This New Downtown Thai Restaurant Is a Deep-Dive Into the Cuisine of Isan | Eater Portland

"Located on the Portland State University campus, Som Tum Thai Kitchen is Sirapob “Q” Chaiprathum’s passion project to present a fuller portrait of the Isan food he grew up eating after noticing how few Isan dishes appear on U.S. Thai menus. The compact, 40-seat spot separates its menu into grilled meats, spicy salads, soups and a full som tum section that showcases many regional variations (including tum lao made with the Laotian fermented fish sauce padaek, which Chaiprathum favors). The kitchen also offers multiple kinds of larb (pork, duck, beef and mushroom), glass noodle yum woo sen, and rarities rarely seen around Portland such as tub waan (medium-rare pork livers with shallots and herbs), soop nor mai (bamboo shoots in fermented-fish dressing with dried peppers and roasted rice), yum moo yaw (Vietnamese sausage salad with chile-lime dressing) and nam khao (crispy rice salad). The soup selection is notably broad, from tom sap kradook made with pork cartilage and galangal to gaeng om gai (a soothing herbal vegetable soup with roasted rice and pumpkin) and tom saep neua, a tangy, tom-yum–like beef soup. For newcomers the Pa Khao Noi sampler is recommended — a tour that includes larb moo, tom sap kradook on, fried pork ribs and crispy rice salad — with a larger Pa Khao Yai option that adds kor moo yang (grilled pork neck). The restaurant is open for onsite dining and takeout and plans to begin serving drinks at the bar soon." - Brooke Jackson-Glidden