The Portland Trung Nguyên Legend Cafe Soft Opens This Weekend

It’s very satisfying to publish here on Bridgetown Bites that the long-awaited Portland Trung Nguyên Legend cafe is finally opening. They will soft open this weekend there on SE Powell Blvd just a little bit east of SE 82nd Avenue. Here is our previous coverage. Note: We have updated this post with a number of photos and new details since it first published.

I got a text today from Dume Tran, one of the franchise owners of the cafe (his business partner is Brad Tran, no relation), who said, “We will have a soft opening this weekend.” He later clarified that the hours will be 7am to 4pm while in soft opening mode; longer hours will be considered after they spend some time getting a feel for the customers’ needs. And as a soft opening, they will be putting their systems in place in real time, and the staff will be learning how to navigate it all.

Menu, Drinks and Space

I was able to stop by on Friday at Dume’s suggestion, to see the space and try a few things. We reviewed the menu and he was kind enough to offer me the chance to enjoy anything on it (full disclosure: my drinks were comped). At this point they are only offering drinks; food will come later on. They’ll start with baked goods from a local baking company (name to come) and add savory dishes later on.

Here is the standard menu of drinks for the Portland location.

Trung Nguyên Legend Coffee World Portland

One thing Dume explained to me is that there are three levels of Trung Nguyên cafes: the E-Coffee, which focuses mostly on to-go coffee and tea, with a smaller menu; The Trung Nguyên Legend cafe, with a broader menu; and the Trung Nguyên Legend Coffee World cafe, which is the top-tier cafe in the system. This last one is what we have in Portland.

They offer coffee prepared via phin (Thiền), ibrik (Ottoman), or moka pot (Roman), along with their other drinks, which you can see in the menu linked above.

I Can’t Resist an Egg Coffee or Pandan

Since I tried egg coffee back in 2023 at Thee Fifty Cafe (sadly, now closed), I’ve been drawn to it when I see it on any Vietnamese coffee menu. Dume had me try both hot and iced versions. I preferred the iced version, as it allowed me to access the coffee under the foam more easily.

The hot version was presented in a way I hadn’t seen before: The glass sits in a bowl of hot water, presumably to keep it from cooling down. It was also recommended that I taste the foam first (my pleasure!). The glass was a little hard to hold because of the heat, but the taste was delicious—a little sweet, a nice bitterness in the coffee, and a great mix overall. Egg coffee, you never disappoint.

And because I expressed my love of pandan, I also was able to try their iced pandan drink.

They do a really nice presentation with their coffees. And their cocoa dusting technique is unstoppable.

The pandan drink came with a side of lotus seed and water chestnuts.

The Space

I was able to take some photos of the space—last time I was in, things were under construction so naturally the transformation was impressive to my eyes. Here are some shots from the dining room. Click to enlarge.

There’s also some outdoor seating on the front patio.

Portland Trung Nguyên Legend Cafe: The Exterior Then and Now

As a reminder, here is what they started with at this location—a big 1,800 square foot box of a building that used to be a billiard hall:

And here is where we are at the writing of this article:

The arrival of such a huge brand from Vietnam’s coffee industry feels like a big deal. As for their online presence, the Portland cafe only has Yelp page, but I suspect that will change to include at least an Instagram and/or Facebook page.

If you stop in, please feel free to share your impressions with us—you can always tag us on social media at @bridgetownbites or #bridgetownbites.

Congrats to Dume, Brad, and their team as they open the first Portland Trung Nguyên Legend Cafe.

Trung Nguyên Legend Cafe [opening August 2, 2025]
8435 SE Powell Blvd, Portland
trungnguyenlegend.us | Yelp

Updated August 1, 2025.