BTU Brasserie

This place is so good! My brother lives down the street and took us here when we visited last week. Their beer is good, the bartender was super nice, and the food is so so good. We got this radish cake dish that was freaking amazing. And the dumplings! I absolutely loved everything we ate and drank. Wish you guys were in San Diego. It may be a little off the beaten path in Portland but it is well worth a visit!

The food here is delicious! The service was very friendly and attentive. They have gluten free options marked on the menu.

We tried out BTU with a group of 8 and ordered a number of dishes family style, plus a few of their beers. It happened to be the Spring release party for some new lagers so we tried the new Light Speed and the Black Helmet, a helles and a schwarzbier, respectively. Both were tasty beverages that did well by the German style.
The suggested food pairings we tried were pork belly bao and duck spring rolls, both of which arrived quickly and were nicely presented. I’m not always happy with pork belly, but this offering was just the right combination of crispy and tender.
Service was a little lacking now and then, probably because the staff was covering outside seating on a warm day, but when our waiter got back around to us he was fun and helpful with suggestions. All in all, I really liked BTU and will go back there soon!

My husband and two of our best friends had an amazing experience at BTU last night! It was our first time there and the four of us were a little nervous to branch out, but our server immediately put us at ease. See, all four of us are vegan, and the menu has a billion vegetarian options, but nothing specifically about vegan. Our server assured us that most of the options marked (V) Vegetarian or (V*) Can be made Vegetarian are also vegan. He promised he would let us know if anything we were ordering wasn’t or couldn’t fit the bill. And order we did:
SPICY CUCUMBER SALAD — Exactly what we expected, nice heat.
SCALLION PANCAKE — Not bad.
MOCK EEL — Ah.Ma.Zing. Will definitely order again.
SMOKED TOFU BAOS — Really cute presentation. Tofu was great. I’m just not a big bao fan, but everyone at our table ate it up!
BUDDAH’S «BEEF» — Made with seitan and this might have been my favorite dish of the night. Incredibly delicious.
DAN DAN NOODLES — We got these with seitan and I think the numbing mala sauce was a little much for me. One person at our table LOVED it though.
CHONG QING TOFU — This was a special menu item and it was really delicious. Runner up for best dish of the night.
We all really enjoyed the beer, as well. The Light Speed Helles was delish.
Maybe the best part of the meal was the service. I asked the server if he was the owner, because he was so helpful, knowledgeable and invested in our enjoyment. Turns out he’s not, so lets make this guy employee of the month and give him a raise, because he was really killing it!
Bottom line, BTU is now on my list of favorite places and I cannot wait to go back!

The food here is very so so. Small portion. Don’t taste like any other Chinese food I had before. We came on a Friday evening and they seemed pretty full. When we were ordering and heard the table next to us complaining about the portion as well. When we got our food then I understand. I would not recommend this place to anyone.

I am so thrilled that this place is in my neighborhood!
Their food is inventive but not so much so that it’s off-​putting or intimidating. Their cocktails are cleverly devised and well executed, and their beer is on-​point.
Staff is wonderfully friendly. Every single one has been great so far.
There really is nothing negative I could say about this place. Eat there, drink there, go now (and you should probably order the steak Chow Fun when you do).

Confucious say, take great Chinese food and a brewery, make for happy time. Definitely a must here in NE Portland, solid beers, great dim sum, and a nice patio outside. This place won’t offer your traditional Chinese food items, but they have a very well balanced menu and a great selection of beers (try the Wang chi). Whitster out.

Dim Sum happy hour plates are $ 5 with beers priced at $ 3.00 — it’s a great deal! It was our first time so I had no idea what to expect, and I really really liked it!
They don’t have the insane, expansive Dim Sum menu as joints such as HK, but their Garlic Chive Dumplings were so damn fine that we plan on getting a plate or two each when we come back — pork and shrimp domes of deliciousness. The Radish Cakes were tasty, perfectly crispy fancy little blocks of fish stick essentially. The only downside of our food fare was the Bao — I want big, puffy buns and not little tiny bun tacos. $ 5 for 3 very small pieces of pork per 2−3inch piece of bun made it hard for me to ever get the Bao again. It was tasty, but tiny. If anyone knows where I can get my large steamed Bao buns (other than HK), hit a sista up!
Other than that, their beer blew our little beer nerd minds. They had a Belgian, Beer of the Monkey — if it’s on tap next time we’re there, I’m ordering 2 – 3 more pints again.
P. S. Try their Dan Dan noodles for some sweet numbing — but not overly spicy — action too!

Awesome brewery, great food, really nice place to enjoy ! ! !

My friend and I had a great dinner here. We sat at the bar and the service was excellent. The beers were good but it was the food that was outstanding. Wontons, dumplings, bao, green beans, and our Sichuan chicken were all excellent. The only dish that was just alright was the fried rice.
If you are expecting the standard Chinese food served in Portland you may end up disappointed.
It is so nice to have a brewpub that serves something other than pizza or burgers.
We will certainly return.

Outrageous beer, killer vegetarian food, cool staff and dope butcher knife display. You can’t ask for a better place to drink stellar craft beer whilst noshing on scallion pancakes. THIS. IS. PORTLAND! I can’t wait to come back here for more.
More specifically, I had the red oil veggie dumplings and Beer of the Monkey for happy hour and then became smitten by everything they do.

I tried this place for the first time last night and it was excellent. Beer was top notch too. I had The Sword, a beety sour beer and an IPA. Excellent. The double broccoli app was awesome. We had dumplings, buddha beef, chow mein, bao, and szechuan chicken. Everything was great!

I was here with a group of 13, I believe. The experience was truly mixed. Our server (I’m pretty sure his name was Kyle) was awesome. The beers (I ordered their multi-​glass sampler) are diverse and delicious, every one being very well crafted.
Sadly, the experience deteriorated when the food was delivered. I ordered off their New Year’s special menu. The duck potstickers were pricey ($ 8 for 4) and quite flavorless. The «Smoked Duck with Rice Cakes» should be renamed «Rice Cakes with Smoked Duck»; the plate was full of gummy rice cakes with a few small pieces of smoked duck here and there … the sauce was decent, but not sufficiently so to salvage this gloppy crime against Chinese cuisine. I sampled a friend’s «House Fried Rice,» and it was an overcooked mass of goo. I tried another friend’s «Scallion Pancake,» and it was also insipid, even with the dipping sauce.
Perhaps the kitchen was overwhelmed by the number of people. Perhaps, on a Thursday night, they were short-​staffed. Perhaps it was just an off night. Regardless, I can say that I see no need to return to BTU Brasserie.

Was really excited to try this place, but was left really disappointed. Went in with 10 of us on Christmas Eve. But it was obvious the waitress was not happy to be there. Yes, it’s Christmas Eve, but with that big of a group, take care of us and in return people leave a huge tip on holidays. I’ve been a server for 5 years, I know. And we are a pretty easy group over all — no crazy requests or alterations to the menu items.
We asked questions and answers backed with an attitude were given. At the very end I said I never got my food somehow and to just take it off the bill then. She obviously didn’t believe me. Came back and said someone else got it so I still had to pay for it. I said, so you gave someone else my food and I didn’t even get to eat it and I am still having to pay for it? What a great way to end the night.
The food was alright, but I’ll never return due to service…

Our server was friendly and helpful. Food was good, my fiancé loved the beer (pumpkin kolsch). Although the place was so cold, we had to keep our coats on the whole time.
We ordered the Char siu pork bao, the price of $ 7 for 3 bao was reasonable, and I was happy with them. The steel pot beef was $ 16– a little expensive for the portion size, but it was worth. I’d order them again. We also had the copper well noodles, and they were delicious.
We went for their happy hour and were a little disappointed. Happy hour consisted of $ 1 off dumplings. I’m not in a rush to return, but I would be if their happy hour had better food deals.
4 stars because I’ve had better Chinese food, and they could have turned the heat up a little bit.

Still awesome! The salt and pepper squid and sesame noodles are a must order. The Out For A Rip IPA is a very nice IPA… not too hoppy, just right.

What the hell is a Brasserie? I have no idea, but I went here anyway. It’s Chinese food with a twist (the twist being it’s not your standard Chinese food fare of chow mein and broccoli beef). The dishes have fresh ingredients with amazing flavors and are inventive and really good meats.
I really like their beers too. I had a German schwarzbier which, as you guessed is very dark, but so smooth, not too filling, and with a low alcohol content. Highly recommended!

Months ago while out on a jog I ran past the building and spotted the large silver brew tanks through an open door. Curious, I searched for info as soon as I got home and learned the space would be the future home to BTU Brasserie. Although I found the concept interesting, life got busy and I totally forgot about it.
When my vegan parents were in town this past weekend, BTU popped back into my mind. I was eager to try the food, my fiancé was stoked about the beer, and my parents were just glad we weren’t dragging them to another meat focused establishment.
As we walked into the empty restaurant, I noted that the also empty bar seemed to be the focal point of the room. The layout was dull and strangely divided by an almost open runway space between the tables situated against the windows and the bar. The waiter sat us in the corner, which was surprisingly dark, despite the windows lining the front of the room.
We ordered a few of the beers which were decent, though none stood out from the ample other craft brews available in Portland. I ordered one of the specialty cocktails which was overly sweet even after the bartender/​waiter offered to make it «less-​sweet». The food was also lack luster. The pasta on the dumplings and pot stickers was thick and chewy, and the flavors of each plate were average at best.
Despite this, the low star rating has less to do with the mediocre food and more to do with the snail pace of the food service. Our small happy hour plates came out as fast as one might expect in an overbooked restaurant in the middle of a dinner rush… incredibly sloooooow. It was late afternoon and there was only one other two-​top and one single party at the bar.
Before we left we inquired about the BTU name. We asked and if it was in reference to the British Thermal Unit and tied to some brewing or cooking process. Our waiter responded with a long and seemingly contrived answer that left our question unanswered.
Overall, an interesting concept that unfortunately left us wanting.

I dig BTU because it’s close to home and it’s given me something I didn’t know existed: shrimp toast. Shrimp toast is crave-​able and quite honestly what brings me in. It has sesame seed and shrimp mousse on toasted bread — AMAZING. Add the hot mustard sauce and sweet chili sauce and you’ve got the chinese version of a pretzel. But with shrimp. YUM.
GREEN BEANS. Dry fried green beans. I get them without the pork but if you like meat I’m positive you’ll like them with the pork. These are another must have.
Finally on the app list, the potato pancakes. Go for them. They are also served with a delicious dipping sauce. The curly green onion on the thinness of these makes the another crave-​able pre-​dinner delectable.
Sun showers and Out for a Rip IPA are the two beers you want to have. Obviously I’m from an IPA mindset but these do the job well regardless of your usual preference.
They serve vegetarian meals here! Booyah! Take any dish and vegetarianize it. This is key to me because I like veg but also key for you who want meat: options for all.
I prefer the Buddah’s beef (seitan with veggies i a delicious sauce) but they have a wide variety for veg and meat-​eaters alike.
They moved up to a four with the recent additions of the potato pancakes to the happy hour and the shrimp toast on the permanent menu.

Kind of surprised I hadn’t heard much about this place yet. I’d been meaning to drop in for a while, and finally got a chance while out with a friend sampling random breweries. They had 7 of their own beers on, I got a flight with all 7, plus a couple of the small plates.
First off, the food wasn’t cheap, even for a snack, but WOW was it good. Meal prices were also not cheap, but I’ll be back anyway just to try them out. It was damn good.
So the beer. Really surprised. Overall they’re making pretty good beer here. Most were pretty straightforward, but easy to drink and the flavor was great. Their most adverturous was a spiced Bock, which was pretty intense, but good.
Glad to have finally tried this place. I live nearby, and will definately be back.