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Ok Omens, the wine bar next door to Castagna, has next-level desserts available after wine and snacks
The McFlurry at Ok Omens
OK Omens/Official

11 Restaurants Where Dessert Steals The Show

Find the restaurants hiding Portland's best sweet treats

by Michelle Lopez Updated
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The McFlurry at Ok Omens
| OK Omens/Official
by Michelle Lopez Updated

In a city known for its many doughnuts, ice cream, and even patisseries, waiting for souffles and semifreddos in a restaurant can seem like an unnecessarily premature and unexciting way to end the night; however, diners waving away dessert menus are ignoring some of the best confections in Portland. This map features full-fledged restaurants that offer some of the best desserts in the city, featuring a diversity of goods from Basque cheesecake and Cuban flan to butterscotch pudding and key lime pie.

Note that the points on this map guide are not ranked; rather, they are organized geographically.

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Tarta de Queso at Urdaneta

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There are several places that serve good cheesecake in Portland, but only one that does it in the style of Spain’s Basque region: Urdaneta. At first, Urdaneta’s version looks like a mistake, with no crust, a deflated center, and a burnt, blackened exterior—but every bite is silky soft, with just the right amount of tartness packing a ton of flavor. Urdaneta’s intimate, cozy setting feels like the right fit for the fluffy cake — especially with a glass of rare sherry. 

3033 NE Alberta St, Portland, OR 97211
(503) 288-1990
(503) 288-1990

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Butterscotch Pudding at Irving Street Kitchen

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Irving Street Kitchen’s recently revamped menu doubles down on comfort food like fried chicken and softshell crab. The restaurant’s butterscotch pudding, beloved by Portlanders for many years, has stuck on the menu for the whole run. Folks looking to enjoy their sweet treat al fresco can enjoy their own butterscotch pudding jar out on Irving Street Kitchen’s street-side patio.  

701 NW 13th Ave, Portland, OR 97209
(503) 343-9440
(503) 343-9440

Triple Chocolate Cake at Papa Haydn

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Although Papa Haydn, an old school Portland institution, is famed for its extensive pastry case, the triple chocolate cake stands out from the rest due to its relative simplicity. Diners looking for an elevated version of a nostalgic, birthday-party-style chocolate cake should look no further. The restaurant has several other cakes worth sampling, and the old-school NW location has plenty of room for groups looking to skip straight to dessert.

701 NW 23rd Ave, Portland, OR 97210
(503) 228-7317
(503) 228-7317
View this post on Instagram

Sexiest thing I have ever laid eyes on

A post shared by Dennise⚡️ (@denniseduran_) on

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Flan at Pambiche

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Dining at Pambiche always feels like a mini-vacation, thanks to its generous sidewalk seating and colorful interior set to a soundtrack of traditional Cuban music. The extensive dessert menu completes the restaurant’s vacation vibe, featuring cakes made with tropical flavors like guava, pineapple, lime and more. The flan, however, is a traditional Cuban caramel custard with silken texture — even considering its simplicity, it’s the star of the dessert menu. 

2811 NE Glisan St, Portland, OR 97232
(503) 233-0511
(503) 233-0511

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Fois Gras Profiteroles at Le Pigeon

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It can be argued that Le Pigeon, a tiny, intimate restaurant almost hidden away on busy Burnside, is one of Portland’s most quintessential restaurants. James Beard-winning chef Gabriel Rucker always finds a way to give traditional French fare a Portland twist, pairing beef bourguignon with Pacific Northwest produce like corn and green beans. The foie gras profiteroles — cream puffs that are sliced and filled with foie gras ice cream — are no exception to this rule; the caramel-drenched puffs are considered one of the city’s most iconic dishes. 

738 E Burnside St, Portland, OR 97214
(503) 546-8796
(503) 546-8796

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Key Lime Pie at Trifecta Tavern

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A meal at Trifecta Tavern can feel like everything at once—the restaurant is large but intimate, dark but cozy and warm in the winter, but also bright and airy in the summer when the windows are open. The menu is similarly diverse, offering some of the best bread and pastries in the city from their bakery, wood-fired vegetables and traditional steaks for dinner, all with an impressive bar program to boot. For dessert, the tavern’s key lime pie has developed a cult following in Portland, thanks to its incredibly photogenic and generous scoop of perfectly torched Italian meringue.

726 SE 6th Ave, Portland, OR 97214
(503) 841-6675
(503) 841-6675
The key lime pie at Trifecta Tavern comes with a mound of bruleed meringue
Key lime pie at Trifecta Tavern
Michelle Lopez/EPDX

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Candy Tray at Coquine

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Coquine, a celebrated neighborhood spot on SE Belmont, offers some of Portland’s most “grown-up” cuisine with dishes like a milk-braised sugo and a classic roast chicken for the table to share. Although its menu can seem traditional, Coquine adds unique touches like offering a “dim-sum style” candy tray. Diners can choose from a selection of sweets like pate de fruit and the famed smoked almond, salted caramel, and chocolate chip cookies to end their meal. 

6839 SE Belmont St, Portland, OR 97215
(503) 384-2483
(503) 384-2483

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Sour Cherry Vareniki at Kachka

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A meal at Kachka, an airy, expansive restaurant that manages to be a cross between Portland’s new architecture and a Russian grandmother’s dining room, is a celebration of Slavic food through and through. Although diners can order Russian drinking food and booze like “herring under a fur coat” (a Russian seven-layer dip) and horseradish-infused vodka, the dumplings are a perennial favorite. When pan-fried, the sour cherry vareniki taste like little bites of fresh deep-fried cherry pie.

960 SE 11th Ave, Portland, OR 97214
(503) 235-0059
(503) 235-0059

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Challah Bread Pudding at Shalom Y'all SE

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Although Shalom Y’all can be next-level loud during peak hours, diners endure the long waits and loud volumes for delicious Israeli street food like fresh pita with hummus and house-made labneh. The challah bread pudding is the sleeper hit of the menu, made with a babka-like challah swirled with chocolate and served with smoky tahini, walnuts, and sour cream ice cream. 

117 SE Taylor St #101, Portland, OR 97214
(503) 208-3661
(503) 208-3661

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“Kinda Like a McFlurry” at OK Omens

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OK Omens is the celebrated Castagna’s hipper, cooler younger sister; this is the sister that doesn’t take herself as seriously, skipping tweezer food and prix fixe menus in favor of $36 bottles of natural wine and fried chicken dusted with Sichuan peppercorn. The dessert menu here can be overshadowed by the impressive and reasonably priced wine and fun dinner menu, but a meal at Ok Omens isn’t complete without something sweet. The pastry menu is equally as creative, offering a take on McDonalds’ famed McFlurry made with house-made ice cream, butterfingers, and chocolate.

1758 SE Hawthorne Blvd, Portland, OR 97214
(503) 231-9959
(503) 231-9959

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Pineapple Egg Yolk Buns at HK Cafe

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Dining at HK Cafe can be an overwhelming experience; there are long waits and big crowds (especially on the weekends), and dim sum carts can sometimes zip by your table at the speed of lightning, making it hard to navigate the restaurant’s extensive offerings. But those willing to brave the chaos are rewarded with some of the city’s best dim sum. For dessert, diners must order the pineapple egg yolk buns—the buns don’t contain any pineapple (instead, the name refers to the sugar-crusted topping, which is meant to assemble the outside of a pineapple), but are filled with warm, creamy custard that explodes into your mouth with every bite. 

4410 SE 82nd Ave, Portland, OR 97266
(503) 771-8866
(503) 771-8866
View this post on Instagram

Because brunch = dim sum

A post shared by Jennifer Baum Lagdameo (@jenniferlagdameo) on

Also featured in:

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Tarta de Queso at Urdaneta

3033 NE Alberta St, Portland, OR 97211

There are several places that serve good cheesecake in Portland, but only one that does it in the style of Spain’s Basque region: Urdaneta. At first, Urdaneta’s version looks like a mistake, with no crust, a deflated center, and a burnt, blackened exterior—but every bite is silky soft, with just the right amount of tartness packing a ton of flavor. Urdaneta’s intimate, cozy setting feels like the right fit for the fluffy cake — especially with a glass of rare sherry. 

3033 NE Alberta St, Portland, OR 97211
(503) 288-1990
(503) 288-1990

Butterscotch Pudding at Irving Street Kitchen

701 NW 13th Ave, Portland, OR 97209

Irving Street Kitchen’s recently revamped menu doubles down on comfort food like fried chicken and softshell crab. The restaurant’s butterscotch pudding, beloved by Portlanders for many years, has stuck on the menu for the whole run. Folks looking to enjoy their sweet treat al fresco can enjoy their own butterscotch pudding jar out on Irving Street Kitchen’s street-side patio.  

701 NW 13th Ave, Portland, OR 97209
(503) 343-9440
(503) 343-9440

Triple Chocolate Cake at Papa Haydn

701 NW 23rd Ave, Portland, OR 97210

Although Papa Haydn, an old school Portland institution, is famed for its extensive pastry case, the triple chocolate cake stands out from the rest due to its relative simplicity. Diners looking for an elevated version of a nostalgic, birthday-party-style chocolate cake should look no further. The restaurant has several other cakes worth sampling, and the old-school NW location has plenty of room for groups looking to skip straight to dessert.

701 NW 23rd Ave, Portland, OR 97210
(503) 228-7317
(503) 228-7317
View this post on Instagram

Sexiest thing I have ever laid eyes on

A post shared by Dennise⚡️ (@denniseduran_) on

Flan at Pambiche

2811 NE Glisan St, Portland, OR 97232

Dining at Pambiche always feels like a mini-vacation, thanks to its generous sidewalk seating and colorful interior set to a soundtrack of traditional Cuban music. The extensive dessert menu completes the restaurant’s vacation vibe, featuring cakes made with tropical flavors like guava, pineapple, lime and more. The flan, however, is a traditional Cuban caramel custard with silken texture — even considering its simplicity, it’s the star of the dessert menu. 

2811 NE Glisan St, Portland, OR 97232
(503) 233-0511
(503) 233-0511

Fois Gras Profiteroles at Le Pigeon

738 E Burnside St, Portland, OR 97214

It can be argued that Le Pigeon, a tiny, intimate restaurant almost hidden away on busy Burnside, is one of Portland’s most quintessential restaurants. James Beard-winning chef Gabriel Rucker always finds a way to give traditional French fare a Portland twist, pairing beef bourguignon with Pacific Northwest produce like corn and green beans. The foie gras profiteroles — cream puffs that are sliced and filled with foie gras ice cream — are no exception to this rule; the caramel-drenched puffs are considered one of the city’s most iconic dishes. 

738 E Burnside St, Portland, OR 97214
(503) 546-8796
(503) 546-8796

Key Lime Pie at Trifecta Tavern

726 SE 6th Ave, Portland, OR 97214

A meal at Trifecta Tavern can feel like everything at once—the restaurant is large but intimate, dark but cozy and warm in the winter, but also bright and airy in the summer when the windows are open. The menu is similarly diverse, offering some of the best bread and pastries in the city from their bakery, wood-fired vegetables and traditional steaks for dinner, all with an impressive bar program to boot. For dessert, the tavern’s key lime pie has developed a cult following in Portland, thanks to its incredibly photogenic and generous scoop of perfectly torched Italian meringue.

726 SE 6th Ave, Portland, OR 97214
(503) 841-6675
(503) 841-6675
The key lime pie at Trifecta Tavern comes with a mound of bruleed meringue
Key lime pie at Trifecta Tavern
Michelle Lopez/EPDX

Candy Tray at Coquine

6839 SE Belmont St, Portland, OR 97215

Coquine, a celebrated neighborhood spot on SE Belmont, offers some of Portland’s most “grown-up” cuisine with dishes like a milk-braised sugo and a classic roast chicken for the table to share. Although its menu can seem traditional, Coquine adds unique touches like offering a “dim-sum style” candy tray. Diners can choose from a selection of sweets like pate de fruit and the famed smoked almond, salted caramel, and chocolate chip cookies to end their meal. 

6839 SE Belmont St, Portland, OR 97215
(503) 384-2483
(503) 384-2483

Sour Cherry Vareniki at Kachka

960 SE 11th Ave, Portland, OR 97214

A meal at Kachka, an airy, expansive restaurant that manages to be a cross between Portland’s new architecture and a Russian grandmother’s dining room, is a celebration of Slavic food through and through. Although diners can order Russian drinking food and booze like “herring under a fur coat” (a Russian seven-layer dip) and horseradish-infused vodka, the dumplings are a perennial favorite. When pan-fried, the sour cherry vareniki taste like little bites of fresh deep-fried cherry pie.

960 SE 11th Ave, Portland, OR 97214
(503) 235-0059
(503) 235-0059

Challah Bread Pudding at Shalom Y'all SE

117 SE Taylor St #101, Portland, OR 97214

Although Shalom Y’all can be next-level loud during peak hours, diners endure the long waits and loud volumes for delicious Israeli street food like fresh pita with hummus and house-made labneh. The challah bread pudding is the sleeper hit of the menu, made with a babka-like challah swirled with chocolate and served with smoky tahini, walnuts, and sour cream ice cream. 

117 SE Taylor St #101, Portland, OR 97214
(503) 208-3661
(503) 208-3661

“Kinda Like a McFlurry” at OK Omens

1758 SE Hawthorne Blvd, Portland, OR 97214

OK Omens is the celebrated Castagna’s hipper, cooler younger sister; this is the sister that doesn’t take herself as seriously, skipping tweezer food and prix fixe menus in favor of $36 bottles of natural wine and fried chicken dusted with Sichuan peppercorn. The dessert menu here can be overshadowed by the impressive and reasonably priced wine and fun dinner menu, but a meal at Ok Omens isn’t complete without something sweet. The pastry menu is equally as creative, offering a take on McDonalds’ famed McFlurry made with house-made ice cream, butterfingers, and chocolate.

1758 SE Hawthorne Blvd, Portland, OR 97214
(503) 231-9959
(503) 231-9959

Pineapple Egg Yolk Buns at HK Cafe

4410 SE 82nd Ave, Portland, OR 97266

Dining at HK Cafe can be an overwhelming experience; there are long waits and big crowds (especially on the weekends), and dim sum carts can sometimes zip by your table at the speed of lightning, making it hard to navigate the restaurant’s extensive offerings. But those willing to brave the chaos are rewarded with some of the city’s best dim sum. For dessert, diners must order the pineapple egg yolk buns—the buns don’t contain any pineapple (instead, the name refers to the sugar-crusted topping, which is meant to assemble the outside of a pineapple), but are filled with warm, creamy custard that explodes into your mouth with every bite. 

4410 SE 82nd Ave, Portland, OR 97266
(503) 771-8866
(503) 771-8866
View this post on Instagram

Because brunch = dim sum

A post shared by Jennifer Baum Lagdameo (@jenniferlagdameo) on

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