Langbaan—from the Earl Ninsom kingdom that includes Eem and Yaowarat—takes over Phuket Cafe Wednesday-Sunday (Phuket Cafe is still open then). It’s always the right call for a big night-out dinner when you want to spend a small fortune on modern Thai dishes built to impress. The ever-changing $135, five-course tasting menu will start with a parade of sweet, spicy, and funky one-bite wonders, like their signature Hokkaido scallop, and then move on to plates like a knockout gaeng luang—the soupy curry with roe-topped king salmon wouldn’t be out of place at a highly prestigious restaurant in Bangkok.

Guests reach this tiny 24-seat spot with an open kitchen by walking through the Phuket Cafe, which is itself a wonderful option for flavorful Asian cuisine. The restaurant serves the most interesting and consistently delicious Southeast Asian food in Portland via a weekly changing 10-course tasting menu that features unusual dishes like pickled mackerel with melon, sumac, and Thai chilies, and oxtail with bone marrow, chanterelle mushrooms, lentils, and tendon chips.

Coveted reservations at this restaurant-within-a-restaurant, Langbaan (langbaanpdx.com), which started in 2014, are $75 and sell out weeks in advance. The menu changes monthly to incorporate seasonal ingredients and to focus on a new regional or cultural theme. Some recent themes have included northeast Thailand, Bangkok’s Burmese influence and the Ayutthaya Era, a period of Thai history that spanned the 14th to 18th centuries.

At Langbaan, the meal is a history lesson; each week's menu is inspired by a particular Thai kingdom or ruler and there's only room for 20 diners at once.

luc lac - vivienne - bullard - XLB - departure - urban farmer - siri indian cuisine - por que no - screen door - sizzle pie - grassa - lardo - bamboo sushi - Santa Fe - imperial - paley’s place - rosa rosa - pepino’s - killer burger - little big burger - garden bar - noraneko - hem 23 - afuri - boxer ramen - poke mon - quickfish - guero no.1 tortas - baan thai - boke bowl - swagat - tusk - cheese & crack - montage - virtuous pie - kachka - hem23 - paadee - shalom y’all - thai peacock - marrakesh - prasad - harlow - montesacro - bunk sandwiches - hat yai - stella taco - the whole bowl - grilled cheese grill - delores - nong’s khao man gai - jackrabbit - sea sweets poke - luce - besaw’s - andina - paragon - pok pok - langbaan

Since 2014, restaurateur and chef Earl Ninsom has been treating diners to traditional Thai flavors imbued with thoughtful twists highlighting local ingredients at Langbaan. A James Beard Award finalist for Best New Restaurant in 2015 and winner of Outstanding Restaurant in 2024, Langbaan has lived up to the accolades and remains one of the finest restaurants in Portland. Langbaan, meaning the area at the back of the home where families cook and share meals, was once tucked behind one of Nimsom’s other Thai restaurants, Paadee — guests entered through a secret entrance door at the back of the restaurant disguised as a bookcase.

This cozy, cramped kitchen hidden in the back room of Thai restaurant PaaDee looks like a foodie’s vision of a Bangkok night market, with herbs everywhere, soup vapors billowing, and moody shadows creeping from table lamps. The décor only hints at what’s to come: a two-hour tasting menu of traditional Thai snacks, coconut-chunked soups, raw dishes, chile relishes, grilled pig parts, and some shockingly delightful desserts buried in salty coconut cream or infused with Thai candle smoke. At Akkapong “Earl” Ninsom’s restaurant there are no choices, no substitutions.

Langbaan, literally "back of house," sits in the ground floor of the boxy gray condo at Southeast Burnside Street and 28th Avenue. Enter through PaaDee, owner Akkapong "Earl" Ninsom's casual Thai spot on the corner, head toward the bathrooms, make a U-turn, approach the trick bookcase there and pull on the meat-grinder handle. I've visited the covert restaurant tucked behind that bookcase half a dozen times, both before and after our 2014 Restaurant of the Year feature.

This local Thai favorite brings Pacific fresh seafood to its rustic and stylish interior, Langbaan takes good food to the next level in presentation and great service. Start with the Hokkaido scallop rice cups with shrimp, then try the local wagyu with tea-smoked oysters or the short rib curry. They also have an extensive wine list with a sommelier on staff, making it perfect for an impeccably designed food and wine experience for your next birthday dinner in Portland.

Langbaan loosely translates to “back of the house” in Thai, a reference to the area in a traditional Thai home where the dinning room is located and meals are shared. True to its name, the dining experience at this tiny restaurant seats 24 people and feels like being warmly welcomed into someone’s home. Opened by Earl Ninsom, an award-winning chef with several lauded Thai restaurants under his belt, Langbann offers one of the most exclusive tasting menus in Portland.

Two bites into a meal at Langbaan and you'll give up on everything you thought Thai food could be, and especially everything you thought it couldn't be. The first bite will always be miang som, the explosive, palate-cleansing burst of shrimp, citrus and bitter betel leaf that begins every meal at Earl Ninsom's tiny, reservation-only restaurant, which you enter by tripping a hidden latch on a bookshelf door at the back of Northeast 28th Avenue Thai spot PaaDee.

Langbaan is something a rarity in the world and is certainly unique in Portland. Portland has many find places where you can get delicious Thai food but Langbaan is the only one I’m aware of that has taken it to an art form. While their new location leaves something to be desired (let’s just say the ambiance doesn’t match the level of food) it is still an experience worth having if you’re never experienced Thai food of a high caliber.

Langbaan is the Thai word for “Back of the House,” named so because the restaurant is in a hidden part of their Paadee restaurant (number 4 on this list). This tiny space is the “it” Portland restaurant right now, with reservations booked months in advance. Two seatings are offered Thursday – Sunday nights, all with a fixed tasting menu, with a new regional theme each month, currently for a fixed price of $80 per person.

Portland, Oregon has a well-known food scene, with a highlight on vegan dishes and creative cuisines. Langbaan still fits in with the unique food vibe here, offering only tasting menus for 24 people at a time. In the past, guests have waited months for an exclusive reservation, and although the COVID-19 pandemic has thrown a wrench in the restaurant industry, you'll still want to book a spot as early as possible.

For nearly a decade now, Langbaan—led by executive chef-owner Akkapong Earl Ninsom—has pushed the boundaries of Thai food in America. The new location is ensconced inside the also excellent but far more casual Phuket Cafe. Scallops in coconut cream, sweetly complex pineapple curry mussels, crunchy morsels of Thai fried chicken and taro cake in Thai iced tea egg yolk custard await.

Depend your self fortunate when you handle to snag an elusive seat at one in all Langbaan’s eight weekly dinners. Settled covertly behind fellow Thai eatery PaaDee, this upscale gem affords creative and conventional Thai delicacies. With unbelievable native and seasonal components, you’ll absolutely savor every chunk of the attractive (although expensive) tasting menu.

A post shared by Langbaan (@langbaanpdx) on Sep 3, 2018 at 3:42pm PDT. Admittedly, it’s not easy getting a reservation at this elite Thai spot, but if and when you nab one, you’re in for the treat of your life. This cozy, 24-seat restaurant focuses on regional Issan cuisine, and offers customers a multi course tasting menu using pacific Northwest ingredients.

Langbaan is known for bringing exotic Thai flavors to Portland, and they nail it. Here you are apt to get all the flavors of Thailand in one mouthful: succulent Thai fruits, acrid fish sauce, a creamy briny oyster, a bold pickled ocean of mussels, lemongrass, kaffir lime, chilies, and coconut dance on your tongue. This is transcendent Thai food.

Restaurateur Earl Ninsom is somewhat of a savant when it comes to the Portland dining scene. He has several successful establishments under his belt, including PaaDee, Hat Yai, and Phuket Café. But his most exclusive and sought-after spot is Langbaan, a tasting menu experience that was formerly tucked away inside PaaDee.

Langbaan means "back room" in Thai, which is apt, since you have to walk through Ninsom's first restaurant, Paa Dee, to get to it. That place is no slouch either, especially if you hit it up on a dreary Portland day for a bowl of ba mhee Pitsanulok, an off-the-hizzle pork noodle soup native to central Thailand.

Earl Ninsom has a few excellent Thai places in town, including PaaDee and Hat Yai. Langbaan is tasting-menu-only, and you enter the space through PaaDee. You walk around the back, and a bookshelf opens up, and you go through that, and it goes into this tiny tasting-room area.

website | Instagram | neighborhood: Kerns/Buckman, SE Portland ( get directions) |cuisine: Thai | dinner only. Langbaan is another fun place to eat in PDX. It’s a Thai restaurant that offers a tasting menu with fancy, creative dishes that honor traditional Thai flavors.

- Rating: 4.4/5 (263 reviews)- Price level: $$$$- Address: 1818 Northwest 23rd Place Portland, Oregon - Categories: Thai, Salad, Soup- Read more on Yelp. You may also like:Highest-rated Southern restaurants in Portland, Oregon by diners

1818 NW 23rd Pl, Portland, OR 97210Phone: 971-344-2564 Visit Website. View this post on Instagram. A post shared by Langbaan (@langbaanpdx)

Thai restaurant Langbaan wins top prize at James Beard Foundation awards that celebrated a wide range of cuisines and cities in the US.