Reviews
“The food here is more complex and interesting than any other Thai restaurant we’ve ever visited – anywhere in the United States.”
--The Food Lover’s Companion to Portland
“…Typhoon, where chef Bo Kline selects quality ingredients and turns them into Thai dishes that show a subtle, masterful touch. Begin with the deceptively simple miang kum (literally, “little bites”) platter, which consists of toasted coconut, ginger, lime, peanuts, chilies and house-made chutney that diners wrap up into flavorful packages using spinach leaves. Don’t miss the refreshingly acidic shrimp larb salad and the chicken in green curry. No gloppy peanut sauce or mindlessly hot seasoning here; this is Thai food the way you have always wished it would taste.”
--Heidi Yorkshire/Bon Appetit
“The most exciting of these (Thai restaurants) is Typhoon!, where owner-chef Bo Kline dazzles her diners with fare inspired by her native Thailand.”
--Sunset
“Flavors explode in your mouth...The taste is ultra-fresh. You’ll want to lick the plate.”
--The Oregonian
“Thai food is all the rage, and Typhoon is the best place to eat it.”
--Epicurious/The Essential Restaurant Guide
“Recently in Portland, Ore., I found one of the most unusual Thai restaurants I have ever eaten in, and my taste buds have not been the same since.”
--Knight-Ridder News Service
“Bo Kline’s ‘creative cooking dispels the myth of boring Thai food’ at this NW district eatery with ‘flavor that isn’t compromised by spiciness;’ the ‘food is great to look at and to eat’ and signature appetizers venture into new territory with stunning success; ‘take guests here – they all love it.’”
--Zagat Survey 1998
“Bo Kline does a Thai cuisine with more colors than curry…From openers of Miang Kum…and beggar’s purses of lively shrimp, the menu ranges into a kaleidoscope of curries, inspired seafood dishes, and pungent Thai noodle dishes.
--Northwest Best Places
“Just when we think we’ve become experts on Thai cuisine, along comes Typhoon...bearing dishes rarely seen in any American Thai restaurant.”
--Willamette Week
“Kline has a particularly deft hand with shrimp and fish, allowing the seafood’s delicate flavors to surmount ginger, garlic, basil and some spices that could cook a flounder by themselves.”
--Portland Best Places
“Real Thai basil, ‘proper Thai peppers’ and other ingredients raise the Thai food here to a level we’ve enjoyed only in spots like London’s Blue Elephant, which many consider serves the best Thai food in the world.”
--Stratos Magazine
“Bo knows Thai food well, from the upper class Thai cuisine, to the peasant food. She probably has a broader range of appreciation for what constitutes Thai food than almost anyone else.”
--Fine Food & Travel Magazine (Internet)
“Typhoon…is fast gaining a national reputation for its top-notch peasant-and-palace Thai cuisine….Bo Kline supervises Typhoon’s kitchen, which produces dishes that drive critics to hyperbole.”
–The Business Journal/Portland
“The unusual menu offerings generally aren’t available at other Thai restaurants. Be sure to start a meal with the miang kum…The eruption of flavors that takes place on your taste buds is absolutely astounding (we first had this in Thailand and waited years to get it in the United States)”
--Frommer’s Seattle & Portland/-The Best of the Pacific Northwest
“…An unforgettable experience for both newcomers and Old Siam hands. Mrs. Bo makes the best fried bananas in the world, maybe the universe. No joke. I’m a pisang goreng junkie…These are top drawer.”
--‘Polo’/The Asian Reporter
Best Ethnic Restaurant: Some of the specialties include fish on fire…superwild shrimp…hor mok; along with noodles, rice, soup and salads…(Typhoon! on Broadway) is one of the best new ethnic restaurants in Portland.”
--Gerry Frank/The Oregonian Best Choices for 1998
“…This Thai restaurant…offers unusual, intricate dishes with grace and flair. The food is excellent, but the extensive tea list is worth a stop in itself.”
--Linda Nygaard/City Smart Guidebook: Portland
“Cutting edge Thai cuisine in an open, colorful setting.”
--Judy Jewell/Oregon: Compass American Guides
“Typhoon! on Broadway: This new star to the downtown restaurant scene serves up spectacular specials and outstanding appetizers…Menu highlights include the can’t-miss appetizers miang kum and hor mok…The daily specials are awe-inspiring. One night we discovered the savory Curry Roma – seafood wrapped in pasta with green-curry coconut sauce. We also experienced the truly out-of-this-world lemongrass pork tenderloin. Tender, tangy, tasty – it’s one succulent dish.”
--Byron Beck/CitySearch
“Nationally recognized for its innovative Thai cuisine, Typhoon!…is one of the hottest spots in the Northwest.”
--Lonely Planet/Pacific Northwest
“’The most creative, gorgeous’ Thai food in Portland, served on ‘cool plates’ can be found at this top-rated ‘yuppie haven’…this ‘amazing experience’ is ‘breaking new ground.’”
--Zagat Survey/1999
“There are a number of excellent Thai restaurants in Portland and two of them are named Typhoon!…My faves are Bo’s Chicken in Green Curry…her Tom Kah Gai chicken coconut soup…and Miang Kum, a classic Thai peasant dish.”
--Sara Perry/KINK FM102
“Best Phad Thai in Portland.”
--The Oregonian; Arts & Entertainment
“Bo Kline, a top-notch Thai chef, brings a twister of tastes to Typhoon; try the grilled, peanut-sauced portabella mushrooms.”
--National Geographic Traveler Magazine
“…This snazzy restaurant is known for its roasted duck noodles, sweet snap peas with shrimp, and the portobello stir-fry with chicken, vegetables or shrimp. It’s a happy mix of cuisines, and the customer is the winner.”
--America On Line: Our Hot Restaurants
“…Typhoon! offers a stormily delicious menu of Thai cuisine in an often crowded room decorated with Thai motifs…Try the curries, sip a Singha beer, hang out on the patio on a balmy summer day and it’s easy to imagine you’re transported to folkloric Thailand.”
--Insiders’ Guide to Portland
“…May well be the best Thai food you’ve ever eaten… Bo Lohasawat Kline…never muddles or forces out-of-balance the holy quartet of her native cuisine: salt, sweet, sour and heat. Her recipes are culled from a repertoire that relies as much on familiar street foods…as on specialties fit for Thai royalty…Kline has brought back Thai-food excitement.”
--Nancy Leson/The Seattle Times
“When a Thai chef (Bo Kline) and a movie producer (Steve Kline) collaborate on a restaurant, you might expect the result to be dramatic, and it is, both on and off the plate.”
--Providence Cicero/Metropolitan Living
“Typhoon! goes to great length to purchase authentic (and fresh) ingredients…Typhoon! provides Thai food unlike any that most of us have eaten.” Listed as one of “10 incredible commercial concepts.”
--On Site Magazine/Nation’s Restaurant News
“The food is splendid and inventive, and the atmosphere enchanting. We’re looking forward to our next trip back.”
--Puget Sound Business Journal
“Come here for excellent Thai food at reasonable prices in a cozy but lively atmosphere. The chicken or shrimp with crispy basil, the curry and noodle dishes and the vegetarian spring rolls are standouts.”
--Fodor’s Pacific Northwest
“Traditional Thai dishes invigorated with quality ingredients, a light hand with salt and gooey sauces.”
--The Green Guide/Pacific Northwest
“This restaurant transports me…even though it’s been a decade since I’ve set foot in Thai sands for real, I’m content to know that Thailand is as close as the nearest Typhoon!.”
--Vanessa McGrady/Alaska Airlines Magazine
“The lemongrass pork satay is better than any I’ve had in decades, in Asia or the United States. I’ll be bringing my friends. I want them to experience having their socks knocked off by this wonderful restaurant.”
--Caroline Fung James/Northwest Asian Weekly
“Phad Thai of uncommon delicacy…a sensational Panang curry…the grilled rack of lamb in Massaman curry was better still…even better yet was the three-flavor fish. ’Splendid’ pretty much sums up this Typhoon! – a place which, in this critic’s opinion, could sustain another exclamation point ..the menu…a vast and unusually compelling combination of old standards and nouvelle-Thai inventions.”
--Kathryn Robinson/Seattle Weekly
“Flavors at Typhoon! are focused more tightly and preparations more polished than at its brethren...Coconut-milk curries are a mainstay of Thai cuisine, and Typhoon’s are killer: velvety, rich, but not too heavy-handed….Typhoon! can shoot straight…but the riffs are hard to resist: phad thai laced with shards of crab in an inspired upscaling…larb studded with ahi in another well-conceived reworking.”
--Gregory Roberts/Seattle P-I
“Typhoon! serves up incredibly good Thai cuisine…If you’re used to run-of-the-mill Thai food, you’re in for a surprise…flavors and ingredients are all authentic, and every dish is presented with artistic drama.”
--Seattle Insider
“For all-around great Thai seafood, my vote goes to Typhoon! Its bags of gold hold a fresh shrimp stuffing, neatly tied up in wontons leaf thread, ready to be dipped in owner/chef Bo Kline’s succulent plum sauce. Shrimp-laced King’s Noodles, a traditional Thai dish, are truly fit for a king – and me, too. Because every chef at Typhoon! hails from one of Thailand’s luxury hotels, they may just have the inside line on what royalty eats.”
--Alicia Arter/Northwest Palate
“This is Thai cuisine with imagination and take-no-prisoners attitude…The spicy dishes at Typhoon! aren’t mindlessly hot. They’re intense but sophisticated, with nearly every dish offering a counterpoint of two or three well-coordinated flavors.”
--Lawrence W. Cheek/America West Magazine
“I miss Typhoon!...I think it’s the best Thai food in the world.”
--Picabo Street/Olympic Ski Champion
“There’s a Typhoon and it’s sweeping through the Northwest with Executive Chef Bo Kline leading the way!...And suddenly Thai food has been elevated to new heights…In less than seven years Bo has emerged as one of the premier chefs of Thai cuisine in North America.”
--Hospitality News
“When Typhoon! stormed into Portland in 1995, Bo and Steve Kline presented us cuisine to talk about…While other Thai restaurants were amazing us with green curry and Pad Thai noodles, Typhoon! pushed us a step further, thrilling our palates with miang kum…These explosive little poppers were quickly copied at other Thai restaurants around town…Seven years later, the Klines…continue offering both tradition and innovation, taking some menu choices to the next level: fusion…Pay attention to this distinctive family of restaurants growing just fast enough to ensure each continues the tradition of warm Thai hospitality, graceful surroundings and memorable food..”
--Kathryn Kurtz/The Columbian
“Typhoon! is a clear trailblazer in Thai food. Chef Bo Kline…tweaks and streamlines typical offerings, rendering familiar Phad Thai out of the ordinary…soaring where others flail.”
--Christina Melander/Portland Tribune
“Typhoon! now occupies the former home of Wild Ginger, which gave up this space for a bigger and less attractive one downtown. Though it had big shoes to fill, Typhoon! fits them better than Cinderella. Creative, colorful Thai food fills the menu, and you are left with the taste of artwork in your mouth. ”
--Debra Miller/Lonely Planet - Seattle
“Thai food in all its glory is the attraction here, in a bustling restaurant that pulls in a big, downtown lunch and dinner crowd.”
--Seattle & Portland for Dummies
“Typhoon’s chef/owner, Bo Lohasawat Kline, manages the Bangkok crew in the huge open kitchen with lightning speed and unusual skill. Bags of Gold…are a delight. The miang kum…is to be popped into your mouth for a burst of flavors that play a two-octave chord on your palate…There’s a terrific version of everybody’s favorite, Phad Thai…Coconut milk curries, the mainstay of Thai restaurant cuisine, are velvety and rich but not too heavy-handed.”
--Shannon O’Leary/Best Blaces Seattle
“Pioneers of creative, upscale Thai cooking in a funky-style urban café. Miang kum (exotic spinach wraps), drunken noodles and pine cone fish are standouts. Don’t stick to the mainstays – this is the place for adventure.”
--The Oregonian Dining Guide/A&E Recommends
“Around the block from our hotel was Typhoon, a restaurant tucked into the Hotel Lucia, one of the city's new boutique lodgings. We thought our pad Thai, stir-fried eggplant in black bean sauce and pineapple shrimp some of the best Thai food we had eaten…”
--Jennifer Lowe/The Los Angeles Times
“If it seems odd that the granola capital of the world would embrace a venue as brazenly hip as Hotel Lucia, you haven’t been here lately. The 128-room fantasyland is a multimillion-dollar renovation of the historic Imperial Hotel. In addition to its amazing rooms and business amenities, we like Typhoon! Restaurant (chef and co-owner Bo Lohasawat Kline has been called one of the hottest chefs in the nation by the likes of Bon Appétit and Esquire).”
--Washington Flyer
“This Thai treasure has made national press food reviewers bubble over in…culinary joy over their combination of traditional and nouvelle Thai dishes.”
--Portland Living
“Bo and Steve Kline paved the way for a new vision of Thai food when they opened the original Typhoon!..Top Pick! 2002.”
--OregonLive.com
“Typhoon!, in the Hotel Lucia, offers inventive Thai cuisine that is both beautiful and flavorful.”
--Jane Wooldridge/Knight Ridder Newspapers
“Thai native Bo Kline re-invents the complex flavors of her home country at Typhoon! on Broadway, a downtown restaurant crowded with satisfied diners. Artfully presented dishes include wild shrimp in red curry, Portobello mushrooms with a spicy peanut sauce, and grilled beef served with a pungent lime dressing.”
--Hidden Pacific Northwest
“When Bo and Steve Kline stormed into town they brought Thai cuisine to new heights, introducing miang kum (spinach leaves wrapped around explosive ingredients), pine cone fish and grilled beef with grapes plus curries, rice noodles and coconut ice cream. Graced with silk fabrics, silver cutlery, art and chefs – all from Thailand – the Broadway site is more upscale than the Everett Street location.”
--Portland Upclose
“With dishes rarely seen in America, (Bo Kline) is quite literally taking America by storm…The care Bo takes with her staff is reflected in the consistency of the dishes…What sets her cooking style apart from typical Thai restaurants is the variety…Her dishes are imaginative and unusual.”
--Portrait of Portland
“Food (at the Hotel Lucia) is courtesy of Typhoon, an excellent and inexpensive Thai restaurant.”
--Conde Nast Traveler
“Truly one of the best Thai restaurants in the U.S.”
--Passport
“Snappy, tasty Thai takes Northwest Portland by Storm.” Typhoon Voted #1Thai Food in Audience Poll.
--Citysearch
“Typhoon! (on Broadway) packs in enough art, culture and distinctive flavor to garner it a full house any night of the week as well as a brimming lunch crowd…consistency is top priority...Start with Miang Kum; tuck toasted coconut, shallots, ginger, lime, peanuts, dried shrimp and Thai chili into a spinach leaf, then dip it into Bo’s signature sauce – the zingy, fresh, spice-full flavor is outstanding. Chef specials are the way to go: tender grilled beef marinated in a spicy garlic-lime sauce garnished with fresh grapes; shrimp and scallop dumplings wrapped in egg noodle sheets, swimming in a light green curry sauce.”
--Liz Crain/AOL DigitalCity.com
“The mothership of five…Typhoon (Northwest) is always brimming with contented diners. Tables cozy up, allowing you to gander at all the outstanding, beautiful dishes steadily streaming from the kitchen. Chef Bo Lohasawat Kline ensures that every dish is served delicious and dazzling…The chef specials are outstanding – new twists on traditional fare. The Royal Duck Curry, a red curry sweetened by grapes and pineapple, is so fantastic it’s astonishing. The Pine Cone Fish – flash-fried halibut coupled with a chili-lime sauce; grilled portabellos served with crispy egg noodles and a pungent peanut sauce; and grilled beef with grapes served with a spicy garlic-lime sauce are all superb.”
--Liz Crain/AOL DigitalCity.com
“Typhoon! on Broadway – Thai: Triumphant Thai, disaster-movie name. Those who weren’t here may not remember the havoc this place wreaked on local foodies when it opened its doors. A culinary force of nature, Typhoon! astounded with its rich investigations into both high-class and low-rent Bangkok. Years later, people still rave over the hor mok appetizers – prawns in a coconut curry sauce – and the Bags of Gold (fried “parcels” stuffed with shrimp). The barbecue chicken salad is one of our new favorites, the chicken in green curry an old friend. Newbies and regulars alike must bow down at the tea selection – currently at 150 varieties and growing. The Thai ambassador himself isn’t doing so much for Bangkok-Portland relations. 410 SW Broadway (between Stark and Washington). 503-224-8285.”
--Portland Monthly
“When it opened, this much-celebrated Thai restaurant took the city by storm. Its exotic flavors, a mix of sweet and sour, salt and heat, fostered a new appreciation for Asian cuisine, especially one done with such skill and finesse. The driving force behind it all is Bo Kline, a Bangkok-born chef who takes authenticity to new heights and combines the traditions of peasant cooking and palace cuisine. Bo provokes palates with her takes on chicken coconut soup, pad thai, and miang kum (spinach wrapped morsels that explode with flavor). She also enlivens everything from chicken in green curry to lemongrass pork tenderloin and three-flavor fish. Bo's approach to fried bananas and homemade coconut ice cream also draw raves, and a huge selection of fragrant teas makes for great sampling. A must-try all the way around!”
--10 Best Asian Guides/Seattle
“Typhoon! is a clear trailblazer in Thai food. Chef Bo Kline eschews rote dishes; instead, she brings imaginative entrees and seasonal specials (asparagus currently figures heavily) to the table. And she tweaks and streamlines typical offerings, rendering familiar pad thai out of the ordinary. Soaring where others flail, Typhoon! shows restraint with the sauce, which is more chopped nuts and chilies than gloppy peanut sauce. Bite-sized vegetables crunch, tofu is perfectly browned and the spice-coated chicken and shrimp are addictive. Typhoon! on Broadway just unveiled a svelte remodel that includes a fetching bar near the entrance, a great place to people watch and purr over pad thai.”
--Christina Melander/Portland Tribune
“(Typhoon!)…has garnered much acclaim since it opened. Its exotic flavors, a mix of sweet and sour, salt and heat, fostered a new appreciation for Asian cuisine, especially one done with such skill and finesse. The driving force behind it all is Bo Kline, a Bangkok-born chef who takes authenticity to new heights and combines the traditions of peasant cooking and palace cuisine.”
--10 Best Guides/Portland
“For a teenager, vegetables can be less than thrilling. But my son, Henry, has discovered a solution. "Just try to make them taste like they came from Typhoon!" he says. Typhoon!, Henry's gold standard for flavorful food, is…owned and operated by Bongoj (Bo) Lohasawat Kline and her husband, Steve. The menu at Typhoon! reflects the broad range of Thai-food styles and flavors that Bo knew as a child, from street snacks to court food. But what makes Bo's food unique is the brightness and singularity of its flavors.”
--Greg Atkinson/The Seattle Times
“Best Specialty Phad Thai: Kline…insists on using top ingredients, including fresh rice noodles, tamarind juice and the difficult-to-obtain palm sugar. The result is a supremely fresh Phad Thai with reined-in sweetness and heat. Ordinarily served with vegetables, tofu, chicken or shrimp, Phad Thai is occasionally featured as a special topped with feathery Dungeness crab. This rare combination is a sublime treat not to be missed.”
--Christina Melander/The Oregonian
“The muted decor and perfunctory service fall to the wayside in light of some of the tastiest Thai in town… The Bags of Gold are a tasty start: small, crisp packages stuffed with shrimp, shiitake mushrooms and water chestnuts. The pad thai is very popular, and rightly so: The thin rice noodles have a spicy, sweet sauce that goes perfectly with the pieces of tender chicken and crunchy bean sprouts. But the menu's star is the luscious curry roma, which features succulent shrimp and scallop dumplings in a light, green curry sauce with hints of coconut milk. End with the mango and sticky rice dessert, an ingenious mix of refreshing mango and sweet, chewy rice.”
--Rachel Bellacera/Citysearch