Vietnamese-Singaporean Restaurant Friendship Kitchen Opens in Portland | Eater Portland

"I found the new Friendship Kitchen NW: From Saigon 2 Singapore opened in early October in the building that once housed Tan’s now-closed French restaurant Alouette; it’s the second iteration of Nguyen’s popular Northeast Glisan Friendship Kitchen. Nguyen serves a blend of Vietnamese dishes she loves and Tan’s mother En Lin Kong’s Singaporean recipes that she’s adapted, including a laksa piled high with shrimp, tofu, a soft‑boiled egg, bean sprouts, and fishballs with a slick of chile oil obscuring the tangle of rice noodles; Tan’s mother’s version leans toward a Malaysian style with less coconut milk but remains a thick, rich stock built on dried shrimp, alliums, and a house spice blend. The menu also ranges from bánh xèo and Singaporean chile crab and satay to 10‑hour‑simmered chicken, beef, and vegan pho broths, nasi lemak served with a crispy chicken wing, egg, fishcakes, and ikan bilis tied together with belachan, and a Singaporean chicken rice made on Nguyen’s chicken pho stock, while a nod to France appears in dishes like a tomato‑red wine Vietnamese ragout, steak frites, and garlic butter shrimp." - Brooke Jackson-Glidden