The Langbaan Team Will Open a Thai Restaurant (Potentially) in Pok Pok’s SE Division Building

Fans of blind items may have been tickled to see an article from the Oregonian tease a possible new restaurant from the James Beard Award-winning Langbaan team, but it appears the news is true: Chef Akkapong “Earl” Ninsom confirms that he, along with Eric Nelson and chef Sam Smith of Yaowarat, will open a new restaurant dubbed OK Chicken & Khaosoi. “Our vision is to bring a Northern Thai dining experience back to Portland — something the city has been missing since early in the pandemic,” Ninsom writes in an email to Eater.

While that news in itself is worthy of excitement, exactly where the restaurant may set up shop is, in itself, a surprise. While the team is still in the lease negotiation process, if all goes well, they will take over the former Pok Pok space at 3226 SE Division Street. A tentative opening date of winter 2025 is set. (Again, if things work out with the space.) “We feel the location — with its existing Northern Thai feel and history — would be a perfect fit for the concept we’re exploring,” Ninsom writes in an email to Eater.

Ninsom shares that the team is exploring a restaurant “that balances fun and approachability with a practical, sustainable model.” What that means is counter-service or bar-style ordering, with a simple order sheet for diners to fill out, before settling into a table. Ninsom points to this model as something the team has seen in their previous research trips. “As for the concept itself — Northern Thai flavors, late-night energy, possibly with karaoke — we see it as a way to fill a gap while also creating a place that feels vibrant but operationally efficient,” Ninsom writes. “It’s still early, so we don’t have firm timelines (hoping for this winter if all goes as planned).”

Meanwhile, food reporters have been trying to parse out more details via the new restaurant’s Instagram page. Ninsom, Nelson, and Smith highlighted some of the dishes they sampled on a recent trip, which the Oregonian reports was “a research trip specifically to study Northern Thai cuisine, which had [been] Pok Pok’s specialty.” Parsing through the photos, the Oregonian specifically pointed to a Pok Pok-like whole roasted chicken; the photos also tease laab muang, or Northern Thai-style laab, as well as som tum, and other dishes. The winner khao soi bowl of the trip, highlighted on the Instagram page, points to a Muslim version from Khao Soi Lung Surin in the Chiang Mai village of Doi Pui, per the caption.

The team is already testing the namesake khao soi at Yaowarat’s staff meal (of which all staff meals are diligently catalogued on @yaowaratpdx_staff_meal). Looks like you’ll have to join the Yaowarat team to get an early taste, suggests Nelson, or wait patiently for the grand opening.