We moved to Portland one week ago. With all the moving boxes and chores, we’ve done a bit of eating out and plenty of takeout. Here’s my first week report! We have had food from kind of all over! (Our new house is in SE, near North Tabor).
Khao Niew Lao Food Restaurant - We had a few takeout dishes from here, including Nam Khao (almost as good as Vientian in Oakland, CA), kua mee (a sweet sauce on the noodles, similar to Pad Thai but more soy based, very good), Yum Woon Sen (cold noodles w/ shrimp with a good amount of fermented shrimp paste - we ordered this w/ shrimp instead of chicken), and Pho (Lao style, w/ crispy shallots, meatballs, meat, chicharron and a sweeter overall taste. very good). This place was great overall, would def go again.
Tamale Boy (Dekum location) - Tried some Oaxacan tamales (both veggie and pork) and guacamole and chips. Plus a steak taco. All very good, tamales are huge.
Kate’s Ice Cream - Some of the best vegan ice cream I’ve had anywhere, we have been here on a previous visit too.
Blind Onion Pizza – We had takeout pizza. I don’t personally love this style of crust (softer and thicker), but the kids and other adults all loved it.
Cha Lua Deli – Ordered one small banh mi (with grilled pork), plus a pate chaud and some goi cuon. The pate chaud and goi cuon were only so-so, but I thought the banh mi was great, and my 3 year old son devoured half of it ( I removed the jalapeno).
Lela’s Bistro - After visiting Washington Park and the rose garden. I was super underwhelmed with everything, except the fried egg rolls which I thought were great!
Ba Mee Thai Noodle House - We dined at the restaurant for this meal, and it was tasty. Had khao soi, kao man gai, and another dry noodle dish w/ meat and fish cakes. All good, food is a bit heavy. Kids loved the kao man gai.
Sichuan City in Happy Valley - We got takeout w/ our friends who live in Milwaukee, this was our third time getting food here. Overall, it’s consistent and decent American Chinese Food (this is mainly what we order). They do have more typical Sichuan dishes but we haven’t tried much besides chili wontons, which are good. We like the braised tofu dish w/ veggies, made with fried egg tofu circles.
Shopping:
QFC North Tabor - Not too special, but convenient to our house.
Fred Meyer on Glisan – Very big! Maybe too big? The produce to non-produce ratio is depressing.
New Seasons Slabtown – Picked up some delicious tayberries, which I’d not tried before. I loved them.
WinCo at 82nd and Powell - Stocked up on a lot of pantry items here, and I definitely liked the prices for conventional groceries. Curious if other WinCo locations are substantially better/worse than this one.
Vancouver Farmer’s Market – Lovely atmosphere w/ central playground and all the closed-off streets. Sampled and bought some amazing cherries and raspberries. Went here because I met up with a friend who lives in Vancouver.
Hong Phat Supercenter – It’s very spacious, but doesn’t seem to be much better or have more than other smaller places (such as the other Hong Phat). Stocked up on pantry items, like oyster and fish sauce.
Overall, a great first week of food in Portland. Where should we try next!?
Dave MP
HMart in Belmont – I liked the selection of ready-to-eat items like kimbap and musubi. Also picked up some pantry items here. My son and I also got an oatmeal cookie (double chocolate flavor) from Nate’s Oatmeal Cookies. They were very nice there but that cookie was nothing special at all.
