Sunshine Noodles

Restaurant in Portland, Oregon, U.S.

Sunshine Noodles

The restaurant's exterior in 2022

Restaurant information
Established| 2019 (2019)
Closed| December 2022 (2022-12)
Food type| Cambodian American
Street address| 2175 Northwest Raleigh Street, Suite 105
City| Portland
County| Multnomah
State| Oregon
Postal/ZIP Code| 97210
Country| United States
Coordinates| 45°32′03″N 122°41′46″W﻿ / ﻿45.5342°N 122.6960°W﻿ / 45.5342; -122.6960
Website| sunshinenoodlespdx.com

Sunshine Noodles was a Cambodian American restaurant in Portland, Oregon, United States. Owner Diane Lam operated the business from 2019 to 2022, initially as a pop-up noodle bar and later as a brick-and-mortar restaurant in the Slabtown area of Northwest Portland's Northwest District. Despite garnering a positive reception, Lam closed Sunshine Noodles permanently in late 2022 and relocated to San Francisco.

## Description

[edit]

Sunshine Noodles was a Cambodian American restaurant in Slabtown in Northwest Portland's Northwest District. Brooke Jackson-Glidden of Eater Portland described the interior, which had neon lights and pink tiles, as "Hello Kitty-meets-Blade Runner".[1]

The frequently changed menu included Phnom Penh noodles, a beef brisket noodle stew, fish sauce spaghetti and meatballs, and catfish spring rolls.[2][3] The brunch menu included macaroni soup, steak with eggs and rice, strawberry French toast, and grits with shrimp and bacon jam.[4] Cocktails included the Mekhong Vacation, a passion fruit margarita.[5]

## History

[edit]

Revelry chef Diane Lam launched Sunshine Noodles in 2019 as a pop-up noodle bar with David Sigal. The menu included kuyteav Phnom Penh and num banhchok. The pop-up was successful, according to Jackson-Glidden of Eater Portland. Revelry planned to rebrand the outlet as Revelry Noodle Bar but closed in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic.[6]

Sunshine Noodles operated at North Portland's Psychic Bar from July 2020 to January 2021. The Cambodian menu included spelt noodles with French-style vegan tomato and maitake mushroom ragout with Maggi seasoning, as well as samlor machu and grilled corn with a coconut milk glaze. Sunshine Noodles also served potato-chip salad with cabbage, wasabi ranch dressing, candied cashews, and chile relleno banh chao. The pop-up was designed for social distancing during the pandemic.[7][8]

Lam began hosting a series of dinner parties called Penh Pals at the restaurant.[9] The pop-up operation was expanded and extended through March 2021.[10] According to Jackson-Glidden, Sunshine Noodle's fried chicken with lime sauce became "a breakout hit".[11] The pop-up was originally scheduled to operate longer but temporarily ended service on December 24, 2020, intending to reopen at a permanent location in March 2021.[12] The pop-up hosted a Valentine's Day dinner.[13] In November 2021, Sunshine Noodles announced plans to re-open as a brick-and-mortar restaurant in Slabtown on December 13 the same year.[14][15][16] The restaurant launched a brunch menu in 2022.[4]

In December 2022, Lam announced plans to permanently close Sunshine Noodles on December 18 and relocate to San Francisco.[17][18] Stacked Sandwich Shop is scheduled to reopen in the space in 2023 alongside a second location of Feel Good.[19]

## Reception

[edit]

The restaurant's exterior, 2022

In August 2020, Willamette Week called the pop-up at Psychic Bar "an avowedly irreverent, none too serious take on contemporary Cambodian food" and said: "The corn pudding is a candidate for the city's best new dessert, but the lime pepper wings are the breakout hit—spicy and complex, they want for nothing except a beer, and perhaps a napkin."[20] The newspaper also included Sunshine Noodles in a list of five "great" new restaurants that began operating in 2020.[21]

Katherine Chew Hamilton of Portland Monthly also included Sunshine Noodles in an overview of the best new restaurants of 2020.[22] For the magazine's 2020 "Portland Food Highlight Reel", she wrote: "We also loved the patio at contemporary Cambodian spot Sunshine Noodles, one of the first restaurants in Portland that was specifically designed with pandemic safety considerations in mind, with Dance Dance Revolution-themed arrows directing foot traffic and cartoon noodle bowls serving as social distance markers."[23] In 2022, Hamilton included the fish sauce spaghetti and meatballs in a list of four noodle dishes "to eat now",[24] and the Le Quick Fix in the magazine's list of the "best local spots to sip espresso martinis like a '90s boss".[25]

Michael Russell included Sunshine Noodles in The Oregonian's list of Portland's 25 best new restaurants of 2022.[26]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Jackson-Glidden, Brooke (July 9, 2021). "An Eater's Guide to Portland, Oregon". Eater Portland. Archived from the original on December 17, 2021. Retrieved April 14, 2022.
2. ^ Damewood, Andrea (February 2, 2022). "Sunshine Noodles Is Barely 2 Months Old but Already Delighting With Creative Dishes". Willamette Week. Archived from the original on February 16, 2022. Retrieved April 14, 2022.
3. ^ "Where to Eat in Portland This Week". Willamette Week. February 9, 2022. Archived from the original on March 9, 2022. Retrieved April 14, 2022.
4. ^ a b Frane, Alex (May 13, 2022). "Gregory Gourdet's Upcoming Haitian Restaurant Kann Will Open in July with a Cocktail Bar". Eater Portland. Archived from the original on May 13, 2022. Retrieved May 13, 2022.
5. ^ Russell, Michael (January 4, 2022). "Seattle dumplings, seasonal Burmese salads and more Portland restaurant news". The Oregonian. Archived from the original on March 5, 2022. Retrieved April 14, 2022.
6. ^ Jackson-Glidden, Brooke (December 20, 2019). "Chef de Cuisine Diane Lam Is Molding Revelry Into a Hip Noodle Bar". Eater Portland. Archived from the original on April 14, 2022. Retrieved April 14, 2022.
7. ^ Hamilton, Katherine Chew (July 18, 2020). "May Sunshine Noodles Offer You a Ray of Hope in This Trying Time?". Portland Monthly. Archived from the original on February 28, 2022. Retrieved April 14, 2022.
8. ^ Michelman, Jordan (July 28, 2020). "Sunshine Noodles Brings Unheralded Cambodian Street Food Into the Daylight on Mississippi Avenue". Willamette Week. Archived from the original on January 19, 2022. Retrieved April 14, 2022.
9. ^ Jackson-Glidden, Brooke (August 21, 2020). "Otter Pops Deletes Tweet Offering Popsicles to Portland Protesters, Spurring a Boycott". Eater Portland. Archived from the original on June 3, 2021. Retrieved April 14, 2022.
10. ^ Jackson-Glidden, Brooke (September 30, 2020). "How Former Revelry Chef de Cuisine Diane Lam Opened an Outdoor Restaurant During a Pandemic". Eater Portland. Archived from the original on October 30, 2020. Retrieved April 14, 2022.
11. ^ Jackson-Glidden, Brooke (January 8, 2021). "Diane Lam's Next Project: A Delivery-Centric Cambodian Fried Chicken Spot". Eater Portland. Archived from the original on October 6, 2021. Retrieved April 14, 2022.
12. ^ Hamilton, Katherine Chew (December 23, 2020). "Sunshine Noodles Is Going on Hiatus Until March. Meanwhile, There's Fried Chicken". Portland Monthly. Archived from the original on November 5, 2021. Retrieved April 14, 2022.
13. ^ Frane, Alex (February 4, 2020). "Where to Dine for Valentine's Day 2021 in Portland". Eater Portland. Archived from the original on January 5, 2022. Retrieved April 14, 2022.
14. ^ Hamilton, Katherine Chew (November 5, 2021). "Sunshine Noodles Is Opening in Slabtown". Portland Monthly. Archived from the original on March 26, 2022. Retrieved April 14, 2022.
15. ^ Damewood, Andrea (November 5, 2021). "Sunshine Noodles Will Open a Permanent Location in Slabtown". Willamette Week. Archived from the original on November 22, 2021. Retrieved April 14, 2022.
16. ^ Jackson-Glidden, Brooke (November 5, 2021). "Diane Lam's Blockbuster Pop-Up, Sunshine Noodles, Will Reemerge as a Restaurant". Eater Portland. Archived from the original on November 28, 2021. Retrieved April 14, 2022.
17. ^ Jackson-Glidden, Brooke (December 9, 2022). "Northwest Portland Pop-Up-Turned-Restaurant Sunshine Noodles Will Close". Eater Portland. Archived from the original on December 9, 2022. Retrieved December 9, 2022.
18. ^ Wong, Janey (January 20, 2021). "Portland's Restaurant, Bar, and Food Cart Closures". Eater Portland. Archived from the original on January 21, 2021. Retrieved December 14, 2022.
19. ^ Wong, Janey (February 22, 2023). "Return of the Stack: Stacked Sandwich Shop, Home of the Oxtail French Dip, Will Reopen in Slabtown". Eater Portland. Retrieved February 23, 2023.
20. ^ "Where to Eat in Portland This Week". Willamette Week. August 5, 2020. Archived from the original on May 24, 2021. Retrieved April 14, 2022.
21. ^ "Five Great New Restaurants That Opened in 2020". Willamette Week. December 27, 2020. Archived from the original on May 30, 2021. Retrieved April 14, 2022.
22. ^ Hamilton, Katherine Chew (October 6, 2020). "Sunshine Noodles Stirs Modern Influences into Cambodian Food". Portland Monthly. Archived from the original on January 14, 2022. Retrieved April 14, 2022.
23. ^ Hamilton, Katherine Chew (December 29, 2020). "The 2020 Portland Food Highlight Reel: Pivots, Food Carts, and New Restaurants". Portland Monthly. Archived from the original on May 21, 2021. Retrieved April 14, 2022.
24. ^ Hamilton, Katherine Chew (February 25, 2022). "The Best Noodle Dishes to Try In Portland Right Now". Portland Monthly. Archived from the original on March 26, 2022. Retrieved April 14, 2022.
25. ^ Hamilton, Katherine Chew (March 7, 2022). "The Best Espresso Martinis in Portland". Portland Monthly. Archived from the original on March 27, 2022. Retrieved April 14, 2022.
26. ^ Russell, Michael (November 21, 2022). "Here are Portland's 25 best new restaurants for 2022". The Oregonian. Retrieved May 24, 2024.

## External links

[edit]

* Food portal
* Oregon portal

* Media related to Sunshine Noodles at Wikimedia Commons
* Official website

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