J And J Eat Their Way Around The World: Portland

Showing posts with label Portland. Show all posts

Last Thursday (Portland, OR)

First Thursday happens every month in the relatively well-heeled Pearl district of Portland. Art galleries expand their hours, locals bring out their photography and artwork for a street fair, and all the restaurants serve their dinner specials. Last Thursday, held every month along NE Alberta street, does not resemble this at all, it is more like a staging group for Burning Man. You are likely to see Capoeira, Break Dancers, and the multiple displays of the modern Bohemian. Alberta has its own bank of food carts.

Fuego de Lotus Cart - Serves Venezuelan food, specifically known for its Arepas.

The Revolutionaries Plate - Arepa, black beans, plantains, rice with cabbage salad.

Dessert from Solar Waffle Works, a cart powered entirely by the sun with all profits going to Portland schools - Belgian waffle, Mt. Hood strawberries, Nutella, and cream.

Tasty n Sons (Portland, OR)

The owner's of Portland's best Tapas (a likely target for a separate entry) decided to open a brunch place this summer. The space is located in N Portland, along the rapidly developing Williams Street. The food is basically brunch tapas, all people are encouraged to share, and 4-5 plates are ordered for a group of 3 typically. My current favorite brunch place.

http://www.tastynsons.com/

The space + kitchen. Carl is busy explaining something, likely related to design.

Biscuits with Venison Gravy (local deer only of course, lets not get carried away here.)

Cast Iron Frittata with asparagus, english peas, sugar snap peas, olives & feta

Burmese Red Pork Stew with short grain rice & eggs two ways

Open Faced Monte Cristo with spiced maple

Melt (Portland, OR)

The battle for best local sandwich spot in Portland is raging between Melt and Bunk. Bunk means a 25 minute bike ride so....

Clocking in at less then 5 blocks from my apartment in NW Portland, Melt is a good place to take friends or get work done. Good veggie options, great selection of local beer, affordable, and a chill location. They have a great happy hour as well - 6 to close every day.

http://www.meltportland.com/melt_sandwiches/testing_melt.html

Falafel Burger with Tzatziki sauce.

In case you don't want the entire burger, they have falafel burger sliders.

Portland Poutine - Fries, Tillamook Pepper Jack, Roasted chilies, scratch gravy. Unsurprisingly this hits the spot on a late night.

Nong's Khao Man Gai (Portland, OR)

Portland Monthly's Best Restaurants 2009 featured a separate section for the best food cart, and the winner was Nong's Khao Man Gai. Luckily you will not be burdened with choice at this cart, Khao Man Gai is the only item on the menu (unfortunate for me).

http://www.khaomangai.com/story.html

An action shot of Nong herself serving the hungry proletariat of Portland. I've never met anyone with as much enthusiasm for A.) having a cart B.) serving chicken to people. Meeting Nong is half the experience.

Rather interesting wrapping for the Khao Man Gai.

Khao Man Gai - poached chicken in thai herb stock, rice, soybean sauce (with garlic, ginger, and chillies). I was told it was delicious.

Oaks Bottom Public House (Portland, OR)

Portland is a city that prides itself on it's craft brewing community, in fact Portland has more brewpubs per capita then any other city in the US. Portland finished a very close second to Asheville, North Carolina for the title of Beer City USA 2010 and tied with Asheville for Beer City USA 2009. The third place finisher for both years was a distant, distant third (4% vs 30+% of the total vote each for Portland and Ashevill. If you are need of some seriously good local libation, Portland will certainly treat you right. Oaks Bottom Public House is a New Old Lompoc brewpub. New Old Lompoc is known locally for its stouts, seasonals, and connect four tournaments.

http://www.newoldlompoc.com/oaksbottom_home.html

Tachos - What could be better then nachos, how about nachos with TATER TOTS replacing the chips. The 2 beers in the picture are the Fool's Gold (Golden Ale) and CNote (Imperial Pale Ale).

Saburo (Portland, OR)

Asking Portlanders the best sushi place in town will likely start up quite a conversation with people advocating for Bamboo, Sinju, or Hiroshi. My vote would be for Saburo, the sushi is great, the price is reasonable, and the people watching (Saburo is located about a mile from the Reed campus, so it gets plenty of gifted but overwrought college kids) is first rate - http://saburos.com/Sushi/Saburos.html.

Assorted Rolls - the notable roll is the house special Sabu Roll (Tuna, Yellowtail, Salmon, Avocado)

In the complicated world of Gen X/Y friendships, dating, hookups, Facebook pen pals, gchat flirting, and traveling companions at least one unambiguous and sacred relationship exists - Sushi Buddy. Caroline and I have eaten at Saburo pretty much every Monday for the last 2 years. Caroline was a medical student when we started and we reached a bit of an understanding. In exchange for me subsidizing her education with free sushi, she would provide Adderall upon graduation (that is a joke). With my departure to the Bay Area - Dr. Caroline MD '10 is accepting applications for a new Sushi Buddy. It is unlikely she will give you free Adderall. I'm also accepting applications in the Bay Area for a Sushi Buddy.

Tin Shed (Portland, OR)

Continuing the tour of hipster eating in Portland is the Tin Shed Cafe located in NE Portland. Tin Shed composts 100% of their waste and runs an urban farm collective you can join if you so choose. They also show free movies every Wednesday night (Highlander!) and highlight local artists - http://tinshedgardencafe.com/

Salm I Am - smoked salmon, roasted red peppers, shallots, and roasted garlic, topped with fresh cream cheese and dill. Includes a homemade biscuits and shed potato latkes.

Grits - consumed with Aardvark habanero sauce and fresh avocado.

Belly Pleaser - coconut milk, jasmine rice, fresh ginger & vanilla simmered into a porridge and topped with fresh mango & cinnamon.

Pine State Biscuits (Portland, OR)

Southern inspired cuisine served by genuine Portland hipsters (complete with bikes!). They started out at the Portland Farmers Market and then moved in to a space in SE Portland - http://pinestatebiscuits.com/. Great place for Sweet Tea as well.

Fried Green Tomatoes

The Double Down (existed prior to the infamous KFC sandwich) - biscuits with shiitake mushroom gravy topped with 2 eggs

KOI Fusion Food Cart (Portland, OR)

Portland Oregon's own Korean Taco Truck - Inspired by the Los Angeles Truck Kogi. The locations of the trucks change daily, the best way to find the trucks is to check their Twitter account - http://twitter.com/koifusionpdx. Today they were parked at Jamison Square All burritos are packed with kimchi and your choice of bulgogi, chicken, or soft tofu.

They had already ran out of tofu by the time I arrived - so they gave me double kimchi (?????) and rice.

Jamison Square in NW Portland on a summer day - the water flows out slats in the rocks creating waterfalls that fill a large pool for kids to play in. Every 20 minutes they turn off the pumps, drain the water and recycle it.