sour with elderflower, and the Coco-Mango Colada, reminiscent of a mango-orange creamsicle with zero-proof Dhos spirits.
The bar’s tagline on Instagram reads: “Old Portland. DJ nights. Spicy food. Cold comfort.” Sherbo, a former punk kid who grew up in Portland, says he hopes to bring back some Old Portland energy with Bone Sine.
“Thinking about the way Portland used to feel with places like Satyricon and La Luna and The Blue Gallery, and places that are still around like My Father’s Place—these are the kind of places that really have their own personality,” says Sherbo. “There's a counter culture and industry people kind of feel to these old Portland places.” The bar’s walls, accordingly, feature a poster from The Blue Gallery, faded anti-drug signs that were posted around the Mississippi neighborhood in the ‘90s, and a photo of punk band the Dicks featuring its proudly gay lead singer.
The bar also features a DJ booth sided by houseplants and topped with a stained glass hanging lamp; the first DJs are booked to play the weekend of August 2. Soon, the team will set up a projector for morning and daytime Arsenal watch parties—the favorite football team of Sai and Saw.
Bone Sine, 3753 N Mississippi, open Thursdays through Sundays, instagram.com/bonesinerangoon
