Yoko Funabashi MOLLY MACALPINE
Funabashi is the lesser known last name of a woman whose first name is legend to Portland sushi lovers: Yoko.
For 30 years, Funabashi has been the person you’ll see most nights behind the counter at her eponymous restaurant, her dark hair pulled back into a low ponytail as she crafts orders of iconic seared albacore sashimi and Walla Walla rolls filled with sweet and flavorful tempura fried onion.
If you’re in the know, this unassuming hole-in-the-wall on a largely untraveled stretch of Southeast Gladstone is a cozy haven of sushi done just right: it’s not the expensive splurge of Nodoguro or even Nimblefish, but it’s also not the cream cheese and mayonnaise explosion of down market spots either. It’s just kind of perfect.
