Viking Soul Food

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A line forms outside the Viking Soul Food trailer. / Photo by Brynn Opsahl

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Viking Soul Food

$$

****

Credit Cards ($0.25 fee)

Vegan/Vegetarian Friendly

4262 SE Belmont Ave

Portland, OR

503-704-5481

vikingsoulfood.com[email protected]Facebook

Tues-Thurs 12-8 p.m. or later

Fri-Sat 12-9 p.m. or later

As the only lefse food cart in Portland, Viking Soul Food serves up a little piece of Scandinavian lifestyle to Oregon’s foodies. In business since August of 2010, owners Megan M Walhood (the Viking descendant) and Jeremy B Daniels (the soul provider) run the cart with an uplifting motto: “If more of us valued food & cheer & song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world” (JRR Tolkien). Walhood and Daniels mix in this sentiment with each of their homemade recipes. 

The idea sparked from Walhood’s Christmas tradition of preparing an original lefse filled with butter and sea salt or butter and sugar ($2). Daniels decided to mix it up one year and make the wrap more interesting. From there they had Viking Soul Food, a place to share the traditional snack with added soul. The most popular wrap is the #1: pork and beef meatballs, Norwegian cheese sauce and Surkal—a sweet-sour cabbage ($5). Though few ingredients fill this wrap, its flavor is nothing simple. With enough meatballs to have meat in each bite, and the mix of melted cheese sauce and crunchy cabbage, this wrap is an interesting mix of sweet, sour and savory. Keep an eye out for seasonal specials such as The Ocean Booty: Oregon pink shrimp, caper-curry aioli, roasted broccoli, almonds and greens all wrapped in a lefse ($6). Get the lingonberry iced tea ($1.50), a tart and perfectly sweet drink for a summer day. A hidden treasure for only an extra $0.50 is the cup of Mjolnir—a homemade beet-based hot sauce. It’s a great addition to any savory wrap, giving your taste buds a bit of sweet heat.

Though delicious, the wraps are not huge. Get more than one if you are planning on eating at Viking Soul Food for a full meal. Walhood and Daniels make this easy to do with special deals: Combine any two lefse wraps get one dollar off; or get any one sweet lefse and one savory lefse for only $8. Located in the Good Food Here cart pod on 42nd and Belmont, there is plenty of room to sit and also a good-sized parking lot attached. So whether you’re craving sweet, savory, sour or all three in one, Viking Soul Food is the place to be for your authentic Scandinavian food fix. 

Bonus: Walhood and Daniels buy local as often as possible and are making connections to find a local farmer to make the goat cheeses that they usually import from Norway.

What I Had:

#1 $5.00

The Ocean Booty $6.00

Lingonberry Iced Tea $1.50

Total: $12.50

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