Where to Eat and Drink in Downtown Portland
"This ornate, gold-and-blue-hued restaurant started as the area’s only explicitly Saudi Arabian cart, and it remains one of the few options for the country’s cuisine in the city. Owner Maha Alhabi serves a rotating special on a daily basis: Thursday dinners involve saleeg, a Saudi Arabian take on risotto with juicy roast poultry and Egyptian rice, while Friday’s smoky lamb mandi is fragrant with cardamom and dried lime. Meals should start with the restaurant’s take on stuffed grape leaves, bright with citrus and pomegranate molasses, as well as meze classics like a smoky baba ghanoush and silken hummus. After dinner, the restaurant’s coffee service, served in shiny brass dallahs with dates for sweetness, can arrive alongside a slice of cheesecake drizzled with pistachio sauce." - Rebecca Roland, Eater Staff
