Mekong Bistro

Unfortunately, they’re CLOSED.
Will miss their various noodle soups.

Would have like to tried the place but the doors were locked at 12pm, their supposed open lunch time. What is up with this place?

The food here is good. Prices are a bit high though. They have some soups you won’t find anywhere else.

really glad they took it over from phở-​tastic.
they have some pretty interesting selection of asian foods that aren’t around in Hillsboro. I can’t speak to the authenticity of Cambodian foods. but the dishes i have were pretty delicious that are similar to Thai foods.
Pad Thai (happy hour) for $ 5. great portion and great flavor. I like it even better than Thai princess.
Crazy wings (5 for $ 5). amazing wings. I like the sauce and onion that it comes with.
pad kee mao. thought the flavor was just ok. it’s all a bit too wet for my liking.
pork belly in soup. Pretty good flavor. i would order this as a dish to share and not as a entrée because it’s quite heavy.
all and all pretty good. i’ll be going back for more lunch and happy hour. especially it’s so close to work.

Really liked this place.
Had the Crazy Wings and the Pad Kee Mao.
Pad Kee Mao was fine. But the real kicker was the Crazy Wings…
A plate of those and a bowl of rice by itself would hit the spot. The sauce of great.
Both dishes came out pipping hot!
Will be back. There are a number of other items I’d like to try.
Don’t think I’ve ever had Cambodian food before. A bit like a mix of Thai and Vietnamese, which makes sense from a geographic perspective.

This new spot took over the old Photastic, and is a nice change of pace to the plethora of Vietnamese and Japanese restaurants in the area. The interior is a bit dark, with booths on both walls and Cambodian pieces hanging throughout the restaurant.
We had the pad kee mao and the crazy wings during their Happy Hour. The server told us that their spice levels are twice as hot as other restaurants. She was right — the medium was so spicy! Good thing we got the thai iced tea to mellow out the spices in our mouths.
The crazy wings were delicious. They score their wings, so more of the zingy teriyaki-​esque sauce can soak into the chicken. I’ve never seen any wing place do this, and it was a nice touch. The pad kee mao was pretty good, too, though it was an odd mix between a thai pad kee mao and a beef chow fun at a Chinese place.
The service was friendly and prompt, nothing to complain about there. I’d definitely stop by again for their lunch or Happy Hour!

The last time I was here, I really enjoyed my food. This time, I ordered the beef salad for lunch and thought it was okay. It had way too much celery and onions in it. Not much greens. Beef was okay. I wouldn’t order it again but I would come back to try one of their other dishes.

I tried it again… but is it just me or what is the problem here??? I ordered pad thai this time. It was mooshy and how do I say it… old??? Really, like weirdly old tasting. Like I said, mooshy noodles and no flavors that stand out. Almost like a blanket of pad Thai taste but nothing else… like no green onion pop, the bean sprouts were limp, missing peanut crunch (softened like sitting with the noodles for awhile) also no nice egg rounding out flavors. Odd. Just odd.
Also, darn it, their hot oil is… ugh…not good! :(:(I love me my hot oil, and I’ve never come across one that is real icky. Until now. Bitter mcbitterton. That’s just wrong.
I still have two not one star because it’s a nice looking place and their service was friendly.
I’m cursed at this place!!! :(

Stopped by last weekend. The appearance of the restaurant is a little confusing as it says «Vietnamese» on the lit display but there’s a banner that says «Mekong Bistro.»
Ordered the wings and avocado cheese puffs to start. The wings, which we ordered Medium, were simply amazing. A bit on the spicy side (we think we were given Spicy wings) but one of the top wings I’ve ever tasted. We tried an egg crêpe-​like dish as well as one of their recommended soups. All delicious and VERY generous servings!
Definitely going back.

Went there for a quick lunch while I was at work. Definetely miles better than Photastic which they replace (the sign still has the former name dont be fooled by it). I had the glass noodles, which were nice, but I really want to try some of the other items, the cambodian stir fry looked tempting, thats what i’m getting next. Def. a nice lunch place for intel folks.

This spot has been open for just a few months, and I saw that my regular list of trusted Beaverton/​Hillsboro reviewers (looking at you Cheryl, Scott, and Janet) had all given it 4 & 5 stars already so it became my clear choice for lunch.
Get the Egg Rolls. Oh my, so good. Crispy, delicious, and not too oily with a light, sweet and spicy dipping sauce.
I also had the Pad Kee Mao (Drunken Noodles) with Chicken and it was amazing. Really complex flavors, leading with basil and chili, culminate in a tingling spiciness that’s delicious and super satisfying. The chicken is small pieces, some ground and some small chunks, really letting the noodles star in the dish.
Warning though, this is listed as Spicy on the menu, meaning that although they will and do adjust the spice level to your preference, «mild» on a Spicy dish is still pretty hot if you are a spice wimp like myself. I knew that would be the case (as it should be!) but went for it any way and I’m glad I did, but as so many other places serve «mild» as «flavorless» it’s worth pointing out.
On that note… service is wonderful, friendly and attentive and my server kept that water glass filled as I sweated it out. Thai Iced Tea might have been a better choice for tempering the spice now that I think about it, I’ll remember that for next time.
Good. So good. If you’re not familiar with Cambodian food, but maybe like Thai or Vietnamese, give this a shot as there are some familiar flavors here presented in some new ways and it’s well worth a try of it’s own.

If there were six stars I would give it to them. We stopped by for lunch today and it was hands down the best meal I have had in awhile. Valerie was our server and she cannot be any sweeter or more professional. Our water glasses never got near empty and she checked on us often.
We started with the Egg Rolls, I call them Spring Rolls, but they were fried and stuffed with pork and veggies. I am a pretty harsh critic of them in general because I make my own, and these were damn good.
I ordered the Steak & Thuc Pra-​hok, and hubby the Lava Chicken. Mine was a gorgeous fillet cooked to my request sliced thinly accompanied with lettuce, cucumber, rice, basil and cilantro, you make a lettuce wrap. The dipping sauce had Anchovies in it, and I thought I would not like it, but after adding some hot oil it was perfect, if not a bit salty. Very good stuff.
I cannot wait to go back and try some more authentic Cambodian dishes.
**one note, they give a 5% discount if you pay in cash.

Out went Photastic Restaurant and in came Mekong Bistro. As a matter of fact, the Photastic sign is still on the building. A temporary «Mekong Bistro» banner has been placed below the old restaurant signage. Mekong Bistro appears to be a work in progress and what a wonderful work it is!
From the menu we learned that the owners of Mekong Bistro opened up the first Cambodian restaurant in Portland. It’s still an operating restaurant in Northeast Portland. Also from the menu we discovered that Mekong Bistro offers dishes from a number countries along Asia’s Mekong River: Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam.
Speaking of the menu, Mekong Bistro’s is large and makes for a fascinating read. Among the offerings are appetizers, salads, stir fries, soups, rice dishes, noodle dishes, exotic main entrees, desserts, and a children’s menu. Among the interesting ingredients are catfish, frog legs (former French Colony), pork dip sauce, and watercress sour soup.
The prices here are fantastic. Many of the salad and soup dishes are below $ 10. The proportions are generous and the service is just plain sweet. Mekong Bistro will let you discern your level of heat and they are very willing to alter their dishes to your liking. Many gluten free items are offered.
On our visit we sampled the Beef Salad and the Vermicelli Salad. The Beef Salad was beef sirloin exploding with flavors from mint, cilantro, and lemon juice. We topped our Vermicelli Salad with chicken. Mekong Bistro placed sliced egg rolls on the Vermicelli Salad and served it up with a side of peanut chili sauce. A delicious and masterpiece of a salad. Mekong Bistro is a great place to go for a salad.
For years I’ve known that Oregon has a sizeable Cambodian community. For years I’ve been waiting for a Cambodian restaurant to open up. Well, I’m pleased to announce that Cambodian cuisine has finally made its way to Hillsboro. May it grow and prosper in its new location!

Mekong Bistro is a welcomed change from Phở overload in Hillsboro. Mekong Bistro is a Cambodian/​Thai restaurant that has replaced the Phở Tastic space.
I had the Cambodian Kao Soi. It is nothing like the Northern Thai classic. Cambodian Kao Soi is a a fiery bowl of soup with spicy ground pork and rice noodles. The soup is all heat. My wife and kid had the Pad Kee Mao and a Cambodian stir fry (Li creung?) Both dishes were delicious and had that sweet, salty, spicy balance that the region’s cuisine is known for. The menu is a diverse selection of safe Thai picks (Pad Thai) and authentic classic Cambodian dishes.
Mekong offers daily lunch specials until 3PM for $ 8.95. Then, they offer a Happy Hour from 3PM-​6PM with a $ 5 food menu. Phở Tastic’s signage is still up but the makeshift banner uynderneath it signals it’s Camondian time!
The Cambodian dishes will have me coming back for a new taste of a tasty culinary region.

I was kind of sad to se photastic leave, but this place was a good replacement.
Let’s start out with our waitress Tiger. She knows her stuff and she can sell you on any item. We ended up going with the khao soi, because after she described it, it was a must try. Before that though we had the fried quail, and let me tell you, the green sauce it comes with is delicious. The khao soi (spicy pork soup) was fabulous. However, it is not as spicy as it describes. For dessert we had the mango sweet sticky rice. It was an excellent pallet cleanser.
We will be back for sure. Maybe tonight :-)

The lava chicken was excellent with crisp green beans and tasty lemon grass chicken. I asked for medium level of spicy and it was just the right amount of heat to warm but not overwhelm. The beef jerky appetizer was good but I wouldn’t recommend it if you are on a date, we both ended up with crisp beef stuck in our teeth. Also the dipping sauce it came with was so tart it didn’t really match very well with the beef. My husband had the squid salad which he felt was too heavy on the onion and didn’t contain enough greens. The service was very good. Overall we liked the food we ordered very much and would be happy to return.

I saw this place the other day when i was headed to Oasis lebanese next door. Looks like this place has taken over the Vietnamese place «Photastic» and they still havent removed the old sign yet. I immediately bookmarked this place and when i searched on Unilocal i found that this restaurant is also located in Portland and had plenty of good reviews (4 stars/​85 reviews). I got some togo order the next week.
I tried the Drunken noodle with chicken which was very flavorful and going by other reviews i went with a medium spice level even though i order spicy at the other Thai places in the neighborhood and dont find them quite spicy for my taste buds. The spice level was not too spicy and i should try one level up the next time. I couldn’t get the smell of fish sauce in the dish which i hate and i really loved the flavor of fresh basil in the dish. Decent portion size.
The Crazy wings was the best part here. It was a little too oily. I am not sure if its the combination of the sauce with the oil which made it feel too oily to touch. But man, the taste was awesome and i would give it another try. I got this one medium spicy as well and felt it was reasonably spicy.
Found several interesting dishes on the menu which werent too pricy and average entrée prices were ~$ 10. Would be trying more from their menu. Their Happy Hour which runs from 3 – 6 PM everyday looked good.

This is a sweet new spot in Hillsboro. Its been open maybe a week or two.
It’s next to one of my very favorite spots, Oasis Lebanese Cuisine.
Sometimes you feel like hummus, sometimes you don’t. Today I wanted something new.
Our server was sweet. The place was clean, kinda empty at 5:30, had two big tvs going and some Cambodian (??) Music.
Let me say, music or tv. Not both.
The food? Honestly?
Delicious. I mean it. So damn good.
The menu has a big selection of Cambodian and Thai dishes. It all looked good.
Yummy avocado and cheese wonton like thingys. A little sweet chili to dip in. Um my dining companion notes dont order this if you dont like avocado.
An egg crêpe with crisp fresh veggies and an interesting peanut dipping sauce. The crêpe was stuffed with ground chicken and bean sprouts.
Lava chicken: perfect crisp green beans and tender chicken in a tasty spicy sauce with rice. We shared it and cleaned the plate. A little more rice would have been desirable.
My soda was refilled without me asking. Water too. Thai iced tea was reportedly tasty.
The total for this meal?
$ 30.
It was yummy. I’m going again.
So happy it’s in Hillsboro.

I’m glad Mekong took over the space that Photastic used to be in. They just opened up on ¹²⁄₁₅ and are a little difficult to find since their sign isn’t up yet so just look for the restaurant next to Oasis. I really liked all the dishes I tried so I’m looking forward to coming back more often since there’s so many more items on their menu to try. They also have daily happy hour from 3 – 6 PM including weekends.
CRAZY WINGS ($ 5 for happy hour, $ 10 usually): Really good chicken wings that are crispy and have a lot of interesting spices on it. You can specify the spiciness level and I tried ‘spicy’ and it turns out it was actually quite hot.
#42 KAO SOI ($ 9): Laotian spicy pork rice noodle soup. They listed it as a must try so of course I ordered it. This is a perfect dish for the cold winter days because both the hot soup and spiciness will keep you warm.
#45 AH-​MOK ($ 13): My friend ordered this Cambodian dish of catfish steamed in a banana leave with coconut cream and curry paste. The fish was pretty good even though I don’t usually like the taste of coconut.

New favorite in Hillsboro!!! I am so happy this opened, the area needed a little variety!
Spicy means SPICY here, be careful. Every dish I’ve tried is excellent. Noodles are done to perfection. Avocado wontons are unique and tasty. My favorite dish so far is cha mi sou, a thin clear noodle stir fry. They do their tofu crispy, how I do it at home. I liked that the beef in noodle dishes is finely chopped, like in larb, although my boyfriend prefers bigger pieces. I also LOVED the kaw soup! This is only the second place I’ve found it in Portland. It comes with rice, although next time I’ll see if I can get it with noodles. Lettuce wraps are also delicious, no more PF Chang’s for those!
I want to try every dish on their menu. I’ll probably accomplish this soon, since I’ve been here 3 times since they opened…3 days ago. I’m not even kidding, I just keep talking about it and bringing more people to try it. Everybody loved it.