MeKha Noodle — Restaurant in Portland

Vietnamese restaurants would always be a choice when I decide to eat out. 3 out of 5 times, I would order my favorite noodle, Bún bò Huế. Today, my family came a long way from Delta, BC, Canada, to Portland, OR, USA. I found MeKha on Google map with a quite interesting feedback score. The place was clean and organized, the setup was a quite different from other Vietnamese restaurants I had been to. It was more like European all-day breakfast restaurant with souvenir pictures and postcards on a wide wall. There were plenty of spices for your choice. My wife and I chose our favorite items, Bún bò Huế for myself, Mì Nam Vang with soup on side for herself, and Gỏi cuốn. They were a bit pricey from what I know. US$12 for my Bún bò Huế, which usually costs US$9.50 in Washington and CAN$10 in BC, Canada. That being said, we still needed to try our favorite dishes so that we could tell how good they were to "our taste". Yes, to our taste. My Bún bò Huế was a bit odd, pail, not red enough to be spicy, and lacked of meat. Its soup was a bit thick as a combination of pork and beef broths, but it didn't taste or smell much like port or beef. It was also a bit salty. However, after a a couple spoons, I started to feel a yummy sweet sensation on the back of my tongue. So, I digged in for more soup, forgetting it was a bit salty that would make my lips dry later on. Honestly, it wasn't my taste, but I could still empty the bowl. Not strangely enough yet, just after finishing the meal, our face felt tighten and numb, my neck and spine felt tired and stiff. Same to my wife. We talked and laughed a lot on our way back. Then, I realized that was probably effects of MSG plus marijuana in the soup. It's nothing strange about Vietnamese noodle soup, but I prefer its natural taste without the help of MSG to make it taste good and the help of marijuana to make you feel happy...

A hidden gem for hard-to-find comfort dishes blending Vietnamese and Kampuchean flavors.

I’ve dined at Mekha multiple times over the past two years, both solo and with friends, and it continues to be a go to spot for hard to find Southeast Asian comfort dishes. Their menu blends Kampuchean and Vietnamese cuisine, which makes for a refreshingly unique experience in the Portland food scene.

Favorites include: • Bánh Tằm Bì • Chuối Nướng • Vietnamese yogurt (served in adorable glass jars) • And the standout: Ube flan, hands down one of the best I’ve had anywhere.

They also offer signature noodle dishes like Mì Quảng and Hủ Tiếu Nam Vang. My only wish? That they’d switch from frozen liver to fresh in the Hủ Tiếu. The current version tends to be overcooked after thawing, which takes away from the overall balance of the bowl.

In general, their flavor profile leans on the sweeter side, which aligns with traditional Kampuchean cuisine so just a heads up if you prefer savory-forward dishes.

Other things I appreciate: • There’s a separate lounge area for guests to dine or hang out. • They offer a small credit for returning the glass jars used for yogurt and flan (redeemable only at checkout, no accumulating credit). • Free street parking is available, but the surrounding area isn’t well lit at night. If you’re dining alone, especially as a woman, try to park directly in front of the restaurant for better visibility and peace of mind.

Mekha strikes a special balance between nostalgic flavors, thoughtful presentation, and a low-key, welcoming vibe. Definitely worth checking out if you’re looking for more than your usual phở and...

I am in love with Bun (vermicelli bowls) because they’re fresh, crunchy and satisfying, all the fun flavors without feeling heavy and making me feel guilty for eating take-out, so I’ve been trying them all over town. We live in NE so we mostly stick to our neck of the woods but have ordered it pretty much everywhere we can find it. I had this restaurant on my saved places to try and decided to give it a go today. I was extra hungry and really looking forward to it!

Welp, sadly it was kind of a bust.

The bun here is mostly types of finely shredded cabbage as the veg, and the prevalence of radicchio was unpleasantly bitter which for me rendered it inedible, which was a bummer because it dominated the dish and provided most of the “fresh crunch” to offset the meat. I’m wondering if this choice was an accident because red cabbage looks very similar and is not bitter. There were no pickled daikon/carrots and only a few sprouts, maybe one leaf of lettuce, and a small amount of cucumber so overall I just felt like it didn’t have the same balance of flavors and textures I’ve come to look forward to in this dish. They have their own take on the pour-over sauce as well, which might have been cool if the other ingredients had allowed it to stand out. Other than that, it is a generous portion, for me easily two servings, and they didn’t skimp on the meat. I ordered mine with the grilled pork, and it was not tough or dry.

The fried chicken appetizer was very dry, so overall the experience didn’t live up to the price, which was a lot higher than average for...