"I ordered a carrot cake from Norimoto Bakery for my birthday, and it was absolutely incredible! The flavor was perfectly balanced, just the right amount of sweetness and it was moist and light. The frosting was also so light and delicious, it complemented the cake beautifully instead of overpowering it. You can really taste the care and exceptional baking skill in every bite. Thank you, Norimoto, for making my birthday extra special! Also just look at how beautifully the cake was decorated with flowers. Highly recommend to anyone who loves truly amazing baked goods."

"I heard about this place's popularity and JB award, and went out of my way to visit them first thing on a Saturday morning while passing through town. It's a takeaway only place, and there was a short line out the door that morning. They had a super unique variety of pastries, both sweet and savory, and not the flavor combos you see every day. I'd try everything on the menu that day if I could. I went with the anzac cookie (vegan), the quiche, and the visitandine (brown butter, cornmeal, chocolate chip cookie). The quiche was decent -- crust was a little dry and could have been richer. The vegan cookie was my favorite -- it had good textures and subtle (Fall) spices. The other cookie was good, too -- nice and gooey, but the flavors didn't come through as much as expected. Overall, nothing blew me away, but this is a pretty good place that I'd visit again."

"I will come back to Portland just for Norimoto Bakery. The storefront is literally a hole-in-the-wall with no signage, but you can probably see a line stretching out from the store. The menu is extensive with japanese-inspired pastries, milk bread, cakes and tarts, and even onigiri. They use local ingredients for the baked goods, including blueberries and peaches. Our group tried quite a few pastries. The Yuzu Almond Melon Pan, which I believed was limited time only, was easily our favorite. The tart, sweet yuzu curd won us over. A close second would be the hojicha cake roll topped with whipped cream and peach. It was very fluffy and moist. The double chocolate sake cake surprised me too, given that I usually don’t quite like chocolate desserts. It was decadent with a hint of sake flavor."

"The chef being a James Beard award winner brought us here while visiting Portland. We ordered two of our favorite breakfast items - an egg sandwich & a cinnamon roll. Both were phenomenal and probably some of the best food we ate while in town. Do not miss this place! Please follow my sandwich Instagram @thesandwichmaven"

"I really really wanted to like Norimoto, but it was unfortunately just extremely disappointing. We arrived at 7:40 on a Saturday morning and were first in line, but several other parties had lined up by the time it opened at 8. The smells coming out of the bakery were divine and we were really looking forward to warm pastries out of the oven, but unfortunately everything was cold. The kouign amann was fine flavor-wise but really not that flaky. The other pastries were fine but really nothing special. The shokaccia was interesting in concept and extremely briny from the kombu puree, but ultimately not something I would go back for. Overall, Portland has very strong bakery options and Norimoto is fine, but definitely not worth lining up for early in the morning. The workers were extremely friendly though and super sweet."