Kala Noodle and Grill

Amazing Pad Se Ewe, Pad Thai, Coconut Curry, etc
The family all chose something different and it was all amazing.

Great food .You don’t have to wait in line for 2 hours and the atmosphere is fantastic. The restaurant is run by a family and they’re quite efficient and serve excellent food. We have eaten there dozens of times, and never had a bad experience. Place is clean cheerful and cheap. Love it!

Kala’s was a great deal – decent food at a reasonable price in the middle of a city. I had a 4 star experience – My wife disagrees with me somewhat, hence the 3 stars. We did get a really gross thom khan soup that both smelled and tasted like feet. The waitress failed to ask her how hot she wanted her curry, so it ended up spicier than she wanted. Finally, the chicken was overcooked. While I didn’t notice this, it was a defining attribute of my wife’s meal. I got the green stir fry with chicken, which was solid for the price, portion, and taste. I would go back again and get this. Avoid the thom khan soup.

This is my new favorite Thai place in Portland! The food was delicious, the atmosphere was nice, and it was really affordable. My husband and I split an order of potstickers, he had the drunken noodles, and I had the tom yum soup. We were both 100% satisfied with everything and will absolutely be back!

The food is great and it’s not a shit show! What else do u want

Walked in at 10:30 at night for a carry out order. Ambience inside was really nice… much better than the outside seems to suggest. The hostess was very patient, providing excellent advice as I sorted through the menu, trying to order for a crowd with varying tastes. Service was quick, and she even helped me carry food out into my car! Good food, great service… I would definitely go again. Try the thin rice noodles — very tasty!

Great curry, but when they say that they’re hotter than normal Thai places, they’re not kidding. The flavor is great, but I got medium and was in so much physical pain that I had to ask for coconut milk to chill things out a bit. It was rough but I didn’t want to stop eating it because it was very flavorful. So go, but be forewarned that if you like Thai food but are averse to REALLY spicy, maybe steer clear or just ask for the mild. I’m a fan of spicy, but not put-​me-​in-​the-​hospital spicy.

Great food, great price, and laidback! Give it a shot.

I don’t know if it’s a whole in the wall or brand new. But hit this spot for sure. Everything was bomb. Service Is quick and prompt.

This place is an amazing Thai food restaurant food was delicious great atmosphere great service wish this place was a lot closer to my house definitely going to have to make it back here often as I can

I’d give this place a 3.5
Classic thai food, homestyle. Food tastes good and will satisfy your craving for thai, though nothing in particular stands out. Prices seems a little higher than other places. Lunch deal looked like a steal. Service was a little slow, but friendly.
Good place to stop by on occasion, especially if you live in the area.

Tasty noodles! Good wok smokiness on the pad kee mao. Tom yum noodle soup was pretty good but it leaned a bit too sweet for me. So was the beef stew noodle soup but the meat was super tender and beefy. The flat rice noodles with gravy was pretty good and had a typical brown sauce. Overall, well cooked food but the flavor is a one dimensional.
Big plus: they close late and have nice house tea
They can easily seat groups of 4−8+.

Driving by here, one might make the mistake of thinking «oh look, another Thai restaurant in Portland». One would be wrong.
As someone fairly not prone to hyperbole, I’m claiming Kala as the best «normal» Thai in Portland!
Every time I come here, I worry for them. It’s almost always fairly empty, even during the normal busy hours. But then I notice a veritable FedEx take out operation going and my fears become assuaged.
The food is SO good. And I come here enough that the gal running the show knows to automatically make my food to the level of spice I like, which would be «painful» and trust me, they can deliver! But the gal running the show has a freakishly good memory of her patrons, she remembers almost everything about your past orders, even from 3 months ago.
I won’t go into details about everything, it’s all good and warrants exploration. BUT, I will single out the spicy wings. Oh my God. At half the price of «those» wings at a place that rhymes with knock knock, they put them to shame. They’re cooked with all the gooey fish sauce goodness and with a bunch of crispy basil to boot! Stellar and always worth getting an order. Just be careful asking for them hot, because they will be!
Fingers crossed this place makes it AND stays a secret!
PS– Please please please start doing lunch!

According to Unilocal,I’ve been eating at Kala for two years. I generally stick to the pad kee mao or the larb, both of which have never failed me. The food is always great, just like the people who run the place. Kala is the standard to which I compare other Thai restaurants.
Funny story about the only time I can recall them getting my order wrong. I like my pad kee mao with pork 99% of the time. Sometimes I get rebellious and order it with chicken as I did recently. I was dining in with my SO & about ~10 minutes after we ordered the lady came back to the table and told us that my order had been made incorrectly. Her husband — who cooks all the food — knew it was my order and that I always get pork in my dish so he made it with pork by accident. I actually order pork pad kee mao so often that it’s just a foregone conclusion at this point. If that isn’t the sweetest mistake ever, I don’t know what is. She was more than happy to make a new order with chicken, but I clearly love pork pad kee mao, so I told her not to bother remaking anything.

Portland and Thai food do great things for each other.
We had the meat curry dish, with noodles instead of rice, the chicken curry noodle soup thing, and an appetizer that was like savory rice crispie treats with a coconut-​based topping. It was all really good, with flavor and textures that popped, and it was different than most Thai places.
To sum it up, Kala is really good. Maybe five stars good. I probably need another visit to be sure…

I ate dinner here tonight for the first time and it was so good!
My partner and I ordered the pad see ew which was tasty, the yellow curry which was so flavorful, and the fried rice… I can’t remember which fried rice but it had pineapple in it and that was super good too.
The food came out quickly and the service was fine.
Overall, the food was so great and the ambience was nice.

Last night six of us had dinner at Kala to celebrate my birthday – my choice because I was hungry for larb, a traditional Thai salad. We had reserved a table and received conscientious service throughout the evening. The side where I sat was a wooden bench with no padding and it became hard and uncomfortable as the evening progressed.
We ordered pot stickers and Tom Kai Gai soup as starters. The soup was delicious but the pot stickers were over fried and served with a strange molasses-​like sauce.
Unfortunately they were out of larb and I switched to chicken roasted in coconut milk. It was an entire half chicken served with both a sweet and a savory sauce. It was delicious and the portion was large enough to give everyone a taste. The savory sauce was unusual but very delicious. I would like to know the ingredients.
Others in the party ordered beef with macadamia nuts and a yellow curry and enjoyed it very much. My husband Roger ordered a house noodle specialty and was warned that it was VERY spicy but he gave it a try. It was a little too spicy for him but he found that two Singha beers helped wash it down.
All prices were VERY reasonable and I would return a second time and hope that larb salad would be available!

Get the Kana Moo Krob Rad Khao! (Stir fried Chinese broccoli with garlic and crispy pork over rice)
Their special brown sauce was so deliciously spiced on perfectly cooked rice and crispy pork, I didn’t care that it was making my mouth on fire with the heat of a dozen Suns because all I could taste was the pure delectable combination of all things good. My boyfriend said he was in awe of how well I handled the spice, but what I loved most is the spice was just an element of many flavors and despite being spicy, it didn’t ruin the overall taste (because I really hate that).
We also got the Pad Kee Mao and Thai Iced Tea based on all the rave reviews — get them! Nothing disappointed us here. But as much as I use Pad Thai as a marker for good Thai restaurants, I bet I’ll come back and just end up getting a Special Kala Dish again — no regrets! (my only regret is it took me years to finally come here and sit down for a meal!)

Closed Mondays. So happy this is in my new neighborhood! Good portions for the price. Simple interior that is fairly small, probably not great for groups larger than 4.
Their rendition of Pad Kee Mao was one of the best I have had in the city.

Came in around 7pm on Sunday; only 2 other tables when we came in had diners but every table was full when we left. Looks ok from the outside, but is surprisingly spacious on the inside, very nice, clean ambiance. The owner takes your order and her husband is the cook. Love to support family businesses!
We ordered the pad see ew and a shrimp dish with basil, garlic, onions, and bell peppers. We asked for a 1.5 (a 3 – 4 on a 1 – 10 scale) out of 4 for spiciness, and after discussion with the owner, it came out just right – spicy but not too spicy. That’s always the key to Thai food. Both were delicious! The amount of sauce was just right, there was a generous amount of fresh veggies, and the shrimp was cooked perfectly, plus 2 cups hot tea, and with tip, it was only $ 25!
Definitely be back!