Chef Earl Ninsom is by all accounts crushing Thai food in Portland, and that includes fried chicken. Hat Yai's star dish, the fried chicken leg quarter, Malayu-style curry, and roti combo, provides the best of all worlds: crispy chicken and pan-fried bread with rich and spicy curry for dipping. And note: dipping should be mandatory.

It would be hard to name a more distinctive plate of Portland nachos than the version at Expatriate: Wonton chips arrive in a gooey Thai chile cheese sauce, with lemongrass-scented beef and makrut lime and tomato salsa. They have that nice balance of smart twists with all the messy, unfussy charm of bar nachos — Portland bar food in a nutshell.

This dish is a very young contender for this map, but in its short tenure, the mozzarella shots at Gabbiano’s have become the stuff of legend. The team at this Killingsworth Italian restaurant fill shot glass molds with mozzarella, frying them and filling them with hot marinara. The result: A super crispy-crunchy mozzarella ring with the perfect marinara-to-cheese ratio.

This is a bit of a cop-out, considering the pizzas change at Lovely’s Fifty-Fifty from week to week. However, Lovely’s distinctive char, use of fresh and raw vegetables, and thick crust give it a look that is unique to the Mississippi Pizzeria — even when the toppings change. Sticklers can consider the restaurant’s simple fresh mozzarella pie, paired with dried oregano, to be its true flagship.

This Scandinavian cafe has become a sensation throughout Portland, with locations on both sides of Burnside as well as a Hood River outpost. And of Broder’s several beloved dishes — lost eggs, Swedish meatballs — the restaurant’s aebleskivers, or Danish pancakes, are its top billing. Little spheres of soft dough come dusted with powdered sugar, with little ramekins of lemon curd and lingonberry jam.

Really, any of the loaded jianbing at this Northwest Portland cart could hit this map, but the Adam may be its top performer: Ribbons of egg, wonton crackers, green onions, and its classic “bing sauce” are interspersed with pieces of Chinese sausage and bacon, in a hearty handheld crepe. It’s worth strolling through Nob Hill, jianbing in hand, on a nice day.

Easily Portland’s most famous teriyaki sub shop, Taste Tickler sells turkey subs and BLTs alongside bulgogi and teriyaki, with house kimchi on the side. Its Steak Philly is its amalgamation of the two: Thinly shaved steak cooked in soy and garlic with green bell peppers and onions, finished with slices of melty provolone. It’s also available with chicken.

It’s odd to think that the pandan breakfast sandwich at Matta wasn’t on the menu when the cart opened, considering its meteoric rise into Portland breakfast sandwich royalty. A toasted pandan bun arrives stuffed with a smashed pork patty, American cheese, a curry-spiced hash brown, and a fried egg, yolk dripping and mixing with the sandwich’s tasty “dac biet” sauce. It’s best paired with cà phê, featuring Matta’s house roast.

Ringside Steakhouse’s onion rings are the things of local legend. Renowned local gourmand James Beard called the onion rings the finest he had ever eaten in the United States: wide, lightly battered rings served with a gravy boat of thousand island. For a luxe upgrade, the rings are particularly tasty when dunked in a side of house bearnaise.

Some may argue that Sammich’s Italian Beef is its signature sandwich, but only one sandwich on the menu inspired its own offshoot food cart. Sammich’s answer to a reuben, the Pastrami Zombie takes the Burnside restaurant’s house-brined, smoked, and steamed pastrami, pairing it with Swiss and Russian dressing. But instead of the customary sauerkraut, Sammich stacks its sandwich high with a super thinly shaved cabbage slaw, which provides a nice, fresh crunch. Pros know to throw on some of the shop’s house giardiniera for an added kick.

Some might lobby for the beef cheek bourguignon at Gabriel Rucker's Burnside bistro, but this savory-leaning dessert, on the menu from the very beginning, is a better representation of the what has made the restaurant famous: It's playful, experimental, rich, and mind-blowing.

From a food cart, an obsession is born. Nong Poonsukwattana started out making one thing meticulously, and in the process she turned a Thai comfort food staple into Portland’s comfort food staple. Since then, her famous khao man gai has spawned two permanent restaurants, a bottled sauce, and deep, visceral craving among everyone who tries it.

Portland’s famous Spanish coffee service is one of those bucket-list experiences for both locals and tourists. The drink is prepared tableside, during which overproof rum is set on fire in a sugar-rimmed glass before it’s topped with coffee liqueur, coffee, and a little whipped cream. It’s all served in Portland’s oldest restaurant.

Pretty much out of the gate, Kachka became an icon for kicking off the Portland Russian food revolution. And this terrine, sort of Ruskie-style seven-layer-dip, is responsible for turning a city onto, of all things, pickled herring.

For more than a decade, this Belmont food cart has stuffed its lefse — Norwegian crepes — with meatballs or lingonberries, but its smoked salmon lefse emphasizes the common ground between Oregon and Norway. The team at Viking Soul Food house cures and smokes steelhead, pairing it with pickled shallots, dill sour cream, and mixed greens in a rolled up lefse. Pros know to take their lefse to Laurelhurst Park for a picnic.

Ever since Berlu started its bakery pop-up on the weekends, crowds have swarmed the restaurant for its bánh bò nướng, a slice of bright green, springy cake with a satisfyingly chewy texture. It’s enough of a sensation that you can now buy birthday cards and socks featuring the tapioca flour cake. Be forewarned: It’s only available on Sundays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Eating fried chicken and thick-cut potato jojos is a sacred ritual in Portland, whether you’re getting them at Sadie Mae’s, Jojo, or Alberta Market. But often, when Portlanders talk about chicken and jojos, one name comes to mind: Reel M Inn, also known as the Reel, is a true Portland institution, standing in one form or another for 50 years. Sure, big-deal chefs and writers have praised the colorful dive for years, but it’s also treasured by locals, who happily spend an evening playing pool, knocking back shots of whiskey, and dunking crispy hunks of potato and chicken into ranch and Frank’s hot sauce.

The soups change daily at this cheery Vietnamese soup spot, but on Saturdays, the deli crafts a somewhat dry noodle dish that’s almost impossible to find in American restaurants. Thick noodles sit in a bath of aromatic, sweet broth — they should sit for another two minutes once they arrive at the table — before they’re tossed with peanuts, pork, crackers, and an assortment of herbs and greens; the side of core-warming stock is for you to sip separately. Its intricate, careful construction and depth has made it a Saturday tradition throughout Portland.

For almost 100 years, Otto’s has filled and smoked sausages in Woodstock, specializing in German wieners and meats. Most days, visitors will spot someone grilling sausages outside the deli, slapping them on buns with Portland Organic ketchup or Beaver mustard. The beef and pork wieners are a particular standout, showing off grill marks; get it paired with a combo of mustard and kraut.