Donuts! Or doughnuts!

W keeps telling me its my turn to post. Happy now?!

There's a famous doughnut shop in Portland called Voodoo Doughnuts that has some creative offerings with wacky names. Examples:
Grape Ape (raised doughnut with vanilla frosting and grape powder)
Arnold Palmer (cake doughnut covered with lemon and tea powder)
Cock-n-Balls (triple cream filled, with your favorite saying written right on it)
Its open 24 hours and their slogan is "the magic is in the hole." You can even buy underwear with those very words. They also offer weddings - both real and fake!
W had tried to go there a few weeks ago but failed to find parking. Then last week when T and S were visiting we tried again, but the parking gods were still against us.

So finally last Sunday I made it there with T and we made it in. Since then I've been back two more times! Here is their revolving case full of delectable doughnuts.
Interesting decor.W making her purchase.My blood-filled Voodoo Doughnut with 2 pins in its eyes! Actually, he's raspberry jelly-filled with pretzels in his eyes. He's quite tasty! Each one is unique!

Visitor Weekend 3, Part 3: Pok Pok!

Who wants a side of frozen feet with Thai food? We do!

Our evening destination last Saturday with S & T was The Oregonian's Restaurant of the Year 2007: Pok Pok. I was so excited! J and I have been wanting to go here since our first week in town. Pok Pok started out as a take-out hut but quickly morphed into a tiny restaurant after it got rave reviews for its authentic Thai dishes.

Did I mention that Pok Pok is tiny? So tiny in fact that it's kinda ridiculous. There are maybe six 4-tops altogether on the patio, and only a few more seats inside. We got there at 8pm and were told it was a half-hour wait, so we went across the street to Matchbox Lounge for drinks.

Here we are, waiting for our drinks...

The bartender was soooo slow that we ended up not even getting our drinks before Pok Pok called over to tell us our seats were ready.

Unfortunately, the seats were outside. And it was COLD. Like, 40 degrees cold. It was so cold that I was thankful to have the warmth from the person who sat in my seat before me. The puny little heater by our table barely helped (and it kept sputtering out all night)

So. The food. We started out with drinks -- J & I got stuff with Japanese drinking vinegars (apparently, a very big thing in Japan and now also in Portland).
My apple drinking vinegar with gin(?) Can't recall the name of the drink of what's in it, but I liked it.

We ordered 5 dishes and all in all, it was good. The boar collar meat was deliciously spicy. The marinated catfish over vermicelli was a nice mix of lime/cilantro/fish sauce. The curry chicken soup with noodles was tasty, but served lukewarm(!). The rest of the meal was ok: the fish sauce wings (named one of Food and Wine Mag's Top 10 Restaurant Dishes of 2007) was much too salty and a bit burnt. And the special Northern salad (Yam Samun Phrai, made of a whole lot of herbs) was just plain and bland.

Fish Sauce Wings: Fresh natural chicken wings marinated in fish sauce and palm sugar, deep fried, tossed in caramelized Phu Quoc fish sauce and garlic and served with Vietnamese table salad.

Muu Paa Kham Waan (Boar collar meat rubbed with garlic, coriander root and black pepper, glazed with soy and sugar, grilled over charcoal and served with chilled mustard greens and a spicy chili-lime-garlic sauce.)

Cha Ca La Vong (Catfish marinated in turmeric and sour sticky rice, fried in turmeric oil with scallions and dill, served on rice vermicelli with peanuts, mint and nouc cham.)


Final verdict? Pok Pok is good, but inconsistent. Perhaps my expectations were set to high. And the cold weather certainly didn't help my mood -- my feet were totally frozen by the time we left (stupid me didn't wear socks). In any case, Lotus of Siam is still my favorite Thai restaurant.

Done with Boards!!

We're done, we're done! No more studying in the immediate future! Now we can just relax and enjoy our last two weeks here!

For those of you who haven't heard my griping, the 4th year opto students had to take Part II of our National Boards exam this past Wed and Thurs. It's a grueling, 11.5 hr exam that totally sucks out your brain matter. I left feeling very, very mushy in the head. There's a tiny part of me that's freaking out (still), thinking that I didn't pass the test (or specifically, the pharmacological part, called TMOD.) Ughhhh.

But since we don't get the results for another 2 months or so, I may as well relax and get into the Holiday spirit.

To celebrate the end of Boards, we headed to the Alphabet District for some food at Tanuki. I've been dying to try this izakaya place after reading all the good reviews, but when we got there, they weren't serving food! The building had a power outage so the kitchen wasn't working. Boooooo. The staff instead recommended that we wander up the street to Indish, and boy am I glad we did!

Indish is a new (7 weeks old) "family style" Indian restaurant run by a British man and his American wife. They claim to only serve dishes you'd find at a true Indian home -- no tikka masala, no naan. Everything is also made in-house, and they try to keep things light (so no heavy cream-based sauces). Along with some tall glasses of beer, we had a smorgasbord of items: chapati, lamb kheema, pan fried cabbage, pork balchao, bombay potatoes... The lentils (urad dal makhani) were my favorite. We were stuffed but ended with the ras malai cheesecake that was flowery and delicious! I'm glad we tried Indish. It'll fit in well with the Portland food scene.

Afterwards, we drove around The Pearl and Downtown looking for art galleries open since it was First Thursday. We only found one, but it was an interesting mix of clothes, wood work, paintings, and sculptures. I think I'm not artsy enough to truly enjoy the scene. Still, it was fun even if I felt a little out of place.

Visitor Weekend 2! Foodie time

Yay for more visitors! Last weekend, with K, M and S in town, we packed a lot of outings into 1.5 short days. This post however is all about the food we ate.

Portland is indeed a boozy town: it has more microbreweries than any other city in America. Therefore, the first stop on Friday night was at Deschutes Brewery in the Pearl District. Deschutes is a local microbrewer, and the maker of S's beloved Jubelale -- pretty cool name for a seasonal beer! The place was PACKED. We waited a good 45-60 minutes in the bar before our number was called. It's a good thing the beer here is tasty, because the food is BAD! Like, really really BAD! I didn't even finish half of my dinner. Still, it's a fun atmosphere. Plus, you can get a sampler platter of 6 different beers for like $6 (like Scott did!).

After dinner, we wandered into Powell's, then over to Henry's Tavern. On our way home, we circled around Voodoo Donuts (home of crazy concoctions and names like "Triple Chocolate Penetration" and "The Memphis Mafia") but couldn't find a parking spot. :(

However, the night was still a success because of my new revelation: the Rogue Hazelnut brown ale ("nectar" actually) is now my favorite beer.

Saturday morning was dim sum with my aunt and grandmother at Wong King Seafood in the SE area. Alas, no tripe was ordered but there were some delicious chicken feet to suck on.

After a super fun afternoon of hiking (more on that in another post), we headed to Alberta St. Oyster Bar & Grill for dinner. I've been craving oysters ever since the dinner at Jake's Crawfish. The restaurant was in a great NE neighborhood filled with gorgeous, old mansions.

I was a happy camper because: 1) there was an oyster sampler platter with matching champagne tasting, and 2) pork belly was on the menu! Talk about the best possible food combos! The oysters included my fav Kumamotos. The pork belly was appropriately salty, porky, and crispy. It didn't have as much fat as I would've liked, but then again, Portland's probably more health conscious (read: granola) than SF.

[As an aside -- the nice dinner was to celebrate my 11th anniversary with K. Has it really been that long? Jeez I feel old. But also proud. We've been together, REALLY together, without breaks or anything, for that long. Yay for us!]

Sunday morning: breakfast at the Capital Coffeehouse and Bistro. It's a cute little place just up the street from our apartment. The brunch is pretty mundane, and I wouldn't advise anyone to make a special trip here, but I adore the small, homey feel of the place and the fact that it's within walking distance. No doubt, I'll be back one more time before my time here in Portland ends.

Stay tuned to read about our hiking adventure!

Tapas bravo!

Who: J, M and moi

What: tapas! At Toro Bravo in NE Portland

When: Veteran's Day, after an afternoon of wine tasting

Verdict: AWESOME. The best grilled shrimp I've had in recent memory, and the most amazing squash dish ever. My favorite restaurant so far in Portland.

Griddled bacon-wrapped dates with warm honey
Too sweet for me, but J and M liked them.

Griddled shrimp with chilies.
Unbelievably tasty! Perfectly cooked jumbo shrimp with a hint of lemon, smoke and spiciness. I could've made a meal out of just these alone.

Harrissa stewed fall squash with crumbled sheep cheese
The sauce was amazing and akin to a buttery, rich tikka masala sauce. We were practically licking the bowl at the end.

Squid ink pasta with anchovy syrup, hazelnuts, and egg yolk.
I alone liked this dish; it was on the salty side, but had an excellent, mellow, fish flavor

Roasted eggplant with sweet pepper and lamb ragu
Not bad...reminded me of a lasagna.

Oregon truffle omelette
A perfectly executed omelette with lots of cheese but not a whole lot of truffle flavor.

Churros & chocolate
A sad end to our meal....the churros were too oily; Costo ones are better.

Visitor Weekend! Part 3: BB's birthday dinner

To celebrate a big milestone birthday for BB, we had reservations at Jake's Famous Crawfish. Despite the snacks and drinks at Henry's, we were game to go to Jake's because it's a Portland institution! This is the original McCormick and Schmick's restaurant and has been around since 1892.

The dinner was fantastic, from beginning til end. Good food, good friends -- that's really all it comes down to. But I'll go into the details anyway. :)

The restaurant specializes in fresh seafood, so they print out a new menu daily. When we got our menus, printed at the top was a Happy Birthday welcome message! Isn't that a nice touch? The wine list was pretty ho-hum, so we ended up getting mixed drinks that ranged from tasty to interesting (mine was a made up of guava nectar, alcohol and ground cloves...too weird of a mix to be called good.) We also scored an awesome private booth by the window.

The highlight of the night was, hands down, the raw oysters. YUMMY briny goodness. For fun, we started with a half dozen oysters mix from the Pacific NW. These were such tasty, tasty things that we had to get another half-dozen. Mmmm. The whole restaurant probably heard us Mmmm-ing. These were fantastic and creamy and made your mouth feel lush. Really, I could go on and on.

We all could've easily had more oysters, but decided instead to order other dishes to make it a more well-rounded meal. My halibut was wonderfully prepared if a little bit boring. M's seared ahi was not only beautifully presented, it had a nice peppery edge to it. BB had extra oysters, plus a soup and salad.

And for dessert: a chocolate cake slice for the birthday girl. Happy birthday, BB! We've celebrated 19 of them together already, and I know there are many, many more in the future. I hope you enjoyed the weekend!

Visitor Weekend! Part 2: beer and books

Saturday was the perfect combination of shopping and food. Not only did we hit the mall (and I finally found my Jcrew hoodie on sale, yippee!!), we also made a pitstop at Powell's Bookstore. All day long, BB kept promising it would be a booklover's paradise. She went on and on about how big the store was, how impressive the selection was, how even she could spend 2 hours getting lost in their aisles. I myself had driven by it already and thought it looked, well, boring. And old.


Well. I was most foolish. Powell's is what part of my heaven would look like! Aisles upon aisles of floor-to-ceiling shelves stuffed with books of all different types. There are, like, 5 stories of this craziness. The store takes up an entire block in the Pearl District. It is MASSIVE. And yes, it is an older store, but that doesn't really matter when all of the book covers are gleaming. It reminds me a little of Shakespeare & Company (the most fantastic little English bookshop in Paris), but not as cozy.

We all ended up leaving with an armload of books. I've already flagged this place as a Must Return before I leave.

We also stopped by Henry's Tavern for happy hour (yes, even on Saturday!). If Powell's is a booklover's paradise, then Henry's is made for beer lovers. They advertise over 100 "well chosen" beers on tap. Some of the tappers (or whatever they're called) had a cool label or figurine head. I chose my first drink based on that alone. Check it out:


It was extremely crowded, and we had to fight to grab some bar stools. The food prices were great (everything between $2-$4). Considering this place is known for drinks and not food, the eats were pretty good. Between the four of us, we managed to try about 7 different types of beer. Note to others: never ever order a Black Cherry Stout. It is disgusting and tastes like cough syrup. The bartender very nicely gave us a shot taster first. Smart man. He said most people who order it end up hating it, so he wanted us to try it first.

Henry's is also on the Must Return list. I think K & SS (when they come visit next weekend!) would love it!

Visitor Weekend! Part 1: Mother of a good time

This past weekend was a bust in terms of studying. Zilch got done. Instead, it was pretty much all playtime. M & BB came to visit! On our agenda: shop, eat, shop and eat. We accomplished our goals completely. Good job, us!


Friday night started at Mother's Bistro in downtown Portland. J and I walked by this place during our first week and thought it looked totally charming what with half of the restaurant done up in French country decor and the other half called "The Velvet Lounge." We unfortunately just missed happy hour, but no sweat -- we don't mind drinking past 7pm! It was packed to the gills that evening and our host was a crazy cool half-Asian gay dude who teased us about how tall J was (he didn't believe that tall Asian girls existed).

I was hoping to get a table in the Velvet Lounge (which had that slick sultry vibe thing going on because of its velvet booths and eclectic music) but we were led to a table in the main dining room. I'm not a fan of shabby chic, but the room was very pretty in a cozy, antique way. There were glass chandeliers hanging from the ceiling every few feet, including a massive gorgeous one in the front room. The food itself was decent, though not spectacular (so no point in posting the food pics.) This place also falls into the BTDT zone, but it was a lovely way to start the weekend off.

 

Bacon Pancakes you say?

Let's back up here and start from the beginning.

The drive up to Portland from SF was long (10hrs!), but beautiful. We passed some pretty towns and lots of sheeps farms. Did you know that there are truly a few black sheep? I just thought that was an expression.

After settling into the apartment (which is nicer and more spacious than expected), K, J and I headed downtown for dinner. Note to everyone: downtown Portland is DEAD at night. There are lots of teens wearing bushy ski hats sitting on the corners asking for money, but otherwise, it's pretty darn quiet. We wandered around and after consulting Yelp (iphones are ever so handy), ate some pasta at Roma Restaurant. It was adequate, but not deserving of its good reviews.

The next morning we decided to try The Original Pancake House, based on B's hearty rec. Even better, it's only a few blocks away from our apt. We bundled up (it was COOOOLD) and got there before 10am only to discover a HUGE waiting line already.  Hey, that's a good sign, right?

But guess what. Turns out, there are Original Pancake Houses in Cali! And I've already been to one. Oh well, no matter. We waited anyway because....this is the ORIGINAL Original Pancake House. The one that started it all! That fact in itself would have cinched our decision, but what tipped the scale was the menu. Check it out:



That's right. BACON PANCAKES. Side story: the weekend before moving to Portland, JS philosophized that a restaurant should just mix the two into one batter and sell it. So seeing it on the menu was like a sign. I had to try it, especially after making the bacon chocolate cupcakes the week before.

Ta-dah. Here's my big-ass plate of bacon pancakes:


In whose world is that a regular size order? Anyway, I am very sad to report that they sucked. The bacon was too crispy and frankly a little burnt. They didn't match well with buttery pancake batter. J and K (hee hee, I didn't even realize they're right next to each other in the alphabet til now) said their breakfasts were good, so I probably just ordered the wrong thing.

But would I go back? Nah. It's a BTDT ("Been There Done That"). Still, the place has a nice cozy vibe so it was a nice cozy way to start our Portland adventures. And when we left, it all of a sudden turned sunny and warm!