| Rukdiew Cafe | |
|---|---|
 | |
 The restaurant's exterior, 2025 | |
 Interactive map of Rukdiew Cafe | |
| Restaurant information | |
| Established | 2022 (2022) |
| Owner | Poomipat "Pat" Thaithongsuk |
| Food type | Thai |
| Location | 2534 Southeast Belmont Street,Portland,Multnomah,Oregon, 97214, United States |
| Coordinates | 45°30′59″N122°38′22″W / 45.5163°N 122.6394°W /45.5163; -122.6394 |
Rukdiew Cafe (sometimesRukDiew Cafe) is aThai restaurant inPortland, Oregon. Owner Poomipat "Pat" Thaithongsuk opened the restaurant insoutheast Portland'sBuckman neighborhood in 2022. Rukdiew Cafe has garnered a positive reception and was named one of Portland's 25 best new restaurants byThe Oregonian.
TheThai restaurant Rukdiew Cafe operates on Belmont Street insoutheast Portland'sBuckman neighborhood. The name Rukdiew (or RukDiew) translates to "one love" in Thai.[1]
The Oregonian's Michael Russell has described Rukdiew as a "lively bar lined with tufted pink chairs and a similarly colorful menu of familiar Thai dishes".[2] Thom Hilton ofWillamette Week called the restaurantqueer-friendly and said, "RukDiew's design, influenced by dreams and fairy tales, is both peaceful and playful, with framed illustrations on the walls, light fixtures that resemble clouds and eclectically patterned plates."[1] He also called the cafe a "pastel pink and green oasis, decorated with quirky prints and hanging ornaments".[3]
The menu includespad Thai with friedtrout orsoft-shell crab,[4]hot wings withbasil leaves and egg noodles,crab rangoon with pineapple sauce, rolls withtofu andpeanut sauce, andsomtum (salad with green papaya and peanuts).[1] The restaurant has also servedkhao soi (noodles in a Northern-stylecurry sauce), panang curry with shrimp, kana moo grob (pork belly stir fried withChinese broccoli in a soy and oyster sauce), pineapple fried rice, andpad kee mow. Dessert options includesticky rice with mango, as well as lava cake. The drink menu includesThai tea, a mangomojito, alycheemartini, and a plumsangria.[1] The Cherry Blossom is anon-alcoholic drink with lychee andpomegranate juice.[5]
The team behindThai Peacock and moreKhao Moo Dang opened Rukdiew Cafe in 2022. Poomipat "Pat" Thaithongsuk is the owner.[1]
The restaurant was a vendor at the new Taste of Thailand festival in 2024.[6]
Michael Russell included Rukdiew inThe Oregonian's list of Portland's 25 best new restaurants of 2022.[2] In 2022,Willamette Week's Thom Hilton said the pad kee mow was the best he has tried in Portland and wrote, "I'd stack this exceptional restaurant alongside the titans of Portland's Thai food scene. I, personally, cannot wait to make RukDiew Cafe my regular spot."[1] He also called Rukdiew a "new regular Thai spot for curry crab rangoon and make-your-own cotton candy in pink fairyland digs".[7]Willamette Week has also called the hot wings "heavenly" and possibly "the most sought-after Thai appetizer in Portland".[8]
Brooke Jackson-Glidden and Nick Woo included the khao soi inEater Portland's 2023 list of sixteen "soul-soothing" noodle soups in Portland, writing that it "has leapt in front of the pack when it comes to some of the city's great versions of the dish".[9] Jackson-Glidden also included Rukdiew in a 2023 overview of recommended eateries for "marvelous mid-week lunch" in the city, again opining that the cafe had Portland's "finest" khao soi.[5] In the website's 2024 overview of recommended eateries on "restaurant-packed" Belmont Street, Katrina Yentch called Rukdiew's approach to Thai cuisine "bright and precise". She recommended the boat noodles, the khao soi, and the pad Thai with soft shell crab, as well as the green, massaman, and red curries.[10]
