Beulahland
Beulahland is one of my favorite hangouts--good beer on tap, yummy sandwiches and soup, a mess of veggie options, a friendly funky place with a pool table, a jukebox, some pinball, a giant dictionary, and a computer with internet access. Well, they also do a yummy breakfast. True to the Beulahland way, they are unpretentious, inexpensive, filling and yummy. We had Stumptown coffee, a brekkie burrito and the two-berry and ricotta pancakes. The burrito comes with cumin flavored potatoes, yummy and well cooked. Oh, and the burrito is just plain great. The berry pancakes are a delight, so large that they dwarf the plate. I think we paid less than $10 for breakfast for two, not including tip. Damn!
118 28th Ave
Portland, Or 97232
(503) 235-2794
Nothing but Noodles
Remember Irvington Market? A collection of small businesses: a fish market, a cheese shop, a gourmet grocery? Well, not any more. Now the block which used symbolize quirky, affluent Portland now is a collection of chain restaurants. This evening we are focusing on
Nothing but Noodles, a "midwestern chain, from Arizona". Okay, so they hire people who don't know geography--I'm being a snob, I know. Anyways, it's my job to go check these places out so
you don't have to--and believe me, you
don't have
to go there. Yes, it is cheap. And it's not like you'll be exposed to anything fresh, or northwest.
So. We ordered Thai Lettuce Wraps, Spicy Japanese Noodles, and Beef Stroganoff. No drinks. $20. I wouldn't order any of it again. Oh, and another thing: canned mushrooms.
Canned mushrooms!
1445 NE Weidler
503/445-8333
Park Kitchen
We went there for lunch today. This place is tiny, a hole in the wall, so we were glad we got there at 11:30 (no reservations!). The drinks looked interesting, but as we were there with our bosses, we kept to the non-alcoholic stuff. They serve splendid coffee.
So, food: I should have stolen a menu. We started with bread and soup. The bread costs $2.50 but is worth every penny--it's from Ken's Artisan Bakery, 5 large slices, served with the most luscious olive oil. J. got the "Sweet pepper and hazelnut soup with sherry marinated anchovies", a smooth creamy soup that was just delicious. I got the summer beans, duck confit and pesto soup, which had a broth base, with the most fabulous vegetables which went crunch and zing in my mouth. If only vegetables generally tasted like that--I'd get my five servings and then some. We switched bowls halfway and enjoyed both of them--though I'm convinced I was the winner.
The main course: several of us ordered the small shells with duck and hazelnuts--yum. C. ordered the main course flank steak salad with bleu cheese and sherry-marinated onions. B., the halibut with cabbage and potatoes, and A., the salami-squash-radicchio sandwich. We were all quite pleased.
And then dessert time. Dear g-d. We ordered one of everything, passed them around, and called them all exquisite. Double chocolate pudding in an oatmeal shell with salted pecans-yum. Plum/almond crostata with cinnamon ice cream and plum sauce--yumm. Apple-cinnamon brown butter tart with vanilla ice cream and the most incredible caramel sauce--yumm. Creme brulee--yum. Concord grape sorbet w/peanut butter cookies--tee hee!--yum.
Luckily, we didn't have to catch the tab, though I think it would have come to $20 per person without tip. Oh, and the service, as you might imagine, was great.
422 NW 8th
503/223-PARK
www.parkkitchen.com
Pho Thanh Thao
I love the old Pho Thanh Thao very much. Good
pho (beef soup). Good
pho ga (chicken soup). And several pages of the staples I've come to expect from a Vietnamese restaurant:
bun, noodles, soups, protein with veggies and rice, and thai dishes—all really good. Great service, too. And they always seemed to be full of people of all stripes, tucking into yumminess.
However, that was then, and this is now. Something bad has happened at Pho Thanh Thao, because that's all gone. The menu now consists of 4 appetizers (no more satay shrimp on lemongrass for you!),
pho, other soups (including
pho ga), rice plates (rice, meat, pickled veggies, dipping sauce and chicken broth),
bun, and some specials. To make matters worse, service was awful. The food took forever—except the salad rolls which came immediately (they didn't taste bad for not being freshly made, but still). The dining room was all but empty as well.
N. Killingsworth between Albina and I-5
closed Sundays
Hot Pot City
After passing this tiny place for 6 months, I finally went in for lunch, accompanied by fellow food groupie J. and my sweetie. Here's the deal. You can sit at the bar, or at a table -- the bar has spots for individual hot pots, and the tables can also have a hot pot set-up if you like. You choose from 7 different asian broths. There's vegetarian, meat,
tom yum,
my-la, korean-style, and others.
Okay, with me so far? While they set up your broth on a burner, you go to a mongolian grill style bar and choose from frozen shaved beef, pork, chicken, meatballs, tofu, noodles and a number of types of greens. They have all the ingredients there to also create a dipping sauce.
Now, back at the table/bar: wait for the broth to boil. Throw in ingredients. Instant
shabu-shabu. Meat and frozen things take longer -- noodles and veg, much less time. Try a bunch of things out -- you can always go back for more if you like it (yes, all you can eat!). Cook your protein, and try out your dipping sauce. At the end, drink the broth -- it's good, eh? And, for a couple bucks more there are add-ons, like clams and a bunch of different dumplings.
We had a great meal, and cooking out our food was a delight (who knew?). And the prices ($7.50 for lunch, $13.50 for dinner) can't be beat. To my joy, the proprietors are the former owners of Formosa Harbor. Naturally, you can also get some pedestrian chinese dishes, but why?
1975 SW 1st
224-6696
http://www.hotpotpdx.com/
Poncho's al Pastor
We were coming back from the Puget Sound when my sweetie suggested a stop at Poncho's. Wonderful! We ordered quesadillas with carne asada, and tacos, one with carne asado, the other with chicken, all made with homemade tortillas. Add a couple of Jarritos sodas, and we were all set.
Poncho's is known primarily for its al Pastor, spicy pork, but all of their meat and homemade tortillas benefit from their attention. Unlike many places that machine-make their fresh tortillas, Poncho's doesn't even mix up the masa until you order it. Everything is cooked on a big grill outside -- and the meats are grilled until they are crispy on the outside. This makes them tremendously tasty. Add the homemade red and green salsas and onions, cilantro and pico de gallo to taste and you have a great cheap snack or meal. Our lunch was $12 -- insanely inexpensive.
Poncho's is on a stretch of 4th Plain that is particularly down about the heels, and it's in a non-descript L-shaped strip mall with several Hawaiian businesses, just east of the Muchos Gracias. The shop itself is small, not fancy.
3320 E Fourth Plain
Vancouver
Dahlia Cafe
This was rather lackluster. Our $30 meal, including tip, featured two Alaskan Ambers, some spicy queso fries which were not really spicey, and the fries themselves were awful, side salads, an overdone burger with no condiments on it, and some overly rich beans and rice. We'll try it for breakfast...
3000 NE Killingsworth
Saylers Old Country Kitchen
As we were noshing deep-fried onion rings and jalapeno poppers over drinks last night, we pondered why Saylers isn't cooler amongst the trendy food scene. It could be its wholesome middle-America-ness, the fact that it isn't pretentious, the fact that the crowd there at dinner time is dominated by the elderly and dumpy. But as a dumpy non-elderly person, I love Saylers. They offer good value and plenty of good food.
We started with drinks all around, a quarter-order of onion rings, and jalapeno poppers, and then once seated in the dining room ordered a filet mignon, and two regular prime-ribs. Yum! The side salads that precede the meat fest are small and unpretentious, using green leaf lettuce, carrots and radishes along with unimpressive croutons that may have come out of a box. That said, it's a good salad. The relish tray of carrots, celery, and baby corn, with its accompanying bowl of lemon juice-mayonnaise-sour cream -- well, where do you see something like that anymore? The bread basket is absolutely unimpressive -- we ignored it. But the real deal is the meat and potatoes -- the meat cooked as you ordered it, with all the appropriate condiments on hand. We walked out full and happy with doggie bags and a bill of $75 -- basically, $25 per person not including tip.
One thing to keep in mind at Saylers, however, is that if you are bigger than your average bear, as I am, you might be more comfortable sitting at a table rather than a booth. I wish we would have known that before we were seated...
10519 SE Stark St
Echo
I went to Echo with Sara, who
loves Echo. Soon after we got there, the entire joint (pretty small, really) filled entirely with folks who appeared to be headed to the Prince concert. Yikes! I don't think anyone was expecting it, and the place was severely understaffed.
So, Echo seems to want to be a cooler-than-thou place, which is fine. Their drink prices hover around $6, and, they have a happy-hour menu. I ordered their happy hour burger and a shrimp on a fork -- both were quite yummy. Sara seemed very happy with her fish-kabobs. And our drinks were also yummy. I demanded lots of water and got a pitcher on the table, which was perfect, laced with cucumber.
The thing is, the place was so crazy that ordering a drink took forever -- like a half-hour. In one case, the drink never came. The food -- also extremely slow (though appropriately hot when it hit the table). I need to give it a second chance -- I'm hopeful about them.
2225 NE MLK
Gravy
We went there one week for breakfast, and had a wonderful meal. Good gravy and biscuits, good eggs, the whole thing. The next time, both of our meals were so greasy as to be difficult to eat. So we decided to give them one last chance for breakfast. Alas! They serve Stumptown coffee, which was made too weak and thus tasted icky. Some friends came in and joined us, and immediately afterwards, in came an accordionist. So, we couldn't hear each other talk. The pools of grease on the plates, though, was quite evident. Ick!
Mississippi Pizza
We made another visit to Mississippi Pizza tonight. I rediscovered it during Nike's RunHitWonder training runs -- we got free pizza afterwards and I was amazed how good it was. Part of me wondered -- is it because I just walked 3 miles at an outrageously fast pace and now I'll eat anything? Really, that wasn't the case -- the pizza is good, the salads are good, the beer is good. Outdoor tables line the sidewalk, and a lounge offers drinks and air conditioning in the heat. Prices are fair, and they have happy hour beers!
Maxim's Bakery
I couldn't stand it -- just four days later, I'm back for more bánh mì. We had paté and lemongrass chicken for the first pass, BBQ pork and lemongrass chicken for the second pass. And to revise the bánh mì crawl entry, Maxim's has 8 sandwiches: the special Vietnamese, meatball, BBQ pork, lemongrass chicken, Vietnamese pork, fish, paté and shredded pork. Yum!
Sal's Famous Italian Kitchen
In looking up Mama Mia today, I found a mention of Sal's Famous Italian Kitchen. Here, it's been in my neighborhood for a couple months now, and I had no idea. So we went by for dinner. We had no problem getting seated at 5, but by the time we left at 6, it was standing room only. They have cocktails, beer and wine, including a cheap decent red in carafe, and the usual salads, appetizers, pizza, pasta, and entrees. Prices top out at $15, though everything but the entrees are ala carte.
The bread basket included a really good focaccia, and a really bad staleish bit of baguette. They have oil and vinegar on the table, as well as full-sized dinner plates -- so, should we use a full-sized plate for a bit of oil and balsamic? They also have a pitcher of ice water on each table, which I really appreciated. Our caesar salad was beautiful, but only okay -- here, I had expected a salad as good as the caesars at Pizzicato (the parent company), but the dressing was heavy-handed. My sweetie had a risotto, which had very little rice in the perfect risotto consistency -- most was over- or under-done. Putting a red sauce with sausage on top only ensured that it was greasy. I had the fettucine carbonara, which had sublime fresh eggy pasta. The pancetta was kinda limp and underdone, and there were big lumps of onions, but as long as I stayed away from them, I was thrilled.
So, it was a mixed bag. Honestly, I felt underwhelmed. There's better homey-italian, and even fancy italian in town, even at these prices.
2731 N. Killingsworth (at Greeley)
(503) 247-0500
Steamers Dumplings
I'm still cresting on a banh mi high, so I decided to try a downtown place with "vietnamese sandwiches". At Steamers Dumplings, for $4.55, you get your choice of sandwich with steak, chicken, pork or tofu. The menu reads that you will also get shrimp chips, but to get those, you have to fork over another .65 cents. For an additional $1.50, you get three dumplings and a fountain soda.
I was a little frightened when the woman behind the counter pulled a cellophane-wrapped sandwich out of the fridge. Ice cold! Great! On it was just a smidge of cilantro, a pile of onions and some pickled carrot, plus the meat. It wasn't a bad sandwich if you like (ice) cold sandwiches (I don't), but it only had a nodding resemblance to banh mi. The dumplings were better, but in all I felt ripped off.
504 SW Madison
(503) 796-0111
Mama Mia!
Tonight the food group went out to Lisa Shroeder's Mama Mia. We went in with high expectations -- after all, Schroeder also owns Mother's and we all do love that. This is billed as an unauthentic red sauce Italian joint -- the place you might go to in New Jersey with plaid tablecloths and filling, unpretentious food.
We started with a bottle of Chianti. Really lovely. Then appetizers of spinach (not really an appetizer, but hey), calamari, caesar salad, and fried zucchini. Everything was good, but the zucchini was incredible -- a very light, almost tempura-esque batter, very lightly fried so it was no longer raw, but still crispy, delightful. We then got a number of entrees: chicken piccata, veal marsala, gnocchi (sp), cheese ravioli, veal franchese, pasta with vodka sauce. I thought the veal dishes, particularly the marsala, were really incredible. (they use a cruelty-free veal -- does that make it taste better? I'm not sure). The gnocchi was great too. The pasta was fine -- but nothing to write home about.
A couple of us got coffee and desert - zappole (beignets) and panna cotta. Most of the table swooned over the panna cotta, and the coffee got good reviews.
The portions weren't huge, but there was plenty of food -- I took about half of mine home. Service was attentive, and almost affectionate. After all that, it came out to $34 per person before tip, or $40 with an okay tip. I'm looking forward to going back!
SW 2nd & Washington
(in the old Elephant & Castle location)
banh mi crawl
Inspired by a Portland Mercury story (
YOU'VE COME A LONG WAY, BANH MI: The Best French-Vietnamese Sandwiches in Portland) by Evan James, the Portland food group decided to do a quickie banh mi crawl. Banh mi are vietnamese sandwiches, made with french rolls, meat (generally), pickled vegetables, cilantro and jalapeno, and they are generally very cheap ($2.50 or less). We decided to start at the best known of the lot, Cali Sandwiches, which I've liked quite a lot. They have many choices, they speak great English, and they have a couple tables -- however, they're closed on Sundays.
So, on to Maxim's. Close to the Pacific grocery in Rose City, this tiny hole-in-the-wall does have a couple tables, but the space was obviously not built for 9 robust folks, but that didn't stop us. We got a bunch of sandwiches from their 14 or so on the menu, and chowed down. The paté was my favorite, but everything we tried (fish, pork, lemongrass chicken) was good. The bread was wonderful -- good enough to just eat with butter. They were very willing to accomodate our strange needs (no cilantro? no onions?). I wonder if it's wrong to go there for dinner tonight?
Next was Café Be Van, a cute little cafe you might stop at with your mom for a bubble tea, if your mom liked bubble tea. The selection of banh mi were more limited here (8-10), but they do offer a vegetarian version with tofu, as well as the special combo of pork products, and many variants of pork. The sandwiches were bigger, and less traditional (this according to someone who had spent a year in Asia), which didn't stop us. Lots of jalapeno. Yum. We also got a vanilla bubble tea with tapioca pearls -- chewy! but yummy!, a vietnamese coffee, a lychee drink, and sugar cane juice (I'll stick with bubble tea and coffee, thanks), and finished with a durian popsicle that had a nice coconut finish -- at least, that's what I was told. To me, it tasted like the insole of an old gym shoe. The staff here were great, and tremendously happy that we were interested to try all these things. The café also has some free internet terminals and Keno.
Finally, we went to An Xuyen. It's a bakery and tiny. They have one banh mi, with choices of different types of meat -- they also have paté chaud with pork, and hum bao, as well as many kinds of hawaiian breads and asian cookies and cakes. We were slowing down -- we were no longer inhaling the food, but we lingered over pineapple cookies.
Cali Sandwiches
6620 NE Glisan
(503) 254-9842
Maxim's Bakery and Deli
6812 NE Broadway
(503) 257-3868
Café Be Van
6846 NE Sandy
(503) 287-1418
An Xuyen Bakery
5345 SE Foster
(503) 788-0866
Sushi Cafe K
Hmmm. We went on a Saturday night, 6:15 or 6:30ish, and very few people were in the restaurant, which didn't make me feel very confident. We got the Japanese greeting, promptly sat with water, and what seemed like seconds later, our waitress took our drink order and brought out soggy room temperature edamame. I'm spoiled -- I like my edamame fresh from the steamer, crisp and salty. We discussed what we should get and settled on nigiri, nori, tempura and tofu agedashi. The agedashi was nothing to write home about. The tempura batter was great, and we had a great assortment of veggies, including pumpkin (which tastes like potato -- who knew?). The fish in the nigiri seemed fresh, and the rolls were okay -- just not really what we were expecting.
Neither of us were all that enthralled. It wasn't that expensive ($40 for everything, including a large Kirin that we split), but compared to other choices like the Takahashi, Yoko's, and Marinepolis, it just didn't seem all that great. Your mileage may vary.
2015 NE Broadway
(503) 281-0815
La Cruda
La Cruda has reopened, and we went there for dinner last night. It just reopened under new ownership -- I didn't recognize a soul working, and it appears with the new paint and furniture, all its quirkiness has been scrubbed away. The wonderful, wonderful cowboy wallpaper -- gone. Old beer signs - gone. The prices are a little lower, and the menu alot smaller. The Chile Colorado had no kick, and my sweetie's burrito included sour cream -- in spite of pointedly asking for no sour cream. At least the slushy margaritas are still there, though the classes seemed smaller.
I don't like change!
Alameda Brewing
After trolling for quite a while looking for someplace to eat on the Fourth of July, we ended up here. Sweetie got an ISA, Indian Summer Ale, which was hoppier than expected; I got the seasonal Amber, which was quite drinkable. I had a burger, giant (1/2 pound) and not cooked to order with steak fries -- I'm not crazy about steak fries but these weren't bad, and the burger was pleasant. Sweetie got a philly cheese steak with marinara sauce for dipping -- that was a success.
Two women sat behind us and provided entertainment for our meal. At one point, one of them said, "I come here often. Sometimes I want a beer and some pubgrub. Sometimes I want a real dinner and a real drink -- a martini and a steak. They make a good martini here."
Lovely Hula Hands
I went to Lovely Hula Hands several months ago, when they had just recently opened, and at that point I thought they were okay, though a little precious and expensive. Last night, I tried it again.
They do a mean mixed drink, and prices range from $5-$7 -- cheap for trendy restaurants. But the food... I ordered steak frites. Fries were good. Salad was good. Ribeye steak overdone, and without a lot of flavor. My dining partner had rack of lamb, which was very tasty -- but not a lot of meat there. In the end, I was disappointed.
the tacqueria formerly known as La Fonda
So we decided to try the new neighborhood tacqueria, in the building that held Ensenada's and La Fonda, and Toni's Soul Food too. There's not much keeping this from being a dump. We tried pollo asado (which was served in a taco with shredded yellow and white cheese), carne asada (served with guacamole), and fish tacos, as well as beans. The beans tasted like baked beans, reminding me a little of the weird barbeque baked beans served at the Baja Grill downtown. The meat was fine, table salsas okay, but nothing to write home about. Damn it!
Los Tres Hermanos
I had heard good things about the Los Tres Hermanos taco truck, and suddenly it's settled into my work neighborhood so I went there for lunch. One instant drawback is that the menu is unclear -- they have sopes, tacos, and a number of other things, but you'd never know it from looking at the menu. There are lots of meat choices for your taco. I ordered carne asada, and it was a wonderful contrast of crispy outsides and tender insides. The ordertaker speaks good english, and asks if you want everything (onions, sauce, cilantro) -- I asked them to hold the onions, which they did. Each taco comes on two hand-made fresh tortillas. I also ordered beans, which were kinda soupy, but velvety, and I was impressed that he asked if I wanted cheese, and if so, American or Mexican. The frijoles are great with a bit of Mexican cheese and a little salsa. Prices are about what you'd expect -- my two tacos with a side bowl of beans were $5. Very filling, and I'll definitely be back.
Pambiche
The significant other got a raise, so it was another good excuse to go out to eat. We ended up at Pambiche, at a table outside, and as usual, it was wonderful. I ordered a glass of wine which I instantly hated -- the waitress offered to exchange it and did. The food was brilliant. My sweetie got the Camerones Enchilados, shrimp in a spicy sauce, and I got a papa con queso empanada (potato & cheese!). We started with one of the fritters -- I think the chicken -- and walked out thoroughly happy.
Pambiche
2811 NE Glisan
(503) 233-0511
Lemongrass & Staccato Gelato
Lemongrass has been one of my favorite special occasion restaurants. I love the fried tofu, and hadn't ever encountered anything I didn't like. But tonight was, I hope, an anomoly.
Lemongrass has a heat scale from 1-20, with 20 being insanely hot, and 1 being totally wimpy. I like heat, but I don't kid myself -- 4 is getting close to uncomfortable for me. Tonight, we were out with a friend who doesn't like it very hot -- and 3 is her too-hot zone, so we ordered our dishes 2.5
I was shocked when the food was blisteringly spicy -- my lips and mouth were burning, I was gobbling white rice and glasses of water. So we talk among ourselves that the kitchen has made a mistake.
Mind you, I've snuck bites of level 20 dishes, and I think they weren't a lot hotter than this.
The waiter (the owner's son?) comes by to ask how our meal was. Our dishes are glistening with chili oil. So I say that the food is too hot -- that we've eaten there before, and the food is too hot. He says, well, 2 is very hot, and I thought you guys knew better. Knew better?!? Is that something you say to a customer?
We ended up eating only a tiny bit of our food, and I should have stiffed him on the tip (though I didn't). A trip to Staccato Gelato cooled off our mouths and filled them with bright clear flavors -- like Lemongrass should have. The fresh local strawberry gelato was to die for.
Laurelwood sans les enfants
If you love the Laurelwood, but wish that you didn't have to babysit other people's kids, then, gosh, you're really going to love Laurelwood NW Public House, just off NW 23rd in the home of Laslow's Northwest. Mind you, I never made it to Laslow's and I wish I had -- however... decent beer, good food, no smoke, decent french fries, and no free-range children sounds good to me. At least, that's what the manager of the new location tells us. Parking, well, maybe not so good.
Laurelwood NW Public House
2327 NW Kearney St
