In the heart of Bangkok, Thailand’s Chinatown, you can find a street called Yaowarat Road, where people from all over the world come to visit. It’s a vibrant place, with bright signs and crowds of people coming in and out of restaurants. At night, it turns into a famous “food street” that appeals to tourists and locals alike. On the other side of the world, and a five minute drive from Franklin High School, is a restaurant called Yaowarat in the heart of Montavilla. It brightens up Stark Street and looks like it came right out of Bangkok itself.
A chef and owner of Yaowarat, Earl Ninsom, was raised in Bangkok, and visited Yaowarat Road many times growing up. Ninsom has co-founded six successful restaurants in Portland, all of which serve many different variations of Thai food. Langbaan opened in 2014 and is his most famous restaurant; so much so that at one point, reservations had to be made up to six months in advance.
The food at Yaowarat is pulled directly from the Chinese food in Thailand, which is very different from the Chinese food we’re used to here. “There’s a variety of food for all ages in that district [Bangkok’s Chinatown]. It’s simple, delicious street food, and it’s not a classical Thai or a classical Chinese, it’s more a combination of the cuisine,” Ninsom said. “It was where most Chinese immigrants moved to Thailand many, many years ago.” His business partner and the manager of Yaowarat, Kyle Linden Webster, explained how Ninsom’s other restaurant — Langbaan — helped the process. “Earl was doing a Thai Chinese-inspired menu at Langbaan, so he had the opportunity to sort of road test some of these dishes and get feedback,” Webster explained. “That built the excitement to do a standalone Thai Chinese concept.”
During the making of Yaowarat, Ninsom, Webster, and their partners — Eric Nelson and Sam Smith — took two research trips to Bangkok. They took their design team — a company called Each Other — and wandered through the neighborhood, eating the food and taking in the architecture. “All the objects in the room are pretty much from Bangkok, we brought them back specifically to decorate the restaurant,” Webster explained. He went on to say that a few things they used in Yaowarat were hand made, which goes to show how much effort went into the restaurant — all the way from Bangkok to Portland. “It’s one of the busiest streets in Bangkok. Going to Yaowarat is like going to Times Square during New Year’s Eve,” Ninsom stated. “It’s an experience you can’t find anywhere else.”
Portland food blogger Gary Okazaki attended the opening night of Yaowarat on October 6 and absolutely loved it! Okazaki has been friends with Ninsom since 2014, when he was one of the first customers of Langbaan. “It was a little surprising because it felt more like Thai than Chinese, having eaten at Earl’s other places, but it was still absolutely addictive,” Okazaki told me. “That’s the thing about Yaowarat, once you get hooked you have to go back, which is one of the reasons why his restaurants are all really successful.”
Not only did Okazaki share about the food, but also on the effect our economy has on the food industry. He highlights how at Yaowarat, you still get a good portion of high quality food. “That’s almost unheard of right now,” Okazaki stated.
Especially after COVID-19, there has been a massive decrease in restaurants, shrinking the restaurant industry almost indefinitely, according to CNN. This makes it harder for restaurants to stay afloat, let alone begin at all. Yaowarat went above and beyond, creating an atmosphere like something out of a movie, and bringing more cultural diversity to Montavilla. In the United States, most Americans grow up without educating themselves on the different cultures all around them. However, in places like Portland, we are lucky to be surrounded by so many people and cultures from all around the world.
With very few exceptions, our mindset is often shaped by our culture. No matter what that culture is, when we don’t have enough exposure to other cultures, we begin to lack the ability to see from someone else’s point of view. Learning about other cultures can broaden your perspective, and impact the way you interact with the world. This is what helps Yaowarat thrive. It’s places like these where we can learn and relearn how to see from the perspective of a citizen of the world, rather than a citizen of the United States.
