Magna Kusina
Filipino restaurant · Hosford-Abernathy
2525 SE Clinton St, Portland, OR 97202
Highlights
This cozy Filipino spot in Portland serves up inventive homestyle dishes like crab fat noodles, sisig, lumpia, and grilled skewers.
This cozy Filipino spot in Portland serves up inventive homestyle dishes like crab fat noodles, sisig, lumpia, and grilled skewers.
"A restaurant from Portland, known for its Filipino cuisine. Collaborates with Reem's for special anniversary celebrations." - Paolo Bicchieri
"When the highly anticipated Filipino restaurant Magna opened in 2019, it was a great restaurant, one that got better every visit with homey bowls of pancit bihon and calamansi-scented sisig, still sizzling when it arrived at the table. But it seems that chef and owner Carlo Lamagna reaches a new level each time his restaurant passes an anniversary, not just as a chef but as a community leader — whether it’s organizing a fundraiser, serving as a mentor for a young chef, or hosting a pop-up. Magna holds space for both the supremely casual and the festive, whether it’s a skewer of charcoal-grilled pork intestine or silky squid ink noodles with just enough bite, coated in a beautiful crab fat sauce. Lunch at Magna is an exploration of impeccably executed comfort food, congees and noodle soups adorned with quail eggs and fried garlic." - Eater Staff
"Magna Kusina, a lively space filled with reds, blues, and yellows borrowed from the Philippines’ flag, is great for Filipino food that’s more chef-y than homestyle (and is priced accordingly). Start with a few grilled skewers to share, then move on to larger format items paired with something starchy. The restaurant is pretty casual, but you still need to make a reservation for a table. Otherwise, plan on eating takeout on your couch while watching Netflix. photo credit: Keanu Bayanat Food Rundown Dinuguan Yes, this pork dish is made with blood. And yes, you want this dish. Blood simply adds richness and body to the sauce, served at Magna with a sliced breaded pork chop, a tuft of parsley salad, and steamed puto as a starch instead of rice. Mom’s Crab Fat Noodles Anything involving local Dungeness crab is a good bet, and these wildly popular, photogenic black squid ink noodles tossed with tomalley from the crab are a treat that lets nothing go to waste. Pork Rib Adobo An original menu item that occasionally makes an appearance as a special—if you see it, get it. This adobo is less soupy than usual, as the sauce gets cooked down and concentrated as the ribs start frying in their own fat. The accompaniments change up, but might include tempura maitakes and green beans." - Krista Garcia
"Magna Kusina was named The Oregonian’s 2021 Restaurant of the Year, has been featured on Netflix, and earned Lamagna inclusion in Food and Wine’s Best New Chefs of 2021, as well as a James Beard nomination in 2022." - Thom Hilton
"Magna Kusina, a lively space filled with reds, blues, and yellows borrowed from the Philippines’ flag, is great for Filipino food that’s more chef-y than homestyle. Start with a few grilled skewers to share—we like the diver scallops, wagyu, and shishitos. Then focus on dishes like Mom’s Crab Fat Noodles made from squid ink and local Dungeness crab, or the duck legs with squash, long beans, and dirty rice. The restaurant is pretty casual, but you still need to make a reservation for a table. Otherwise, plan on eating takeout on the couch while reruns of Bar Rescue play in the background." - krista garcia
