For Single Standout Menu Item, we review only one dish, one item or one beverage that we feel deserves its own bit of fanfare. This could be the one dish not to be missed, or the item on which the eatery has built its reputation.
Portland, OR Restaurant Review: Lilikoi Hawaiian Comfort Food in North Portland

Lilikoi Hawaiian Comfort Food in North Portland

If someone sits down and really makes the food-based video game that the city of Portland deserves, and I’m thinking now it should be called something like Legends of Portland Foodage maybe, then surely Lilikoi will be one of the most favorite heroes when in single- or multi-player mode.

Watching restaurants have their moment in the current trendy sun (what sun?! it’s a metaphor or figure of speech or whatever, obvi) here in Portland is like watching bands break into the top of the UK pop charts; there’s just so many great and interesting things happening all the time. But beyond the trendy-nature, or seemingly unique wrinkle many of these restaurants and food carts deliver, not all of them are deserving of lasting praise and patronage. Better yet, some of them like Lilikoi certainly are.

Heading up into the north part of Portland from my home in the southeast is like going on a mini-adventure. Things are surely different “up there.” I don’t know quite how, yet, but it’s pretty clear there are. That does not mean, however, that there aren’t a host of fantastic eateries and people doing sincerely interesting things with the dining experience, both in terms of what is being served, and the environment in which the food is plated and delivered to diners. Lilikoi is hands-down the scrappiest of the bunch, what the owners will carefully admit is a true “mom and pop shop” personified. These days, I’m so much happier seeing a restaurant start off with a kind of sincerity in its humble beginnings, especially when, like Lilikoi, it manages to deliver such amazing cuisine.

Breaking Down the Signature Style Sandwich at Lilikoi in North Portland

Lilikoi Hawaiian Comfort Food: Signature Style Pork Sandwich

When you walk up to Lilikoi, you will be greeted with a handmade, spray-painted sign announcing you are where you wanted to be. Then you will see a printed out sign taped in the window telling you to go around through the patio. Then you will walk through what is essentially the outdoor kitchen: a modified but complete grilling station not unlike a Portland food cart turned inside out. Then you will go inside the small, quaint store-front space and see a marvelous, rustic and unique environment that is like a heart on display: true, good and real. I don’t know entirely what I mean by that, but when you see the interior, I think you’ll know what I mean.

Chairs don’t necessarily match, table cloths are garish and bold, there are children’s crayon scribbles on the actual walls. This restaurant isn’t “trying” to be anything — it just is — and it’s Lilikoi. So get over yourself if you believe that “fine dining” has to look a certain way. Once upon a time, all we cared about was the food. And with food like this, surely Lilikoi’s status as underground superhero is limited in time — eventually, and my bet is in not too much time, Lilikoi will have the fine environment that it deserves, with a beautiful dining room and a kitchen cooking area fit for a king and queen. And at that point, I hope they stay true to themselves, because the owners appear to be exceedingly lovely people.

Let’s talk about the food — specifically, the Kalua Pork Signature Style Sandwich ($5). Hear me when I tell you that after seeing and then eating this masterpiece, you’ll try to pay twice as much as they are asking for it. We’re talking about savory, moist, rich shredded and high quality pork that is long on flavor, my friends, topped with equally moist and delicious, slightly sweet Asian-style coleslaw. All of this comes on an open-faced Hawaiian style bun bread that looks more like focaccia in its size and shape. The extra bit of sweetness added to the whole affair by the bread alone is a ridiculously amazing treat — and the overall portion is more than enough food for two to share, if you are moderately hungry. The problem with that, of course, is the problem with all spectacular dishes — you’ll smell it, see it, and start tasting it, and you’ll gobble it up so fast that you won’t have satisfied your hunger yet. We ordered a noodle dish, and with those two for a big lunch meal, we still got full after starting out starving, and took home 2 more complete servings of noodles for leftovers the next day.

Lilikoi Hawaiian Comfort Food on North Killingsworth Sample Menu:

• Lilikoi French Toast (breakfast): Deek’s Hawaiian sweet bread served, Lilikoi syrup – $5 (add 2 eggs for $2)
• Cuban Style Sandwich: Kalua pork (Carlton Farms) or Shoyu chicken, ham, pickles, cheese, mayo – $5
• Laos Style Noodles: Sweet soy sauce, eggs, onions, garlic, bean sprouts, veggies – $6 (add pork or chicken $2)
• Drunken Noodles: Black pepper, basil, soy sauce, eggs, onions, bean sprouts, veggies – $6 (add pork or chicken $2)

Restaurant Details: Lilikoi Hawaiian Comfort Food in North Portland
Lilikoi in N Portland
1324 N Killingsworth St (between N Maryland Ave and N Montana Ave on the south side of the street, yellow building)
Portland, OR 97217
North Portland
(503) 964-8434
Hours: Monday and Wednesday – Sunday, 12:00pm – 8pm

Portland, OR Restaurant Map: Lilikoi Hawaiian Comfort Food in North Portland

Click here for directions: Lilikoi Hawaiian Food in North Portland.

Official Site: Lilikoi in North Portland (Click)
Lilikoi on Yelp! Portland (Click)
Lilikoi in North Portland Official Facebook Page (Click)
Lilikoi in North Portland Official Twitter Feed (Click)
Lilikoi in North Portland on Oregon Live (Click)
Lilikoi Menu on Official Website (Click)

Lilikoi in North Portland on Urban Spoon:

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