Portland food news and views
This morning a friend let me know that Masala Lab, a brick-and-mortar restaurant from Deepak Saxena, will close later this month. They announced the news on their social channels in the early hours of the morning. Additionally, the DesiPDX cart will close and go on a short break later this month, reopening at the end of January.
Continue reading “Masala Lab Will Close in Portland”Frank’s Noodle House is expanding. Thanks to a Bridgetown Bites tipster, I’ve learned that the former Little Big Burger location in the Pearl has a new tenant: Frank’s Noodle House. This is great news for folks on the inner west side, who will now be closer to their tasty Chinese American food and their wonderful hand-pulled noodles. 122 NW 10th Avenue, Portland
The Parkrose Coffee Shop will open next year and they need your help. Good news for coffee lovers in East Portland—there a new coffee shop coming your way. The Parkrose Coffee Shop, which will be run by Lily and Peter, will open on NE 105th just south of Sandy Blvd (and not too far from Sandy-Os). They hope to be able to open their doors next spring (ideally, March 1).
They will serve coffee and espresso drinks, freshly baked pastries (in both cases, vendors are TBD at the moment), and she says, “We are designing the coffee shop with families in mind.” On that last detail, look for a play corner, a changing table, story hour with local educators, and a kids’ menu. They also plant to have a large enclosed courtyard in the back.
They have a GoFundMe campaign running right now, and would love to have you as a partner to help invest in the community. 4826 NE 105th Avenue, Portland
Iced Matcha Club is this Saturday. Over at Yoonique Tea on SE Foster Road, they are holding an “iced matcha club” event. From 11am to 4pm on Saturday, look for a special menu of matcha drinks: matcha latte, banana pudding matcha, banana matcha latte, and hojicha latte. Whole milk, oat milk, and creamy Thai milk will be available. Also, their winter menu has a bunch of interesting things on it: rambutan milk tea, matcha creme brûlée, brown sugar avocado cream, and more. “Let’s make the last Saturday of 2024 a vibrant, green-filled day together.” 5348 SE Foster Road, Portland
New Year’s Eve celebrations. We were unable to put together a separate NYE roundup in time. However, here’s a short list of some places that are still accessible and perhaps a little bit different than some of the other options around town.
Stories you may have missed this week on Bridgetown Bites:
Favorite Bites in Portland in 2024
Toasted S’mores Bar Will Open in Downtown Portland
King Cakes in Portland in 2025
And remember: If you are coming home from celebrating NYE and don’t want to drive, consider a car service of transit: there are discounts with Lyft and Uber, and Trimet is free. I’ve also put together some ideas as to how to set yourself up for a healthy 2025 in Portland.
Fire at the Mercado. Heartbreaking news this week—it happened around 5:30am on January 3. Thankfully there were no injuries or deaths, but it’s still a very sad state of affairs. The Oregonian describes is like this: “Firefighters arrived to find a fire blazing in one of the building’s restaurant stalls and the large building filled with smoke, fire officials said. A second alarm was called but additional crews soon turned back as firefighters on the scene quickly got the blaze under control, including after spotting fires burning in ‘odd void spaces within the ceiling.’”
A fire relief fund has been started and you can give to that, here. 7238 SE Foster Road, Portland
Bee’s Cakes is closing. This sweet cafe at the corner of NE Fremont and 72nd Avenue is closing; January 14 will be their final day for the cafe, and in May the rest of the operation. From Rebecca: “This year has been difficult for us—as well as many other small business. We have had the pleasure of greeting and serving our customers pastries & coffee for the last couple of years, but it is time we switch directions. We will continue to take custom cake & catering orders until May 1st, 2024 and will be opening our calendar to take on more orders until then! We will be closing fully end of that month.”
This is a real loss for Roseway and nearby Cully and Sumner. Best of luck to Rebecca and her expanding family (she became a mom about a month ago), and here’s hoping something great opens up in that space. 7137 NE Fremont Street, Portland
Roam PDX + Bhuna. Roam, known for their handmade roti and “hyper seasonal ingredients” with a presence at the PSU and Montavilla Farmers Markets, will be doing a winter residency at Bhuna Restaurant in NW Portland. They’ll be there Monday and Tuesday evenings from 5pm to 9pm. Here’s the menu, and it sounds pretty good. “Come in and enjoy a cocktail while we put food on plates for ya! We are keeping the word on the street mellow while we get comfortable in the space.” 704 NW 21st Avenue, Portland
Masala Lab offers dinner service. Deepak Saxena of Masala Lab (and who runs the Chaat Wallah food cart in Cully) has launched dinner service at the Lab and went on KGW’s “Hello Rose City” to talk about it. It starts today, January 5. They offer a mix of small, medium, and large plates, which aim to be untraditional, very “fusiony,” and take inspiration from Deepak’s travels and his childhood. A few thing you can expect:
The menu is 100% gluten free, and they plan to rotate it every two to thre months. They also hope to eventually do events and farmers markets and are working on a product line—e.g., chai concentrate, snacky things. Happy Hour is in the works, and will go from 5pm to 6pm, and likely 4pm to 6pm in the summer. After a while, they’d like to expand evening hours on Friday and Saturday until midnight. No reservations yet. 5327 NE MLK Blvd, Portland
