The Hottest New Restaurants and Food Carts in Portland, July 2024

"This cocktail bar from the team behind Lulu is also the home of chef Lexy Foong, whose father founded the karaoke bar and Chinese American restaurant, the Ambassador, in 1990. Foong’s approach to the menu is a warm celebration of Chinese American cuisine, executed impeccably. House-made dumplings arrive filled with wagyu beef, which renders into juicy oblivion as they steam. The sweetness of mandarin wings is measured, thanks to the counterbalance of garlic; they’re crunchy and sticky and juicy at the center. But the salt and pepper calamari may be the highlight: crisp, heavy on the onion, with impossibly tender squid at its core. Eat them all in a beautiful bar space with cool 1920s design notes." - Eater Staff