WHOA lansi

francophile, oenophile, logophile, turophile

Tag: Portland

Portland Eats

After visiting Portland, I can’t think about that city without thinking about food – the food we ate, the food I continue to dream about, and the food I want to try next time we visit. I didn’t think I could move on in my posts until I’d talked about what we ate in this delicious city. So here we go! I’m warning you now, our trip was entirely glutinous. If that’s not your thing, this blog probably isn’t for you anyway.

We got into Portland pretty late on Sunday due in part to our late start and our stop in Cannon Beach(worth it). Our first stop was Henry’s Tavern. A friend of mine had recommend it for their great beer selection and awesome Happy Hour. Lucky for us, they do all day Sunday Happy Hour. It’s pretty epic. We’d heard good things about the mac and cheese so we ordered that, a flight of beers, and a pint. The mac and cheese was just what we needed, with a creamy cheddar and Parmesan cheese sauce. At under $5, you can’t go wrong. They did last call pretty early for us so headed over to Touché for one last drink. They still had their happy hour menu going too so we shared a Lamb Gyro before heading home for bed.

The next morning we slept in a bit before heading out for the day. We wandered down 23rd, admiring all the fun shops and restaurants, to our first stop of the day: Besaw’s. As it was labour day, there was a pretty big line. Luckily, we’re pretty into brunch so we’ve done this before. (It also helped that they serve coffee while you wait.)

 

Surprise, surprise, N got Eggs Benedict. If it’s on the menu, he’s pretty much guaranteed to order it. I ordered a delicious scramble packed with veggies, asiago cheese, and prosciutto. I have such a weakness for prosciutto! The food was fantastic and came out really quickly. We waddled off exploring with very full bellies!

Our next food stop was only a couple hours later. To be honest, we weren’t even overly hungry, but we’d come to Portland to eat and I was determined to try as much from my list as possible. I’d read great things about Clyde Common so I couldn’t pass up the chance to try something from their menu. It was also an acceptable hour to have a beer so it was time to take a break from wandering.

I’ve already written about Clyde Common twice so if you’re even in Portland, you should probably go. Not only is their beer selection great & their design top notch, but the food is also wonderful. Everything we saw come out looked fantastic and by the looks of pure joy on everyone’s faces, it delivered in the taste department as well.

We decided to share the lamb belly trenette since we weren’t hungry yet. I’d read some reviews that they really know what they’re doing with lamb and that was definitely true. I’m not usually that into pasta since a lot of it is something I could easily make myself at home and I’d rather try something I can’t make, but this dish still sticks out in my mind. It was unreal! Every time I look at this photo, I want to eat it again.

We spent the afternoon touring around the Pearl District and downtown Portland until Happy Hour. I can’t get over how awesome Happy Hour is in the States, especially Portland. Happy Hour in Canada pales in comparison. While we might get a dollar off a pint, you can get food and drinks for incredibly cheap in Portland. Many places even include Happy Hour prices all day on Sunday

We decided to try one of my dad’s favourite Portland restaurants for some drinks and a little break. Andina does Peruvian cuisine and tapas. We ordered beer for our first drink, but quickly realised that cocktails were the way to go. Their list is extensive! They started us off with some bread and different sauces for dipping. We were pretty obsessed with all of those and devoured it all pretty quickly.

N and I both love seafood so oysters were a must for us. We enjoyed them so much that we ordered them twice. We also shared the Antichucho de Pulpo (grilled octopus kebob with rocoto and caper chimichurri). It was all fantastic.

From there we moved on to one of the brew pubs for a couple hours before deciding we had enough room for dinner. We had planned to go for tapas at Toro Bravo, but when we pulled up in a cab, they were closed! We hadn’t even thought about the fact that it was Labour Day. Luckily, we’d snagged an awesome cabbie and he started making phone calls to all the restaurants on our list to find one that was open. We finally settled on Screen Door in the Northeast and headed over. There was quite a wait (probably because no where else in Portland seemed to be open for dinner!) but they let us order drinks while we waited. We’d eaten so much food that day that we weren’t really even hungry yet.

Screen Door does southern cuisine. It’s rich and hearty, as you’d expect. We decided it would probably be wise to share a meal if we planned on continuing our evening so we went with some hush puppies (cornbread balls) and fried chicken. It definitely wasn’t the healthiest meal, but it was totally worth it. That was some great fried chicken.

The restaurant itself was lively and the servers were fun. I’d definitely recommend it for a night out with friends. (It’s always fun to share a bunch of different options!) Not surprisingly, their beer selection was great as well. Can you really go wrong anywhere in Portland?

Our second day in Portland, we headed over to the Northeast for breakfast. I was really excited to try Tasty n Sons. It’s the same owner as Toro Bravo and I’d heard great things about both! We were not the least bit disappointed. I think we were still pretty overwhelmed (or maybe horrified?) by the amount of food we’d consumed the day before so we decided to share a couple things on their menu. We went with the breakfast board to start. It had a beautiful assortment of things like bacon, pâté, and cheese.

We then shared their special which was a Cuban style sandwich with plantain chips. It was amazing! Tasty n Sons does smaller plates and bigger plates so there are so many fun things to try. We also split a spicy Bloody Mary called the Tasty Mary and some bacon wrapped dates.

Their menu is one of the coolest breakfast menus I’ve ever seen. Everything is so creative! I think next time I’m in Portland, I’ll have to try the Burmese Red Pork Stew. It just sounds like such an interesting meal to have for breakfast that I can’t stop thinking about it. Obviously this is the sign of an amazing menu if I’m still thinking about all the things I want to try 3 months after the fact!

We didn’t eat a legitimate meal for the rest of the day. We were just too full and I was too excited for the restaurant we were eating at that night. I’d heard such amazing things about Pok Pok. I’d been telling N about it for days.

When we arrived, there was a bit of a wait so they sent us across the street for drinks while we waited. We ordered a couple beers and contemplated the menu. When we realised that they had the famous Pok Pok wings at the Whiskey Soda Lounge, we decided to go for it. Looking back, I wish we’d ordered these twice. Or three times. They were some of the best wings ever. It’s really no surprise that so many people rave about Andy Ricker. The guy’s a genius with Thai cuisine!

Our table was ready right as we finished up our wings. Perfect! We headed over to the covered patio at Pok Pok and started discussing what to order. I’d read they had a great Whiskey Sours, so we each ordered one. Deliciously dangerous. I ended up having quite a few and I don’t even usually like Whiskey.

We decided to go with their suggestions and go with Papaya Pok Pok, Kai Yaang (game hen) and sticky rice. I love the entire meal. Sadly, we think N ate an entire Thai chili and was completely turned off the Papaya Salad. It sounded like a very unpleasant experience for him, which is pretty disappointing for me since I loved the meal so much! Just something to keep in mind if you’re more sensitive to spice! Watch out for chili’s. It’s hard to enjoy a meal when you’re mouth is numb or on fire.

The next morning, we packed everything up and drove over to Pine State Biscuits for breakfast before heading up to Seattle. We’d heard great things about their biscuits and were not disappointed. A friend of mine had gone for the Reggie Deluxe and found it way too much food, but after seeing what was in it (Fried Chicken, Bacon, Cheese, Egg, topped with gravy), I couldn’t resist. N went for the Chicken Club and we switched halfway through. This is probably what saved me since the Reggie Deluxe is definitely ridiculous and would certainly lead to a food coma.

I couldn’t leave the city without experiencing a food cart (we’d struck out the couple times we’d tried) so on our way out of town we stopped and picked up a sandwich to go. There was a little Czech Food Cart that had a fried cheese sandwich (go back a few years to read about that obsession of mine in Prague). It was huge and unnecessarily necessary.

We also stopped at Olympic Provisions for some road trip provisions. It turned out the saucisson sec and cheese we picked up was way too beautiful to chow down on in the car so we saved it and shared with my family. If I could get saucisson sec from Olympic Provisions in Canada, I would be in heaven. If you’re in Portland, do yourself a favour, and stop by. They do lunch, happy hour, cocktails, and dinner.

I’m sad there isn’t any more Portland food to be had, but I’m pretty impressed if you made it to the end of this blog post. I couldn’t leave out any of our meals. They were all incredible. If you love food, beer, coffee, and aren’t put off by trendy hipsters, Portland is your place.

Portland Brews

When planning for Portland we mostly looked at how to eat our way through the city. N was equally excited to try all the amazing beer options in the city though. Portland is well known for its great craft breweries.

One of the first places we went was Clyde Common. I love this restaurant and bar. Their beer list was the first to introduce us to The Common’s Urban Farmhouse Ale. This was probably my favourite beer of the whole trip. Not surprisingly, it won the 2013 Beer of the Year for Willamette Week.

Deschutes was the first actual brew pub we tried. We decided to do two different samplers to maximize the amount of different beers we tried. We also tried the Green Monster, which is an accidental sour beer they now brew every year. It was very different. Not bad, but I’m glad we just did a sample. I really enjoyed the Mirror Pond Ale and the Black Butte Porter. The brew pub was a fun experience.

On the East side of the Willamette, we found a fun patio at Mississippi Studios and Bar Bar in the Mississippi District. They had lots of tables in a little courtyard beside the actual bar. It looks like it’s a fun venue for concerts in the evenings as well.

We couldn’t come to Portland without trying Rogue Brewery. Even in Calgary, this awesome craft brewery is well known among beer lovers. We shared a sampler at their brew pub in the Pearl District and then both tried one of their Rogue Farms Beers. I had the Good Chit Pilsner and N had the Dirtoir Black Lager. We both loved Rogue Farms. All their beers are amazing, but the Farms are definitely my favourite. We brought home a large bottle of each to enjoy at home.

Our last night in Portland, we had plans to head to Pok Pok on the East side for dinner so we decided to try a little pub on that side of the river as well. Beer was a cute little pub with a long list of bottled beers. We went for a couple of brews they had on tap. Delicious as always. It seemed to be the trend when it came to beers in Portland.

There were lots of other pubs we also went to that we loved. Henry’s Tavern has a great assortment of beers on tab and a pretty great happy hour food menu (try the mac and cheese!). We also had a great time challenging each other to Pac Man and Pin Ball games at the quirky Ground Kontrol. Portland has no shortage of options for beer lovers. The hardest decision we had to make was which beer to try next. There just isn’t enough time to sample them all!

Road Tripping: Portland

Portland greeted us with a beautiful morning on our first day. We were staying in the Northwest so we wandered down 23rd Street, past little boutique stores, great looking restaurants, and delcious coffee shops, to our destination for breakfast: Besaw’s. It was a holiday Monday so the line was, unsurprisingly, pretty long. But, like all my favourite brunch places in Calgary, they had coffee for us while we waited. It was warm and sunny so we couldn’t really complain about the wait. We were on vacation afterall.

Breakfast was fantastic. Re-energized, we wandered around the Alphabet District and Northwest a little more before heading to the Pearl District and downtown. I loved all of Portland’s neighbourhoods, but the Pearl was probably my favourite. Warehouses, industrial buildings, and rail yards have been converted to art galleries, restaurants, cafes, breweries, shops, and housing. My love for those old painted advertisements you see on older brick buildings is no secret and this area had plenty. I pointed out ad after ad to N, happily snapping photos and gushing that this one was my favourite so far.

this one actually was my favourite.

Barista has a cafe in this great old building. We sat outside, enjoying coffee and the beautiful sunshine. Well, I enjoyed coffee. N had already had his daily cup at brunch. He’s not as coffee-obsessed as I am.

No trip to Portland is complete without a stop at Powell’s City of Books. It’s incredible. There are stacks upon stacks of books on every subject you could imagine. I spent most of my time in the travel and food sections. Predictable as ever.

The next day was equally gorgeous and full of food. I haven’t posted much about the rest of our first day because all we did was eat and drink. Literally. We had brunch, coffee, lunch, drinks, happy hour dinner, and real dinner, followed by more bar hopping before grabbing Voodoo Donuts and heading to bed. It was ridiculous. We were never once hungry or thirsty that day. As I’m trying not to overload this post with photos, I’ll talk more about what we ate and drank in Portland in other posts. There’s just too much to say about this city!

We started the day with coffee and Bloody Marys at Tasty & Sons. I’ve never really been one for morning drinks aside from coffee. I just never think of it unless someone else suggests it. I mean, I love mimosas as much as the next girl, but it always seems excessive to do a mimosa and a coffee.

Tasty & Sons had a whole Bloody Mary menu though so we decided it was probably best if we shared one. Just to try. (It was delicious and spicy). We also shared the breakfast board and a pork panini they had on special. Our food was amazing and I definitely loved every bite, but next time I’m trying one of their stews. I’m so curious about what Burmese Red Pork Stew with short grain rice & eggs two ways would be like for breakfast. I guess we’re going back sometime.

We spent the afternoon in the Mississipi District. It’s mostly just a street, but definitely one worth visiting. The only downside to the East side is getting around. We did a lot of walking on that side of the river before crossing back over for some afternoon drinks and donuts. No trip to Portland is complete without experiencing Voodoo Donuts. (We went twice. Because we’re ridiculous like that.)

That evening we headed over the bridge again to grab drinks before dinner at Pok Pok. We found a cute little pub and sat outside enjoying our pints. There is no shortage of delicious beer in Portland. Dinner at Pok Pok is a fun story, but I’ll save it for when I talk more about the food piece of our trip.

Our final morning in Portland we drove over to Alberta Street in the Northeast for a massive breakfast. Then I grabbed a final cup of Portland coffee, N picked up beer at Rogue Brewery, we grabbed saucisson sec from Olympic Provisions, and hit up a food cart for a fried cheese sandwich we certainly didn’t need before hitting the road for Seattle.

It was sad to say goodbye to Portland. I know we’ll be back though. There’s so much more to eat!

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