Over the past decade, Portland has confirmed its credentials as a destination city for food lovers. A combination of great Pacific North-western produce, low start-up costs and innovative kitchen talent has provided visitors to Stumptown, as the city is affectionately known, an impressive variety of restaurant choices and cooking styles, often on a budget that makes larger US cities look grossly overpriced. It's not just bricks-and-mortar hostelries: the last couple of years have seen a proliferation of gourmet food carts – semi-mobile cooking sheds assembled in clusters, or pods, in various car parks and street corners through the city. There's a cart to suit pretty much every palate, whether your preference is for Bosnian or Thai; Czech or Mexican; vegan bowl or bespoke burger. Throw in a posse of cutting edge chefs, many of them carrying armfuls of tattoos (in keeping with the city's left-field, rock'n'roll leanings), and you've got a west coast city that has emerged from the shadow of Seattle to the north and San Francisco to the south. Here's a taste:
Urban Farmer
Located in the recently opened (2008) Nines hotel in downtown Portland, Urban Farmer fills half of a huge atrium that extends from the 8th floor to the roof, a space engineered by stripping out a former family-owned department store. Design touches include a mellow video installation by artist Matt McCormick, depicting traffic on the city's bridges, and a pool table annex, decorated with original art, including photographs by movie director Gus van Sant. Billed as "a modern steakhouse", the restaurant takes an appealingly straightforward approach to organically sourced produce, and has its own brand of locally distilled whiskey, aged and barrelled on the premises.
• 525 SW Morrison Street, +1 503 222 4900, urbanfarmerrestaurant.com
Khao-Man-Gai
When Narumol Poonsukwattana – better known by her nickname, Nong – set up her cart in April 2009, she was looking to deliver the authentic Thai street dish khao man gai (boiled chicken and rice with a spicy sauce) at a good price, so that her most picky Thai customers would keep coming back for more ... and they did. The $6 dish is served like old school British fish and chips, in paper, along with a broth made from the chicken stock, and is best enjoyed with a can of coconut juice on one of Nong's communal street tables. Trainee chefs from the nearby cooking school can be spotted nipping over here for a sneaky bite during their breaks.
• SW 10th Street & SW Alder Street, +1 971 255 3480, khaomangai.com
Ruby Dragon
Photograph: Sally Lohan
Parked up at the shiny new North Mississippi Avenue food cart pod, the all-vegan Ruby Dragon has several appealing neighbours for competition (including Nuevo Mexico, operated by Jesse Sandoval, former drummer from The Shins) but manages to emerge as the best of a very good bunch. Run by a charming couple, Tyler and Corrina, the cart's signature platter is the Abbott, a curried delight of tempeh (soybean cake) and cashews on sprouted toast, served with home fries, priced at an unbelievably reasonable $4.50 (double $6.50). Definitely one of the best vegan options in what is otherwise a fairly carnivorous city.
• N Mississippi Avenue & N Skidmore Street, follow them on Twitter at @RubyDragonPDX
Voodoo Doughnut
With its saucy catchphrase, "The magic is in the hole!", and 3rd Avenue location adjacent to a porno cinema (nothing unusual or shocking in Portland, which is supposed to have more strip clubs per capita than any other city in the US), Voodoo Doughnut is an open-all-hours landmark. Owners Cat Daddy and Tres take pride in pushing the boat out – The Dirt is a raised doughnut with vanilla glaze and cookies; The Marshal Mathers has frosting and a chunky layer of M&Ms; The Memphis Mafia features an Elvis-inspired blend of chocolate chips, banana and peanut butter.
• 22 SW 3rd Avenue & 1501 NE Davis, +1 503 241 4704, voodoodoughnut.com
Ned Ludd
Ned Ludd wears its philosophy on its plaid-shirted sleeve: a quick glance at the restaurant's many rustic design details – piles of logs for the wood-fired oven, copper pots, pottery chickens, hessian food sacks stitched together to form a curtain, log-handled beer pumps, the odd axe lying around – lets you know right away you're in for something homely, farm-centric and fresh. At the time of our visit, the winter lunch menu offered several highlights, including roasted vegetables and mussels with pork (both excellent value at $9), and you'd never guess the space used to house a common-or-garden pizza joint. Ask for the hand-squeezed lime soda.
• 3925 NE Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd, +1 503 288 6900, nedluddpdx.com
Noble Rot
Noble Rot has plenty going for it – great fourth-floor views of Portland's twinkling downtown, an imaginative wine flight selection (between $10-$16) sourced locally from the Willamette Valley, as well as the North-west US and the Northern Rhone, and a roof garden that supplies some of the ingredients you'll be eating: our grapefruit, lettuce and bay shrimp starter came with a hot sauce made from peppers grown on the premises. The main dining room is split into booths and tables, the bar is invitingly swathed in a sunset glow of orange glass and, when the weather permits, an outdoor patio lets you dine under the big Pacific North-western sky.
• 1111 E Burnside Street, +1 503 233 1999
