THERE’S SOMETHING innately comforting about eating out of a bowl, and bowls Instagram like a fucking dream. Where would chili or chicken and dumplings be without a bowl? All over the damn place, that’s where. “Bowls” as a food concept are somewhat novel, but some of my favorite foods have always come out of bowls. Our own editor in chief is a fan of Black Bowl PDX [“Food Cart Review: Black Bowl PDX,” Blogtown, April 14], and if I’m being really vulnerable with you, I’ll admit I ain’t mad at a KFC Famous Bowl. Here are a few other places to get your fix.
I’ll admit, I was cynical about trying some of the twee “bowl” places, but Native Bowl’s and Canteen’s nutritionally dense and flavorful vegan bowls leave even an ardent omnivore like myself wanting for nothing. The Southern Bowl at Canteen (2816 SE Stark) and the Mississippi Bowl at Native Bowl (4233 N Mississippi) are both full of crunchy vegetables, rice, and meaty, sauce-soaked Soy Curls. At first I was like “what are these even”—but then I realized that gluten-free seitan lovers need their fix, too. If you sort of want Frito pie, but you’re “clean eating,” these bowls could fit the bill.
Bibimbap is one of the original rice bowls, and you can get perfectly good bibimbap without trekking out to Beaverton. There’s Kim Jong Grillin’, of course, and Toji on SE Hawthorne, but the dolsot bibimbap at So Kong Dong Tofu & BBQ (2850 SE 82nd, #11) comes out piping hot in a sizzling stone bowl, giving you the tantalizingly crispy-brown rice at the bottom. The toppings are pretty basic: browned beef, bean sprouts, shiitake mushrooms, with a raw egg on top. (If raw egg makes you squeam, you can stir it into the bottom of the bowl where it will cook in about a minute.) I fortified my bowl with the nibbly banchan that accompanied my meal, and it pairs great with a bottle of milky-sweet Korean alco-pop (makgeolli).