[Update May 2011 – Closed]

Location: SW 3rd and Ash

Description:

I was out late the other night and happened upon the newest cart in the SW 3rd and Ash pod – Ninja Plate Lunch. They were celebrating their first late night weekend. I had just munched on a taco from a different late night stand, so was too full to indulge. I’m glad I didn’t eat that night because yesterday, I ventured down and enjoyed a great lunch at Ninja Plate.

The owners, Kahala and Kat, told me their goal is to provide large portions of tasty traditional Hawaiian food for a low price. In looking at the menu, there is nothing there over $5. In this day and age, $5 is a great price for lunch. When they said large portions, I wasn’t sure what that meant until I saw Kat place two scoops of rice and a generous scoop of potato/macaroni salad on a plate then pass it over for the Kahlua pig. I had ordered the pig which turned out to be a large portion of pulled pork shoulder that had been marinated, then cooked and pulled apart before serving. The plate I received could feed two people easy.

When I sat down to enjoy this meal, I first just stared at it. What a generous amount of food. I first picked at the pork which was soft, juicy and very flavorful. Then the rice which was sticky and a perfect match to go with the slightly salty pork. Lastly, I dove into the potato/macaroni salad…and never looked back. I’m used to the type of macaroni salad that after a couple of bites, you realize you have eaten your daily intake of mayo. Not so in this case. Mixed in salad were chucks of potato, carrot, and peas. No excess mayo here. The pork was the highlight of the entire meal. No extra sauce or salt or any type of seasoning was needed. It stood on its own as a perfect presentation of this type of dish. I did my best to finish the meal, and almost did. So good. I only left a little rice. Oh and to top it all off, you get a Dum Dum sucker with every meal.

Ninja Plate Lunch opened just a week ago and are still working out a finalized menu. What I list below is what was offered that day. It may change, but I bet it will only change for the better. Kat and Kahala are a couple of nice friendly cartrepreneuers, so you should go say hi. Oh and check them out late night if you in Old Town for a show or just out causing trouble. Tell them Food Carts Portland sent ya.

Sample Menu:

Shoyu Chicken – $5

Kahlua Pig – $5

Hamburger steak – $5

Loco Moco – rice with hamburger patty on top covered with egg and brown gravy – $5

Chicken Curry – $5

Tofu Curry – $5

all plates come with 2 scoops of rice and 1 scoop of potato/mac salad

Spam Masubi – $2

Hours: Monday through Saturday, 11am-3pm; Friday and Saturday nights from 11pm-3am

Twitter: NinjaPlateLunch on Twitter

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