Nong’s Khao Man Gai is definitely the place that I go to most in Portland. It’s a counter-service spot, and Nong does a Hainanese chicken and rice that’s basically the main thing on the menu. You get poached chicken, steamed rice, and this garlicky chili-soy sauce to dump over it. My go-to order there is the steamed tofu with peanut sauce and rice, and I get a side of pickles with that.
It’s definitely the one spot where, if anybody’s coming to town, I’m like, “You have to go to Nong’s for lunch.” The rice is so, so good. You don’t really hear people talk about how good plain rice is, ever. But that’s my favorite thing there. The other stuff is good, and the sauce makes it and ties it all together, but I could just eat balls of that rice on its own.
One of my favorite pies that I’ve had there was Sungold tomato, corn, and peach with fenugreek greens and Taleggio. All of that on top of pillowy, tangy, gorgeous sourdough. The chef, Sarah Minnick, buys from a lot of the same farms that we do. It’s really nice to see the same produce that we use in a completely different light.
