Bruce Lee’s Kitchen

If you’re looking for a heavy box of food, their boxes are heavy. Buuuuut, if you want your food to taste like something the cool actually gave a darn about, go anywhere else. I got their teriyaki chicken which simply looked and tasted like rubbish.
I would write a longer review, but I really need to go stick my finger down my throat.

Can’t beat the price. If you’re looking for the overly sweet, fish saucy goodness of the Pad Thai you’re used to, this will surely disappoint. I really liked the change of pace, as this dish is more on the savory side, with fresh ingredients (crisp and delicious sprouts and onions). The portion is generous, too. As I said, this is a good break from the stuff we’re all probably used to.

Best and least expensive pad Thai in Portland!

It’s mostly about the value proposition, since it’s a little cheaper than all the thai restaurants around. Within that context, the red curry has a righteousness to it and the pad Thai will satisfy if you just keep dumping chili sauce on it. Its also a huge freaking portion so I usually get 2 meals out of it. Even more… Value !

This cart offers a micro-​cosm of Asian fusion. Throw in some salad wraps, the obligatory pot stickers, a stir fry menu item or two, exactly ONE curry option (red), and a tofu option along w/​beef or chicken. The prices are not especially competitive, the food is not at all memorable, but I’d consider it passable. Back when I was hitting food carts on this block before/​after routine visits to the Sellwood Library, I was mostly amused by the ingenuity of the food cart phenomenon, and not too picky at all.
Then I tried out a few REALLY, REALLY GOOD food carts, like BTG, Shut up and Eat, Lardo, Cackalacks, etc etc. Oh yeah: then Chowdah moved on the block — right next to poor Bruce Lee, who never stood a Jeet kwon doe-​of a chance.
Sorry, Master Lee, no more than 3 stars for you, but plenty of room to grow/​improve noted…

I ended up at Bruce Lee’s Kitchen because the ‘Chowdah’ food cart guy wasn’t around. I’ve walked by BL’s often enough and the menu, though small, has enough of the basics to tempt me.
My dad and I ordered the red curry (one with chicken, one with tofu) and my sister got the pad thai. Our meals were prepared quickly and the food was still piping hot after we got it home. My sister was happy with her pad thai. Though she initially commented that there didn’t seem to be any sauce, she went on to describe it as ‘tasty’ and commented that it was a good sized portion. My tofu red curry had a good amount of spiciness, but was really, really salty. I also wasn’t that enthused by their choice of vegetables – eggplant, carrots and canned bamboo shoots. My dad was satisfied with his red curry, although he mentioned there wasn’t much chicken and also commented on the saltiness.
Overall, I was disappointed. I was hoping BL’s would be a cheaper alternative to Mekong, Jade or Manao. I guess that part is true – they are cheaper – but definitely not better.

I’ve eaten the tofu pad thai here like six times. It really isn’t like ‘restaurant’ pad thai, with peanuts and stuff… It is however, to me; delicious. It’s pretty much just rice noodles with fried tofu and green onions. Anyways, I dig it and have never had a problem with my dish or the lady.

A total pad-​thai disaster.
I was the ONLY one around, so no excuse here that the cook was «rushed». As a matter of fact, she was on the cell phone most of the time she was cooking & taking my order… SERIOUSLY!
Got to my car (20ft. away) & tried to eat. The noodles were like a brick. Absolutely NO way to eat this stuff, so I took it home. When I dumped it onto a plate, there was MAYBE the equivalent of one chicken thigh’s worth of meat and about one spring onion. Good thing I squirted on some of the weak, watery peanut sauce, because otherwise it had absolutely NO flavor or seasoning.
I was starving, so I just heated up the wok, and threw in some nam-​pla, water, hoisin and garlic-​chili sauce. I tossed it a bit and it FINALLY gave me a plate of edible noodles… actually pretty good NOW,. bu t still no meat or vegetables. Again… NO MEAT OR VEGGIES. And for $ 6.50???
Go to the cart next to this one for some decent chicken, because you won’t get anything but tasteless goo here.

I just got the chicken red curry and the teriyaki chicken, and they were delicious. Everything was really fresh and the portion size was excellent. The owner is a really sweet lady, and I liked watching her cook with the wok. When I get a Thai craving again, I’m gonna come back here.

Tasty, but a bit heavy on the red pepper

Had some red curry and their pot-​stickers and was satisfied. The pot stickers were not your typical steamed stickers, but fried. They were good, so I have no complaints, just not what I was expecting. The red curry with chicken was also pretty good, but mostly standard. I don’t feel it was anything out of the ordinary.
If you’re in the area, and craving asian food, Bruce Lee’s kitchen works. Just didn’t get me all excited.

Had the chicken and veggie stir fry. It was nothing special. Tasted like a they dumped a gallon of yoshida’s sauce from Costco on it. Won’t order the same think again!

Oh… my… goodness, that was some spicy, spicy red curry.
Don’t get me wrong I loved every bite of sweet painful yummy-​ness. But I am someone who loves the heat turned up in thai food so beware the curry if you aren’t a heat lover.
We also got the pad thai, which was a bit tame for me, but others in the party loved it. The flavors were good and I liked that it wasn’t overly oily, I am just not a pad thai girl.
What I am, however, is a girl that will hopeful get to go back and try the green curry, and hopefully a tea with milk to cool the fires.

I was optimistic this would be a quality food venue. It was not. The chicken was grisly cheap dark meat and full of fat. I am amazed that a owner would offer such poor quality when in fact, it could be of utmost high quality for very little extra cost. Bottom line is, I would hate to see where the chicken truly comes from. I hate to be harsh, but take a look at the chicken you are putting in your mouth. ick!

I am a bit of a wimp. I can’t handle spice so I don’t do a lot of Thai food. I’ve never had any that was memorable.
Things changed today.
This little food cart off of 13^th offers a short and sweet menu. Some options are Teriyaki Chicken, Pat Thai, Red Curry or if you’re not that hungry go for the spring rolls or some potstickers.
From what I understand this cart hasn’t been open long and my boyfriend (whose been there a few times before) says when the cart opened the food was wonderful. I went there with him today and he says the food was good before but at this point he believes she has perfected her craft. I have to agree!
Now, I don’t know about authenticity. Liza, the owner, makes food that she has enjoyed preparing for her own family. Like any other chef, she makes her food interesting so that it isn’t just a run-​of-​the-​mill dish. Whatever it is that she does, it works. This food is indeed fantastic! She is very friendly and loves what she does.
One of the huge benefits of coming to Bruce Lee’s Kitchen is that you won’t feel like you were ripped off. For $ 5.50 I got an enormous container of Pat Thai. After I was done and my boyfriend was done nibbling, there was still a third left! He had eaten most of his Red Curry (also $ 5.50) too!
This cart is open from 11am-​7pm daily with a To-​Go option so check it out! You won’t leave hungry.

I LOVE Pad Thai.
In the United States its a sweet oily mess.
I’ve come to find that in Portland much of it sucks ass. Often I find that the dish tastes like some heavy handed chef unleashed way too much fish sauce on it, or is so dry and lacking in flavor that it disappoints me so.
That is apparently how we like it in the good ol’ USA? Or at least in Portland?
I feel that every chef has the right to interpret this dish differently and Bruce Lee’s Kitchen has a ‘Pat Thai’ that is a (nice — imho) departure from the deeply artificially colored heavily tamarind cousins that are slapped into shallow bowls all around Portland.
For less than $ 6.00 I filled my belly with a mellow, plentiful, pale in color, rice noodle, egg, gentle heat from Thai chili pepper, chicken thigh meat, bean sprout, green onion, albeit oily interpretation of ‘Pad Thai’.
After the first few bites, and as it cooled, the flavors changed and it got better and better. There was a combination of flavors; ever-​so-​slight sweetness, peanut oil, savory chicken, the very fresh green onions… the dish would have been made even better if I had a lime wedge to squeeze on this bad boy.
I am really not a purist here folks… truth is, you’re hard pressed to be served an ethnic dish by someone who is actually from the country of the dish’s origin. I know that some people (and often never from that country) bitch, moan, hem and haw about how something isn’t authentic. I say… Go out there and make it yourself then if you don’t like what’s being served you sassy monkeys!
For me… It didn’t suck. Bruce Lee’s Kitchen is conveniently located in the heart of Sellwood and Sellwood /​Westmoreland residents (as well as visitors) should have little trouble finding this cart as its across from the Sellwood Library building (the tallest damn building on the strip).
Service was top notch as the owner and chef was super nice and a pleasure to interact with (unlike some carts where I feel like I am being handed my ass in a bag along with a serving of humiliation).
I’ll be back to try the other ‘interpretations’.
Cheers!

note: this is chinese food that happens to have pad thai. it is NOT thai food.
the pad thai is not very good. its definitely not authentic. they use a sweet chili sauce to sautee the noodles. WRONG! youre not supposed to use that.

new cart alert.
no kung-​fu movie watching experience has ever lived up to my first, a midnight showing of «enter the dragon» with an auditorium full of HK movie fanatics.
this cart really has nothing to do with bruce lee, at least not that i can tell, the food’s not even cantonese.
however, the food is really good, and really cheap. and the owner, liza’s really nice. really.
it might sound like a thai cart, but she’s actually mien (a group of people that lived in the jungles of laos).
she’s never been to culinary school, but who cares? her home cooking is definitely lunch or dinner worthy.
pat thai (five fifty), red curry (five fifty) both great choices and great value.
no dumbed down flavors, no americanized blandness. straight up southeast asian goodness.
she starts the spice at about three out of ten but will happily kick it up a notch or six if you’re so inclined.
loved the bamboo shoots in the curry. and the little side spring rolls that come with the meals.
continuing with the sort of unrelated mixed martial art theme you can also order kick box, kung fu, tai chi, geisha girl, karate, kendo, sumo, or ninja.
bottom line, while it might be a little green (only open two weeks), it’s a nice value for the quality.
a welcome addition to our hood (especially at dinner when the other carts are closed).
three point five stars.