Aladdin’s wishes were granted by the genie, but this time, they were all focused on finding the best vegan foods around the world.

And on that list is the one and only Rose City.

Mena Massoud, known for his debut in Disney’s “Aladdin,” hosts “Evolving Vegan,” a travel food series on Peacock dedicated to finding delicious and accessible plant-based food. The two-season show, which first premiered in 2023,  features cities like Los Angeles, Austin, Mexico City, Tokyo, Miami and his Canadian hometown, Vancouver.

“Portland is one of the best food cities in America, without a shadow of a doubt. Its diverse and artistic nature lends itself so well to the culinary scene,” Massoud said in an email.

The show was only available for viewing in Canada, but as of late May,  Americans can now watch Massoud explore their country and its robust vegan food scene on Peacock.

Massoud’s time in Portland gave him the flavors of plant-based dumplings, fried “chik’n” sandwiches and Vietnamese “catfish.” When he wasn’t eating, Massoud foraged for lobster mushrooms and visited the oldest tofu factory in America: Ota Tofu.

“When you visit Portland, you keep hearing that phrase, ‘Keep Portland Weird’. You never really understand it until you go there, but I don’t know that weird is the right word. I would personally use cool,” Massoud said in an email. “All the chefs I met there were just cool in their own way. They had a cool style, a cool attitude and a cool way of approaching food. I think that’s why the food there is so good.”

During his time in Portland, he visited the following:

• Collective Oregon Eateries
• The Aimsir Distilling Company
• Fortune
• Mama Dut

Since the episode first aired, the beloved plant-based Vietnamese restaurant, Mama Dut, closed its doors for good on Nov. 19, 2023. Owner Thuy Pham announced in an Instagram post that the restaurant would be closed and a planned second location would not come to fruition. The menu included rice waffles with scallions and jackfruit, bánh mì with mock pork belly, and fried mushroom bao buns with kimchi aioli.

Find the Portland episode of “Evolving Vegan” at tinyurl.com/yytuwcu7.