After the first taste of Portland’s food truck and coffee scene we decided to explore the area for lunch. Not only that, more coffee is on the horizon, so save room for more! This is a coffee crawl after all – we needed to fit all the coffee shops we could into this trip. We heard about a food truck that serves authentic Japanese sandos, and it is only a couple of blocks away from 40LBS coffee. Let’s pay Tokyo Sando a visit.
Tokyo Sando
Just by the picture, this egg salad sando might look ordinary, but in fact, it is so much more delicious than you’d think. That sando was magical with creamy and rich egg-iness with the help of Japanese mayo; the bread was so fluffy, nice and soft. Together they make this a light sandwich that is also filling at the same time. It is reminiscent of the ones found in Tokyo. We also tried their special chicken karage; a delicious small sampling of their tangy fried chicken. Highly recommend this spot, they have many other sandos on their menu with vegetarian/vegan friendly options.
Never Coffee
Next stop: Never Coffee. Even though it was well into the afternoon and we were still caffeinated from earlier, we had to try this cute stop. We had visited the famous Powell Bookstore and was in the area to try Never in the Pearl District at the edge of the downtown. We tried their yuzu salt iced latte and Oregon iced latte. Both were unique and tasty. Barista was friendly and we ended up with 2 bags of beans to bring home and share with family. Drop by and try this place if you like to try interesting flavors you can’t get anywhere else.
Luc Lac Vietnamese Kitchen
For dinner, we decided to try a sit-down restaurant but wanted something casual. Located just several blocks away from our hotel was Luc Lac Vietnamese Kitchen – known for vibrant colors and southeast Asian flavor, we wanted to see what the hype was about.
Luc Lac has Vietnamese and Thai style dishes as well as a creative cocktail menu . The standout for Luc Lac is the ornate decor. The interior is full of neon lights, very lively and artfully decorated. Go to the front and place your order at the counter (at which point you get your own utensils, water and whatever you might need). You’re also assigned a table at the time of order, choosing to sit inside or outside in their patio area. What sets them apart is that you can continue ordering food if you want more at the table via QR code. The food is good, not phenomenal; their pho is average and tastes decent but not super authentic. The Tofu Salad vermicelli bowl was tastier and refreshing for a hot day but the star of the show, surprisingly, was the cream cheese wontons. Try this place out if you are in the area and if the wait isn’t too long. Staff was pretty friendly and the food came out relatively quick.
With that, we ended our first day of our coffee crawl in Portland. We had never been this caffeinated in a single day. Stay tuned for another day of coffee and eating ahead of us!