No Dishes to Wash

Romo’s Latin Quarter

meleahhailey — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 06:24:09 +0000

So my sister and I are RIDICULOUSLY early for a movie at the Academy, (hats off to Kit for telling us the wrong time) and we decided to stop in and have some chips and salsa at Romo’s. It’s been open since January 2008 (although I thought it was still in it’s remodeling stages then, but hey, you have to believe the owner) but due to poor marketing (insert, no marketing at all) nobody’s heard of it. The owner, Romo, has had 2 other restaurants in the area, and judging from the interior, he knows that clean sells. Maybe it’s just clean because no one has gone there to eat yet, but it is so sparkling clean, a great break from the normal Mexican place. And yes, that is what it serves, don’t let the name fool you, this is Mexican food. However, there are better Mexican places out there. The Mexican part of the menu seems a little overpriced to me, but the steaks and “stuff” are about ball park. Don’t come here if you are expecting a big plate of rice and beans for nothing. Katie (our waitress) helped us figure out that the name is meant to upscale the place, because face it people, Mexican is not super upscale. Especially in Montavilla. But he also has Cuban and Brazillian inspired food on the menu, so Latin is not far off, I guess. The Guac and Chips ($6) were really good, just imagine smashed avacado and salt with the TINIEST bit of tomato, served in a mini tostada bowl that doubles as chips. And the chips are guranteed out of the fryer in the last 15 seconds…. or something like that. (Shame on my memory.) You also get a choice of corn tortilla chips or flour tortilla chips. So while my sister and I are sharing the guac and chips (also a margarita for me), Romo tells us to come back after the movie, he will be starting a bar menu, $4 choices, from something like 7-10 or 8-10. My sister is underage, so I put the idea out of my head.

Until Kit says she’s hungry after the movie. So we send my sister home, and head to Romo’s again. Romo has gone home for the night, and we ask Katie about the bar menu. Funny enough, it was something Romo had made up on the spot for us….. so there was no bar menu. Katie was really funny about it, picking things off the appetizers menu that we could get for $4. We ended up with guac and chips again (Kit also thought they were terrific) and ordered full dinners. I got the Surf and Turf special…. it was about 6 oz of filet mignon medallions and 4 breaded prawns, with potatoes and veggies. The steak was in a balsalmic glaze that was TERRIFFIC! and the prawns had a cream sherry cilantro sauce, also very good. When I say breaded prawns, they had a little bit of crunchy outside, but we’re not talking VandeKamps fish sticks or anything. Kit had the Pollo Madrid, which had a chicken breast stuffed with bacon and some sort of tomato paste, it was really good too. And she had the balsalmic glaze on her veggies. I did too. I want to learn to cook veggies like that! Katie was so funny, chit chatting with us the whole time we were there, talking about drinks, how business is going, etc, she said Romo is a really funny guy to work for (the bar menu fiasco being a good example.) The drinks were good, he makes a decent house margarita, no watery drinks here. I had a strawberry marg the second time, and it was made with strawberry puree and whole strawberries, tasted like the grownup version of Red Robin’s Freckled Lemonade.

Who knows what Romo’s hours are, because Katie said he has changed them since they were first posted, but they are open for lunch and dinner, and close at 10 pm…. unless they have paying customers. PS, they don’t take kids under 6…. Romo’s Latin Quarter, 7915 SE Stark St.

Poor Economy=cheep eats!

meleahhailey — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 21:22:04 +0000

So everyone is complaining about the economy. I’m just really glad it hasn’t affected us too much, I think there were so many things that we do without already that now everyone else is just coming down to our level. That and the fact that we haven’t bought a house recently means we have a lot more money to waste, I’m sure. So anyway, everyone is turning to cheep eats, or great meals at home. Actually, I think more people are thinking about great eats at home, so I might throw up a few new recipes when I try them out. I love to cook ALMOST as much as I love to eat out.

So I know that the economy has to have affected our budget because I realized I haven’t posted in a month. Maybe because I was on vaca for a week, maybe because of my husbands new obsession with Portland City Grill (he probably goes there 2 or 3 times a week!) but whatever the case we have not been trying any new places lately. But a great place where you can fill up the whole family for less than $10 a person is Pho Hung. It’s pronounced fuh, like you are going to be saying a bad word and you stop yourself. There are a lot of good pho places around, but I think the best one is Pho Hung on SE Powell, around 45th Ave. I don’t mind the one on 82nd Ave either, but I swear (and it might be my imagination) that the broth tastes better at the one on Powell. It’s a Vietnamese beef noodle soup, and the broth is onions, carrots, beef bones, ginger, and 5 spice, simmered for 5-8 hours. Then add vermicelli noodles, and raw beef (flank steak, eye of round, tripe, tendon, brisket, fatty tendon, etc) Only certain kinds of the beef are raw, I think it’s just the eye of round, and the broth is so hot it cooks it. There is cilantro and green onion in the broth, and you add ming bean sprouts, jalepenos, basil leaves and lime wedges. Also plum sauce and hot sauce (if you are brave!). All my friends already know about pho… in fact, if you live in Portland and don’t know about pho, I don’t know what rock you’ve been hiding under, but it is time to come out! Some other favorites there include the avacado shake, the jackfruit shake, and my personal favorite, egg soda. (Everyone say EEEWWWW!) It’s a raw egg, sweetened condensed milk, and sprite, all mixed up. It is yummy and creamy! One time I got really embarassed about ordering it… I found out by a coworker that egg drinks are for men, because they increase their, um, virility. He couldn’t believe I ordered one. Now I know why the waiter looks at me funny when I order them. Try one, I think you’ll like it. Pho Hung, 4717 SE Powell Blvd, open daily 9am-9pm. Also located at 1919 SE 82nd Ave.

The best place to take visitors for Happy Hour

meleahhailey — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 06:10:29 +0000

My husband and I have been in love with Portland City Grill for a long time. And now that he gets off work earlier, we can catch the early Happy Hour at this popular place. In the US Bancorp tower, on the 30th floor, where Atwaters used to be. If you can snag a window seat, it’s great. We usually head up early, (about 4:15, for the 4:30 HH) or really late (11 or so for the later one) to get a window seat. In fact, the HH is totally slammed and hard to get a seat unless you go early or late. The piano man is playing, your waiter is in a tux jackets, the yuppie crowd is in, talk about ambiance. And the food can be truly sensational. Don’t expect big portions, because they don’t exist here. Just like if you were coming here for a meal, it is all about fancy-shmancy pants artsy food. But that doesn’t mean the food is not delicious! I love the Thai Lemongrass beef tenderloin satay (think skewers), with coleslaw, and the Ginger Hoisen Chicken satay. Caleb almost always gets the cheeseburger. The drinks are pro-fessional here. They even have the number one cocktail waitress in Oregon working for them. If you go after a Blazer game, don’t be surprised to see a few Blazers, and or coaches to show up - I think the time before last, we saw Patrick Ewing. Or maybe the time before the time before last. Anyhow, this is where the IN crowd hang out. So, expect it to get a little noisy with young 20-somethings giggling over the guy getting his mac on with them. I do swear, I have heard THE funniest conversations here. It is a veritable meat market towards the weekend. If you have anyone visiting Portland, the view of downtown, the river, and Mt. Hood is spectacular, you must take them, they will be very impressed. (Unless they are the type that hate on the rich and famous, or wannabe rich and famous, in that case, definitely don’t take them here.) There is a dress code, although I don’t think it’s very strictly enforced, I believe that ripped jeans, shorts, baseball hats and bikini tops are no-no’s. Besides, if you show up in anything remotely like that, you will feel slightly out of place, unless you are totally oblivious to that kinda stuff. (Read=most men.) There is not a late HH on Friday or Saturday, although they do have the early one on both days. Last year, they had a leeetle problem with health inspector reviews, but not one word has been heard since then, so, (whew) I think it’s safe to enjoy. Portland City Grill is located at 111 SW 5th Ave, 30th floor. Open M-Th 11am-midnight, F 11am-1am, Sa 4pm-1am, Su 4pm-11pm. HH 4:30pm-6:30pm M-Sa, 10pm-midnight M-Th and 4pm-11pm Su. Props to Operators are Standing By for the picture of the view from the Grill.

Bijou, Cafe

meleahhailey — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 05:27:35 +0000

I’m so horrible!! I went to Bijou, Cafe like a MONTH ago and just now am getting around to posting. Can you stand it? It’s not like I have better things to do with my life…… Bijou, Cafe is known for it’s french omelets. What is a french omelet, you say?? Well, it’s just like a regular omelet. Except the inside is still fluffy and soft. Basically, you may think it’s undercooked, but they assure you, it is fully cooked. You get this effect by stirring the top layer of the omelet while the bottom is forming a skin. If you love runny eggs, you will love this omelet. If you prefer your eggs like me, hard, ask for the omelet “dry” and they will cook it even more thoroughly. Bijou, Cafe is definitely hip and chic. In a big farmhouse homey kind of way. They use Nustevia instead of fake sugar (bonus points for them in natural food heaven) and mostly organic food. ( I actually think they use all organic, but forgot to check, so can’t actually say for sure.) I love the fresh cream on the table, in a little jug…. makes me feel like a tea party. Did your mom ever let you use milk in your tea set for your tea parties? My mom never did…. I had the Farmer’s omelet, and, while I can eat the omelet French style, I think next time I will definitely ask for “dry”. I just can’t get over the undercooked egg feeling. It had bacon, goat cheese, green onions… pretty good, but again, these chic places (read=Cadillac Cafe) are all into the smaller size omelets. I suppose it’s a “correct serving” size omelet. But they just look puny sometimes. Caleb had the Cypress omelet, which had potatoes in it, so his was a little bigger, it’s the one in the picture. (Imagine mine smaller than that.) Suprisingly, neither of us ate the potatoes, so can’t comment there… they offer toast or fresh made blueberry muffin, too. The orange juice is just pure heaven, fresh squeezed, the kind when you were a kid you would put your fork through it to collect the pulp. ( I suppose that if you were to do that as an adult, you would probably get funny looks. Go ahead and try it though.) Cool waiter, he was perfectly efficient, although there was a strange girl who’s only job as far as I could tell was filling water… in about a 7 min period, she filled my water 4 times. I guess I drink a lot of water. Ok, so I was purposely drinking a lot of water to see how many times she would come. During weekday mornings, you see this place filled with suit-n-ties doing “power breakfasts.” Bijou, Cafe is located at 132 SW Third Ave, open M-F 7am-2pm, Sa-Su 8am-2pm. PS, another funny picture was taken at Bijou, Cafe. I call this “Abusive wife or waxing gone wrong?”

Laurelwood Brewing Company

meleahhailey — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 20:43:52 +0000

The more I blog, the more I realize a) how much I eat out (scary) and b) what nice places we have in P-town. Laurelwood Brewing Company is a great home-town brewery that serves decent food. I’ve only ever had the happy hour, and there are a few tips and tricks to that. Nachos- great. But they have a tendency to keep them under the heat lamp for a while until all your chips are brown. Feel free to make them re-do them. Garlic Fries - are weird IMO. The garlic is funny tasting every time. It’s like the crushed garlic out of a jar, and they put a LOT on with parsley… I think they may be trying to counteract the garlic breath with the parsley, not sure if it works though. Pork sliders - don’t bother. It’s dry pork smothered in BBQ sauce on a white bun. Hummus plate - good. Has marinated artichoke, eggplant, kalamata olives, tomatoes, cucumbers and pita bread. Fish tacos - great. Their beers are all hand crafted, I really enjoyed the seasonal they have right now called Imperial Hefeweizen. Their most popular beer is their red ale called Free Range Red. They also have won a few awards with a spinoff of that, called the Double Deranger. All of the Laurelwood brewpubs are really kid friendly, which has made them really popular with our parent-friends. On Monday nights, they have wings on special, and happy hour every night. The original Laurelwood, at 40th and Sandy, is now a pizza joint…. have yet to try it. Our server last time was Matt, and he was super friendly… even let me get a kiddie fry instead of having to order the garlic fries. I’ve had a few girls their, too, who are super sweet, always including the kids at our table. Overall, this is a nice way to support local business without breaking the bank, because their prices are reasonable. The HH is $4 a pop… watch out, because as soon as you at meat to the nachos, they are $7. Laurelwood also gives back to the community - for example, Sept 15th, 20% of all sales go to The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, a great cause. So let’s all eat out Monday Sept 15th at Laurelwood! Located at 5115 NE Sandy Blvd. Open M-F 11am-11pm, Sa-Su 9am-12am. Brunch served weekends 9am-3pm, and HH 3pm-6pm and 9pm-cl every day.

Happy Hour - Sayler’s Old Country Kitchen

meleahhailey — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 22:33:18 +0000

Everytime I hear the full name of Sayler’s, I think about the Country Kitchen, one of those chain restaurants. Let me emphasize, NOT EVEN REMOTELY the same place. I’ve been frequenting the Happy Hour in the lounge for a long time… long enough to remember when the pepper steak bites were $1.95. (Which actually wasn’t that long ago.) But I promised myself in this post I wouldn’t complain about HH prices going up. Sayler’s is a family run business, with 2 locations, one Eastside, the other Westside. They serve a good steak, but sometimes you feel like you are transported back to the late 70s, early 80s in their dining rooms. The HH draw has always been their Pepper Steak Bites, which were the trimmings off all their hand cut steaks, marinated in a pepper sauce, and served, as I mentioned before, for $1.95. Now they are $3.95 each, I believe, and the other HH menu items are $2.95, except for the cheeseburger, which is $4.95 (and not nearly as good as the McCormick and Schmick’s HH cheeseburger!) They make decent drinks here, too, not too weak (although I have also had stronger.) This is the type of place where everyone knows everyone, and back when I was a regular, the waitress even knew my name. I had stopped going for a while, because the HH is only in the lounge, which can get extremely smoky. (Can’t wait for Jan 1st, 2009!!!!) Also, the small video poker section (which is about 4 machines) can get a little irritating…. if you forget to sit on the other side of the lounge. Which it seemed I was always doing. They have a nice fireplace, and the lounge has a true “loungy” feeling to it, with overstuffed chairs that roll about, instead of restaurant tables and chairs. Our server was Shannon, and these waitresses really know what they are doing, they have all been around for a while at Sayler’s. I think they are a little too busy sometimes, if it’s a full night they should really have 3 cocktail waitresses, and I think they only do 2, but these girls make sure you have drinks in front of you all the time. So after Jan 1st 2009, I think this place will be a regular for me again… ok, maybe give it until Feb 1st for all the old smoke to clear out. Located at 10519 SE Stark St (just look for the huge rotating steak sign). Open M-Th 4pm-10pm, F 4pm-11pm, Sa 3pm-11pm Su 12pm-10pm. Happy Hour is 3pm-6pm M-F and 9pm-close daily.

Alessandro’s… nothing beats parking garage ambiance

meleahhailey — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 02:55:42 +0000

Alessandro’s bills itself as fine Italian food, and has the prices to match. But the funny thing is, you just don’t feel it. Caleb and I are wondering how they stay in business. It’s at the bottom of Caleb’s parking garage downtown, and everytime we go by, there is NO ONE there. So we took pity on them tonight and had dinner there. It’s a little creepy to go into a restaurant that has only 2 other couples in it. Maybe it’s the layout… maybe it’s the lack of hustle and bustle, but it just feels cold and empty inside. By the time we left, there were about 8 tables filled, but still the same feeling persisted. Caleb’s Caesar salad had bitter romaine, but the starter of minestrone soup was good. Rather brothy, but lots of fresh vegetables. Our server, Elio, was very pleasant, and cracked a few one-liners, but still, this big, cold, empty room feeling pervaded. The girl that filled my water was there about every 5 minutes (or maybe even less)… a little too often for me. But what else are you going to do with only 3 tables filled at the restaurant? I didn’t think the food was any better than a chain restaurant like Romano’s Macaroni Grill or Olive Garden, I had the fettuccine pesce, with shrimp, scallops, clams, and salmon. The cream sauce that accompanied it was very rich, it made it hard to eat a lot (which is probably a good thing!) Caleb had the tortellini with alfredo - I think he was in love with it. He described it as

“Having one food in an Italian restaurant, and one foot in a soul food restaurant… It was a cross between an alfredo and a sausage gravy.”

Me? I think he was exaggerating a little bit. Overall, this restaurant has fine food, but something is just not right… I mean, they would be a lot busier on a Friday night than 8 tables at 7 pm, if there wasn’t something off about the place. Located at 301 SW Morrison St, open M-Th 11:30am-10pm, F 11:30am-11pm, Sa 12pm-3pm and 5pm-11pm. There is a Happy Hour in the adjoining bar. Oh, don’t let me forget the bread! It was the best thing. The bread was a moist sourdough, fresh from the oven, and they had an olive oil with crushed garlic and chopped kalamata olives. It was the only redeeming thing about dinner!

Happy Hour - McCormick and Schmick’s

meleahhailey — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 02:12:46 +0000

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. Last night we enjoyed McCormick’s Fish House with some friends. It’s on the westside (shock and Horror!) but well worth the drive (especially since it’s right off Hwy 26.) Each McCormick and Schmick has a slightly different happy hour menu, and I like this one the best. (My least favorite? It’s a tie between McCormick and Schmick’s Seafood and the Pilsner Room. Which is sad, because the Pilsner room is such a cool place to go!) We all ended up ordering the same thing, except for me. That was 6 half-pound cheeseburgers with french fries, thank you very much. Oh yeah, and they put bacon on it too. For….. only $1.95. Crazy Talk! And this burger is big, with all the trimmings, as big as any Red Robin burger out there, for two bucks. And a lot of places happy hour (Newport Grill, Stanford’s) don’t even put fries with their burgers anymore. So this is a total score. I tried the Vegetable plate last night, it was meh. The hummus was just weird tasting, but they had a curry mayonaise that was pretty good, and then a dill aioli. I also had the buffalo wings. The thing is, they aren’t wings. They are entire drumsticks, and not small ones at that. Each one is a good 5 or 6 bites of meat. The sauce is good, not anything spectacular, but the amount of meat on these babies blows me away. And you get about 7 or 8 of them for, again, $1.95. Crazy Talk!!! It’s a plate full! They also have Jarlsberg Cheese Fondue, Fresh Cut Potato Chips, Cheese Quesadilla, Southwest Black Bean Dip, and Roasted Chicken Flautas. And that’s just on the $1.95 menu… for $3.95 they have Cornmeal Fried oysters, Ahi Tuna Skewers, and for $4.95 you can get Surf and Turf Kobe Beef Sliders. There are a few more choices on the more expensive menus, too. They also have a happy hour Dessert selection for $3.95. Their drinks aren’t crazy cheap, but they are not expensive either. Most of their cocktails are about $7-8, and they are well made, no skimpy watered down drinks. So please, go and enjoy the many McCormick and Schmick Happy Hours - I’d love to hear which one is your favorite. McCormick’s Fish House and Bar located at 9945 SW Beaverton-Hillsdale Hwy, Beaverton. Happy Hour is 3pm-6pm M-Sa, 4pm-6pm and 8:30pm-11pm Su, 9pm-11pm M-Th, and 9:30pm-12am F-Sa. (Whew, got all that?) Our waitress Whitney was a little slow with our waters, but also, we kinda trickled in at different times, so every time she came back to our table, we had more people there. She did a excellent job splitting up the bill (most waitresses balk at having to split 7 people 5 ways,) and also let us take home our extra food (usually happy hour is no to-go.)

I think a man must have thought this up…. Brazil Grill

meleahhailey — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 19:14:23 +0000

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.” You start by heading to the small salad bar in the back. Remember at this point to take 2 plates (one for your meat when you get back to your table.) There are some American dishes, but mostly Brazilian choices. These are not meant to be the main thrust of your meal, hence the salad bar being on the smaller side. Typical Brazilian choices to go with your meat would be fries, beans and rice. There are also cucumbers marinated in vinegar, chayote squash, hardboiled eggs in rose sauce, caesar salad, mixed greens, a quinoa salad, and other things. Load up sparingly, you’ll want to save your room for the meat! When you get back to your table, you flip your disc to the green side, and the gauchos start bringing you meat! Some of our choices included: mustard sirloin, marinated lamb, marinated prawns, filet mignon wrapped in bacon, cognac chicken drumsticks, chicken wrapped in bacon, sirloin steak, flank steak, ribs with parmesan cheese, empanadas with ground sirloin, garlic and butter tri-tip, and mild linguicia. They normally have about 12 choices at dinner, and I’ve probably forgot a few. They also send around pineapple sprinkled with cinnamon. The purpose of the pineapple, besides cleansing your palate between meats, is to aid the digestion of the meats by the enzyme in the pineapple. Because of the rotisserie style of BBQ, these meats are usually very juicy. The first time I went, the meats were a little dry, and I was sad… it wasn’t the experience I had had at other churrascaria’s. But this time the meats were great, even better than what I had in the “little Portugal” part of Newark. The gaucho slices off pieces of whatever you want onto your plates (sometimes, you have to grab the meat with your tongs as they cut it.) Don’t worry if you like a type of meat and want more… the gauchos will be back around with it before long. Brazil Grill really has a great bartender right now, they have several drinks with the popular Brazilian liquor cachaca (think: Brazilian rum), which is the main ingredient in a capirhinia. I think that a capirhinia tastes like a cross between a mojito and a margarita (more leaning to the mojito side.) After dinner, there are desserts (but I’m always to full to even think of ordering one) and they have an extensive wine list, and several after-dinner ports and cognacs. For this all-you-can-eat extravaganza, it’s $31.95 per person, and there are discounts for seniors and children. You can also just get the salad bar, if you are not much of a meat eater. Located at 1201 SW 12th Ave (they also have free parking behind the building, although the street parking is not usually too full around there). Open daily 5pm-10pm. 18% gratuity on parties of 6 or more automatically included.

The most powerful hand dryers in the universe - Hopworks Urban Brewery

meleahhailey — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 04:38:50 +0000

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. (Ok, I like it and Andrew likes it, but none of us wanted it that night.) Turns out, after he was giving us all crap, he likes cider better anyway! He made us shandy’s (at HUB they call them Radley’s. I think. It was hard to hear him.) Half lager and half lemonade. (JUST IN CASE some of you didn’t know what a shandy was.) We loved it. We had a large 18″ pizza, the four of us (me, Caleb, MANdrew and Micah). We got a D.N.F (never found out what it stood for, sad) but it had bacon, pepperoni, sausage, mushroom, olive, green and red bell pepper. I like their thin crust pizza, they also make a sicilian style, too, but their thin crust is just crisp on the bottom, not crunchy through the whole crust like some. Hopworks is a little spendy… probably because you are paying for all the organic-ness. This is the same guy that was the brewmaster at Laurelwood. Except everything here is organic. It’s pretty amazing, a whole restaurant and brewery that is completely organic and sustainable. Very green. Parking for up to 50 bicycles. Very Portland. This is why I love living here. Located at 2944 SE Powell Blvd, open Su-Th 11am-11pm, F-Sa 11am-12pm. Happy Hour Su-Th 3pm-6pm and 9pm-close. F-Sa 10pm-close. Don’t forget the hand dryers!

McMenamin’s

meleahhailey — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 07:14:34 +0000

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. Our server tonight was Danie, (such a doll, she was from Newcastle, England) and she was right on the money, at my elbow as soon as my pint was dry. Our table was dirty when we sat down (that happens a lot here) but she was over to clean it in seconds. I got my usual, the hummus plate sans pita, I just have them put extra cucumbers and tomatoes. The hummus is not really anything to talk about, it tastes rather pasty in fact, could use a little more olive oil. It tastes like it’s made from a powder mix. So why do I keep getting it, you ask? Because they serve it with large chunks of solid feta, olives and red onions marinated in red wine vinegar. Yummy! Caleb likes their spinach artichoke dip, it’s very cheesy, not so much runny like the Newport Grill counterpart next door. I kind of feel about McMenamin’s that the food is kinda the second reason you would go, the first is if you like McMenamin’s beer. You can buy it to go, bring your own LIDDED container and they will fill it for you! (Must be beverage style container, they don’t do just tupperware, guys.) Located at 9710 SE Washington St, open M-Sa 11am-1am, Su 12pm-12am. Happy Hour everyday. Check out their Kennedy School (hotel, theater, restaurant and bar) at 33rd and Killingsworth, or Edgefield (a former poor farm and then nursing home, situated on 74 acres) where you can see a movie, concert (just recently went to Death Cab for Cutie there, best outdoor venue I’ve been to, which is another topic for another time), watch a glassblower, get a massage, or a myriad of other things. McMenamin’s also makes their own wines, whisky, brandy and gin, and roasts their own coffees. Or don’t pass up the Crystal Ballroom, where you can “dance on air” (the wooden floor is on springs!). Anywhere you go, I’m sure you’ll love the drinks!

Cadillac Cafe

meleahhailey — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 07:35:23 +0000

So for a long time Cadillac Cafe has been a favorite. I mean, who doesn’t love the place, especially since they remodeled? But we hadn’t been there in while, and today I was really bummed about my breakfast! I remember days when your plate was heaped with a huge omelet, and those crispy Cadillac potatoes? Mmm-mmm-good. Back then it was, anyway. I noticed when we went this morning that there was no line. NO LINE on a Saturday morning. I though, well, it is only 9:30. But still, you used to have to camp out to get a table Sat and Sun mornings. Or order to go. So we waltzed right in, sat down, and ordered. Everything came super fast, we had mimosas (funny, I told our waiter Justin that I was fine with water, but I got a mimosa anyway, I just figured what the heck, that’s what brunch is for, right?) Caleb ordered the special, which was french toast with pomegranate molasses syrup, but when he got it, there was hardly any syrup on it, Justin said the kitchen was “going light” because it was running out. So he also brought regular syrup, which was nice, but wouldn’t you think that the kitchen would keep giving normal portions until they ran out, not half portions because they didn’t want to say “We’re out”? The french toast was wonderful though, dipped in custard, the syrup really tangy. I had the special omelet, which came with potatoes and breakfast bread. I subbed the potatoes out for fruit (which cost $2, ridiculous) and all I got was a small slice of pineapple and a small piece of watermelon. For an extra $2. You goddabekiddinme. The omelet was about the size of a Reser’s burrito, and the onions were still raw inside. It had (some) chorizo sausage, cilantro, tomatoes and sour cream. For $9, you can get much better omelets elsewhere. (Like even Elmer’s for heavens sake!) The breakfast bread was still super yummy though. And two mimosa’s later, I was not caring as much. Caleb tried the pear mimosa, really good stuff, and only $4.50. I think I’m going to be headed for fuller plates next time I want brunch though. Justin, our server, was attentive and great. Although I would have appreciated being told my fruit was going to cost me so much, especially after giving up the potatoes. Which brings me to a funny, at first I just asked Caleb if he wanted my potatoes (he loves hash browns and stuff) and he looks around furtively, and says “Don’t tell anyone, but I don’t really like the Cadillac potatoes.” But I think he is in the minority, most people love them. Located at 1801 NE Broadway, open 6am-2:30pm M-F, 7am-3pm Sa-Su.

Round two - Old Fashioned Iced Tea

meleahhailey — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 05:09:06 +0000

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. We just decided to linger a few minutes at the bar, since I had been thinking about the drink ALL DAY. I ordered said drink, Russell’s Reserve Bourbon with muddled cherry and orange, topped with sweet tea. It was great. The cherries are in a thick yummy syrup, I had to ask for more! The bartender Daniel was great, what a funny guy. He knew just when to jump into our conversation, and just when to pretend to not be listening. (Oh if only every waiter, waitress or barstaff kept a journal of “overheards”.) Caleb ordered his usual, a Maker’s Mark Manhattan. Now, he does normally order it with Maker’s Mark everywhere we go, but it’s the norm here. And he said it was the smoothest he ever had. Brooke had the Mt. Tabor Sunset (I think that’s what it was called, again, what reviewer doesn’t write this stuff down???? I’m dropping the ball here, people!) Indio Blood Orange Vodka, Campari, OJ, and soda. Yum. We enjoyed a few pieces of the house made beef jerky, which sells for $15 a pound. This is what Caleb said about it… I thought it was funny:

“When you eat beef jerky, you normally feel like you had dinner at 7-11. This beef jerky was high class. And tastes like celery, so you feel like you were healthy.”

I think I would like to make Country Cat a regular haunt… we had some nice conversation about the beer festival, and the Iphone, and just general stuff. Great place to hang. And can the person who drew the flowers on the wall come draw some on mine??? Open 5pm-close, which I found out tonight means 10 pm. The bar menu (with the cool flowers on the wall) is available 5pm-6pm and 9pm-close. Bring a sweater, because I noticed it gets a bit chilly inside.

Montavilla has another win - The Country Cat DinnerHouse Bar

meleahhailey — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 08:07:12 +0000

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. I wish I had ordered a drink today, but since I had imbibed plenty of wine this weekend I was abstaining… but they had this delish sounding drink called an Old Fashioned Iced Tea, it was Russell’s Reserve Bourbon, muddled orange and cherry, topped with sweet tea. If you’ve tried it, let me know how it was. Caleb ordered the Heritage burger (which our friends Shaun and Zina had a bad experience with, so I was going to tell him not to, but he was on the phone while we ordered, so… cest la vie!) but the burger turned out great. And even better was the onion rings with it! Really similar to the Sayler’s onion rings, but better. I had The Farmer’s Market Vegetable Soup, and the House Prosciutto, Brooks Cherries and Green Bean salad. I had to ask, how do you manage to make prosciutto here? (I’m amazed at how many places have in house stuff like that now, like Nostrana’s mozzarella.) I was introduced to the owner and chef Adam, who told me he takes his “little” 68-70 lb pigs, and has just one big ham from them. Then, (if I have this straight) that lil’ ole’ ham sits in a salt brine under pressure for a month. The pressure is necessary to get the blood out and the salt in. So then it is slathered in a layer of lard and hung for 10 months. So the prosciutto I ate tonight was 11 months old. Good to know. He said a lot of italian prosciuttos actually use a 48 month process. We sat outside tonight, and my only gripe is… get some comfortable chairs! The outside chairs were really horrible to sit on… I will be sitting inside next time. We were the only couple outside for most of our meal, so Brianna our waitress wasn’t overly “hanging around”, which was nice. She left a jar of water at our table, so that was good, less trips for her. Oh, I could have used a little more salad, it was a pretty small portion (a very gourmet portion, you could say) but at the same time, I think it was meant to be an appetizer, so that could be it. Maybe they need to offer a dinner size salad???? I’ve had brunch here before too, and the skillet fried chicken was really good. I would like to come back again for brunch soon. (Hint, hint, Caleb.) They also have a bar menu available from 5pm-6pm and after 9pm nightly. Located at 7937 SE Stark St, open daily 5pm-close, Sa-Su brunch from 9am-2pm. Chef Adam Sappington is definitely bringing the class of the Montavilla neighborhood up, but don’t expect to pay usual Montavilla prices. Then again, this is NOT your usual Montavilla food!

Southeast Laid-back - Cru Wine Bar

meleahhailey — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 05:30:04 +0000

Tonight we enjoyed a few bottles of wine with our friends Gina and Joe at Cru Wine Bar. I was planning on having a nice cultured “adult” night at Southpark downtown, because it was the first wine bar that came to mind. But Gina said “Why don’t you go to Why Not Wine?” I said, “Because that’s a wine store, I want to go where you can sit down and drink and have canapes.” (Feeling very adult because I knew the word canape!) Boy was I wrong. Why Not Wine (recently changed to Cru Wine Bar) is not a store at all. Far from it. It is a very dark, intimate wine bar that only serves local wines, and a few beers. They have sides such as a meat tray or cheese platter, a chocolate ganache (which was lighter than an angel food cake), Belgian chocolates, vinegar and oil bread tray, olives, etc. Their website is not up to date - we had a cheese plate that had Gouda, Roquefort, Brie and an italian cheese with truffles that was amazing, sadly the hostess didn’t know what it was called. Crackers and grapes rounded it off for $10. The boys enjoyed a syrah from Naked Vineyards, the Vixen 2005 Applegate Valley, while us girls polished off a desert wine, 2007 Foris Late Harvest Muscat, Rogue Valley. We finished with chocolate ganache, which I was really impressed with, the cake part of it literally melted in your mouth… very light. I wanted Belgian chocolates, but they were out, which reminds me, they were out of the bread tray as well. The hostess just said it was because it was “the end of their week.” But wouldn’t you want to be stocked on a Saturday night??? There was live music -a musician who switched between his accordion and his guitar. (Personally, I liked the guitar better.) This wine bar was a sweet little find in Montavilla, which I think is going to be an up and coming neighborhood, and was very laid back. I mean, the hostess was wearing a “Nasa Rocket Science” t-shirt. She was very friendly, but I didn’t get the impression she knew a whole lot about what she was serving. Like I said before, intimate, cozy, dark, definately romantic… I was impressed for Montavilla. Located at 7907 SE Stark St. Open Tu-Th 5pm-11pm, Sa-Su 5pm-12pm. I like those late hours! Live music every Saturday, happy hour 5pm-7pm daily, and $2 beer specials on Tuesday.

Take out - India Grill

meleahhailey — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 07:11:37 +0000

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. But anyway, Caleb worked late tonight and so I brought him take out down town. Now, where we used to live in New Jersey, it was great, all the take out places were like total fancy restaurant food, and they delivered for nothing. Here, you never get delivery unless you call Delivered Dish. So I called India Grill and ordered a chicken vindaloo, chicken cheera, choley and garlic naan. This was the first time I had chicken cheera (I’m a big chicken tikka masala fan myself) but it was good, they should really just call it chicken in saag paneer. (Saag- spinach, paneer-Indian cheese). I’m actually a little suspicious, because chicken cheera is supposed to have tomatoes in it, and there were no tomatoes in my dish. Not even tomatoes masquerading as something. So maybe I just got leftovers of something. Their garlic naan is ok, nothing like the naan at Bombay Cricket Club. I didn’t get my choley (chickpea dish) but they didn’t charge me for it, either. So I guess that part was a wash. All told, if you pick it up, it’s an ok price, but if you get it through Delivered Dish it is SOOOO much more expensive! Probably because you feel like you need to tip the driver. India Grill is an ok place to eat, the ambiance is horrible (you are upstairs in a victorian house, and it’s smelly and dirty.) I like the tikka masala, saag paneer, and chicken cheera, but everything else I’ve ever tried was not that great. And the waiters are never very friendly. I always feel like I’m doing them a disservice by being there. They do a LOT of take out business… maybe because the waiters make you feel like you need to leave?? Honestly, I like their spices better than Bombay Cricket Club and their prices are better, too, but if you are going for a sit down meal, stick to the Bombay Cricket Club, the ambiance is much better. India Grill located at 2924 E Burnside, open daily 11am-2pm for lunch and 5pm to 10pm for dinner, M-Th till 10:30pm F-Su.

Cooper’s Coffee - a mixed bag

meleahhailey — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 04:13:03 +0000

So I’m really sad when I think a place has so much potential, and just isn’t living up to it. Take Cooper’s Coffee for instance. Let me recount the things that have happened to me there…..

The first time I was there, they were a little busy, like 2 people ahead of me in line. It was about 11:30 in the morning. Both people in front of me had ordered sandwiches, and all I had was a coffee. Instead of making the coffee first (which would have been the quickest, also since I was headed back out the door, and the people with sandwiches were eating in) they made the sandwiches first. Which is fine, the sandwich people came first. But they made the sandwiches separately. Not together. Doubling the time it took. Ouch. It was a FULL 15 minutes before I got my coffee to go.
The next time, my husband ordered a bagel sandwich, and I had a pastry. Caleb’s sandwich had a orange juice lid in it. THE WHOLE LID! And they didn’t even apologize.
Then there were a few ok times, where the coffee was nothing to write home about, but they didn’t screw anything up either.
But, yesterday when I went with some friends, 2 out of 3 coffees were made wrong and had to be re-made, and none of the coffees were mixed the second time around, so all the syrup and espresso was at the bottom, with the milk on top. At first I just thought my coffee was gross, and then when I got to the bottom realized what had happened.
And today, when giving them their last chance (obviously I am a big believer in many chances) they fed me the most disgusting mushroom gouda quiche I’ve ever tasted. And this is just a matter of taste, some people may think it’s wonderful. But it’s full of nutmeg and cloves - NOT a combination that goes well with gouda and mushrooms. Who the heck is thinking these things up?

So, obviously some of these things are matters of personal taste, and some are just plain laziness. But overall, just not happy with Cooper’s Coffee. And so sad about it, too, because I think it’s a neat little place with cute artwork every month and nice to sit at with your laptop, but unless they get their act together, they are not going to have a lasting clientele. (Unless there is a big population out there that like nutmeg clove mushroom gouda quiche!) I haven’t come across the employees being overly friendly, but not really rude either. Just sort of blah. So if you have a good experience, let me know, because for some strange reason I really WANT to like this place! Located at 6049 SE Stark, on Mt. Tabor. Open daily 6am to 9ish pm.

Roll your own at Bahn Cuon Tan Dinh

meleahhailey — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 23:47:51 +0000

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.

Deschutes Brewery and Public House

meleahhailey — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 07:09:24 +0000

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! We sat outside, but the inside seating looked cool too. And then, instead of ordering beer, we ended up having wine. (Go figure.) We shared a bottle of 2004 Kitara Syrah from the Willamette Valley. It had a heavy butterscotch taste, and I was thrilled, because it was the first time that I had really identified a “taste” in a wine before. I was so excited, I had to tweet Garyvee right then and there! The wine was great, and I loved the ahi tuna I ordered, it came with tapico caviar (yum!) and sesame-ginger marinated cucumber (also yum!) But sadly, the rest of the team wasn’t so impressed. My sister in law Charlotte’s veggie burger was too spicy, and Caleb’s ribs were stringy, no fall off the bone meat here. Jacob (my brother in law) had mac and cheese with salmon (which I thought was a strange combination, but to each his own, right?) and he said it was just “OK.” The Brewery was busy, no more than any Saturday night, I’m sure, but our waiter Daniel was great. He was attentive, and went out of his way to answer my pesky questions. He was funny and friendly, too. (Something that was missing from Pambiche earlier, I forgot to add in my last post.) It was a half hour from when we ordered to when we got our food, but it didn’t seem like a long wait, we were well kept with drinks in the time. If you are a fan of Deshutes Brewery, be sure to check out their specials on tap. Located at 210 NW 11th Ave in the Pearl, open daily 11 am to midnight.

Buen Provecho - Pambiche

meleahhailey — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 01:52:58 +0000

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. Today I had Lengua en Salsa, which was not as good as other dishes that I’ve had there. It’s slow braised pork in a tomato sauce with almonds and yellow bell peppers. I think their oxtail is some of the best stuff around. And Caleb never swerves from their Vaca Frita, or “fried cow” which is crispy fried shredded beef with onions and garlic, and they serve it with a garlic yucca sauce that is great. All the entrees come with beans or rice and beans and fried plantains, which are the french fry of Cuban. Caleb describes their sugar cane lemonade as “sangria without the wine.” I had a cortadito, which is Cuban espresso with a float of milk, and it was horribly bitter. They get a special just-for-them roast from Stumptown, but I have to say, espresso making is an art, not just anyone can do it! The service was SUPER fast tonight, but we also ate early, at 5 pm… we had our appetizer by 5:09, and our food at 5:17, WOW!

The appetizer was the best part for me, they have these croquetas with different stuff in them, and we tried the jamón, which was a pork paste inside. It was great, with or without the spicy salsa or banana ketchup. Since it’s the only Cuban restaurant I know of, we’ll be headed back when Caleb needs a Vaca Frita fix, or me and my oxtail. Located at 2811 NE Glisan open Su-Th till 10 F-Sa till midnight. Also serves breakfast Sa-Su 7am-2pm and have a happy hour! Take out is available. And don’t forget to enjoy the desserts! Buen Provecho!