Top 10 Portland Restaurants – September 2016

My Top 10 Portland Restaurants along with my next 15 for September 2016

This is the first update to my Top 10 Portland restaurants list since it was originally published in March. It’s the only local list that’s immune from p.r. and advertising pressures and is actually written by someone who’s lived in Portland forever, has been eating out almost nightly for 20 years (if you know me, you can tell {sigh}) and who travels extensively to sample all that’s out there beyond Portland city limits. In other words, the standards underlying the list are honesty, integrity and perspective.

This is not to say I’m unbiased. I am freak for big bold flavors and especially appreciate the tastes, textures and ingredients from around Asia. All other things being equal, I don’t like food TV “stars” and the inflated egos that tend go with them. Nor will I be promoting the restaurants of the (few) truly odious characters in the business. I haven’t consumed alcohol in more than 20 years, so even if your favorite bar happens to sling some decent hash, I still might not have made it in.

As I wrote originally, these lists (the Top 10 and Next 15) are a snapshot in time. My favorite places change with new openings, the carousel of the seasons and evolving experience. If you don’t agree with me, fine. Go where ever you want. Leave a nasty comment if it makes you feel better. Won’t bother me. Any list like this is, after all, fundamentally subjective. If the list serves as a relatively reliable resource for locals and visitors to map out their Portland meals, I will consider my mission accomplished.

You’ll find a map at the bottom of this page.

Top 10, in no particular order:

1. Ox: Still taur-ific! Grilled meat meets hearty standards and unsurpassed seasonal creativity.
2. Aviary: Sarah Pliner’s boundary-less cuisine is best in class, yet often overlooked. Each dish is carefully conceived and scrupulously executed by Pliner herself.
3. St. Jack/La Moule: Westside, eastside, all around the town. The NW Portland location’s signature romp through the French countryside has proven infectious, supplementing the mussel/frites focus at the younger SE sibling.
4. Ataula/Chesa: Another high-rolling tandem, this one inspired by the contemporary kitchens of Spain’s Mediterranean coast. Infinitely creative modern and classic tapas are the foundation at Ataula, multiple iterations of paella fill the same role at Chesa.
5. Nodoguro: Finally settled into a storied restaurant space, Ryan Roadhouse has room to fully express his precision handling and presentation of best-quality raw fish.
6. Apizza Scholls: The Everest of Portland pizza. There is no K2.
7. Castagna: Elegant dining barely registers on Portland’s culinary seismograph. At least we have Justin Woodward, a celebrant of both local ingredients and technical innovation. White tablecloths and doting service complete the scene.

   

8. Coquine: “Once in awhile you get shown the light in the strangest of places if you look at it right.” Chef Katy Millard delivers consistently brilliant yet humble dishes in her Mt. Tabor hotspot which, at first glance, might be confused with a simple neighborhood café.
9. Lardo/Grassa: East coast fine dining chef moves west and goes native with ultra-casual sandwich and pasta shops. Fun, well-thought out and meticulously executed offerings are Rick Gencarelli’s calling card.
10. Biwa/Noraneko: The highest expressions of casual Japanese dining, from bubbling broths to sparkling sashimi to peerless kara age, are to be found at these close-in Southeast siblings. Word on the street is that Biwa is due for a serious update/refresh.

The Next 15, in no particular order:

11. Kachka: The hearty Russian dishes here aren’t just trend-driven concept, but the evolution of a family tradition. The attraction grows as the weather turns cool and damp.
12. Little Bird/Le Pigeon: Sorta French, kinda crazy, these are the dual outlets for Gabriel Rucker’s culinary effervescence.
13. Podnah’s: If Podnah’s was open anywhere in the Lone Star state, the barbecue obsessed would be lining up in the scorching sun for Rodney Muirhead’s Texas-style smoke-smooched brisket and lamb ribs.
14. Smallwares: Jo Ware’s quasi-Asian funhouse is where kale is magically transformed into an edible substance. Yet, it’s shutting down in a couple of weeks. The listing here (until the next update) is a tribute…and an indictment of shallow Portland palates.
15. Pho Oregon: Go for the pho, stay to sample from all the other corners of the long menu of Vietnamese delights.
16. The Original Pancake House (on SW Barbur Blvd.): This is a real breakfast restaurant serving dozens of types of pancakes and appetite-busting omelets, not some dainty hipster-ish café with missing vowels or space cadet service.
17. Toro Bravo/The Tastys/Mediterranean Exploration Co./Pollo Bravo/Shalom Y’all: John Gorham has the value equation dialed in better than any other Portland operator. Despite rapid growth and the accompanying pains, Gorham still cares deeply about keeping the customer satisfied.
18. Pok Pok: With far-flung interests around the US and Thailand, it’s hard to imagine Andy Ricker is as engaged locally as he once was, but the fan worship at the SE Division Street flagship bespeaks its continuing transcendence.
19. Holdfast: Will Preisch and Joel Stocks are a rare duo. They prepare and serve delightful modernist-leaning multicourse tasting menus to engaged eaters (cajoling them re-use their silverware), weave entertaining tales and still seem to enjoy working in creative tandem
20. Mucca Osteria: The best Italian food in Portland despite failing to appear as even a blip on the trendoid radar.
21. Mi Mero Mole: If my friend Nick Zukin deleted all his social media accounts and stuck to crafting his deeply flavored guisados—stewed meat or vegetable fillings for tacos, burritos or quesadillas–the lines at his places would be never-ending.
22. Taylor Railworks: Combining ingredients of the moment in ways that don’t occur to us mere mortals is Chef Erik Van Kley’s calling card.
23. Mae: Don’t care for southern food? Sick of pop-ups? Go here anyway for Maya Lovelace’s homespun specialties and engaging tales of family foodways.
24. Top shops in transition: Roe, the Portlander’s Le Bernardin, has escaped SE Division’s urban planning nightmare for a future location near downtown; and Nomad, the previously unsettled outpost of modernist whimsy from chefs Ryan Fox and Ali Matteis is finally set to lay down roots on NE 24^th just off Sandy Blvd.
25. Newbies with the right stuff: Revelry (contemp Korean lounge); Han Oak (minimalist Korean); Hat Yai (order-at-the-counter southern Thai); SuperBite (hearty American flavors); Poke Mon (Hawaiian-style marinated raw fish on rice).

Here is a map. The red icons are the top ten choices.