A Delicious Trek Through Southeast Portland

If you are tired of going to the same restaurants but aren’t sure which new ones to try, a food tour might be just the thing.   The Lost Plate Tour is run by native Oregonians who just want to highlight the great food that’s being made here.

Here’s a rundown of what you will sample on this tour (and you DON’T go away hungry!!!)

Cartopia Food Cart Pod is the first stop where you eat Poutine from POTATO CHAMPION, and Thai Iced Tea Lemonade from BKK THAI.

Hawthorne Asylum Food Carts is next where you’ll try Shan Noodle Salad from BURMESE DELIGHT, Chicken Pelmeni Dumplings and Kvass from PELMINI PELMINI, Crispy Cauliflower from PLEASANT PEASANT, Dutch Waffle with Jam, Lemon and Vanilla filled with Bavarian Cream and topped with Fresh Whipped Cream from SMAAKEN WAFFLES.

Next a stop at the newly re-opened MORRISON MARKET FOOD HALL for Veggie Curry Samosas from SPICE OF AFRICA, then to finish it off Pub Pretzels and locally made beer at ROGUE BREWERY.

The history of this part of Southeast Portland is fascinating.   The Hawthorne Asylum Food Carts are actually located at the site of an actual asylum that was opened at the corner of Southeast 12th Avenue and Salmon Street in 1861, and was the first such treatment center in the Pacific Northwest.  J.C Hawthorne and his wife Loryea practiced modern medicine known then as “moral treatment”.    The food cart pod is surrounded by wrought iron fencing and looks slightly creepy.  Pete Cottell of Willamette Week once wrote  the pod looks like what might happen if Tim Burton were commissioned to design a Portland-themed section of Disneyland.

You also walk through the famous “Goat Blocks” of Southeast Portland.  An apartment complex  was built on a 2-acre field which was previously home to a herd of goats, nicknamed the “Belmont Goats”. There are also a lot of historic businesses and a lot of artwork and murals.