PDX: Meatball Banh Mi at Lardo

 

One day in Portland, I decided I would just put in Downtown as my destination and go to the first place that looked good. I had a chatty ride share driver who used to work at a bakery and she pointed out all the possible spots I could eat at. I asked her about Lardo and she didn’t think her old bakery made their bread so she didn’t have an opinion.

But I knew.

I had Lardo on my list for a long time and today (that day) was the day I ate at Lardo. I have had their food at food events in LA and thought about getting a sandwich at the Vegas location (which I didn’t do much to my friend’s regret that night).

Let’s talk about this location though- it’s downtown and it was a weekday during lunch. They were massively busy but the counter person was still patient with me as I discussed which sandwich I should get.

Ultimately I decided on the pork banh mi. But for good measure, I got a side of kimchi and a pickle.

 

Now I come from Los Angeles and I love a good banh mi. This one was incredible. Not only did it have a goodly amount of pickled daikon and carrots with plenty of cilantro, the bread was great (wish I could go back to tell that rideshare driver about that). I also loved the sauce. But the real deal was the tender pork meatballs. Oh yeah, one of the best meals of the trip!

 

As for the kimchi and pickle, I live for all the pickly bits. Give me all your fermented products!

Oh, what other sandwiches did I consider? Oh, only the Korean pork shoulder, Italian tuna melt, Petey Pablo and the Rhinestone cowboy. Please open a Los Angeles location or I’ll just have to go back to PDX soon!

Lardo

1205 SW Washington St., Portland, OR 97205  —  (503) 241-2490

 

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