Pine Street Market — Restaurant in Portland

The atmosphere was great, the concept is awesome but the food was terrible. Went with my 2 friends and my 7yr old. One of my friends ordered from the burger place with my 7yr old, myself and my other friend ordered from the Marukin ramen place. Being that it's in a place like this I wasnt expecting anything amazing from the ramen.

My friend ordered a cheeseburger and fries while my 7yr old wanted pizza but at 11:42am they said they were going to open late as they didnt even have pizza made yet. Begrudgingly she ordered the chili fries with my friend from the burger counter.

I ordered my ramen the tonkotsu shoyu with a side of the curry. Seemed like a pretty good deal. My friend ordered the miso ramen with a side of the curry as well.

We get our food and I notice as I hand my daughter her chili fries that the chili looks kinda weird. Just looked like someone chewed some burnt hamburger spit it out and called it chili. Oh well right? She starts eating it. I dive into my bowl of noodles. It's cold out so I'm anticipating the warmth of the broth. The broth/chashu had a distinct pig like flavor. It wasnt typical cooked pork flavor. It tasted....almost bad. Maybe they cooked pig skin but not all the way so it was still very swiney in flavor. I tasted the curry and it too had that flavor but strong. Like dirty pigs smell at a petting zoo. I notice my daughter is barely touching her fries. She says the chili is gross. She loves chili so I tried asking her what about it she doesnt like. My friend tried a bit of the chili and spit it into a napkin. I thought it couldnt be that bad but it was. It was HORRIBLE. I dont even see how they can call it chili. It looked and tasted as if they use what ever left over cooked patties they have at the end of the night gets turned into said "chili". Its awful. Canned Nalley chili tastes better than that! We wont be eating at those 2 places a...

I must say this is one of my more unique reviews. This is primarily because while about food it is not necessarily about individual restaurants, but a more communal food hall type setting. Let me go ahead and say now my one critique would probably be some kind of better signage on the outside indicating if you were looking for a specific vendor that they are in this food hall. That being said, the variety of places to eat in one setting like this communal food hall is amazing. I absolutely love this idea. I can get a burger while a friend gets to eat ramen or we can even just say what are we going to try today? Let's try something new. And while I have not tried every vendor, every order I have had from a particular restaurant/food hall has knocked it out of the park so far. I may not know if every future meal will be so good, but up until this point I have never had a bad meal from anyone in Pine Street market. If you are looking for variety and a communal setting, and if you're not opposed to a louder setting than you would find in a family type restaurant, then I would recommend this hands down for the sheer variety, the atmosphere, and just the sheer enthusiasm of the people...

Pine Street Market Worth the sketchy stroll!

Let’s be honest getting to Pine Street Market means keeping your head on a swivel. The location is definitely not giving “charming plaza” vibes. More like, “keep it moving and don’t make eye contact.”

BUT… the second I stepped inside? Plot twist. It was like stepping through a magical portal where everything is clean, bright, happy, and smells like you just walked into a foodie version of heaven.

We tried the ramen first comforting, savory, slurp worthy perfection. Then we tried the Thai food, and let me tell you, that was not just hype. That food was legit, spicy, and delicious enough to make me rethink all my past pad thai decisions.

The sushi spot was good too and kid approved. But the real star of the show was the Chinese food spot tucked in the back. The menu? Simple. The dumplings? AMAZING! the chicken and vegetarian dumplings were Soft, flavorful, juicy little pillows of joy. 🤤

So yes, the neighborhood may give off “keep pepper spray in hand” vibes, but once you’re inside Pine Street Market, it’s all smiles, flavor explosions, and food comas.

10/10 would risk the sidewalk stress again. Thank me...