![]() This fusion food stand pairs American BBQ (I had beef short rib) with Korean flavours like kimchi and gochujang sauce… talk about an umami bomb! /kjgpdx Portland’s Best Ramen I tried a few different options, my favourite being the bibimbap bowl from Kim Jong Grillin’. Think quality over quantity: there aren’t dozens of food stands, but those that Pine Street Market offers are some of the very best. Pine Street Market – Portland’s smaller, less jam-packed answer to Amsterdam’s Foodhallen is Pine Street Market: an indoor food court in the heart of downtown. I’m pretty sure they serve other stuff too, but once you’ve eaten their tacos it’s hard to order anything else. Tehuana Oaxacan Cuisine (nope, I don’t know how to pronounce it either) does a great line in soft, plump, spicy tacos filled with everything from pulled pork to fried shrimp. Killingsworth Station – Another food cart mission, this time to the taco truck at Killingsworth Station. Matt’s BBQ (the famous brisket!) at Mississippi Marketplace ![]() The moral of it, though: people who love BBQ are awesome. I even got a lift afterwards from a friendly fellow BBQ-eating Portlander – but that’s a story for another time. I tried his brisket and it was blissful: the bark, the smoke ring, the fat, the flavour… all present and correct. Reputed to serve the best Texas-style BBQ in Portland (I wouldn’t know, but it was darn good), Matt’s only recently moved to this location, which was dangerously close to where I was staying. Mississippi Marketplace – I went to the Mississippi Marketplace food cart pod with one mission in mind: Matt’s BBQ. They’re so popular, you’ll even spot food carts at the airport! Portland is food truck heaven – wherever you are in the city, you’re bound to see a little cluster of them serving up cheap eats at all hours of the day. The tacos (50 cents off) were excellent too: I particularly loved the camarones (shrimp taco) and the barbacoa (pulled beef taco). I tried their mezcal margarita ($1.50 off!) which was strong, smoky and spicy – just the way I like ‘em. Por Qué No? – Why not indeed! As well as a daily Happy Hour (3-6 pm), this Mexican taqueria also offers an extended version on Taco Tuesdays from 3 pm till closing. (It was my first day and my body had zero clue what time it was – that’s my excuse.) I had a polenta dish with sausage, melted cheese and a fried egg – perfect modern comfort food that went great with Tasty’s spicy Bloody Mary. Tasty & Sons – Known for their brunch, Tasty offers breakfast-y dishes in the afternoon for rock-bottom rates. Result! Happy Hour at Life of Pie – margarita pizzas for $5! Beers and house wines are $4 each, and Happy Hour lasts from 11 am till 6 pm. You can’t say fairer than that for less than the price of a Starbucks. Life of Pie – Margarita pizza for $5? Hell yeah! Life of Pie even makes their own mozzarella and bakes their pizzas in a wood-fired oven. Rather misleadingly, Happy “Hours” generally seem to last half the day in Portland at the very least, they’ll generally offer you a dollar off drinks, but many go much further. On your travels and want to use this article offline with GPS-guided navigation? Download the travel guide app via GPSm圜ity! Portland’s Happy Hours The sheer quantity of independent restaurants, bars, breweries and coffeehouses (there’s barely a chain in sight) guarantees a level of competition that results in high quality and affordable prices. But if you happen to be on the other side of town, never fear – I’d venture to guess it’s pretty hard to go wrong when it comes to eating and drinking in Portland. I was staying near North Mississippi Avenue, which means a predominance of my picks are in the North/Northeast neighbourhoods of Portland. I’ve split this Portland Food Guide up into a number of bite-sized sections – there’s no particular rhyme or reason to them other than as a way to categorise what I consumed. ![]() If you’re on holiday (especially if you have European jetlag), you can easily bar-hop your way through an entire afternoon just by hitting the Happy Hours. A huge number of Portland’s restaurants also offer Happy Hours – some of which run from midday till as late as 7 pm – during which you can score hefty discounts on a smaller menu of food and drinks. Not least because the food truck scene here is HUGE – Portland is home to dozens of so-called food cart pods throughout the city, where you can eat spectacularly for around €10. Of course, you can go out and spend a lot of money (especially if you drink wine) but the city does cheap eats particularly well. ![]() The Portlanders (not Portlandians, as I kept calling them) have made fantastic food fantastically affordable. ![]()
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