Baon Kainan Is Back and It Brought Brunch

Ethan and Geri Leung return from a long-overdue wedding anniversary break with a brunch menu and new hours for their popular, unconventional Filipino food cart.

Baon Kainan's kare kare fries (Henry Cromett)

The Sept. 8 issue of WW contained a review of Baon Kainan, the hot new Filipino food cart located in the Metalwood Salvage lot with Vietnamese soul-food cart Matta. Baon Kainan has been stealing many a foodie heart with its braised beef peanut stew kare kare fries.

Right as our paper hit stands, the couple who runs Baon Kainan—Ethan and Geri Leung—let everyone following their Instagram know they were closing the cart for two weeks to celebrate the anniversary of their wedding. Geri Leung told WW that, since the couple was married during the pandemic last year, they’d only been able to celebrate with immediate family—so they set aside their one-year anniversary to have a bigger reception out of town.

But as of Thursday, Sept. 23, Baon Kainan is back and it now has brunch. The cart just extended its hours to offer service on Saturday and Sunday, from 11 am to 3 pm.

“We have a short brunch menu to start: biscuits and longanisa gravy, silog (which is a Filipino breakfast plate), and people can choose between a grilled spam silog plate or a pork belly tocino plate.” Geri Leung tells WW. “Each silog plate comes with two eggs, garlic rice and a tomato and onion condiment. Tocino is a cured, sweet and salty marinaded pork belly (pork belly isn’t traditional but that’s how we’re doing it).”

Read the review: Filipino Cart Baon Kainan Isn’t Auntie Authentic, but Hits All the Right Comfort Notes

Our critic Andrea Damewood raved about the cart’s unconventional approach to Filipino cuisine, writing: “While there are a few stellar representations of Filipino cooking around town, Baon Kainan’s casual and boundary-expanding take on the classics fills a slot that’s gone unfilled in Portland (and likely the Pacific Northwest). Get there early and often to see where these two take the concept.”

EAT: Baon Kainan, 4311 NE Prescott St., baonkainan.com. 5-8 pm Thursday-Monday, 11 am-3 pm Saturday-Sunday.

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