We went to Portland, Oregon in June of 2024. It was my first time visiting, and I heard lots of great things about the food scene here. Also, I was interested in their food truck culture, or food cart pods. We went to one of the food cart pod spots, called the Midtown Beer Garden, to get some sandwiches from Tokyo Sando. It was a much bigger food cart pod, with so many different food trucks. They had seating area in the middle, with a stage for live music and such.
We walked around the entire spot to check out all the other food trucks first, but we still ended up with Tokyo Sando, as that was something that really caught our eye from the beginning. They constantly had a few people lining up, seemed like one of the most popular food trucks here. We went there for lunch, and four of their sandwich selections were already sold out!
Out of the available options, we ordered Miso Katsu Sando ($14.69), and Naka Sando ($14.69). They are both “Tokyo Sando Original” items. Miso Katsu Sando had a choice of Chicken or Pork, and we went with Chicken. We also got Rich Green Tea bottles ($5.39) to go with the sandwiches. The Tokyo Sando stated that it is the best green tea with their “sandos” which are kept nice and cold.
Miso Katsu Sando is made with Tokyo Miso Sauce, Black Garlic, Cabbage, Mayo “and Love!” It was quite good, with good white bread, crispy chicken katsu, lots of shredded cabbage, and black garlic to give that extra tasty garlic flavor. The sauce was really good, went great with the katsu. Every bite was satisfying, with crunchy cabbage and juicy katsu. Naka Sando, or Chicken Nanban Sando, is made with Chicken, Nanban Sauce, Tartar Sauce, Red Cabbage, Mayo “and Love!” The last ingredients in every sandwich they made says “love” which is adorable! This one was really good too. Very different flavor profile from the Miso Katsu Sando. It still have that nice crunch from the cabbage, and the katsu was good, although kind of thin, much thinner than expected. The nanban flavor is usually with sweet vinegar sauce and egg tartar sauce, which I love, and I think they could’ve put a bit more in the sandwich to get the strong flavor.
Overall, they were really good sandwiches, they hit the spot for sure, we were happy with the sandwiches. I definitely liked the Miso Katsu Sando more than I did the Naka Sando. They had other tasty looking sandwiches, but I am glad we got to try their original items. The staffs were super efficient and courteous. The only thing is that they don’t have pager for customers to have and know when the food is ready. So, you need to either stand around the food truck, or keep going back there every few minutes or so. They do have the number system, so make sure you pay attention when they are calling out the number. I say our first Food Cart Pod experience was a big success!
Tokyo Sando – 431 SW Harvey Milk St, Portland, OR 97204