The Top Five Places to Eat in Portland This Week

1. Tokyo Sando

1927 SW 4th Ave., 971-254-3744, tokyosando.com.

This food cart operated by Taiki and Andrea Nakajima specializes in the Japanese-style convenience store sandwiches once raved over by Anthony Bourdain. The pork katsu is the biggest winner here. It's almost more like a Midwestern pork loin sandwich, with a huge hunk of meat between two pieces of milk bread and dressed with sweetish, housemade katsu sauce.

Read the full review: You No Longer Have to Drive Far to Get Japanese Convenience Store-Style Sandwiches In Portland. We Put Two to the Test.

2. Snappy’s

609 SE Ankeny St., Suite B, 503-265-8710, makeitsnappys.com.

The sandwiches at this bodega-themed deli are as unfussy and understated as the retro aesthetic. Of the old-school standbys, the turkey club is the standout. Everyone knows what a turkey club is, so there's no sense in explaining what Snappy's does with it. Just know that it costs $9, and it is very good.

Read the full review: Portland Has a Bodega-Themed Bodega With Retro Blazer Posters, Old TVs and Awesome Sandwiches.

3. Sari Ramyun

2713 NE Sandy Blvd., 503-841-5149.

Typically, the phrase "ramyun" refers in Korea to instant noodles, the peninsular answer to Top Ramen. But chef Tommy Shin's new stall in the Zipper food court specializes in a chicken noodle soup—well, technically chicken and beef broth, with melt-in-your-mouth brisket slices floating on top. This is a heretical opinion, given the proximity of Basilisk, but Sari makes the best chicken in the Zipper.

Read the full review: Two New Portland Ramen Shops Take the Noodle Soup Beyond Japan.

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Cooking is all about connection, I've learned, between us and other species, other times, other cultures (human and microbial both), but, most important, other people. Cooking is one of the more beautiful forms that human generosity takes; that much I sort of knew. But the very best cooking, I discovered, is also a form of intimacy. #MichaelPollan. Start your weekend with us. #homeawayfromhome

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4. Masia

601 SW 11th Ave., 503-595-1234.

Tapas spot Ataula has been one of Northwest Portland's slightly off-the-radar gems for years now, but chef Jose Chesa's new project has a significantly higher profile: a Spanish restaurant inside downtown's Hyatt Centric hotel. Masia got up and running on Valentine's Day, serving flautas, patatas bravas and churros in a sleek space at once rural and thoroughly modern.

5. Hapa PDX Ramen and Whiskey

3848 SE Gladstone St., 503-376-9246, hapapdx.us.

Lots of food carts make the leap to brick-and-mortar. But rarely is the effect quite so sexy as it is at Hapa. The soup here is a blend of two beloved cuisines: In the "G-Special" ramen, you'll recognize elements of a Hawaiian plate lunch and a Tokyo ramen. But this is very much an izakaya, and drinks are as much the attraction as the soup: The ginger ale-sake highball is worth traveling across town for.