VOODOO DOUGHNUT

Best for… a sugar high

Prepare to walk into a store brimming with the BEST atmosphere – I’m talking customers twirling around to the Gipsy Kings, bright pink walls popping with abstract posters and prints, and revolving display cases featuring crazily decorated doughnuts in all their comatose-inducing glory. It’s all very #InstaWorthy – and that’s before you’ve even tried the flavours. The bakers are never short on creativity, and regularly come up with the wackiest ideas for their products – with my favourite being their famed Oreo “dirt” doughnut (the sheer amount of glucose and following energy crash was just an added bonus). I also adore their maple and bacon creation, their cinnamon sugar “blunt,” and the Tang and marshmallow hybrid which makes your cheeks tingle.  

LITTLE BIRD BISTRO

Best for… first dates

Officially my favourite place to go for a nice sit-down meal in the city, the Little Bird Bistro is perfect for first dates (or seconds, or thirds…). The ambience is ideal for meeting up with the future love of your life – with assorted chatter over soft indie music, warm low-lit surroundings, and a single understated candle per table, rendering one heck of a mood. The food is divine – I’m talking “ricotta gnocci á la bourguidon,” roasted beetroots with mâche (and peppered shallots, caramelised squash, and blue cheese), and gorgeous “bonbons de la maison.” It’s the sort of place that really makes you slow down and appreciate the combination of flavours in each dish. Also, for my fellow tea lovers out there – I can’t recommend their selection enough (the jasmine silver tip is my FAVOURITE). 

*Update, as of 2019, Little Bird has closed 🙁 However, you should definitely check out their sister restaurants <3

Bao Bao

Best for… hand food

I’m not going to lie to you – before I came to BaoBao, I had rarely eaten at a food truck. I was exceedingly apprehensive about eating at a place with a kitchen smaller than my bedroom – however, upon landing in the heart of Portland, I quickly realised that this inexpensive novelty absolutely runs the food industry here. And so, I took a leap of faith and tried my first ever meal at an American Food Truck – and it was stunning. I went for the BaoBao famous curry and chicken dumplings, subsequently fell in love, and have been searching (unsuccessfully) for equally as gorgeous dumplings ever since. I completely underestimated the awesomeness of food trucks prior to arriving here, but I’m glad to admit that now I am completely sold. Catch me never eating at a restaurant for dumplings again.

OLYMPIA PROVISIONS

Best for… taking away

This little charcuterie is located in the centre of the city – in another little food truck. The food is exceedingly gorgeous and filling, and it’s awesome to chat to the chefs as they prepare the meal for you. The food is pure comfort food – warm and tasty and made with love. I definitely under-appreciated the value of a good meal at a food truck before arriving in Portland – but now I realise how convenient, cheap, and tasty they are, I feel like a changed woman.

UMAMI CAFE

Best for… a view

Located in the very pretty Japanese Gardens, the Umami Cafe is as pristine as an Apple store. The walls are solid glass, meaning that you can gaze out into the woods around you as you wait for your food to arrive. They serve traditional Japanese food and tea, and you can watch them cook it all in the open-plan kitchen beside you. With the sun shining through the windows, authentically made Japanese meals being served as you sip the most gorgeous green tea, it was a truly beautiful place. I highly recommend the takikomi rice as it is both exceedingly filling and bursting with flavour, along with their classic orange tart (perfect for people like me who cannot tolerate dairy!).

Headwaters

Best for… luxe

Headwaters is a stunning little establishment, where the food is vastly different to anything I’ve ever eaten before – and the chefs revel in that very idea. It’s the sort of place that you make an effort to dress up for, and then spend hours lounging around, dipping into dishes and trying their array of alcoholic beverages. My favourite thing to do here is to request several smaller dishes in order to share them out as a group, so that everyone can taste a little of everything. They also offer several alcohol-free off-menu concoctions made from a variety of fruit juices and sodas – perfect for an afternoon lunch.

Q

Best for… service

The food was stunning, and even though I had to go for a dairy-free version of their dishes, the flavour was still equally as gorgeous as the dairy-full dishes. The best seats in the house are by the bar, where you can chat to the chefs at their stations and ask them questions as they cook up your meal. Each ingredient is both locally sourced, and extremely seasonal – meaning that the menu changes often, and you will never be served out-of-season produce. The staff welcomes you like family, and each returning visit makes you feel as though you’re coming home. 

The Crown

Best for… pizza

The Crown has quickly become my favourite place in the world to go for a slice of pizza. They offer endless doughy combinations, with their best concoction – in my humble opinion – being the BBQ sauce and fried chicken pizza. They also have the sweetest, bubbliest sodas in the whole of Portland – with my personal favourite being their spiced pear. 

Stumptown Coffee Roastery

Best for… mornings

A hipster hub overflowing with bearded men in plaid shirts slumping over their MacBooks, it’s the best place to go to wake up in the morning. The walls are lined with abstract art, and the surroundings remind me of a lumberjack’s home. I have spent a ridiculous amount of time here merely sitting back, sipping a dairy- and caffeine-free pour-over coffee, Shazaming their music to add to my own playlists, and writing notes about the city. The people are the friendliest, and the whole experience is very Instagrammable – especially with the selfie-perfect* mood lighting  in the bathroom. 

Arrosto

Best for… price

Having spent the whole day venturing around the city, there was nothing my travel partner and I were craving more than rotisserie chicken (that’s normal, right?). After a quick search online, we found this place that sells free-range hormone- and antibiotic-free chicken, as part of an entire dinner, for only 28 dollars. We sat in the bustling organic food court attached to their kitchen, and dug into the mounds of potatoes, salad, focaccia, veg, and a whole bloody rotisserie chicken. We were both absolutely starving, and the food was so gorgeous and filling that we just stuffed our faces in silence for a good twenty minutes. I’m pretty sure coming here was the best decision we made for the entire trip.

Salt and Straw

Best for… people watching

The atmosphere at Salt and Straw is bustling and buzzing, which makes it mega fun to wander around the stalls for hours. Perfect for a slow sweet snack, they offer the most gorgeous ice-cream – with endless flavours which are all exuberantly smooth, and creamy, and tasty. They have dairy-free options (perfect for someone like me with Crohn’s), and a million more sauces and toppings than you’d find in a typical ice-cream house. An ideal place for nipping in, soaking in the atmosphere, and people-watching whilst you gorge yourself on sugar.

Eat Adventures Food Tours

During our stay in Portland, we went on a food tour of the city – because what better way to acquaint yourself with a new place than with the local cuisine. Our guide, Donna, was both the most informative person we’d met on the trip, and the funniest. Frankly, our sense of humour was exactly the same, and I would often find myself about to take a massive bite of food only for her to make a quip that would have me bent double laughing. On the tour, we went to six different establishments, which were all equally as gorgeous and fun to experience. The tour was honestly the highlight of my entire trip (like I said, I’m a literal glutton), and if you want to see the authentic side of the city – along with trying the best food on offer – Eat Adventures is 100% the tour to try.

HONOURABLE MENTIONS:

• Behind the Museum Cafe – perfect for vegans! They offer an abundance of dairy-free, gluten-free, and egg-free Japanese cakes, snacks, and hot beverages – with the absolute best being their matcha and almond green tea.

• Moonstruck – perfect for treating yourself! They craft the most gorgeous, velvety truffles, and also give the option of buying pre-packed boxes to spoil yourself at home with.

And so, have any of y’all tried these gorgeous little eateries, or fancy strolling down to Portland just to try them? Let me know in the comments below!

*Do I sound like a millennial yet?

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