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  • 21 Aug, 2019

  • By, Wikipedia

Bhuna (restaurant)

Bhuna is an Indian restaurant in Portland, Oregon's Northwest District, in the United States. Established by chef Deepak Kaul in 2018, Bhuna has been described as the city's first Kashmiri restaurant.

Description

The Indian restaurant Bhuna operates on 21st Avenue in northwest Portland's Northwest District. Eater Portland has described the business as a "blue-tinged, window-lined" and "sparsely decorated fast-casual spot". The interior has blue-green walls and white subway tiles.

Bhuna serves "Kashmiri soul food" such as rice bowls with kholrabi and collards with Kashmiri dried chilies, lamb rogan josh with black and green cardamom, and chickpea-fried calamari. Among cocktails are negronis, old fashioneds, palomas, and rum lassis.

History

Chef Deepak Kaul started Bhuna as a pop-up restaurant at Culmination Brewing in 2018, before moving into a brick and mortar space on 21st Avenue on October 17; the space had previously housed Dick's Kitchen. Like many restaurants, Bhuna operated via take-out at times during the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2023, Bhuna celebrated its fifth anniversary by hosting a potluck party featuring dishes from other local chefs. For Diwali, the restaurant hosted a candle- and lamp-lit dinner after sundown. The dining room had a shrine to the Hindu gods Ganesha and Lakshmi, and the menu included gulab jamun, kheer, cardamom chocolate chip cookies, and mango kulfi.

Reception

Kaul won in the Chef of the Year category of Eater Portland's annual Eater Awards in 2018. Nick Woo included the Chettinad chicken in the website's 2019 list of thirteen "stellar" curries in the city, and Waz Wu recommended Bhuna in a 2021 overview of recommended restaurants for "standout" vegan curries. Eater Portland's Brooke Jackson-Glidden included the masoor dal in a 2022 list of sixteen "sick day delivery standbys to order" in the city, and Ron Scott included the business in a 2024 overview of "exceptional" Indian food in the Portland metropolitan area.

In 2019, Willamette Week called Bhuna "a boon to the Portland area's small but vital group of worthwhile Indian restaurants", and Portland Monthly said the restaurant had "the ambiance of a Chase Bank lobby, but don't let that stop you from sampling its simple, spice-laden bowls". Krista Garcia included Bhuna in The Infatuation's 2024 list of the city's best restaurants.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Acclaimed Pop-Up Bhuna Finds a Permanent Home for Its Addictive North Indian Cuisine". Willamette Week. 2018-11-28. Archived from the original on 2021-03-02. Retrieved 2024-07-24.
  2. ^ Walsh, Chad. "Deepak Kaul's Bhuna, and His Unlikely Path into the Restaurant World". Portland Mercury. Archived from the original on 2024-07-25. Retrieved 2024-07-24.
  3. ^ Piech-Gitenstein, Nicole; Gitenstein, Eric (2020-06-01). Portland, Oregon Food Crawls: Touring the Neighborhoods One Bite and Libation at a Time. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 978-1-4930-4569-3. Archived from the original on 2024-07-25. Retrieved 2024-07-24.
  4. ^ Jackson-Glidden, Brooke (2018-10-15). "Portland's First True Kashmiri Restaurant Opens Wednesday". Eater Portland. Archived from the original on 2023-04-01. Retrieved 2024-07-24.
  5. ^ Jackson-Glidden, Brooke (2017-12-22). "Jaw-Dropping Happy Hours Spotted Across Portland". Eater Portland. Archived from the original on 2019-03-06. Retrieved 2024-07-24.
  6. ^ Reed, Conner (2019-11-15). "How Eater Portland's 2018 Chef of the Year Redefined Indian Dining on His Own Terms". Eater Portland. Archived from the original on 2024-07-25. Retrieved 2024-07-24.
  7. ^ Russell, Michael (2018-12-19). "13 new Portland restaurants you should know about right now". The Oregonian. Archived from the original on 2021-01-18. Retrieved 2024-07-25.
  8. ^ Jackson-Glidden, Brooke (2018-08-28). "The 10 Most Anticipated Openings in Portland This Fall". Eater Portland. Archived from the original on 2020-06-18. Retrieved 2024-07-24.
  9. ^ Frane, Alex (2021-01-15). "14 Portland Bars and Restaurants Still Offering Cocktails To-Go". Eater Portland. Archived from the original on 2021-04-19. Retrieved 2024-07-24.
  10. ^ Jackson-Glidden, Brooke (2018-03-20). "A Bunch of Pop-Ups and Carts Are Finding New Homes". Eater Portland. Archived from the original on 2021-10-05. Retrieved 2024-07-24.
  11. ^ "You Can Now Eat Spicy, Funky, Kashmiri Soul Food at One of Portland's Best Breweries". Willamette Week. 2018-03-07. Retrieved 2024-07-25.
  12. ^ Jackson-Glidden, Brooke (2018-10-18). "NW Portland Explodes With Three New Spots in One Day". Eater Portland. Archived from the original on 2023-05-12. Retrieved 2024-07-24.
  13. ^ Jackson-Glidden, Brooke (2018-07-30). "Indian Pop-Up Bhuna Will Find Its Own Home in Northwest Portland". Eater Portland. Archived from the original on 2024-07-25. Retrieved 2024-07-24.
  14. ^ Walsh, Chad. "Deepak Kaul's Bhuna, and His Unlikely Path into the Restaurant World". Portland Mercury. Archived from the original on 2022-07-11. Retrieved 2024-07-24.
  15. ^ Jackson-Glidden, Brooke (2020-03-16). "Where to Find Takeout and Delivery During Portland's COVID-19 Outbreak". Eater Portland. Archived from the original on 2021-03-26. Retrieved 2024-07-24.
  16. ^ Wong, Janey (2023-10-13). "Salt and Straw Will Open on the Vancouver Waterfront in 2024". Eater Portland. Archived from the original on 2024-01-02. Retrieved 2024-07-25.
  17. ^ Wong, Janey (2023-11-03). "Where to Celebrate Diwali in Portland". Eater Portland. Archived from the original on 2024-07-25. Retrieved 2024-07-25.
  18. ^ Jackson-Glidden, Brooke (2018-12-05). "Portland's 2018 Eater Award Winners". Eater Portland. Archived from the original on 2019-01-26. Retrieved 2024-07-24.
  19. ^ Woo, Nick (2019-07-25). "13 Stellar Curries in Portland". Eater Portland. Archived from the original on 2020-06-03. Retrieved 2024-07-24.
  20. ^ Wu, Waz (2021-02-08). "Where to Find Standout Vegan Curries in Portland". Eater Portland. Archived from the original on 2021-10-26. Retrieved 2024-07-24.
  21. ^ Jackson-Glidden, Brooke (2022-01-05). "16 Sick Day Delivery Standbys to Order in Portland". Eater Portland. Archived from the original on 2022-03-05. Retrieved 2024-07-24.
  22. ^ Scott, Ron (2017-06-09). "Where to Find Exceptional Indian Food in Portland and the Nearby Suburbs". Eater Portland. Archived from the original on 2022-02-15. Retrieved 2024-07-24.
  23. ^ "The Top Five Places to Eat in Portland This Week". Willamette Week. 2019-01-16. Archived from the original on 2019-01-17. Retrieved 2024-07-24.
  24. ^ "Where to Eat This Week: Jan 23–29". Portland Monthly. Retrieved 2024-07-24.
  25. ^ "The 24 Best Restaurants In Portland, Oregon 2024 - Portland, OR". The Infatuation. 2022-01-21. Archived from the original on 2024-04-06. Retrieved 2024-07-24.