Portland Saturday Market

I did not plan on visiting Portland’s Saturday Market. Somehow it just happened and I’m glad I visited it.

I say this because Portland does not have good food. And it doesn’t help much either that their not so good food isn’t cheap either. Not too sure what Portlanders’ standards are when it comes to good food but it doesn’t seem all that high especially when it comes to taste and authenticity.

I am not what you’d call a food snob but let’s just say there’s a reason why Pok Pok, a popular restaurant in Portland couldn’t make it in LA.

So, I was pretty excited to run into their ever so popular Saturday Market for a diverse selection of eats at “cheaper” prices. (In quotes because it was still expensive.)

I will admit that as excited as I was about the market, I was actually quite hesitant to try anything thanks to all of the subpar experiences I had with food in Portland.

My mind changed after becoming PDX Empanadas’ first customer of the day. The mushroom empanada I got was hot, fresh and delicious despite the fact that I usually am not so fond of mushrooms. Although the empanada was a bit pricey, I was happy to have finally consumed something good in Portland.

If you thought I stopped at the empanada, you’re wrong.

Eventually, I had a craving for brownies. But none of the vendors were selling brownies so I had to make do without brownies. 🙁

I passed by a vendor selling corn and ended up buying one. The corn was overpriced but I kind of all of a sudden had a craving for swap meet styled corn and just had to get my hands on one. Unfortunately, I think the vendor wasn’t prepared to make my corn spicy. Now, in general I’m not a fan of spicy food but I had a special craving that moment and just wanted it super spicy. I actually asked them for extra hot sauce and poured it onto my corn. It was delicious. I think passerbys were looking at me like a nut case but honestly, it’s quite the norm to see Mexican vendors selling their corn spicy af in SoCal. The vendors in SoCal outdo this Portland vendor. This vendor was lacking in condiments to add onto the corn. Perhaps I didn’t inquire the vendor enough but SoCal vendors have lime juice, different dry spices, different liquid spices, dry cheese, butter and a bunch of other condiments to make your mouth and stomach go woah! This vendor only had the bare minimum from what I saw.

I know I’ve talked quite a bit about food thus far but Portland’s Saturday Market isn’t just about food. There are vendors selling artwork, bags, toys, cards, tea and more.

One particular vendor that caught my travel companion’s eye sold buttoned badge reels. I was attracted to this particular vendor as well but had difficulty on deciding whether I should buy or not simply because the items for sale weren’t cheap. In the end, I ended up buying one whereas my travel companion bought two. When we’ll use these items, I have no idea…

The market was quite large. You had to cross a street in order to get to the second half of the market. Kind of cool if you ask me.

It was also a pretty happening place with music being played live but I didn’t pay much attention to it.

The great thing about this market was the friendly vibes and acceptance of people of color (for the most part). Having experienced racism on a daily basis in Portland, this was a welcome relief to me and my travel companion. No traveler should ever have to deal with racism. Because of this, I recommend Portland Saturday Market to anyone that visits northern Oregon.

Sure, it’s a possibility that the market being adjacent to the Japanese Plaza and historic Chinatown may help to keep people’s real attitudes in check but I’m hoping it was just a coincidence.

The day was cold and it actually eventually rained quite heavily. Prior to the rain, I managed to find a seat by the water to eat yakisoba. The yakisoba, although inauthentic was quite good. Unfortunately, the portion size I received was rather small and that kind of bugged me considering how much more of the noodles I had wanted to consume. It also didn’t help much that the noodles weren’t cooked fresh; they were sitting around before being served to me. Regardless, it was still better than the crap I had eaten in Portland in the days prior.

The area around Portland Saturday Market is unfortunately a bit sketchy but as long as you arrive after their opening time, you should be fine since there will be a lot of people around.

Contrary to it’s name, you can visit the market on Sundays as well. (Or at least that’s what a vendor told me anyway.)

If you’re taking public transportation to the Portland Saturday Market, you might run into Voodoo Doughnuts. These donuts are supposedly famous but I didn’t bother getting into their long line for one. I was confident that their donuts would just be okay. Besides, I’m a sucker for Krispy Kreme’s donuts only.

Links, should you need it:

• Portland Saturday Market
• PDX Empanadas
• Pok Pok couldn’t handle LA