1Magna
Chef Carlo Lamagna dispatches modern takes on his family’s Filipino recipes, pancit to soulful, vinegar-tanged pork adobo, in a snug Clinton chamber soundtracked by the crackle-chomp of diners munching fresh-fried pork skin chicharron and debating how chef’s sinigang measures up to Mom’s puckery tamarind-broth mussels. Be warned, service is still shaking out and waits can stretch over an hour on some nights. 2525 SE Clinton St
2Burmese Delight
This is the year Burmese food finally arrived in Portland, with three (three!) new operations brandishing the herby, salty-and-savory cuisine of Myanmar. Head to this yellow cart in the Asylum pod for ohno-kauk-swe—“coconut chicken noodles”—the city’s best traditional version of this rich, creamy, slightly fishy noodle soup. Pro tip: garnish liberally with crushed chiles and lime. 1080 SE Madison St, burmesedelightpdx.com
3Burmese Delight
This is the year Burmese food finally arrived in Portland, with three (three!) new operations brandishing the herby, salty-and-savory cuisine of Myanmar. Head to this yellow cart in the Asylum pod for ohno-kauk-swe—“coconut chicken noodles”—the city’s best traditional version of this rich, creamy, slightly fishy noodle soup. Pro tip: garnish liberally with crushed chiles and lime. 1080 SE Madison St, burmesedelightpdx.com
4Soro Soro Coffee & Dessert
Back in 2006, before they married, Tae and Bobae Kim went on a date nearly every day for a year, visiting practically every coffee shop in Los Angeles. But, as they tell it, something was missing in LA coffee culture: “cute latte art and simple, Korean home-style interior.” So the Korean-born couple brought it there, and now to PDX, complete with bear-art matcha lattes, edible googly eyes darting from Earl Grey chocolate cake squares, cat art, and the year’s most talked about dish: cotton candy affogato. 2250 E Burnside St
5Soro Soro Coffee & Dessert
Back in 2006, before they married, Tae and Bobae Kim went on a date nearly every day for a year, visiting practically every coffee shop in Los Angeles. But, as they tell it, something was missing in LA coffee culture: “cute latte art and simple, Korean home-style interior.” So the Korean-born couple brought it there, and now to PDX, complete with bear-art matcha lattes, edible googly eyes darting from Earl Grey chocolate cake squares, cat art, and the year’s most talked about dish: cotton candy affogato. 2250 E Burnside St
6Magna
Chef Carlo Lamagna dispatches modern takes on his family’s Filipino recipes, pancit to soulful, vinegar-tanged pork adobo, in a snug Clinton chamber soundtracked by the crackle-chomp of diners munching fresh-fried pork skin chicharron and debating how chef’s sinigang measures up to Mom’s puckery tamarind-broth mussels. Be warned, service is still shaking out and waits can stretch over an hour on some nights. 2525 SE Clinton St
7Wajan
While Gado Gado slings wild Indonesian mashups, Feny Lim’s Laurelhurst kitchen hews closer to traditional tastes, with street foods and homey standards like spicy rendang beef served in a cheery room decorated with murals. Cold days call for a big bowl of her bubur ayam: thick rice porridge singing with turmeric and salty soy and adorned with shreds of chicken and rainbow, frill-edged krupuk crackers. 4611 E Burnside St
8Wajan
While Gado Gado slings wild Indonesian mashups, Feny Lim’s Laurelhurst kitchen hews closer to traditional tastes, with street foods and homey standards like spicy rendang beef served in a cheery room decorated with murals. Cold days call for a big bowl of her bubur ayam: thick rice porridge singing with turmeric and salty soy and adorned with shreds of chicken and rainbow, frill-edged krupuk crackers. 4611 E Burnside St
9Biba!
For years, Ed Sablan’s PDX 671 food cart lured locals to the tiny island territory of Guam with chopped chicken kelaguen and silky-salty corn and coconut milk soup. This summer his Chamoru cuisine got a permanent address in Cully, sharing space with Oakshire Brewing. Staffers will give you a friendly ribbing if you don’t know where Guam is on a map, but one bite of Sablan’s Oregon bay shrimp fritters, popping with sweet corn and peas, will reorient your food compass permanently. 5013 NE 42nd Ave
10Biba!
For years, Ed Sablan’s PDX 671 food cart lured locals to the tiny island territory of Guam with chopped chicken kelaguen and silky-salty corn and coconut milk soup. This summer his Chamoru cuisine got a permanent address in Cully, sharing space with Oakshire Brewing. Staffers will give you a friendly ribbing if you don’t know where Guam is on a map, but one bite of Sablan’s Oregon bay shrimp fritters, popping with sweet corn and peas, will reorient your food compass permanently. 5013 NE 42nd Ave
11Din Tai Fung
When this Taiwanese soup dumpling juggernaut planted its first Oregon flag at Washington Square, it changed suburban mall dining forever. Now foodies, expats, and mall walkers all flock for the global chain’s famed Shanghai-style xiao long bao, each folded with precisely 18 pleats. Confession: we’re also suckers for the less-than-authentic molten chocolate soup dumplings for dessert. Washington Square Mall, 9724 SW Washington Square Rd
12Din Tai Fung
When this Taiwanese soup dumpling juggernaut planted its first Oregon flag at Washington Square, it changed suburban mall dining forever. Now foodies, expats, and mall walkers all flock for the global chain’s famed Shanghai-style xiao long bao, each folded with precisely 18 pleats. Confession: we’re also suckers for the less-than-authentic molten chocolate soup dumplings for dessert. Washington Square Mall, 9724 SW Washington Square Rd
13Hak
This neighborhood Korean kitchen along NE Broadway delivers a fresh, small-batch lineup of shareable dishes, from killer house banchan and oniony beef croquettes to scallion pancakes popping with an aquarium’s worth of tender seafood bound in lacy batter. And it’s one of the few spots in Portland proper that stocks makgeolli, a thick, sweet Korean rice wine that swirls like creamy clouds with every sip. 914 NE Broadway
14Hak
This neighborhood Korean kitchen along NE Broadway delivers a fresh, small-batch lineup of shareable dishes, from killer house banchan and oniony beef croquettes to scallion pancakes popping with an aquarium’s worth of tender seafood bound in lacy batter. And it’s one of the few spots in Portland proper that stocks makgeolli, a thick, sweet Korean rice wine that swirls like creamy clouds with every sip. 914 NE Broadway
The wealth of genuine Asian flavors and fun approaches that animate the country’s best food cities has lagged in Portland. That’s changing. This year welcomed a taste of Korean coffeehouse culture, some world-famous Shanghai soup dumplings, and a wave of warm, boisterous neighborhood spots that often doubled as proud love notes to family recipes and cooking traditions that dot Asia and the Pacific Ocean. Local diners are more open, and chefs are responding. “We’re taking risks and being real,” says Ed Sablan, who cooks Chamoru cuisine, the indigenous foods of Guam, at his new digs inside a Northeast Portland beer hall. “Nobody is asking for french fries.”
Published in the Best Restaurants 2019 issue of Portland Monthly.
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