Khao Niew - Lao Street Food

Great service (shout out to Bao), solid flavors and a wonderful space. A lot of great local beers on tap too.

10/10 I love this place service was fast but they seemed shy or didn't wanna be bothered but honestly it doesn't matter cause the food is amazing.They have a large out door seating area which is great the nam khao was spicy & limey which are flavors I love so if you don't like either, you won't like the rice . The sausage sandwich was great it had a lot of flavor & was good quality sausage. The bread was so soft but crisp at the same time & was fresh ingredients, if you like Lao food you'll love it here.

Khao Niew was such a great find. Before my trip to Portland I had looked up Lao restaurants to visit and I felt Khao Niew would have been closer to home cooking than the other options. Since it was just myself, I didn't order much. I ordered the classic Kaopiek (Chicken Noodle Soup), fried tofu, and a Laojito. All items were fantastic! I was also able to sample some Hells Jerky and wow, that stuff is fire. I bought 6 bags to take back home with me. Level 3 is spicy as heck but I love it! So spicy I stayed hydrated by drinking so much water. The kaopiek noodles had the right texture, not too soft and not too chewy. To add to it, the noodles were the perfect shape and didnt break. The broth was very flavorful and the fried garlic added so much depth. I tried the chilli oil in my kaopiek and that wasn't too bad, could have been spicier and fresher. The fried tofu has a crisp batter and soft interior, paired perfectly with the sweet chilli sauce. Oh man that Laojito was very refreshing. It was like a combo of pinacolada and mojito. Ouu the aesthetics of the place and the plentiful photo ops are a plus. There's many outdoor seating and a good amount of indoor seating. When I head back to Portland, this will be my first stop!

Food was really fresh and flavorful, lots of choices and new menu items to try. Ambiance was great, especially outdoor patio seating. I highly recommend this place!

This food is incredible!!! We had never had Laotian food before and it was 100/10 so delicious I loved everything about it, the texture, the fresh ingredients, the flavors, outstanding!! Definitely recommend

3.5 stars for the food but the employee's hospitality rounded it up to 4.I was really excited to try this place out because I haven't really had any authentic Laos food in the Portland area and I've really been craving that dark, stinky papaya salad. We ordered the sample platter and pad lao for the 2 of us to share.The platter is pretty fair for the price. We got 2 sausages, 7-8 pieces of jerky, an egg, papaya salad, pork rinds, noodles, shrimp chips and the tiniest wedge of cabbage. I really liked the sausage and the jerky was decent. Meatballs I could pass on. The papaya salad was not as expected. It came out looking like a Thai style papaya salad. It didn't have that pungent fermented flavor I've been craving and medium was also not spicy at all. The pad lao's flavor is subpar. The only thing I tasted was the dark soy sauce. From what I had today, it was definitely not super authentic in comparison to the Laos restaurants I've been to, but it's pretty decent.They were short staffed when we went and only had 3 people working so we had to order at the bar before sitting down. All the staff were very nice and friendly.

Authentic Lao food in a very cute and fun environment. There's not a lot of Asian restaurants that also have TVs up, so we were thrilled to find this place that was showing SNF! We got the sampler plate for 2 which was an exceptional amount of food and could have definitely been shared amount 4-5 people for an appetizer. Their papaya salad was my favorite and they made it really spicy for us upon request. I've had better Lao sausage as theirs was more mild and the jerky a little more sweet than my liking. The only thing missing was some good jeo bong (spicy dipping sauce). There's indoor and very cute outdoor patio seating. Full bar service makes this a great spot to bring a group of people. I'll have to give their Khao poon a try next time as that's one of my favorite Lao dishes.

The food is great as always! The staff is always friendly. If you need a good pick me up the khao piek sen is a great option. Does the trick for me all the time!

Good food, not super flavorful but it's okay. Nice staff and service. The Khao Poon Soup was my favorite, however, I wished it had more flavor, the chicken was plain in my opinion. Overall, I will come back to try other dishes!

First of its kind in Portland as there are no other restaurants in the city (and likely throughout the rest of Oregon) to whip up authentic Lao food.I grew up with all Laos and Cambodian families so I know good SE Asian cooking when I taste it. I tried the following at this restaurant --1) Papaya Salad2) Cucumber Salad3) Khao Poon4) Chicken Wings Lunch PlateBonus: the head chef even offered me a sample of her special chicken herbal soup which isn't on the menu - yet.Okay, let's start with the papaya and cucumber salads. I can handle spicy foods so I asked for 20 peppers and the kick was there, but not too bad to a point where I couldn't handle it. I love that they used the crab and shrimp paste because the darker the sauce is -- the more potent it is which is how I like it! Both salads were prepared just like any of my Lao or Khmer aunties would make it straight out of their kitchen. As I said, these dishes were authentic and I could tell the main chef carried recipes from the motherland to the states. You just can't learn these techniques from the internet. Now, on to the Khao Poon which is basically a traditional Lao noodle soup predominantly made with shredded chicken and chicken feet. The consistency of the soup is similar to curry as it's thicker and infused with tons of flavors. Their Khao Poon was so comforting and tasted just like my Lao friend's mom's homecooked version. Bravo to these guys for perfecting this speciality and sharing it with the Portland community. The chicken lunch plate was very filling -- it came with a couple pieces of chicken wings, papaya salad, and sticky rice. The fried chicken wings could be prepared a few ways including salt and pepper and tamarind flavor, but I requested for it plain so I could dip it in the jeow mak len (Laotian tomato dipping sauce). Fire.Let's talk service next. Every single person I conversed with was so personable, inviting, and charming. You could tell they love the restaurant and the sharing of their culture through food. All the kitchen staff coming in and out to the main dining table was so energetic and their smiles were so infectious. You could tell they have a good work family dynamic.About getting to the restaurant, Google maps will take you to the food truck park right next door, but this establishment has a physical location -- I think it says Cully Center outside so turn where the black gate is. There's a small parking lot in the back that will lead you to the restaurant. There are ample tables and chairs for all party sizes indoors and out. Also, there's a full bar and I heard it's a fun place to visit after a long work day.Finally, they sell their homemade beef jerky with spice levels from 1-5. They gave me a level 3 bag complimentary so that I could help promote it in the Bay Area. I let my friends and family try some jerky and they were all impressed so I'm going to be placing a big bulk order via their website to have more bags shipped to me.I'm incredibly impressed with these guys and will proudly recommend a visit to all my friends who make it out to Portland.Support local small businesses y'all!