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Muk neung ma nao, a steamed squid dish, served at the Chef in Vancouver, Washington.
Muk neung ma nao, or Thai steamed squid, from the Chef.
Brooke Jackson-Glidden/Eater Portland

Where to Find Stunning Thai Food in Portland and the Surrounding Suburbs

Where to find the best khao soi, larb, pad kee mao, and more

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Muk neung ma nao, or Thai steamed squid, from the Chef.
| Brooke Jackson-Glidden/Eater Portland

Portland has one of the best Thai food scenes in the nation, and it’s no secret, with the New York Times singling out Portland and Los Angeles as the leaders of America’s Thai food renaissance. From chef Akkapong Earl Ninsom’s regional and, at times, historical takes on Thai cooking at Langbaan, to Nong Poonsukwattana’s simple and spectacular khao man gai, the Thai chefs in Portland have developed celebrity status, selling sauces in grocery stores and developing restaurant empires. Portland’s Thai scene is more than its big names, however; the city and its surrounding suburbs are home to plenty of spectacular strip-mall spots churning out bright piles of som tum and comforting bowls of boat noodles, as well as glitzy restaurants offering inventive takes on Thai standards. These are the must-visit Thai restaurants to visit for in-person dining, takeout, and delivery.

Note: Health experts consider dining out to be a high-risk activity for the unvaccinated; it may pose a risk for the vaccinated, especially in areas with substantial COVID transmission.

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Khamdee

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This Beaverton Thai restaurant is named for the owners’ father, who still lives in Northern Thailand and provided the family recipes for the restaurant. Criminally underrated, Khamdee serves many of its soups in hotpot vessels, overflowing with seafood and meat, depending on the base — the Khamdee More Fire is rich with stewed beef and pork livers, while the seafood tom yum is abundant with mussels, shrimp, and squid. The restaurant also serves two versions of khao soi: One beautifully executed beef version, in which the beef simmers in the coconut curry broth until tender, and a dry version, khao soi haeng, with a small cup of the broth on the side of sauce-tossed noodles. Keep an eye out for specials, which are almost always worth an order.

Langbaan

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Within his Northwest 23rd restaurant Phuket Cafe, lauded Portland restaurateur Akkapong Earl Ninsom now houses the outstanding Thai supper club Langbaan, which previously hid in a back room behind a bookcase at his other restaurant, Paadee. Menus change frequently, pulling inspiration from historic menus and regions of Thailand. That being said, a few of its greatest hits remain on the menu year-round, including the miang som, dots of cara cara jewels and shrimp sitting on a betel leaf with fish sauce caramel, or the kanom krok, Hokkaido scallop swimming in a coconut cream sauce within a crispy rice cup. The full tasting menu is $125 per person, plus gratuity, with reservations available via Resy.

Goose Hollow neighbors regularly pick up weeknight takeout orders of duck curry and pad see ew from this Southwest 18th Thai restaurant, as they have for years. The menu also includes a fewer harder-to-find dishes, like the rice dish khao khluk kapi or the cumin and turmeric-noted pong karee. Visitors will be rewarded for exploring the seasonal specials menu, where they’ll find things like spring-y coconut lime asparagus salad or autumnal stir-fried kabocha squash.

Somtum Thai Kitchen

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It’s not hard to find Isan staples like larb and papaya salad in the city, but Somtum Thai Kitchen, which opened on the Portland State University campus in 2021, showcases lesser seen Northeastern Thai dishes like tub waan, a salad of hot and sour pork livers tossed with herbs, and vegetable soups like gaeng om gai that incorporate pumpkin and roasted rice powder. Of course, chef Sirapob Chaiprathum also makes many versions of the namesake dish, some that pair shredded papaya with fermented fish sauce and field crabs, as well as others that add salted duck egg and cherry tomatoes. And now that the restaurant is open until 2 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, it may be one of the strongest late-night dining options in Portland.

Siam Umami

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This South Corbett Thai restaurant specializes in what’s known as “royal Thai cuisine,” including intricately folded dumplings and cracker cups filled with sauteed vegetables. Many dishes at Siam Umami are ones distinct to the restaurant — spicy tamarind salmon with shaved zucchini, for instance. The highlights include violet-hued chor muang, dumplings stuffed with ground pork and peanuts, and the coconut-water-braised pork belly, paired with a swirl of coconut-whipped potatoes.

Mee Sen Thai Eatery

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A quick stroll down Mississippi will reveal Mee Sen, a casual restaurant with plenty of seasonal patio space out front and a cozy wood-paneled interior. Here, meals start with char-grilled meats on skewers alongside tamarind-laced cocktails, followed by Thai salads like the glass noodle yum woon sen. The best move is to get one of the restaurant’s customizable soup options, which come with a choice of noodle and deeply exuberant and acidic broths.

Ba Mee Thai Noodle House

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This window-lined Thai restaurant on North Williams specializes in its house-made egg, wheat, and rice flour noodles, available in soups or topped with roast duck. You’ll find them in standbys like tom yum and khao soi, but the house noodle soup — a delicate broth fragrant with garlic — is a good place to start. Be sure to add a few house-made wontons to any bowl.

A bowl of house-made noodles and broth arrives with roast duck and wontons at Ba Mee in Portland, Oregon.
Wonton noodle soup from Ba Mee.
Brooke Jackson-Glidden/Eater Portland

Nong's Khao Man Gai

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One of Portland’s iconic chefs, owner Nong Poonsukwattana is a Bangkok native who arrived in America with $70 in her pocket and somehow still managed to open a food cart in 2009. The khao man gai is the thing to order, a deceptively simple dish of poached free-range Mary’s chicken, flavorful broth, aromatic jasmine rice, and its ginger-y sauce. Pros know to order their KMG with livers and crispy-fried skins, but going classic certainly doesn’t hurt. While the food cart has closed, there are now restaurant locations in downtown and inner Southeast, both with onsite seating, takeout, and delivery.

Hat Yai

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Inspired by traditional fried chicken from Southern Thailand, Akkapong Earl Ninsom and Alan Akwai’s truly unforgettable shallot-fried thighs and drumsticks are the things of local legend, thanks to a coating of rice flour, peppercorns, and fried shallots. Locals know to get the combo with the dippable curry and roti, though sleeper hits like the restaurant’s wicked-spicy Southern Thai ground pork are worthy add-ons. Both the Belmont and Killingsworth locations are open for onsite dining, delivery, and takeout.

Pictures of several trays of chicken, curry, and roti at Hat Yai, with a pair of hands holding ripped pieces of roti.
Fried chicken and roti at Hat Yai.
Christine Dong

Rukdiew Cafe

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This millennial pink Thai restaurant, serving pomegranate-lychee juice alongside bowls of pineapple fried rice and boat noodles, is far more than its aesthetics: The dishes here are dialed-in interpretations of Thai standards like saucy kana moo grob with hunks of pork belly, or guay tiew tom yum, a sour-savory noodle soup piled high with springy fish meatballs and ground pork. The restaurant’s khao soi may be one of the best in town, bolstered with chiles and aromatics.

Akkapong Earl Ninsom’s Paadee puts the spotlight on regional Thai comfort food and Isan food, including its Northeastern Thai plates and fleet of larbs. The dining room here is stylish and warm and great for a date; still, when it comes to Thai takeout, Paadee offers some of the city’s best, with things like exceptional som tum dotted with dried shrimp, the saucy-sweet eggplant dish pad makhua, and the must-order at the restaurant at any given time, its tangy, porky noodle soup, ba mhee phitsanulok. It’d be criminal to skip the restaurant’s mango sticky rice, when it’s in season.

A white bowl of Ba Mhee “Pitsanulok,” a noodle soup with meatballs, pork, and chunks of chicken. The bowl is served on a wooden table with a black spoon, with dots of crushed peanuts in the broth.
Ba Mhee “Pitsanulok” at Paadee.
Nick Woo/Eater Portland

Khao Moo Dang

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As a kid growing up in Bangkok, Thai Peacock owner Chookiat “Ham” Saenguraiporn had nostalgic memories of the namesake dish at Khao Moo Dang. This simply adorned counter service spot combines thinly sliced five spice pork, crispy belly, boiled egg, rice, and Chinese sausage, topping them with a fragrant sauce. The result is savory and sweet, tender and crunchy, all while being satisfyingly comforting. The menu has since expanded to include a wide variety of stellar soups, from wonton tom yum to tom kha loaded with pork loin and belly; it’s incredibly difficult to go wrong here.

An overhead picture of Khao Moo Dang, a dish of pork belly, five-spice pork, boiled egg, rice, and Chinese sausage with pickles on the side. The dish comes smothered in a sweet red sauce.
Khao Moo Dang.
Nick Woo/Eater Portland

Nakhon Sawan Thai Restaurant

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This Richmond Thai restaurant has all of the classics covered, but it also features little twists like the photo-worthy tom yum made with blue butterfly pea flower noodles and salads featuring fried chicken chunks or sliced pork, as well as the pad kee mao, which can be made with spaghetti in lieu of the traditional wide rice noodles. The tender grilled duck over rice or egg noodles is a standout that nods to the Chinese culinary influence in Thai cooking.

Chick & Pig Thai Street Food

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Working out of this unassuming cart in a Woodstock gas station parking lot, chef Mana Duangphumma, along with co-owners Sureerat and Jaturong Piraban, serve street food-style barbecued pork and chicken on skewers alongside bubble teas, as well as fried chicken smothered in well-known curries, complexly flavored papaya or mushroom salads, and other inventive dishes. Take your food to the nearby Woodstock Park on a nice day for a picnic.

Thai Avenue

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This Foster-Powell Thai restaurant serves well-executed takeout standbys like curries, pad kee mow, and tom kha; however, the menu has a few surprises within its depths, like the khao kha moo, tender braised pork over rice with pickled mustard greens for acidity. The wonton soup here, loaded with barbecue pork, also arrives with hand-made pork and shrimp wontons.

Yaowarat

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Yet another Thai restaurant within Akkapong Earl Ninsom’s larger Thai culinary canon, Yaowarat celebrates the neighborhood for which it’s named — Bangkok’s Chinatown. Here, Thai and Chinese flavors overlap: A single table may support bowls of gently spiced mapo tofu and a crispy noodle-topped rad na; wonton-looking bean curd dumplings bunch together for a crispy contrast to the the shrimp-filled parcels. For dessert, the toasted buns, served with cups of pandan and Thai tea custards, are a must.

Lily Market

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For anyone who loves the ability to get Thai and Lao takeout while also stocking their pantry with Asian goods, Gateway’s Lily Market is a must-visit hybrid operation. Visit the deli counter near the Halsey Street entrance for a rotating selection of steam tray curries, stir-fries, and grilled Thai sausages. The deli’s funky Lao papaya salad, fresh salad rolls, or rice-based sweets are all strong orders.

The Chef Thai Cuisine

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Tucked into a suburban plaza, the Chef Thai Cuisine adds to the diversity of dining options within the stretch of Vancouver’s Mill Plain Boulevard — pho, Sichuan, and sushi businesses are neighbors. In this modern-yet-approachable restaurant, expect to find familiar fried rice variations, stir fries, and curries, but be on the lookout for other dishes that would be difficult to find stateside Seafood options shift regularly, but will range from roe-filled squid bright with lime to yum puu maa, raw blue crab with shredded green mango. Alternatively, the tom leng is an Isan-style braised pork spare rib soup — hot and sour, and brightly colored green thanks to a heaping amount of cilantro, makrut lime leaves, and lemongrass.

Sa Bai Thai Cuisine

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This strip mall Thai restaurant is a neighborhood favorite for the classics: takeout dinners of saucy pad kee mao, extra-large salad rolls, bright papaya salad, and a handful of curries. For those seeking something a little different from the standards, the restaurant’s red duck curry, pairing smoked duck with pineapple, is a worthy diversion.

Khamdee

This Beaverton Thai restaurant is named for the owners’ father, who still lives in Northern Thailand and provided the family recipes for the restaurant. Criminally underrated, Khamdee serves many of its soups in hotpot vessels, overflowing with seafood and meat, depending on the base — the Khamdee More Fire is rich with stewed beef and pork livers, while the seafood tom yum is abundant with mussels, shrimp, and squid. The restaurant also serves two versions of khao soi: One beautifully executed beef version, in which the beef simmers in the coconut curry broth until tender, and a dry version, khao soi haeng, with a small cup of the broth on the side of sauce-tossed noodles. Keep an eye out for specials, which are almost always worth an order.

Langbaan

Within his Northwest 23rd restaurant Phuket Cafe, lauded Portland restaurateur Akkapong Earl Ninsom now houses the outstanding Thai supper club Langbaan, which previously hid in a back room behind a bookcase at his other restaurant, Paadee. Menus change frequently, pulling inspiration from historic menus and regions of Thailand. That being said, a few of its greatest hits remain on the menu year-round, including the miang som, dots of cara cara jewels and shrimp sitting on a betel leaf with fish sauce caramel, or the kanom krok, Hokkaido scallop swimming in a coconut cream sauce within a crispy rice cup. The full tasting menu is $125 per person, plus gratuity, with reservations available via Resy.

Kinara

Goose Hollow neighbors regularly pick up weeknight takeout orders of duck curry and pad see ew from this Southwest 18th Thai restaurant, as they have for years. The menu also includes a fewer harder-to-find dishes, like the rice dish khao khluk kapi or the cumin and turmeric-noted pong karee. Visitors will be rewarded for exploring the seasonal specials menu, where they’ll find things like spring-y coconut lime asparagus salad or autumnal stir-fried kabocha squash.

Somtum Thai Kitchen

It’s not hard to find Isan staples like larb and papaya salad in the city, but Somtum Thai Kitchen, which opened on the Portland State University campus in 2021, showcases lesser seen Northeastern Thai dishes like tub waan, a salad of hot and sour pork livers tossed with herbs, and vegetable soups like gaeng om gai that incorporate pumpkin and roasted rice powder. Of course, chef Sirapob Chaiprathum also makes many versions of the namesake dish, some that pair shredded papaya with fermented fish sauce and field crabs, as well as others that add salted duck egg and cherry tomatoes. And now that the restaurant is open until 2 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, it may be one of the strongest late-night dining options in Portland.

Siam Umami

This South Corbett Thai restaurant specializes in what’s known as “royal Thai cuisine,” including intricately folded dumplings and cracker cups filled with sauteed vegetables. Many dishes at Siam Umami are ones distinct to the restaurant — spicy tamarind salmon with shaved zucchini, for instance. The highlights include violet-hued chor muang, dumplings stuffed with ground pork and peanuts, and the coconut-water-braised pork belly, paired with a swirl of coconut-whipped potatoes.

Mee Sen Thai Eatery

A quick stroll down Mississippi will reveal Mee Sen, a casual restaurant with plenty of seasonal patio space out front and a cozy wood-paneled interior. Here, meals start with char-grilled meats on skewers alongside tamarind-laced cocktails, followed by Thai salads like the glass noodle yum woon sen. The best move is to get one of the restaurant’s customizable soup options, which come with a choice of noodle and deeply exuberant and acidic broths.

Ba Mee Thai Noodle House

This window-lined Thai restaurant on North Williams specializes in its house-made egg, wheat, and rice flour noodles, available in soups or topped with roast duck. You’ll find them in standbys like tom yum and khao soi, but the house noodle soup — a delicate broth fragrant with garlic — is a good place to start. Be sure to add a few house-made wontons to any bowl.

A bowl of house-made noodles and broth arrives with roast duck and wontons at Ba Mee in Portland, Oregon.
Wonton noodle soup from Ba Mee.
Brooke Jackson-Glidden/Eater Portland

Nong's Khao Man Gai

One of Portland’s iconic chefs, owner Nong Poonsukwattana is a Bangkok native who arrived in America with $70 in her pocket and somehow still managed to open a food cart in 2009. The khao man gai is the thing to order, a deceptively simple dish of poached free-range Mary’s chicken, flavorful broth, aromatic jasmine rice, and its ginger-y sauce. Pros know to order their KMG with livers and crispy-fried skins, but going classic certainly doesn’t hurt. While the food cart has closed, there are now restaurant locations in downtown and inner Southeast, both with onsite seating, takeout, and delivery.

Hat Yai

Inspired by traditional fried chicken from Southern Thailand, Akkapong Earl Ninsom and Alan Akwai’s truly unforgettable shallot-fried thighs and drumsticks are the things of local legend, thanks to a coating of rice flour, peppercorns, and fried shallots. Locals know to get the combo with the dippable curry and roti, though sleeper hits like the restaurant’s wicked-spicy Southern Thai ground pork are worthy add-ons. Both the Belmont and Killingsworth locations are open for onsite dining, delivery, and takeout.

Pictures of several trays of chicken, curry, and roti at Hat Yai, with a pair of hands holding ripped pieces of roti.
Fried chicken and roti at Hat Yai.
Christine Dong

Rukdiew Cafe

This millennial pink Thai restaurant, serving pomegranate-lychee juice alongside bowls of pineapple fried rice and boat noodles, is far more than its aesthetics: The dishes here are dialed-in interpretations of Thai standards like saucy kana moo grob with hunks of pork belly, or guay tiew tom yum, a sour-savory noodle soup piled high with springy fish meatballs and ground pork. The restaurant’s khao soi may be one of the best in town, bolstered with chiles and aromatics.

Paadee

Akkapong Earl Ninsom’s Paadee puts the spotlight on regional Thai comfort food and Isan food, including its Northeastern Thai plates and fleet of larbs. The dining room here is stylish and warm and great for a date; still, when it comes to Thai takeout, Paadee offers some of the city’s best, with things like exceptional som tum dotted with dried shrimp, the saucy-sweet eggplant dish pad makhua, and the must-order at the restaurant at any given time, its tangy, porky noodle soup, ba mhee phitsanulok. It’d be criminal to skip the restaurant’s mango sticky rice, when it’s in season.

A white bowl of Ba Mhee “Pitsanulok,” a noodle soup with meatballs, pork, and chunks of chicken. The bowl is served on a wooden table with a black spoon, with dots of crushed peanuts in the broth.
Ba Mhee “Pitsanulok” at Paadee.
Nick Woo/Eater Portland

Khao Moo Dang

As a kid growing up in Bangkok, Thai Peacock owner Chookiat “Ham” Saenguraiporn had nostalgic memories of the namesake dish at Khao Moo Dang. This simply adorned counter service spot combines thinly sliced five spice pork, crispy belly, boiled egg, rice, and Chinese sausage, topping them with a fragrant sauce. The result is savory and sweet, tender and crunchy, all while being satisfyingly comforting. The menu has since expanded to include a wide variety of stellar soups, from wonton tom yum to tom kha loaded with pork loin and belly; it’s incredibly difficult to go wrong here.

An overhead picture of Khao Moo Dang, a dish of pork belly, five-spice pork, boiled egg, rice, and Chinese sausage with pickles on the side. The dish comes smothered in a sweet red sauce.
Khao Moo Dang.
Nick Woo/Eater Portland

Nakhon Sawan Thai Restaurant

This Richmond Thai restaurant has all of the classics covered, but it also features little twists like the photo-worthy tom yum made with blue butterfly pea flower noodles and salads featuring fried chicken chunks or sliced pork, as well as the pad kee mao, which can be made with spaghetti in lieu of the traditional wide rice noodles. The tender grilled duck over rice or egg noodles is a standout that nods to the Chinese culinary influence in Thai cooking.

Chick & Pig Thai Street Food

Working out of this unassuming cart in a Woodstock gas station parking lot, chef Mana Duangphumma, along with co-owners Sureerat and Jaturong Piraban, serve street food-style barbecued pork and chicken on skewers alongside bubble teas, as well as fried chicken smothered in well-known curries, complexly flavored papaya or mushroom salads, and other inventive dishes. Take your food to the nearby Woodstock Park on a nice day for a picnic.

Thai Avenue

This Foster-Powell Thai restaurant serves well-executed takeout standbys like curries, pad kee mow, and tom kha; however, the menu has a few surprises within its depths, like the khao kha moo, tender braised pork over rice with pickled mustard greens for acidity. The wonton soup here, loaded with barbecue pork, also arrives with hand-made pork and shrimp wontons.

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Yaowarat

Yet another Thai restaurant within Akkapong Earl Ninsom’s larger Thai culinary canon, Yaowarat celebrates the neighborhood for which it’s named — Bangkok’s Chinatown. Here, Thai and Chinese flavors overlap: A single table may support bowls of gently spiced mapo tofu and a crispy noodle-topped rad na; wonton-looking bean curd dumplings bunch together for a crispy contrast to the the shrimp-filled parcels. For dessert, the toasted buns, served with cups of pandan and Thai tea custards, are a must.

Lily Market

For anyone who loves the ability to get Thai and Lao takeout while also stocking their pantry with Asian goods, Gateway’s Lily Market is a must-visit hybrid operation. Visit the deli counter near the Halsey Street entrance for a rotating selection of steam tray curries, stir-fries, and grilled Thai sausages. The deli’s funky Lao papaya salad, fresh salad rolls, or rice-based sweets are all strong orders.

The Chef Thai Cuisine

Tucked into a suburban plaza, the Chef Thai Cuisine adds to the diversity of dining options within the stretch of Vancouver’s Mill Plain Boulevard — pho, Sichuan, and sushi businesses are neighbors. In this modern-yet-approachable restaurant, expect to find familiar fried rice variations, stir fries, and curries, but be on the lookout for other dishes that would be difficult to find stateside Seafood options shift regularly, but will range from roe-filled squid bright with lime to yum puu maa, raw blue crab with shredded green mango. Alternatively, the tom leng is an Isan-style braised pork spare rib soup — hot and sour, and brightly colored green thanks to a heaping amount of cilantro, makrut lime leaves, and lemongrass.

Sa Bai Thai Cuisine

This strip mall Thai restaurant is a neighborhood favorite for the classics: takeout dinners of saucy pad kee mao, extra-large salad rolls, bright papaya salad, and a handful of curries. For those seeking something a little different from the standards, the restaurant’s red duck curry, pairing smoked duck with pineapple, is a worthy diversion.

Related Maps