SomTum Gai Yang

This has become very inconsistent, and I’ve now had so many bad experiences that I’ve stopped trying. The pork stew was once one of the best things I have ever tasted. Now it is fatty and indifferently spiced.

I got this since, Nong’s Khao Mun Gai was sold out. If this is your only experience, I am sure it is fine and delicious.
However this does not beat my dad’s som tom gai yang, not even close.

Pad Thai was pretty good.

This is for the cart of this name on SW Stark between 2^nd and 3^rd (really it should have its own listing…).
F. YEAH.
This place has been haunting my dreams! Specifically, the Pa Lo Gai. I’ve had it like 6 times in the past 3 weeks. I tried it on a whim (never had it before), and ohhhhhhhhhh man… I can’t even… okay, I’ll try to describe how elementally, rockingly, good it is. Just be warned that it’s surely not adequate for the real thing.
The Pa Lo Gai. The tender, juicy chicken, the zippy pickles greens, the sweet-​spicy sauce, the juiciness soaking into the rice… none of it is too heavy, and it is one of those amazing dishes that is both intensely satisfying and relatively healthful.
I also tried the signature dish (Somtum Gai Yang) the first time I went there, and it was great. But I don’t see myself wavering from the Pa Lo Gai for quite some time…
Authentic, fresh, cheap — and incredible flavors.
LOVE. FAVE. YES!
Just don’t start making them have a huge line, ‘kay?
P. S. They also have lots of vegetarian options.

Gai Yang plate is really awesome — definitely worth trying. My second favorite is the pork leg stew, pickled mustard and stewed egg. You can tell how long this dish is simmered because of how tender the meat is. The papaya salad is good (like the addition of salted egg) but although spicy, could be made with more flavor. Price is great too!
Haven’t tried khao soi yet because they were out of it when I visited. can’t wait to try it due to all the good reviews on it.
The owners also cater to local events and companies. Jen is very friendly and easy to work with. They have also have been very on-​time with their lunch deliveries.
KPI (Key Performance Indicators) ratings (1 – 5, 5 — best):
Quality: 4
Delivery/​Service: 4
Cost: 5

Amazing papaya salad!
We got their specialty, the Som Tum Gai Yang, which was BBQ chicken, papaya salad, and sticky rice. It’s the best combo ever. Light, refreshing shreds of papaya salad, juicy bbq’d pieces of chicken, and a good portion of the sticky rice.
Top it all off with a sweet Thai iced tea.
It’s pretty awesome.

This is a review for the satellite cart on SW Stark between 2^nd and 3^rd.
The food carts have always been a good way for me to grab a bite that was both quick and delicious. The food here was neither. I wound up waiting 32 minutes for an order of drunk noodles. When I finally got the food itself, I found that the dish was almost entirely noodles without much in the way of vegetables or chicken. The food was heavy with oil and lacked any real flavor. I was very disappointed.
With so many amazing food carts around, there’s no reason to waste time and money at this one.

I come here often enough, although not as often as I’d like, because I could literally eat this som tum every day of my life. It’s fresh, delicious, and maybe the best in town.
I’m bumping this up to 5 stars because they started using a container that doesn’t leak, which is needed for the juice in the som tum.
I also think the som tum has gotten even better, if that was possible. It’s so addictive I just finished mine, and I want more. I saw a picture on their facebook of the huge tray they made for a catered event. I seriously considered asking for one. Who cares if it’s a party of one… Maybe I didn’t want to share anyway!
The mango with sticky rice is like a labor of love. Sweet but not too sweet, light yet delectable, the rice soaks up the syrupy goodness, with slices of fresh ultra ripe mango. After eating this today, I feel like my love is reciprocated.
Once, I was coming over here after Powell’s, so I called ahead and they didn’t answer. I got a call back from them a couple minutes later, «Hello, Bree?» How’s that for Customer Service, they must have entered my name in their phone. Cute.

Yep, this cart is for real. This is the stuff I grew up eating and it’s great to see Americans embrace other Thai dishes besides Pad Thai. This is the dish that Thai people ate at home but never sold in restaurants a few years ago because they thought people wouldn’t get it. SomTum Gai Yang is to Thailand what a cheeseburger is to the states. It’s everywhere, people eat it all the time, and everyone has their favorite. This cart dishes it up fairly authentic (for Portland) and hopefuly we’ll see more Thai «niche» carts like this one and Nong’s because I’m telling you, there are SO many more dishes in Thai cuisine that people don’t even know about. It’s the best and most varied cuisine in the world, bar none.

This review is actually for the satellite cart on SW Stark between 2^nd and 3^rd. Hoofed it down here for lunch based on a review that said their green papaya salad was delicious, filling, and low calorie. Perfect for my current health kick.
I went for the namesake dish, the SomTum Gai Yang. The lady asked how spicy I wanted it. I told her to max it out. She did not disappoint! The salad was sweet and crunchy, with a fiery build. Add in some pork and sticky rice and I had a great lunch that clocked in around 500 calories by my count.
Will definitely make this a regular stop.

It’s 7:20am and weirdly dark. Partly due to the spring forward DST shift, partly because I can barely keep my eyes open. I’m hungry. And all I can really see is the bright bold colors of somtum (green papaya salad) in front of me. It’s not like I can’t eat this at work everyday if I wanted, but here I am, craving. I guess that says somtum about Sotum Gai Yang. The simplicity, the flavors, the freshness, the sticky rice, the heat (they don’t hold back if you tell them to bring it) and the roasted chicken. I here, I mean I hear, there’s more. Pad Kee Mao, Khao Soi, etc… need to go back soon, but will I be able to order anything else? Don’t know. Don’t know much, but I need to get a new song stuck in my head. Oh, but I do know they just opened a second cart, 3^rd and Stark, looks like a metal box. They all do you say. For reals though, you’ll understand if you see it. Somewhere on the OG cart I thought I saw mention… dark again, a millisecond nap… about this being a healthful diet… forget Jared and his never ending string of turkey subways… I could eat this every meal. Do I even know what I’m saying. No. Just typing. Not really saying anything. Ignore me, I’m tired… I’ll wake up soon. Actually don’t completely ignore me. Get Somtum or better yet Somtum Gai Yang (green papaya salad plus chicken). Red cart, next to the dump truck, a few carts up from Nong’s. I’m sure this’ll make sense to someone… okay stopping now. Somtum (It’s fun to say, you should try it).

I have tried several dishes from this cart and I would say I like it. Actually I would give it 3.5 stars.
1. Som Tum with salted egg — this one is just an OK. Some special som tum smell is missing. I could not tell what, but something is missing
2. Khao Soi — northern style thai curry. I like it. The chicken is so tender. They give you the whole drum stick. The sauce of the curry is thick and strong. Not like a usual green or yellow thai curry. you should definitely give it a try
3. Khao Kha Moo — pig leg cook with some sweet soy sauce. It’s good. The meat is so soft and melt the minute you put it in your mouth. The pickle make your appetite grow even stronger. Try this one.
overall, i would say not bad at all. more than an OK, but need a little bit more to convince me to be an ultimate fan

I lived in Thailand for 6 months, and Som Tum salads were a staple in my diet there.
When I found SomTum Gai Yang, I thought I rediscovered Thai food in the states!
The sticky rice could be a bit less glutenous (not to say it has gluten, but that it’s REALLY sticky). Otherwise, everything from the som tum, to the khao soy kai is superb. Venture to the top of the Alder carts and you won’t be disappointed by the food and the service — the couple that runs this cart are some of the nicest people out there.

SomTum has expanded its menu to include more than the BBQ pork/​chicken/​papaya salad combos. I tried one of the new dishes today — stewed pork over rice with pickled mustard greens and a hard boiled egg (and spicy dipping sauce). Different flavor than their other items — I tasted quite a bit of cinnamon in this one — but just as good. Which is to say, really frickin’ good.
Also among the new items are a noodle soup and a stewed chicken dish. But even the classics — the bbq’d meat and (mmm!) papaya salad — are well worth your attention. If you’re still not sure, just stop by the cart and take a look at the menu pictures. That ought to convince you in no time.

I’m in town for Hood 2 Coast and my friend picked me up from the airport and dropped me off in the middle of Portland to fend for myself until she got off work. I was walking down the block trying to decide on a food cart to try, until the word «curry» jumped off the menu at SomTum and slapped me in the face. I loves me some curry. I am a distinguished (not really) currysseur, so I promptly ordered the Khao Soi and was very pleased. The flavors in this soup were rich and bold and tasted exactly like a curry soup should.
My only gripe is that it could have been a bit more spicy. The guy asked me how spicy I wanted it, and in my usual ordering-​at-​a-​thai-​restaurant manner I opened my eyes as wide as I could, looked him in the eye, and said (very slowly) EXTRA SPICY. That didn’t do the trick, though. After reading some reviews I think next time I will try asking for it «Thai Spicy»

Never been to Vietnam before, so not sure where this ranks on the «authenticity» scale, but the dish I ordered, Kao Kha Moo, which is pork leg stew w/​egg and fresh pickled mustard green over rice. It was decent, but the pork was a touch dry. Still, I love the food truck atmosphere, and while I will most likely walk on by this cart the next time, they are worth a try…

I was so excited about som tam for lunch. I’ve spent about about 7 months in Thailand, have eaten som tam on the street of nearly every city I went to, and at one time could even order it just like I liked it in Thai. Paed nid nawy?
Sorry to report that the salad here doesn’t measure up. After being told that ‘spicy’ meant ‘Thai spicy’, I ordered the medium. The sauce had some citrus and sour, but was lacking in sweet and garlic, and was totally devoid of fishiness, nuts, and surprisingly, spice. There wasn’t a hint of hot. Basically, it was pretty bland. You can call som tam lots of things, but you shouldn’t ever be able to call it bland. Also, shredded carrot, which should be a highlight in the salad, made up about half of the volume.
The chicken was pretty good. Not great, but good.

What’s for lunch? Papaya salad, grilled chicken, and sticky rice. The #5. Great choice for a guy as indecissive about lunch as I am.
If you call ahead, you can avoid the whole lunch-​hour 15 minute wait line congestion that comes with getting lunch at a good food cart on a sunny Portland summer day.

An entire food cart dedicated to Som Tum? Awesome!
Portland food carts sure have started to get specialized, and I’m definitely not complaining. I was downtown searching for a good, quick, non-​gut-​bomb pre-​meeting lunch, and I stumbled across this awesome little cart up on 10^th and Alder. Some spicy, fishy, salty shredded green papaya salad was definitely the order of the day. Add in some salted egg, and you have a solid Thai street-​food meal.
The Som Tum with salted egg was… in one word… heady. The salty egg matched the fishiness and spiciness of the papaya salad (you choose your level of spiciness), and it was all rounded out by the sticky rice. At $ 6.5 it wasn’t the highest value-​for-​dollar as far as the amount of food goes, but what you lack in amount, you make up for in flavor. And for a pretty healthy meal overall, it’s a good lunch.
Other options include an option to add a pork or chicken stew on, and I think the price for the combo is aoun $ 7.5 (incl sticky rice). They also have a Khao Soi option — looks to be southern-​style, with a coconut base.
They have one little table out front, and if you «dine in», they’ll serve you on an actual plate. For a quick al fresco lunch, not half bad.

The braised pork over rice with pickled greens is outstanding. It reminds me of the Vietnamese dish called Thit Kho. Very good portion size and absolutely delicious.
The food was served so fast I didn’t even have time to surf my iPhone while I waited.