The July Hit List: Oma’s Hideaway, Ox, Street Disco, and More

Gado Gado owners Thomas and Mariah Pisha-Duffly opened Oma’s Takeway in  Division Street’s former Whiskey Soda Lounge last fall, bringing their pandemic pop-up into permanent residency. In the months since, the couple has reimagined the space, transforming it from a takeaway to a 70s-pop-art-inspired hideaway. Some signature items remain, like the corn fritters and the burger with fried shallots, but the new menu takes a turn into Chinese barbecue. One Plexiglass-shielded corner of the restaurant is dedicated to those meats, like charcoal-roasted game hens and pork belly served over rice and pork spare ribs glazed in fish sauce caramel. Elsewhere, soft shell crabs are slathered with salted egg yolk mayo on a sweet roll with green papaya slaw and spot prawns find refuge in sambal terasi and curry leaf. The beverage menu, from Eem’s Eric Nelson, gets the signature “Nelson” treatment, with classic and vacation cocktails surprising and pleasantly shocking at every turn. 

A nondescript, gray building on a slice of Northeast Cully’s six-corner intersection between 60th and Prescott, Cully Central is the city’s go-to spot for Laotian street food. Explore the menu — which is conveniently comprised of large photos of each dish, plastered on the wall — of fried meatballs on a stick, salt and pepper calamari with sweet chili sauce, fish sauce wings (a must-order), the incredible nam khao kissed with zingy herbs and Lao sausage (another must), and grilled brisket with oven-roasted tomato jaew. Spice-lovers will feel at home here with most dishes packing at least some level of heat, and others substantially more. A fiery roasted chili oil, found pre-packed in plastic to-go containers, is also available if it still isn’t hot enough. A great beer list and a tight collection of liquor finish out the sports bar-esque atmosphere if you’re eating indoors. There’s no better place to be than out on the expansive patio, decorated with hanging flowers, underneath pink summer skies.

A brand new Vietnamese restaurant specializing in noodle dishes, banh mi and fruity cocktails, Friendship Kitchen comes from food cart owner and former flight attendant Trang Nguyen. Look for dishes like Vietnamese curry, vegan meatballs in tomato sauce, bun bo hue, meat- and veggie-friendly banh mi, cauliflower wings, salad rolls, and more. Nguyen’s personality shines through on the cocktail list, whose drinks, named things like “White Man’s Tears” and “Ex Wife” pair tropical fruits like mango, tamarind and lychee with spices and spirits. These days, patio seating can be in short supply with neighboring Tropicale’s crowds to contend with,  so make sure to snag a spot early. 

A self-proclaimed “natural wine bar of sorts” within East Burnside’s Bar Dune,  Dame alums Kyle Christy and Jessie Manning are bringing hyperseasonal, “inauthentic” French-American food three days a week to Street Disco. Menus change often, with a selection of tinned fishes from around the world served with seaweed butter, pickled things and a baguette, balancing a meant-to-be-snacked-and-shared menu of salads, spreads, fishy bites and of course, oysters. Wines are heavily sourced from France, though bottles from Oregon, California, Chile and Italy also bless the menu. A quintet of cocktails and a house shot round out the rest of the drink pairings. 

After being closed for more than a year, Portland’s beloved Argentine grill, Ox, is finally back. Home to one of the city’s most photographed dishes — the fresh clam chowder with a smoked marrow bone emerging from its creamy depths — Ox has remained a Portland mainstay for nearly a decade. Here, starters, like that iconic clam chowder and smoked beef tongue carpaccio pave the way to a luxurious night of dining. A cast iron grill set over live fire sears short ribs, housemade chorizo, pork and lamb loin chops, halibut and prawns to flame-kissed perfection alongside veggie-rich sides and salads. But don’t let the meat-centric menu fool you. Those sides and salads, like the white bean and summer squash gratin and roasted beet salad, have no problem standing up to the richer dishes from the grill. 

When the true dog days (or heat dome days) of summer hit, only light, veg-heavy dishes will do. Enter Obon, Humiko Hozumi and Jason Duffany’s longstanding vegan Japanese business which started as a farmers market stand seven years ago, now open as a brick-and-mortar. Dishes at the brand new spot, which will live inside Kachka’s old home along Southeast Grand Avenue, will focus on vegan-friendly riffs on Japanese comfort food, like Ota tofu katsu, curried kabocha squash korokke, housemade udon, bentos and the signature umeboshi onigiri. Housemade fermentations, like miso and koji, will make up much of the backbone of the menu, with plans to eventually sell to other restaurants. 

Formerly a rustic Turkish pop-up from Umut Matkap (LeChon, Kachinka), Lokanta’s menu centers on Matkaps’ favorite dishes, which happen to be heavily vegetarian and vegan. Now that it’s summer again, dishes reflect the lighter fare and seasonal produce that come with hot days and garden flora. Start with the herb-packed chilled yogurt soup with chickpeas, a “pate” made with fava beans, almonds and charred garlic and grilled halloumi wrapped in grape leaves. Mains still center around meats, with a grilled beef skewer on bulgur pilaf and eggplant puree and chicken cooked with cumin, coriander and pepper paste. And no Turkish meal would be complete without a shot of raki, the anise-infused liquor, which is available in both standard and premium. 

Grilling season can be tough without the right ingredients. Laurelhurst Market, with its side-by-side in-house butcher shop and outdoor dining on a covered deck, makes it easy to stock up for cooking at home, or just enjoying at the restaurant, if the idea of cleaning the grill sounds like too much work. Those dining in should start with the charcuterie plate, deviled eggs or steak tartare, before diving into steak frites, the house ribeye with confit fingerling potatoes. or cast iron-roasted king salmon. If you’re ordering meat to take home, pre-order by phone or head to the counter for superb steaks, lamb, pork, chicken, housemade sausage and deli meats, and more. And if you happen to stop by around lunch, who could say no to fried chicken sandwiches, burgers and steak melts?

Maybe the most exclusive seat in town, Jem Supper Club is the love child and dream restaurant of husband-wife duo Joel and Emily Stocks, that also happens to be in their own backyard. Joel, whose beloved fine dining hot spot Holdfast drew widespread praise and eventually, a bar-friendly spin-off at Southeast Portland’s Deadshot, has long loved backyard dinner parties, cooking (and staffing) elaborate meals with and for family and friends. With Holdfast sadly now closed, and vaccines widely available, the Stocks finally have a chance to get back to their roots with JEM, housed inside the detached garage in their yard with seating for eight. Dinners cost $200/person, and include an ever-changing nine-course menu, pairings from longtime collaborator Jeff Vejr, and gratuity, as well as a fire pit digestif. Check the website for dinner dates. 

It’s pina colada season, baby. Late last summer, seemingly overnight, the corner of NE 24th and Glisan became one of the hottest corners in town. The former home to Portland’s Piña Colada King — owner Alfredo Climaco sadly died due to complications from COVID-19 — Tropicale still carries on his vivacious spirit, and hollowed-out pineapple tradition. Pick almost any night of the week (except Monday, when they’re closed), and you’ll find a crowd of diners and vacation cocktail purists sipping mezcal, ceviche, tostadas, and those claim-to-fame piña coladas. Food here feels like a trip, with dishes like tostones with salsa frita, that ceviche with rockfish and scallops, tortas stuffed with cochinita pibil, and shrimp and fish tacos. Then come the cocktails: piña coladas, both virgin and not, a trio of margaritas, more mezcal and tequila-based cocktails, beers, and flights of both agave spirits. Whatever you do, just don’t ask for a burrito.