Nong’s Khao Man Gai
SW 10th and Alder Street
Portland, OR
In a way, it was doomed to happen. Given my (somewhat unfair?) comparison of street food from outside North American to the ones in North America, it was almost certain that I had to visit an Asian one for comparison sake. And that brought the eternal question of… Which one(s)? I mean, given that the US can be as multi-cultural as Canada and, in part, I didn’t want to disappoint, I kept looking and looking around. While searching in other sites (Urbanspoon included), all of them seemd to point to two locations: Koi Fusion, which served Tex-Mex dishes with a Korean twish (take that Roaming Dragon, you are NOT the first! 
) and Nong’s Khao Man Gai, a cart that sells one and only one dish. While I am sure a lot of you would think that Koi Fusion would have been a better choice (due to a direct comparison with Roaming Dragon), the fact is that I wanted instead showcase what street food ought to be. And, in that case, Nong’s Khao Man Gai was a better option.
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Tagged as:
Asian,
Chicken,
Portland,
Rice,
Street Food,
Thai
Portland Food Carts @ Mississippi Marketplace
Various stands
Skidmore Street & Mississippi Ave
Portland, OR
Garden State 
The Big Egg 
Continuing with my trip around Portland, specifically that of food carts, one noon, I decided to go around yet another parts of town for that again, street food. At this point, I was wondering if street food was a bit of a misnomer. I mean, they aren’t necessarily sold at the curb but it has been organized to the point some of them are settled on the lots rather than sidewalks, not to mention communal areas/tables for patrons to consume their goods. So, just for sake of consistency, I will assume food carts == street food, despite they aren’t necessarily the same.
For today’s post, I went to a place called Mississippi Marketplace, I assume it name as such because it is located in Mississippi Avenue (interesting enough, there is a Vancouver Avenue; however, I doubt it is named after Vancouver, BC. Most likely Vancouver, WA?). Getting there was a bit confusing for me, as you go through residential sections and suddenly you are in a corner with several restaurants and other services. I have the odd feeling I am getting a bit too used to our city’s layout (or lack of planning)! But, I didn’t care, I was there and ready to eat….
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Tagged as:
Portland,
Sandwich,
Street Food
Portland Food Carts @ SE 12th and Hawthorne
Various stands
SE 12th and Hawthorne
Portland, OR
Potato Champion 
El Brasero 
Perierra Crêperie 
With me being in Portland for some time (again, for work, not necessarily pleasure), it was certain I had to visit one or two food carts. I mean, after all the noise that has occurred in Vancouver, I had to go to set myself a baseline. After all, my concept and understanding is quite skewed compared to the ones available in North America. See, to me street food is not necessarily food sold on the street; it is beyond that. On one side, it was a matter for some families to earn extra income; in other, as a mean of living. More often than not, these were based on the concept of cheap, mysterious, risky (you never know what you are actually served) and, for the most part, tasty.
The problem I have encountered in North America is that, while some of that concept has carried over, truth is there is too much of that cover-your-ass mentality. Hence, some really wacky requirements, from location, type of food being sold, sanitary conditions (did I say “risky”?), et al have taken away some of it. While that is something that seems to be for good (in general), what is not is the attempt of some food cart operators here to make things “fancy”, as in making things “fusion” or making things complicated or, worst of all, fancy in an attempt to create an edge. Granted, it is all business at the end of the day; however, I believe that that takes away from the spirit of street food.
I know I am digressing here but, please keep in mind, it is something people ought to be aware of, as it might skew things a little bit… So, that brings us back to the corner of Hawthorne and 12th in Portland, a sort of empty lot that has been occupied by some food carts. And, in that spirit of adventure, I went there for dinner and tried to visit as many such carts as possible (based on time, $$$ and stomach volume). So, without further ado…
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Tagged as:
Belgian,
French,
Mexican,
Portland,
potato,
Street Food
Bamboo Grove Hawaiian Grille
515 SW Carolina Street
Portland, OR
If somebody tells you that business travelling is great, I am willing to bet he/she is lying to you. Granted, there will be some perks when travelling for business, like me being able to visit different local restaurants; however, it also takes a toll on your social and personal life – assuming you have one that is, or to quote that South Park in Make Love, Not Warcraft, “How do you kill that which has no life?”. (If you want to take a partial glimpse of people travelling for business, I highly suggest you watch Up in the Air). Considering my status, I take it in strides and enjoy all the restaurants the city/town I am has to offer. And, in this case, while in Portland, I was looking for something that isn’t found in Vancouver (yeah, despite we claim to be diverse, there is only that much Chinese restaurants I can digest – in the case of Vancouver, it is already way past a dozen too many): Hawaiian. And, among the different options, Bamboo Grove
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Tagged as:
Hawaii,
Pork,
Portland
Voodoo Doughnut
22 SW 3rd Ave
Portland, OR
Voodoo Doughnut Too (Location visited)
1501 NE Davis Street
Portland, OR
There are times that restaurants will do almost anything to get an edge over its competitors. Adding something extra can entice customers to come back and, who knows, make it a local attraction. In Vancouver, Cactus Club has celebrity chef as “food architect” but, still not all dishes work for me, not to mention the environment in general. However, such “innovations” can be more basis. As basic as making it visually appealing while maintaining the regular/default recipe. Such is the case of Voodoo Doughnut, a successful doughnut shop in Portland. The premise is these pieces of fried dough serves as a blank palette for some wacky decoration and motif. The question for me would be: how does the doughnut actually taste in the end???
Original location.
Voodoo Doughnuts Too, the location where I ended up purchasing the good.
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Tagged as:
Dessert,
Pastry,
Portland
Podnah’s Pit BBQ
1469 NE Prescott Street
Portland, OR
Yesterday, I wrote about Slabtown Ribs and Barbeque and how I left slightly disappointed. So, for dinner, I thought… Should I give another BBQ place a chance? Hey, why not! So, yeah, a vegan/vegetarian nightmare!!! Huahahahaha! OK, enough taunting… I had more than one place in mind: Russell Street Barbeque and Podnah’s Bit BBQ. I ended up choosing the later because, well, given my affinity for holes in the wall, I thought this might be a place I would like more.
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Tagged as:
BBQ,
Beef,
Portland
Slabtown Ribs and Barbeque
2606 NW Vaughn Street
Portland, OR
Let me ask you this: whenever you see smoke coming out from a restaurant (hopefully, from the exhaust), what comes to your mind? Good food, doesn’t it? So how about when it comes from a smoker? Or how about it coming from a smoker on the street at 7:00 a.m.??? Yup, that’s what happened when I passed by Slabtown Ribs and Barbeque during my stay in Portland. Every morning I passed by, I could see that smoker parked in front of the restaurant (which, otherwise, I would have passed by without noticing!) and wondered myself: “wow, that’s starting early!” And, of course, given you see actual smoke rather than the pressure cook/boil the meat, grill it, toss it with sauce and serve it (like, say, Montana’s Cookhouse), that was incentive enough to try to have some (real) BBQ goodness…
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Tagged as:
BBQ,
Beef,
Portland
