To me, Portland is the best food city of its size in America. I’ve been eating here for years, and the mid-aughts spirit of invention, variety and excellence driven by restaurants like Beast, Pok Pok and Le Pigeon — not to mention the food cart and truck boom — is still apparent in the food scene today.
The variety of kitchens operating at a consistently high level makes a list of the 25 best restaurants in Portland a challenge, and a joy, to maintain. You can find some of the country’s best Thai food at Langbaan, Korean dinner party vibes at Han Oak, dynamically spiced modern Haitian cooking at Kann and — after nearly 20 years — a slightly punk rock foie-forward tasting menu at Le Pigeon — just to name a few.
So, we update the list every so often to reflect the breadth of what’s on offer in Stumptown (and to reflect closures, like the unfortunate, but temporary one at Ringside, because of a fire.) The two recent additions are a study in contrasts, particularly on a subject that made some news last week: meat in high-end dining.
They actually have the meats
As you might suspect, Ox is on the pro side of the ledger, a live-fire homage to Argentine cooking in the Pacific Northwest. The chefs Greg Denton and Gabrielle Quiñónez Denton, partners in restaurants and in life, opened this local mainstay in 2012. Needless to say, meat is the move here. I like the Asado Argentino, a mixed grill monument of short rib, house chorizo and morcilla sausages, skirt steak and sweetbreads all on one plate. The clam chowder is also raved about, with good reason: A creamy, smoky broth (made with bacon, of course), it has both whole clams and a smoked marrow bone bobbing around in it. A half dozen oysters on the half shell are the perfect briny counterpoint to the meaty mains.
2225 Northeast Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, Eliot
And they’ve got the vegetables
On the other side of the omnivore’s dilemma is Astera, a meticulous, vegan tasting menu spot with just 18 seats. If you snag a seat at the chef’s counter, Aaron Adams will be your guide and server. His menu is constantly changing, so a dish you have one night may never be seen again. My June visit had no misses, but some standouts included beets marinated in housemade koji, rolled in spices and grilled over charcoal; and almost-too-pretty-to-eat kohlrabi custard, served with nasturtium leaves, sugar snap peas, green garlic purée and an intricate onion tuille. Best of all, there was no meat mimicry on the menu; everything is allowed to be the best version of its veggie self.
1407 Southeast Belmont Street, Buckman
For your itinerary
Whenever I’m in town, I stop by Monograph Bookwerks in the Alberta neighborhood. This tiny shop specializes in new and used art books, but you can pass quite a bit of time browsing the selection of ephemera like vintage concert fliers. Staying on the books beat, cross the street to step into Vivienne, a charming cookbook emporium. Both are just up the street from the delicious Indonesian restaurant Pasar, one of our 25 best picks, which serves a great lunch on the weekends (and dinner the rest of the week).
I also always make sure to grab a martini by the window at the Portland City Grill in the famed “Big Pink” building. It’s not new, it’s not hip, but the view of the Willamette River and Mount Hood still can’t be beat for a late summer interlude during the golden hour.
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