I have been a fan of the Southeast Asian dishes interpreted by Chef Thomas Pisha-Duffly alongside wife Mariah since discovering them at pop-ups, then through the successful opening of Gado Gado. And here we are now with this outpost of a Covid-19 pivot of the parking lot of Gado Gado, a takeaway tent (named Oma’s Takeaway) that highlighted more street food, grown up now into its own brick and mortar location on SE Division of the updated name Oma’s Hideaway. The menu here is original in bringing his food memories from his grandmother/Oma and travels together with his own personal touches – its a food adventure you will enjoy whether you are familiar or unfamiliar with the original source inspirations of Chinese by way of Indonesia, Malaysia, and more. 
Cocktails are creative and one of a kind, created in collaboration with Eric Nelson of Shipwreck and then made real by Emily Warden. You can find librations like the wonderfully named “One Thing Led To Another” with tequila, lime, Oma’s ‘should be famous’ pickle brine and cucumber, or the “Oaxaca Meets Malacca” with mezcal, char siu glaze, Cynar, bitters, and five spice. 
On the far right you can glimpse the Bellweather, a bright cocktail with smoke – starting scotch whisky, vanilla, citrus, ginger beer, and Laphroig spritz. I can also vouch for refreshing with a kick Oma’s Watermelon Smash, crafted with hibiscus tequila, watermelon, cucumber, basil and serrano chili. It’s seen here with the White Lotus, made with rums, toasted coconut, soursop, lime, and falernum. Go for full fun with their Moonage Daydream Slushee with tequila, Aperol, pineapple, mint, shiso, lime, and absinthe. You will also find jello shots alongside some zero proof options and beer and wine. You can also see a hint of the beautiful, I tell you beautiful, inside bar.
Roti Canai is a must order here. It’s always on the menu, and always so good. Chef Thomas Pisha-Duffly has put a lot of practice and love perfecting the roti over and over and it shows. The flakey, doughy, perfectly textured flatbread is seved up with a sweet corn curry for dipping with turmeric pickle and puffed sorghum.
For a refreshing starter to share and a good contrast throughout your meal, which is based with shared dishes among your table, check out the Market Raita Salad with cucumber, apple, radish, ginger-cumin yogurt, sichuan chili oil and chickpea. It is refreshing with the balance of cucumber and apple and ginger-cumin yogurt, while also layered with savory flavor with the chili oil and crunchy chickpeas. It’s a smart dish to order as you dine family-style with other plates to help contrast with other dishes.
Oma’s Corn Fritters with sweet chili peanut sauce and scallion is another one ot consider – similar to the roti canai these are an item with a lot of love from Chef Thomas’s past from his Oma and mom and sister where he created his own take here too – so it really is a recipe shaped by generations.
Depending on the season not sure if this will be on the menu, but the Soft Shell Crab Sando with salted egg yolk, mayo, green papaya slaw, pickled red onion, sweet roll is great for 1 or 2 . Look for other specials too – on one visit they offered Crispy Curry Sweetbread with a pandan waffle, asparagus, roasted king trumpet mushroom, gula jawa, peanut, fried anchovy, and fried egg. Before the pandemic Gado Gado offered a kickass brunch, and for a while Oma’s Takeaway had nasi lemak, so I’m hoping they will return to offering some dishes earlier in the day in the future both locations. In the meantime, check out what are the new playful seasonal dishes as they appear, especially anything with sweetbread, foie, or seafood. For me, one visit had spot prawns on the menu, another visit there were coconut clams, and another visit sour orange curry clams instead. 
On weekends only, you will see they offer the Pork Ribs with fish sauce caramel, herbs, sour tamarind, roasted peach and tomato sambal, fermented rice powder, shrimp chip. Enjoy every last bit of that sauce with the Coconut Rice with lemongrass, pandan, lime leaf and also probably licking your fingertips. That’s right, even something as simple as rice is special here at Oma’s Hideaway. I apologize that my photo of the ribs do not do justice to the depth of flavor that was in this dish.
My favorites on the menu are the bigger dishes. The Charcoal Roasted Game Hen with coconut sambal, herb and cabbage slaw, can be ordered has a half hen or whole hen. The Char Siu Rice Bowl with Revel Meat Co roast belly and shoulder, rice, gula jawa, ginger scallion relish, charred onion, matcha and nori dusted chicharrones may be the best char siu bowl in Portland. You might even think this might be some of the best roasted bbq Asian style meat in PDX, and you could make a good argument for it. 
And then there’s the Wonton Mee – handmade egg noodles with char siu pork belly, pork and shrimp wontons, chili jam, fermented mustard greens. This take on a well loved street food classic is the dish that takes me most back to Malaysia and Singapore trips.
The seating at Oma’s Hideaway includes some outdoor seating in the front where you can enjoy some people watching, or the larger huge patio in the back. There’s more seating in the back then in the front/inside combined! It’s fenced in so it feels hidden away of the bustle of SE Division.
Seating inside however gives you the fun experience of being able to admire the stunning custom wallpaper by Kate Blairstone featuring a trip under the psychedelic sea with vintage lighting. Note proof of vaccination is required to dine indoors. As you enter you will be welcomed with a view of a small window of hanging Chinese bbq just like you might see in a SE Asia hawker stand. Also you’ll be dazzled by the sparkling bar. That said, as you might see a hint at from my photos the lighting inside the restaurant is sexy darker lighting versus the al fresco dining outside. Wherever you end up sitting, do not miss visiting the restrooms – both Gado Gado and Oma’s Hideaway added a lot of style in the unisex bathrooms that are worth a visit. the one at Oma’s Hideaway includes disco lights and a wall with mural artist Chet Malinow.
You can read much more eloquent write-up of Oma’s Hideaway by Karen Brooks at Portland Monthly – I love the way she puts words together that just has a certain rhythm while still perfectly describing in a concise way the dining experience. If my summary can’t convince you to go, I hope hers will.
I think everyone should be trying Oma’s Hideaway – it’s so unique not just to Portland but just in general for these kind of food items. It’s a visit to the hawker centers but improved with the high quality of ingredients here, an ode of love to memories of traveling there mashed up with a little extra creativity to reflect and Asian Western upbringing. It’s not exactly the traditional dishes, but it’s a take that adds some whimsy, fun, and perspective, that somehow resonates deeply as an Asian American for me.
Have you been to Oma’s Hideaway yet? What are you favorite dishes if you have been, or if you haven’t, which dish resonated with you to try?
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