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 Seattle’s popular Revel, from James Beard award finalists Rachel Yang and Seif Chirchi.
The reception to this slick buildout from our frenemy to the north—complete with a late-night DJ on weekends, vibrant murals, and an art piece of decommissioned boom-boxes suspended from the wall—has mostly been welcoming. (At just over eight weeks in, it’s been called a 2016 “rising star” by Portland Monthly in a hail of breathless hyperbole).
With a fantastic cocktail program, service that shows how it’s done, and a menu coming into its own, Revelry will hopefully maintain its forward momentum. It’s just going to have to decide what it wants to be: a bar with great food, like Expatriate—or a restaurant.
If it’s the former, I’m sold. There’s 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. Yang’s spicy chicken ($14) isn’t 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 isn’t perfect execution, but it’s still worth sharing anytime you step in the door.
