Portland Food Carts: Native Bowl Fuses Great Taste with Healthy Concoctions

Portland food carts like Native Bowl are an affordable way to sample inventive cuisine. Some of Portland’s most innovative new cooks are not behind the burners at a fancy restaurant, but rather cooking up delicious and singular creations in the city’s numerous food carts. Native Bowl succeeds by offering tasty "bowls" that are perfect for the lunch hour.

Native Bowl is housed inside the Mississippi Marketplace, one of the premier food cart pods in Portland. Alongside the Native Bowl are fellow carts Nuevo Mexico, Big Egg, and Garden State, each having its own flair and personality. Native Bowl sets itself apart with a great and accessible menu.

The menu is strictly vegetarian, but for meat-eaters, one will not even notice that it is gone. Using soy-based protein, it has a flavor distinct from meat options, but still as satisfying. Their signature bowl is the Mississippi Bowl, which is made with ranch, BBQ Soy Curls, rice, and scallions. The restaurant describes it as ‘soul satisfying.’ The other options on the menu are just as pleasing, ranging from vegan delights to Asian cuisine. Many of the bowls also feature an addictively delicious garlic tofu, which will make one wonder about the endless possibilities of meat-less cuisine.

One of the best choices on their menu is the affordable chocolate cake cup. A Native Bowl specialty, this chocolate cake in a cup is a sugary favorite, especially great if one needs a little afternoon pick-me-up.

During the lunch hour, the cart can be quite busy, but orders generally never take longer than 10 minutes. With public seating for all of the pod’s carts, one can either enjoy the bowl at the Mississippi Marketplace or take it to-go. With many nearby parks, it can make for a lovely lunch under the Pacific Northwest sky at nearby Overlook Park or Irving Park.

The Native Bowl is a food cart perfected. With a clearly-defined vision, the cart’s vegetarian creations are both familiar and expand one’s traditional notion of street food.

HelloPortland Tip: Be sure to check their Twitter for updated hours, menus, closures and other information. 

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