ZabPinto Thai PDX Has Opened at Cascade Station in Portland

The other day I received a press release about ZabPinto, and while reading it, a detail caught my eye: There is a new location at Cascade Station, where big box stores reign. I reached out to their PR person and arranged a time to stop by and find out more about this new ZabPinto, called ZabPinto Thai PDX. Here is what I learned.

One of the things I especially liked coming to understand was what “ZabPinto” means. It’s two words together: “Zab” means hot, tasty, and delicious in the Isan language; and “Pinto” is the traditional tiered lunch box that kids carry to school, each one filled with home-cooked dishes to trade and enjoy together with friends and classmates. You can see the pinto depicted in ZabPinto’s logo.

Cascade Station

I’ll be honest—I spent many years being critical of places like Cascade Station. I found them to be kind of soulless and lacking in character. But when I moved to my current neighborhood east of 82nd Avenue, it turned out that Cascade Station was conveniently located, and has been home to stores I have liked and/or found useful.

But in amongst the mega-chains at Cascade Station are a small handful of local restaurants—some are part of local chains, some are that single location. They include Fuller’s Burger Shack (related to Fuller’s Coffee Shop), Cha Cha Cha, Babas Mediterranean Grill, EZ Freezy, and ZabPinto Thai PDX. I’m really happy to see a number of local restaurants taking up space among the behemoths that are IHOP, Buffalo Wild Wings, and Panda Express.

ZabPinto’s Thanaboonthiwat “Malvin” Panyapa

When we arrived, we were seated and then the founder of ZabPinto, Thanaboonthiwat “Malvin” Panyapa, came out to see us and we had a very nice chat.

He told us grew up in Bueng Kan, located along the Mekong River and just across the border with Laos. Bueng Kan is situated in the Isan region of Thailand, which is in the northeastern part of the country, on the Khorat Plateau. It is the largest region in Thailand.

He noted that there’s a lot of poverty in his region. “The Isan is a very poor place in Thailand,” explained Malvin. “When I was born, we didn’t have electricity.” He also mentioned that refrigeration was not so common when he was growing up, which makes sense when electricity is sparse. “That’s why the food we use is only fresh,” he said.

Off To Bangkok

At age 15 Malvin headed to Bangkok. I asked him what it was like to see the city for the first time. “Oh my gosh, it was beautiful.” It was his dream to go to Bangkok.

There, he had many experiences and adventures: He studied in school, worked some office jobs (in the end, he preferred to cook rather than go to meetings and sit at a desk), had aspirations to join the army as a pilot, and got a degree in engineering.

And he worked at his aunt’s restaurant, where he learned how well-suited he was to working with food. She taught him knife skills, how to use different ingredients, and the art of applying heat to different things in different ways. He learned to use wood to cook the food rather than gas/propane.

To Portland, and His Food Cart Start

He came to Portland about a decade ago. Early on, his girlfriend showed him around town and he saw a food cart, and he knew he wanted to go in this direction. They decided to rent a cart because it was more affordable than buying one. That initial food cart was located at SW Columbia and 2nd, near the KOIN Tower.

The first dish he cooked there was Pad Thai with chicken. And on that first day they sold $370 worth of food, and that felt like big money at the time.

But he wanted to cook Isan food, though he was told that people don’t want to eat that, but prefer a more Americanized Thai food. “I said we can keep the Pad Thai,” explained Malvin. “Because the people love Pad Thai. But I want to do it my style.” When it comes to preparing Pad Thai in the Isan way, he says it’s less about an changing up the ingredients and more about the sauce. Same for barbecue beef—the sauce is really the difference.

Fast forward to today and he has four ZabPinto locations, including ZabPinto Thai Kitchen in the Pearl, with the Cascade Station restaurant being the latest one.

Isan Food

I wanted to better understand just what exactly Isan food is. Malvin told us that, while there are some dishes from the Isan region, this style is also defined by the treatment of those dishes being cooked—resulting in something that is spicy, tasty, and fresh.

Vegetables are also very important (everyone grows their own vegetables back home) in Isan cooking; foraging in the jungle is a regular occurrence, too. Not to mention that it is very expensive to buy beef and chicken, so relying on vegetables and foraged foods is common practice.

I liked this statement about Isan food in the press release, so I thought I’d include it here:

“The menu highlights what makes Isan food so distinct: fresh herbs, fermented sauces,  and a variety of protein choices, including less common ones like freshwater eel, frog, cockles, and wild boar. Dishes are bright, complex, and built for sharing, reflecting the deeply social nature of mealtime in Northeastern Thailand.”

Som Tum and Sticky Rice

One dish that did originate in the Isan region is Som Tum, AKA papaya salad, which is now popular throughout Southeast Asia. It’s one of Malvin’s favorites. He tells me that while som tum usually made with papaya, this pounded salad can use other ingredients, like cucumber, long beans, or corn. Other ingredients would be used because papayas might not be in season at the time one is making the salad.

They also eat sticky rice moreso in Isan—“Jasmine rice is from the big city,” he said. He makes the sticky rice fresh each day and does not offer any that is older than that (apparently serving leftover sticky rice at restaurants is a thing). And it takes multiple steps to cook it the way he was taught. “That’s why in the restaurants here, they don’t have a lot of the sticky rice,” he remarked.

“In my country, every morning, we wake up early and cook the rice,” he said. “And the next day, we cannot use any leftovers so we have to make another batch. We don’t have the refrigeration—we have to throw away any leftovers and cook fresh.”

He added, “That’s why sticky rice is different in other places than ours. A customer came by and said, ‘Oh, why is your sticky rice soft and smoother?’ Because we cook it each day. If you want the clean food, you have to make it clean. If you want fresh, you make it fresh. And the customer likes to believe your intent. Your cooking process translates into the quality of the food, as well.”

Khao Man Gai and Khao Moo Dang

Two dishes Malvin talked about that are popular throughout Thailand are Khao Man Gai and Khao Moo Dang. He pointed out that the Isan approach has to do with the sauces. Khao Man Gai was brought over by Hainanese immigrants in the early 1900s. Malvin’s version involves a sauce that is spicy and made with ginger, which he says is a little different than in other places.

Malvin prepares Khao Moo Dang, a popular pork dish, with an Isan sauce, which tends to be less sweet and less salty than in other parts of the country.

“It’s these sauces that make it unique,” he remarked.

What We Ate at ZabPinto Thai PDX

Malvin offered us a lot of things to try, and I was happy with how flavorful everything was. I also want to point out the sauce on the photo just below on the right, with the fish. It was chunky peanut sauce—not like the smooth peanut sauce you usually get with satay—and it was wonderfully bright and spicy. It was one of my favorite elements of the meal.

One dish I did not manage to photograph was a jellied pork belly (but it’s pictured on the menu below) that I really liked the flavor of, but the texture was not for me. It’s a recipe Malvin’s chef contributed to the restaurant’s menu.

Here is a photo of the menu of specialties at ZapPinto Thai PDX:

Overall, the food was tasty, fresh, and a good amount was spicy (they were kind to my spicy-yet-not-anywhere-near-Thai-spicy level of tolerance). I continue to daydream about that spicy chunky peanut sauce. I also especially enjoyed that cucumber salad and the som tum, which at first glance was a simple dish but its complexity came through the more time I spent eating it.

I also was offered Thai iced tea but made with jasmine green tea that was absolutely addictive. I think I prefer this to the conventional Thai iced tea made with the Ceylon or Assam tea leaves. Plus it had a beautiful muted and creamy green color.

One final tidbit from Malvin is that he mentioned that he’d like to open a fifth ZabPinto location and that could possibly be a Thai bakery and dessert shop, which is a very exciting prospect. We’ll keep our ears to the ground on this one.

I’m very happy to know that ZabPinto is there at Cascade Station, and encourage folks to venture over there and have a solid and tasty meal at this new local Thai spot.

ZabPinto Thai PDX [opened March 8, 2025]
10127 NE Cascades Pkwy, Portland
ZabPinto Thai PDX website | Instagram