No Dishes to Wash

We are really fortunate in Portland to have a LOT of happy hours, whether just for drinks or with food as well.  But the day of the super cheap happy hour is coming to an end, I think.  It used to be that almost all places had food for $2-3 and drinks were $3.  Not anymore.  But one place that still packs a punch is any of the McCormick and Schmick’s happy hours.  We’re talking Jake’s Grill, Jake’s Famous Crawfish, The Pilsner Room, McCormick and Schmick’s, the M&S Grill, or McCormick’s Fish House. (more…)

I just recently enjoyed a family dinner at Brazil Grill downtown.  Brazil Grill is Portland’s first churrascaria, a Portuguese word for “bbq”.  Basically, it’s all you can eat meat.  Definitely thought up by a man.  I suggest making a reservation, because this is not an especially large restaurant, and they are quite often full.  This type of restaurant is commonly referred to as “rodizio” which is a reference to how the meat is served, literally meaning “what comes around.” (more…)

I was blown away.  Quite literally.  The hand dryers at Hopworks Urban Brewery (HUB) are the loudest, noisiest, strongest and driest hand dryers around.  That’s the first thing you have to try out there.  The second is the hummus!  It rocks!  It’s way smooth, garlicky, and has roasted red bell peppers.  It’s on the appetizers list… called Humus among us. (That’s just how they spell it.)  Our server ROCKED because he brought us another thing of hummus and bread for a dollar!  That’s the kind of service I’m talkin’ bout.  He was from Iran, his name was Farhad, and he was teasing us because none of us were drinking beer because we really don’t like it.

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I would much rather be telling you about some of the “cool” McMenamin’s around, like Kennedy School, Edgefield, or Baghdad, but tonight I happened to be at the Mall 205 McMenamin’s, so that will have to do.  These are local brewpubs that are only here in WA and OR, aren’t we special! (BTW, I just heard officially that Portland has more microbrews than anywhere in the world - it used to be anywhere outside of Germany.) I had the Ruby, which is a light wheat beer with raspberries - very refreshing and light.  If you like something a little darker, there is Terminator Stout, or the Porter, which is slightly nuttier, and I prefer it, especially if they have it on nitro.  If you don’t like beer (shock and horror!!!)  you can go with Caleb’s choice, homemade hard cider, or they have fresh pressed apple cider for the kids.  They have a full bar as well, if you’d rather take the hard road. (more…)

As you may have read yesterday, Caleb and I had a lovely dinner at Country Cat Dinnerhouse Bar.  I saw what looked like a great drink on the menu… and like the retard I am, I didn’t order it.  How can I truly say that I review things when I don’t even order a drink?  Shame on me.  So tonight found us BACK at Country Cat with our friend Brooke. (more…)

I am getting more and more amazed at this little Stark St strip!  In 10 years this is going to be THE new neighborhood, mark my words.  Country Cat is located at the corner of 79th and Stark, where Dickson’s Drugs used to be for many, many years.  Which I was sad when Dickson’s went out of business, because I loved the Post Office there.  Anybody go there?  They still hand weighed your packages on a (gasp!) non-digital scale, and still had “licky” stamps.  In fact, I just saw the younger girl who used to work there walking on the street yesterday… funny coincidence.  ANYWAY, back to the subject at hand. (more…)

Take out.   Not really sure how I feel about take out.  I mean, sure, you don’t have to cook, it keeps your house cooler during the summer… but you still have dishes to wash.  Unless you are really good about eating out of the containers.  Or use paper plates.  There’s a novel idea, my whole blog could be useless if we just all used paper plates. (more…)

I have been here several times now, and am definitely impressed with the owner’s friendly service.  Bahn Cuon Tan Dinh is known for its cuon, or rolls, which are like roll-your-own salad rolls.   You receive a bowl of hot water, and a plate of thin half moons of rice paper. Your plate is filled with mint, coriander, cilantro, basil, lettuce, daikon, carrot, cucumber, vermicelli noodles, peanuts, scallions and your choice of meat.  Dip the rice paper in the water, fill it with food, and roll!   For $8 you get a big plate, enough for at least 8 salad rolls.  Love it!  They make avacado shakes, salty lemonade (think margarita without the tequila) and you can have a whole coconut to drink if you want.  The pho here is nothing to write home about, (Pho Hung is the best if you are looking for beef noodle soup), but anything with their BBQ pork or pork sausages is good.  They also sell their BBQ by the pound for take out.  Located at 2850 SE 82nd Ave in the FuBonn Market.  Open daily 9am-9pm.

Two places in one night, wow!  My brother in law and his wife invited us downtown to Descutes Brewery and Public House right after we had returned from dinner, and since beer is always a good thing…. we went!  Deschutes Brewery is well known in the Portland area, and the main brewery is located in Bend.  The building in the Pearl used to be Jim Stevens Auto Body… I still marvel that they got the smell of paint fumes out of the air! (more…)

Buen Provecho is Spanish for Enjoy Your Meal.  And I love the atmosphere at Pambiche.  Every time I go, I just love listening to the Cuban music and enjoy the outdoor seating. (more…)