Going Out No. 45: Gado Gado
What happens when a restaurant gets BIG.
Welcome to Riley’s Recs! A place for people who love to talk about what they eat, drink, and do in Portland. This is the Going Out edition, where I review a restaurant, bar, or activity. Every Sunday, I also share Staying In recipe recommendations for your week. Don’t forget to follow RR on Instagram at @rileysrecs. Enjoy!
To eat: Roti Canai, Charcoal Grilled Chicken Satay, Bakwan Sayur, English Pea & Asparagus Green Curry, and Sumatran Style Beef Rendang (or just get the Rice Table)
To drink: Disco Doll, Banana Fairy Queen, and Singha
Cost for two including tip: $144
Address: 1801 NE Cesar E Chavez Blvd
Almost a year ago, TikTok food critic and former MMA fighter Keith Lee paid a surprise visit to Gado Gado, the Indonesian fusion restaurant tucked away in a strip mall in the Hollywood District. Although Gado Gado hasn’t offered takeout since the pandemic, on this day—without knowing who placed the order—they obliged.
Keith proceeded to record himself eating his meal, which included chicken satay, roti, and green curry, in his car in a parking lot Gado Gado shares with a train hobby shop, a donation-based thrift store, and a Baskin-Robbins.
For in-the-know Portlanders, this little strip mall was no secret. But to Keith’s 17 million followers, this was a new gem. Following the video, reservations at Gado Gado blew up.
So what is it like now, almost a year later? One of the restaurant group’s sister spots, Houston Blacklight, has closed. But Gado Gado and Oma’s Hideaway (the cocktail bar on SE Division in the former Whiskey Soda Lounge) live on.
Although I’ve had my fair share of visits to Oma’s over the past year, the crowds have kept me away from Gado Gado. But on a recent weekday night, I was surprised to find the wait was only 10 minutes. It was a Tuesday, sure, but the restaurant was nearly full—couples arriving in Ubers for boozy dates, singles at the bar, neighborhood families celebrating the return of summer vacation. No one was recording themselves. The service was lovely, as always, and the food was delicious
Fame can ruin. But it doesn’t have to. And Gado Gado is thriving in the spotlight.
The menu changes frequently at Gado Gado, but one dish that always remains is the roti canai. A Malaysian flatbread that pulls apart like string cheese. Its flaky layers are achieved through a repetitive cycle of kneading, flattening, oiling, and folding. Layers that you immediately undress with your eyes, then your hands. Served with a blistered heirloom tomato curry, it’s the diamond of the menu. I might recommend ordering two per person, but no one wants to fill up on bread (or do we?).
Instead, you’ll want to experience the full flavor spectrum of the menu: earthy, leggy green papaya and cabbage fritters, aromatic rice, spicy sambals, cinnamon-sweet beef rendang. All dishes that were included recently in the Rice Table, the restaurant’s surprisingly “affordable” $89 fixed-price family-style menu.
The Rice Table starts with a tour of Southeast Asian sides: pickled vegetables and little bites, like chicken satay, pani puri, and sausage and shrimp siu mai (5x better than its equivalent at Excellent Cuisine). Everything textbook appetizer: not too heavy, not too light.
The meal then proceeds into larger servings. On a recent visit, this meant a salad with an impossibly long ingredient list (mizuna greens, strawberries, green papaya, radishes, spicy lime and shrimp paste, toasted coconut, and candied hazelnuts), and a play on fish stew with shrimp, cod, toasted anchovy croutons, and clams.
Mains are served with rice—made with coconut, turmeric, pandan, and fried shallots—and roti, of course. Many dishes are cooked over Thai barbecue coals, which are imported. Does it make a difference? Most likely, yes. It’s assertive details like these that can make dining out distinguishable from home cooking.
The food itself is a blend of Thai, Malaysian, Singaporean, Chinese, and Indonesian cuisines. Which makes sense when you realize Gado Gado translates to “mix-mix.” Chef Thomas Pisha-Duffly, a Han Oak graduate from a Chinese and Indonesian family, brings a little of this and a little of that to this pan-Asian experience. It’s a flavor-maxxing cultural homage. There is lots of inspiration and no restraint. Which makes the meal FUN.
There might be no better showcase of Chef Pisha-Duffly’s style than the fried banana dessert. It’s dressed with a healthy dusting of shaved coconut and, to my disbelief, sharp cheddar. A popular technique for Filipino cheese cupcakes or Japanese cheese tarts, but rarely seen on menus here. The bananas are served alongside chocolate and pandan dipping sauces, which I seriously considered asking to take home. I fell in love with pandan, a Southeast Asian vanilla-nutty paste, at Yaowarat, and the love affair has continued here.
As you might be able to guess from the sneaky addition of cheese, the Gado Gado menu is packed with dangers for the easily inflamed. Which is why they made another one for people with shellfish, gluten, dairy, shrimp, nuts, soy, sesame, and egg allergies. Order à la carte, modified for shellfish, or get the full Rice Table meal: Gado Gado lets you mix (gado?) and match.
However you order, you’re in for a good time. Some places collapse under the weight of attention. I went back expecting potential chaos. I got a great, leisurely meal instead.
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Gado Gado SLAPS! I dream about the Roti Canai 🤤