Nong's, The Best Food Cart in Portland

I am embarrassed to admit this, but I used to think street carts were "sketchy" and eating at one would most likely give me a terrible case of food poisoning.

I am very glad that my urban-uncle made me snap out of that delusion real quick.

 Line of hungry customers waiting outside Nong's

A few months ago this uncle told me that I HAD to eat a Nong's Khao Man Gai, which is in his opinion, the best street cart in Portland. All I needed was one recommendation from an enthusiastic street-cart-eater, and I was ready to try street food for the first time.

I had thought that this was only my uncle's best pick, but little did I know, this is also Portland's pick too! When standing in line with my father I asked him if he thought we were at the right place. A man standing behind us in the line that was almost comically longer than any other cart on the street, answered me instead. "Yes, this is the best street cart in Portland, hands down!"

 Street Cart Row on Alder Street

We smiled at him, and then I proceeded to ask my Dad another question. "So what should we get?". The overly-helpful man behind us answered me again, "Nong's only sells one thing. Just tell her how many you want."

What kind of restaurant only has one thing on the menu? But I am always up for a culinary adventure, so we stepped up to the counter and said "we'll have one please." Now you are probably wondering why we only ordered one. Honestly, I still wasn't sold at this point and we thought we would share one in case we didn't like "Khao Man Gai"...whatever that is!

When our name was called we were handed a neat little package, all tied up. We quickly ripped it open on a table outside Nong's. To our suprise it was chicken on top of white rice, with a few cucumber slices on the side. Didn't seem very glamorous to us. So, how did this simple dish capture hearts all over Portland?

The answer: the sauce! It is a tasty and slightly spicy combination of fermented soybean puree with garlic, ginger, and chili. But when we began to dig in we realized that the sauce isn't the only reason Portlanders love this meal. Nong uses local, free-range chicken that is incredibly moist and flavorful. Their menu explains that their chicken is cooked fresh every day in salt, sugar, garlic and ginger, and rice is cooked in chicken broth, ginger, garlic, shallots and galangar (which is similar to ginger).

Every order of Khao Man Gai is served with a small bowl of a simple clear soup with a few pieces of cooked vegetable in it to balance the meal and cleanse the palate. All of this for only $6! Or, if you want a larger portion ask for the "piset" meaning "special" in Thailand, which comes with larger portions of everything. Adding chicken liver is an option for $1 extra. Nong's sells a variety of drinks, including Lychee juice and Vietnamese style coffee (with Stumptown beans).

Nong, a smiling friendly woman opened this cart to bring the food of her home, Bangkok, Thailand to Portland. This month marks the one year anniversary of Nong's Khao Man Gai. In Thailand Khao Man Gai is exactly what it is here in Portland: street food. Nong grew up eating street food in Thailand wrapped in butcher paper and she is proud to serve it to us the same way. When asked why she only sells one item, Nong responded, "I started up with a little money that I had and I could only afford the 8 feet by 8 feet cart. What can I do in such a little tiny space but kick ass? Khao man gai was my answer. It is only one dish but there’s a lot of work that is put into it and I’m very proud of this process. I wanted to do The best Khao Man Gai that I can in Portland."

Like I said, Nong's is a Portland favorite. I am not making this up. Look at their website and you can see all the press they have had in the one year they have been open. They have been featured in the Oregonian, and Gourmet Magazine, and in Portland Monthly's Best Restaurants 2009. 

Nong's Khao Man Gai is located at 10th and Alder and is open Mon-Fri at 10am, and Sat at 12:00noon. But don't wait too long to stop by because they usually sell out around 2 or 2:30.When looking for Nong's Khao Man Gai, just find a really long line of people eagerly waiting outside a red and yellow cart, and you will be there!

My Quest For the Best Chicken Taco in Newberg

The best chicken taco in Newberg, OR at 
 Pastorcillo’s Tacos

A current food trend in Portland is street carts, which are essentially restaurants on wheels. They can be found dotting many streets, and you will find them serving everything from tacos, gyros, and coffee, to Pho and crepes. When in Portland I love to frequent these food carts, but when in Newberg I find myself in the same rut of eating at Sandwich Express and Burgerville. It wasn’t until I began to take a closer look at the “food scene” in Newberg that I discovered something exciting: we have food carts too! Now, of course, we do not have the wide selection of food carts the city of Portland does, but we do have three Mexican food carts, and I was determined to try them out and let you know what I discovered in the process. 

Before visiting Newberg’s three food carts for the first time, I decided that I would keep things consistent and only order a chicken taco at each. The first food cart I visited was Pastorcillo’s Tacos, on the corner of First and Main Street, located next to Naps Thriftway. I was very excited to notice that although their cart is closed on Sundays, it is open from 10:30 A.M. to 9 P.M. the rest of the week, which makes me think that it would be a great place to pick up a snack at night between studying. The chicken taco I purchased here consisted of two small, soft corn tortillas piled high with chicken in a red sauce, and topped with onions, cilantro, and green salsa. Served on the side was a wedge of lime and a pile of radish slices. This taco only cost me $1.25! 

Chicken taco from Tacos El Padrino 

The second food cart I visited was Tacos El Padrino (The Godfather), which is located on North Elliot Road across the street from Burgerville.  Look for the flashing strobe light. Tacos El Padrino advertises that they are open from 10 A.M. to 5 P.M. Again I purchased a chicken taco, and this time paid $1.50 for it. It was a smaller taco, but had a spicy and tasty green chili sauce. Although this taco cost 25 cents more than the previous taco, El Padrino’s usually has a $1.00 taco special, which was pork on the day I visited. 

Tacos El Padrino

Maria’s Tacos, located across Highway 99 from Tacos El Padrino, was the final taco stand I visited. The woman running the cart—who I assume was Maria herself—was friendly and welcoming. She graciously took my order and very quickly turned out an open-faced taco pilled so high with meat I couldn’t even roll it up. Maria’s chicken taco was at the competitive price of $1.25, but her menu board was slightly confusing, as most of the items did not have prices listed next to them, and the hours were not posted.  However, I visited Maria’s Tacos on a rainy day, and was happy to find that Maria’s has an undercover seating area attached to her cart so you can order out of the rain. 

            Chicken taco from Maria's Tacos 

All three of the menus had very similar items: burritos, tacos with a variety of meat (you can even order tongue or tripe, which is stomach), tamales, quesadillas, tortas (which are Mexican sandwiches), and sometimes combination plates served with rice and beans. Although I recommend all three, I would have to say my overall favorite Mexican food cart in Newberg is Pastorcillo’s Tacos. They have the latest hours, the largest menu, the most competitive prices, and in my opinion the best chicken taco.

So, I propose this to you: the next time you are craving Mexican food and want a quick grab-and-go meal, don’t settle for Taco Bell, order a chicken taco from a local family serving up great Mexican food only blocks from campus! Don’t forget your “cash,” though, as most food carts do not accept debit or credit cards. Enjoy! 

Maria's Taco Cart

This article can also be viewed at The Crescent, my university's newspaper here