On the corner of State and Congress Streets, across from Longfellow Square, you can find a small Japanese restaurant boasting the name King of the Roll. Given the name, you may think that this is one of Portland’s hidden treasures. Don’t be fooled, the trashy red neon lighting isn’t hiding anything spectacular. In this case, it might be appropriate to judge by appearances.
King of the Roll isn’t high class. Its customers are seated in green, faux leather booths with tables covered by green nylon cloth and are subject to the neon glow of the restaurants lighting, especially those who are seated close to the windows with the flashing “open” sign. The décor is the norm of small dive restaurants. Nothing fancy. Customers are greeted by their waitress, who will offer the day’s specials and supply visitors with their menu. After this initial interaction, the wait staff becomes inattentive. If customers visit this place in pairs, one may find their dish arriving to the table before their companions, as the wait staff sometimes brings the more quickly prepared dish out before the other is finished. Who wants to dine alone while their friend stares hungrily at their plate?
The menu at King of the Roll is pretty limited. For lunch and dinner they offer various types of tempura and teriyaki dishes, as well yaki udon: stir fried noodles mixed with various meat options, at dinner. They do offer a range of different types of sushi, from the mundane safety of the California roll, comprised of crab meat, avocado and cucumber, to the slightly more adventurous “queen roll,” a sushi roll made of grilled scallops topped with salmon and crab. Unfortunately, the food served at King of the Roll falls short of spectacular. In fact, it barely qualifies as good. The fish, although not bad enough to make anyone sick, could be fresher and prepared more skillfully. King of the Roll should really be named Jester of the Roll, because the food is just laughably mediocre.
The one thing that customers will appreciate about King of the Roll is the price. Separate sushi rolls only cost between $2.75 to $3.75, and nothing on the menu surpasses $13.00. Remember though, you are getting what you pay for. If you are looking to impress someone with your culinary taste, do not bring them to this restaurant. It’s not really the right message to send someone you want to date. However, if you don’t have a lot of cash to spend and you don’t mind that the food isn’t good, it might be ok to eat here. At the very least, it isn’t bad enough to make you sick.
In comparison to other Japanese restaurants in Portland, King of the Roll falls short of royalty. If you are walking down Congress Street – starving – and don’t have a lot of money, then stop in to King of the Roll, but don’t expect to be impressed. However, if you are in a rush this is not the place for you. Half the dining experience is waiting for the waitress to show up with the tab.
Grade: C-