Mini-post: Pix Patisserie

We've covered Pix before. They are a blog favorite. Go there now.

Last night we made another stop there in celebration of a variety of birthdays. My wife's birthday last weekend, my friend Phil's birthday on Monday, and my own yesterday.

As usual, Pix is great. We went to the location on Williams and Failing in North Portland. Compared to the Division location, this one is better for seating and service. At my last visit, the Division location had a sit-down bar and a smattering of small tables, but it was essentially counter-service for dessert; the North Portland location has a large number of tables attended to by wait-staff that bring you menus, take your orders, etc.

I was stuffed with sushi and, as such, really didn't plan on getting anything. I was able to walk by the dessert case without changing that plan.

At the table, though, I looked over the menu (here's one from MenuPix which appears to be not-quite-complete) out of curiosity and was sucked in by the Pix Float. Chocolate stout beer with house-made mocha ice cream.



Awesome. Buy one.

(Oh - wife had the Amelie and was quite satisfied. If you want something solid, not a bad choice, though I'd opt for the Queen of Sheba Truffle Cake).

Serratto

After dinner at Sunsai, my pals took me down the street to Serratto for dessert. A pretty penny was spent on the decor of this restaurant. Sadly, the chairs we had that night were quite uncomfortable, about an inch too tall.

But however uncomfortable the chairs were, the dessert Tuesday night was fabulous. I chose the Milk Chocolate Cobbler. A pool of warm chocolate was covered with a crust that was topped with vanilla bean gelato. Decadent, rich, creamy, and remarkable.

It's been too long since I had dinner at Serratto, so I can't comment on it. But, it's worth investigating, if only to have another Milk Chocolate Cobbler.

Papa Haydn

Ah, dessert. I do miss living on NW 23rd...because parking is next to impossible now when we head over to Papa Haydn. But, if you can find a spot to plant your auto, the time it took you to find that precious piece of real estate will be well worth it. Papa Haydn's food is good (which I won't talk about now, as we didn't have dinner at Papa Haydn's last night), but the real reason to go is the dessert.

Besides the 15 or so staples that Papa Haydn has ready every night, day in and day out, there is the Dessert Special menu, which consists of another dozen plus desserts. Deciding is difficult, because they are all so tantalizing. What helps is that Papa Haydn keeps all of the desserts on display in the case.

Usually, my wife and I share. But, I felt greedy last night. So, she choice the Boccone Dolce, which consists of "Swiss meringues drizzled with semi-sweet chocolate, layered with fresh fruit and chantilly cream." Light, sweet and satisfying (I got a couple of bites...isn't she sweet?).

I chose one of the specials, the Mayan Chocolate Cake. It's a chocolate cake, infused with cardamom and cinnamon, slathered with a chocolate ganache. It was, perhaps, one of the best pieces of cake I've had in many, many months.

Desserts run $7.00 +, but each is a healthy portion of sweet goodness. I've tried about a dozen of the desserts over the past several years, and I've never been disappointed.

Pix Patisserie

So, to end what (by far) has been my most prolific day of eating out in a very, very long time, my wife's family and I went out to Pix Patisserie after our tasty dinner. Pix has two locations (one in North Portland, a little north of Emmanuel Hospital, and the other on SE Division at around 34th). Since we were already in NoPo, we headed under I-5, past the hospital, and north on Williams to get our fine dessert.

Pix is extremely impressive. When you walk into the NoPo location, you are greeted by a wide-open space (especially in the summer, when they can roll up the garage-door like windows to create an open-air space) that is fairly minimal in decoration, until you look at the dessert case.



There is where Pix's art lies. In a variety of delectable, irresistable, and entirely too-good-to-be-true dessert choices that defy you to pick one.

I usually get the Queen of Sheba Truffle Cake. Last time I was there, I got the Shazam (which is served in a bag made of chocolate!). This time, I opted for The Royale.



The Royale is described in the following way:

Chocolate mousse blankets a crisp hazelnut praline filling and dacquoise base.
Grab your paper Burger King tiara and indulge yourself!

Indeed. I don't know how to put into words how good this dessert was. It was worth the entire $6.50 it cost, and probably more. Usually, when there with friends late at night, I'll order a beer to go with my dessert. Given the day's indulgences (which, as I type, I'm starting to feel rather acutely), I opted for a glass of water. I was able to down the entire dessert, but I warn you that the treats here are as rich in your gut as they are on your palate. If you plan on hitting Pix after a meal, make sure to leave a little extra room before you go there.

For four people the tab came in at $21.75. Not too bad, given how indulgent we felt in the moment. I really can't advise you in too-strong words that you need to try Pix, at least once. It is one of the guiltiest pleasures Portland has to offer.