Caro Amico

I likes me some Italian food. The problem is that I haven't found a great many decent places in town for good Italian grub. Most places seem to go with a "more is better" mentality that doesn't always pan out.

We've covered Italian in the past here. Looking at the list of restaurants that have made the list, the only really noteworthy ones are the fairly expensive ones. Pastini Pasteria is actually pretty good, but otherwise there's really a lot of schlock out there.

We've also covered Caro Amico before, but that was related to their pizzas. We haven't had a sit-down meal there for awhile.

Which is part of what excited me about Wednesday. For Father's Day, we took my father-in-law to Caro Amico, which is one of his favorite old haunts. Unfortunately, we took my kids as well, which made it hard to really enjoy the atmosphere or to really get into the food. This review will suffer on that account.

The view from Caro Amico is nice. We were on the middle floor, which has a deck/patio area overlooking the sloping west side down to the river.



The third floor has a better view, but there was a private party up there and I didn't wish to disturb them to get you a photo.

I've recently been trying to count calories somewhat (believe-it-or-not, considering my lunch at BrunchBox today), so I tried to avoid pasta for dinner and stick with something a little less carb-o-riffic.

My wife and I split a chopped salad as an appetizer. Delicious. A green salad with a nice light vinaigrette, it also had bits of salami, olives, and provolone cheese. The full salad could easily feed three, and we left part of it untouched.

For dinner I went with the Steak Marsala. This isn't in my normal wheelhouse, since I generally like to stick with more traditional pasta dishes, but traditional pasta didn't fit as well into my current dietary scheme.

My dish was a flat-iron steak topped with mushrooms, sun-dried tomatoes and garlic in a marsala sauch. It was served with some penne pasta in marinara, which I did take a couple of bites of.



(Sorry for how dark the picture is; my wife gets bent when I get all food-bloggy on her).

The meal ended up being very satisfying, even leaving half the pasta aside. The steak was well-prepared, and the flavors worked well together without any being over-powering. I drank a Lagunitas IPA with my meal, and it was fabulous.

For four adults and two kids the tab was about $112 (pre-tip), which wasn't too bad. Service was great, atmosphere was nice (to the extent that I could enjoy it); I'd continue to say that Caro Amico is among the top Italian places in town.

Der Rheinlander

I've been to the Rheinlander in the past, but it's been at least 10 years since my last visit. I went at the suggestion of a friend recently on a nice Saturday evening, expecting to take advantage of the early dinner menu, which really isn't much cheaper than the real menu but is presented as a bargain option.

I didn't make reservations, but since I decided to take a group with me (myself, wife, 2 kids, mother-in-law and brother-in-law) I thought it reasonable to call ahead. The person who answered was very pleasant, gave good phone if you will, and told me that while I couldn't get on the list, there was no line and I'd only need to wait about 5 minutes upon arrival. All great.

Upon arrival, the same person (I know because I checked later) didn't even look up as we walked through the door and didn't speak a word to me until I approached her. This might not be such a big deal, except I've been there many times and received a warmer greeting and have come to expect it. And, since it wasn't like she was addressing a long line of people, there wasn't a readily apparent and obvious explanation. Once I approached her to get on the list, she said it would be 2o minutes (this only 5 minutes after I called in to say I'd be there in 5 minutes), which was further un-plussing. And then, unlike every other host/hostess I've met there, she didn't refer me or my kids to the apple cider station or the toys that are available for people waiting. All off-putting.

So, I wasn't impressed with the hostess; out of fairness, though, I will note that during every other visit to Gustav's/The Rheinlander (they share the building and the host staff), I've been pleased with the initial experience.

Upon seating, we were taken into the virtually-empty restaurant. I think 8 tables out of 30+ were occupied. My guess is that the reason the wait was so long was because the waitstaff wasn't there yet; my opinion is that if you're going to be open to accomodate people, you need to have adequate staff on-site to do so. That said, once seated our waitress was readily available, and super-nice. Really, I haven't had such a good waitress in awhile, and I like to test waitresses out. The waitress met almost all of the food quickly (surprisingly so, in fact), which may have been a function of the slowness of the hour but was very nice nonetheless. She sang us two songs from The Sound of Music to make my daughter happy, and she and her busser brought each of my daughters a balloon just because.

The only downgrade was that she left my beer empty for several minutes before seeing if I wanted a refill. In her defense, she was setting up a large-party table that required some time to be spent away from us.

The food was good. With German food, you either love it or hate it. I love the flavor but always end up feeling like I've eaten too much. Rheindlander's fondue is fantastic; I'd go there just for that (and, in fact, I think that's the major premise behind Gustav's). For dinner, I had the Kraut Roulade (German cabbage rolls) and they were fantastic; my waitress stated that this was her favorite dish, which swayed me that way, and I'm glad I tried them. I sampled my wife's Jagerschnitzel, which is basically chicken breast with a mushroom and paprika gravy, and it was okay. My mother-in-law and brother-in-law both ordered chicken schnitzel, which was a bit dry and boring.

The beer at the Rheinlander is all pretty good, and they'll serve you a stein of it (if you want) which is great.

The atmosphere is gimicky, I think. German cottage decor, replete with plates on the walls and over-worked wood and lederhosen on the staff. It can be distracting or it can be great, depending on what you want out of the experience. It's so subjective in that sense that I won't knock it, I'll just state it and let the reader/eater decide what they think.

The prices are high. I honestly feel like everything was overpriced by a couple of bucks. I may be wrong, and that's fine, but I'd generally avoid The Rheinlander for the price alone. I feel like they limit themselves in that way, but they have a huge portion of the gimicky German cottage restaurant market, so maybe they're okay with that.

Overall, the experience was a good one. Good food, nice atmosphere, great wait-staff, and (more often than not) a good entry/exit experience as well. I'm pro-Rheinlander for a once-a-year event if you don't mind spending so dough. I'm pro-Gustav's for a monthly fondue, beer, and potato pancake outing that's more accessible and probably more enjoyable as well.

Laurelwood Pizza Company (and thoughts on kid-friendly places)

Close followers of our blog know that your humble authors are all laden with at least a kid each. Friends of the blog might know that I was blessed with a second child in October.

What this means is that we're always keyed-in to whether a place is good for family. Though we don't set out specifically to find family-friendly locales most of the time, they do need to be (at least) family-tolerant, and where we have kids that don't seem well attended-to, we're sure to take notice in these pseudo-pages. In fact, I've thought of creating a family-friendly tag, but we're over 100 posts now, and I don't feel like taking the time to go back through everything.

If you've got a kid, shoot us an e-mail and we'll let you know if any given restaurant will be good for you.

We've actually caught some guff in prior comments from folks who didn't seem interested in our thoughts on family-friendliness. Most restaurant blogs in town seem concerned with the aesthetics of their objects without addressing the dirty business of how places accomodate family units. And, for some, that's what they're looking for. We, though, are a breeder-friendly experience, and we refuse to apologize for pointing out when a place that is open to all isn't conducive to the messiness that is a family meal.

I digress. Sort of.

Last weekend, the Missus and I decided we wanted to go to a family-friendly place with some friends of ours who are also doubly-blessed with offspring. It fell on me to pick a location.

I racked my brain. I knew that I wanted somewhere that had something for the kids to do, because that would allow for conversation with our friends. My wife suggested Out of This World Pizza in Hillsboro, but I really didn't have the energy to go there and chase my 3 year-old around, nor did I want to sacrifice good food. And, frankly, living in SE Portland makes Hillsboro less-than-ideal for me.

I thought about Laurelwood Public House on Sandy. I love the place as a concept -- they make good beer and their food is decent, and they have a small play area for kids. But they're always too packed and I wanted pizza, after my wife had planted the pie idea in my head with the afore-mentioned Out of This World.

How about I split the baby, I thought? There's a Laurelwood on 40th, just off of NE Sandy, that serves pizza instead of burgers-and-such. And so we ended up going to the Laurelwood Pizza Company.

Pleasant surprise: We didn't have to wait for seating. Which was a shock. Here we were at 6:30 on a Saturday, and there was no wait to seat a party of 4 adults and 3.5 kids (I never count babies as a full person since they can sit in a lap or be set on a floor in their carrier if needed). Service was prompt and attentive and between order and food delivery, we only waited about 15 minutes (though the tater tot appetizer came within 10).

During that time, our kids were able to enjoy themselves in the kids play area, which is stocked with toys and carpeted for a moderate amount of safety. There were several unsupervised kids there who seemed hell-bent on finding ways to maim themselves, but the area is set up so that attentive parents can still monitor it from their table.

The menu is typical Italian joint. Salads, pastas, stromboli sandwiches, etc. The food, though, is quite good.

Our friends ordered the Big Island, which is a fancified name for the Hawaiian. Not special at all, but for a fine beer-batter dough and a good sauce. My wife and I are generally a little more adventerous, so she selected the Tuscany: roasted garlic infused olive oil, mozzarella, prosciutto, sun-dried tomatoes, fresh basil, goat cheese & balsamic reduction. It was an impressive pie, so much so that my wife declared it her second-favorite in town (the first being the Stevie's Wonder at Caro Amico).



I give bonus points to brewpubs. I like beer. And I like places that are able to show off the fact that they make their own. And Laurelwood does this, in spades, with a brewroom that is prominently displayed through some windows in their restaurant.



Perhaps the biggest seal of approval was from our friends, who are difficult to dine with. They don't really like anything, and I wasn't sure how the night would turn out. The wife, at least, loved the place, and demanded we let them know when we were heading back (which should be soon).

What did we end up spending? Well, I picked up the tater tots for the table. Two beers, two glasses of wine for my wife, a kids meal for my daughter (crappy mac-and-cheese, but she seemed to enjoy it) and our large $20 pie all for about $50. Not cheap, but we didn't really attempt to hold the tab down. A normal dinner for three of pizza and a couple of sodas (and water for the kid) could easily have been done for $30 with tip, so the place can be friendly to your wallet as well as to your kids.

Add this place to our list of faves. The food is more-than-decent and it works for real people in many ways.

Yuki

The joy, and the curse, of sushi is in its goodness. Not just in the yummo-factor, but the good-for-you-ness of it.

This was the very discussion I had with my cohorts last night as we ate a tasty birthday dinner at Yuki, on the corner of NE 14th and Broadway.

For me, the comment had double-meaning. I've embarked on a thinness initiative, as I'm going to a tropical locale in May, and I know for a fact that I have absolutely no self-control where sushi is involved, so gluttony was a foregone conclusion.

But I also knew I was planning a write-up, and with the variety of a sushi joint combined with the volume of items ordered combined with how sushi's always served on a giant platter that makes it difficult to differentiate what you're looking at or biting into, an item-specific post became a lost cause quickly.

The two large Kirins didn't help the cause.

So, for a general review of Yuki that's sadly lacking in food specific details...

Yuki is not the best sushi place in town. If I wasn't using a gift certificate to subsidize a large portion of my meal, I'd probably choose Yoko's or Masu for birthday sushi. That said, the food at Yuki is good, the fish is of fine quality, and they cover all of the basics ably. I find the food part of the experience superior to several places, including Koji's and Kappaya, though my socks weren't blown off by any means. But there are definitely better places to go (Meeka is my other top choice at this point...).

The menu is ample. Thanks to a new site I'm growing increasingly enamored with, MenuPix, here's a link to photos of their menu (so that I don't have to provide you the mostly-useless low-res shot I took with my cell phone).

The atmosphere is a mixed bag. The space is cramped, which can be a love-it-or-hate-it thing depending on what you're looking for. The tightness is appropriately countered by low lighting that accentuates the brightly-lit food prep area, staffed by uniformed and busy susharistas. Toward the back of the joint is a hall cluttered with boxes and high chairs that is readily visible from much of the restaurant and which detracts from the ambience. Probably due to a lack of storage space, this isn't a deal-breaker by any means but eliminates this place as an option for romantic dates.



Service isn't super here. Our waitress was very nice, but appeared either a bit too busy or a bit too disorganized, so that we were often needing water or beverage. One of our platters was delivered without ginger or wasabi, and it took several minutes to get the attention of the waitress to get the problem solved. Service is a big thing to this blog, so Yuki gets dinged here.

Presentation was fine. Nicely-arranged platters that were appealing to the eye. They made a ton of sushi look manageable, which was nice. I've seen better, I've seen worse.





Value was alright. There were six adults who ran up a $180 tab between food and drink. I think $30 a head for too-much-sushi is very fair.

Overall, Yuki is a solid sushi joint with a large and varied menu that's a decent price. The atmosphere is okay for friends hanging out, but not ideal for a date. The service is courteous but needs improvement. You can do better (and, if you're looking for sushi, I'd encourage you to go to Yoko's or Masu first), but you can do worse.

The Olive Garden

Rusty and I had a brief discussion as to whether we should include the Olive Garden in this blog...after all, it's just a chain. But, I felt that not including the meal we had at the the Olive Garden the other night would violate the spirit of this blog, which is to talk about where we eat. It would be snobby not to talk about it.

Rusty's family and my family met at the Olive Garden by Mall 205 this past Friday night. I remember when the Olive Garden first came to the Portland area...it was the coolest thing around (I was ten, give me a break). The Olive Garden is certainly a chain restaurant, in that the food is the same from place to place. Our meals were tasty, but nothing too exceptional. Rusty had a pizza, his wife had the soup and salad, and my wife and I both had the five cheese ziti al forno. Our daughters (ages two and three respectively) shared a dish of spaghetti. As is always the case, they brought us plenty of salad and bread sticks.

The Olive Garden is not cheap. Meal prices range from $11 to $18.

I think what was great about this particular meal was the service. Our server was terrific! A word of caution, this server did come on the heels of two very atrocious servers. But I have found, over the years, that the Olive Garden tends to hire and employee well-trained people. As Rusty observed, in a city like Portland where there are so many places to eat, sometimes what makes or breaks a restaurant is the service. I guess that's why we waited 45 minutes to be seated in a very full restaurant. The Olive Garden may not be exceptional food, but it is a nice place to go and enjoy a warm meal with good service and friends.

Sayler's Old Country Kitchen

Sayler's Old Country Kitchen, located at 10519 SE Stark Street, has been around since 1946. I've been eating there for half of it's existence. Tonight, on a whim, my wife, child and I decided to stop in for dinner. It's been a long time...a really long time. It's not the type of place I normally take my wife. But, once I suggested it, it called to us. The moment we sat down, all the childhood memories came flooding back. The prices have gone up since I first darkened the door, but it really is a pretty good deal for the price.

Within five minutes of being seated, the relish tray arrived; carrots, celery, baby corn, pickles, olives. There was also the potato topping, which is mostly sour cream, that arrived at the same time. While nibbling, we placed our order. My wife opted for the fish and chips. I ordered the Chicken Thigh Dinner with the baked potato. We both ordered coleslaw. All coleslaw that I eat is compared to this coleslaw. It is the standard by which I judge all others. It tasted just as good as always. While waiting for the coleslaw to arrive, the bread, butter and garlic butter arrived. I'm glad we opted not to have the onion rings tonight.

Deep into the second slice of bread is when the coleslaw showed up. Minutes after finishing the coleslaw came the main course. I should have just requested the doggy bag at that moment, because I was pretty full. But, I pressed on. No less than four thighs were on the plate, all deep fried (you could order it baked, but why???). I ate two, and the potato. Ice cream comes with the meal. I had the spumoni. My wife had the Tin Roof Sundae. My daughter had bites of both. The entire meal, minus the tip, was $30.00. We didn't order anything for our child, as she just shared what we had with her, and I still brought two thighs home with my very full tummy...fully satisfied.

Russell Street Bar-B-Que

Few things help inspire the struggling amateur food blogger like a good night of barbecue, so it's not surprising to see my long-standing funk (which has generally shut down all writing) shattered after tonight's trip to Russell Street.

Context first. I love barbecue. L-O-V-E it. I've tried to make my rounds to Portland's better BBQ establishments over time, because if I have any genres that demand my loyal devotion to schlepping about and taking in new places, BBQ is at the top of the list (the other genres that push me out to try new places are sushi and breakfast).

To this point, I have been very clear. My favorite BBQ place has been Cannon's (33rd and Killingsworth) for quite some time. At one point I was a Big Daddy's devotee, but they've changed over time so that now I'll go to them in a pinch (and now that I've moved, those pinches are guaranteed to be fewer and farther between). In my opinion, Cannon's is in its own class, with Podnah's Pit coming in a very solid, but distant, second, and then a bunch of also-rans including Clay's and Campbell's, both of which have a better reputation than they deserve (in my book). There are two places that have been on my list of must-visits for some time, based on word-of-mouth: Yam-Yam's (which I've still entirely failed to get to), and Russell Street.

My mother-in-law told my pregnant wife that she wanted to take us out to dinner, to Russell Street, tonight, and fortunately for me the plans were made without my even being consulted. We met at 7:00, prime dinner time in most Portland restaurants.



From the outside, Russell Street is inviting. taking up several street-front windows near MLK, it's a bigger place than I imagined (how had I not seen it before?) and its clean appearance gives you the feeling that these people are beyond trying to affect a down-home environment to fool you into liking the food; they let the food stand on its own. As you walk in, the clean and open space sends the same message.



One of the things I always try to mention in my posts is the appearance. Sometimes being dingy or cramped or what-not is fine, if there's a reason for it. But, generally, I trend toward enjoying open spaces with good flow and a polished feel, and that's what you get at Russell Street. Visually, the only real distractions (not meant in a bad way) are a variety of pigs set up in the middle of the restaurant in a wall area, which are cute, and a neat display of hotsauces that is interactive, in that you can go and grab some for your table, if you wish.

The menu is impressive. Generally, there are the appetizers (I was tempted to try the hush puppies, but didn't want to spoil my appetite for the main event), salads (which I don't really believe in at a barbecue place, but c'est la vie), and the real stuff. The real stuff comes in platters (with corn bread and 2 sides), or you can have the daily special, which comes with one side. There's also a kid's menu, which is always appreciated but, frankly, wasn't expected here.

My general first meals at a barbecue place are either the brisket, because I love it, or else the pork ribs, because they're a staple and most everyone does them well. Tonight I chose the brisket with the optional 3 ribs added on for an additional $4. The sides with my platter were the greens and the barbecue beans. My wife chose pulled pork and got some cheese grits on the side. My mother-in-law chose the blue plate special (the daily), which was a shrimp dish along with grits. My daughter had the mac and cheese.

The service in general is great at this place, which is always a plus, and the extra perk here is that the food is quick as well. After ordering, our beverages (they serve a good variety of beers, mostly local micros, including the more-ubiquitous-by-the-day HUB tap) were out within 5 minutes, and our meals were served within another 10.



In terms of the food, I'll discuss by item. The beans were tasty. Not too sugary and thick enough to almost hold my spoon up, with nicely sized beans that pleased very well. The greens were ample; most places skimp a bit on the greens, but this serving was mostly greens with a bit of broth instead of the other way around, and they were prepared just right, well-cooked without being soggy and limp. To finish discussing the various sides, the grits were serviceable, but I expect cheesiness out of cheesy grits and these were sorta blah, for lack of a better word. My daughter had the mac and cheese, which is offered as a side, and it was home-style. Not creamy, which is great, and firm-noodled with a flavor of real cheese which was okay, but I've yet to find a mac and cheese at a Portland restaurant that is cheesy enough to justify the purchase. My daughter's mac and cheese came with fries, which are another of the sides offered, and they are serviceable but nothing special. Which, I suppose, is a good thing for fries to be; they don't hijack the meal, and they don't ruin it, they just fill it out nicely.

The meat was exceptional as to the meat itself. The ribs were meaty, the brisket was thick-sliced and plentiful. There are several choices of sauce, and I chose the classic, which is someone spicy but not anything designed to distract you from that which it's designed to highlight. The ribs were a bit over-cooked in my opinion; I like them to fall of the bone, and these were just a little too firm and dry in my opinion. They were good, but not Cannon's good. The brisket was the best I've had yet in town, though. It was cooked so that it was literally falling apart on the plate, the texture was lovely, and the flavor of the meat itself was smoky and sweet and good. My main criticism with the meat is the lack of extra sauce; on the brisket it was drizzled on top and running a bit off the side, but with the ample serving provided the sauce sort of ran out and I was left wanting more, which either highlights an over-dependence on my part or an under-provision on theirs. Altogether, the meal was filling and good.

Price-wise, it wasn't bad either. The blue plate special is $12 every day. My brisket platter was $12 and my pint of HUB Pale Ale was another $3.75. Kids menu items are about $3 each. So, for the four of us, we got out for a total of about $50, a great value.

All-in-all, Russell Street is a great place, and one I'd recommend highly. For the sheer enjoyment of the food, Cannon's still tops my list of Portland barbecue, but it's hurt by the lack of a real brick-and-mortar restaurant dining experience. If you're looking for a place to go and have a night out, this place is definitely one of the better options out there.

Stanford's

We have posted about Stanford's before. This is a re-review, and I felt obligated to write it.

I have been eating at Stanford's over a decade. It's always been a stand-by. I could always count on a solid meal for a fair price.

My wife and I decided to get a bite to eat the other night. We sat down, noticed the new decor, and we looked down at the menu. My jaw nearly dropped out of my mouth. There had been a price adjustment.

The food was still solid. It's the price...it's become too much. This adjustment took it from a place where I could eat once a week, to a place where I might eat once every nine months...maybe. The menu's pricing is now more like Paragon, without the ambiance or originality. The food is still good, but not for the price. Stanford's is off my list.

Concordia Ale House - Our first "Bad Service" tag-ee...

Our blog has long loved the Concordia Ale House. Not loved. LOVED. Which is why this is hard to say.

I may never go back.

In my opinion, food is half of the restaurant experience. The rest is composed of the various experiential points that make a place worthwhile. Price, ambiance, and, of course, service.

JLowe and I arranged, tonight, to meet at Concordia Ale House for dinner, at 6:45, with our wives and kids. We arrived at the appointed time and were seated promptly.

Then began the trouble. About 3 minutes later, JLowe's neighbors, a group of about 6 altogether, arrived and were seated on the other side of the restaurant. At that point, there was one open table remaining, and every other table was full. Shortly after, some other people were seated at the open table.

Typically busy Friday night, in my opinion.

We watched the two waitresses make the rounds, serving beer and drinks and food to the other tables, and continued to chat amongst ourselves. I decided I would have the Firehouse Burger and a Naughty Nellie beer. My wife decided she'd have chicken strips with Buffalo sauce. We decided between the families that the kids would split a grilled cheese. I don't know what JLowe and his wife were going to order, but they'd decided as well. The menus were closed and put aside, and we waited.

And waited.

And waited.

After about 20 minutes of waiting, we started watching. The people after us had been served. The people at the table behind me and my wife were chatted up and served by the waitstaff, as were the people at the table behind JLowe and his wife. We continued to watch as the large party off to our left (the wall was to my right) was addressed. An empty table outside was bussed.

JLowe waved his menu in the air, to the chagrin of us all. I sat, with my back to the remainder of my party, just trying to make eye contact with a waitress. JLowe talked to his neighbors, as a waitress was at their table, and made sure to mention that we hadn't been served yet (and the waitress looked towards our table).

Still, nothing. About a half hour, without water, without beverage, without food, and with waitresses actually looking at us and passing us up.

In my opinion, this is absolutely unacceptable. Even at the cheapest, crappiest franchise places, the wait staff knows to at least say "be right there" or send some water your way. We didn't even get the courtesy of a "hi" after being seated.

Thank God Cannon's, one of my favorite places, was nearby. After a half hour, we took our good legal tender there, while JLowe and his wife grabbed some stuff from New Seasons. We went back to their house and ate our food there.

So, what do you think? Would you go back? Frankly, I don't know if I will...

DiNicola's

I love Italian food. I find it hard to have an unpleasant Italian food experience.

And I love and respect tradition, honor it, and respect a place that can establish one.

So when my friends wanted to go out to dinner last week at DiNicola's, which I'd never been to (but had heard great things about), I was thrilled to take them up on the invite. And I was looking forward to what I'd find.

This review, by the way, will end up being a "pass" recommendation, but I'm going to start with what I liked.

First, the place is cramped and a bit messy in appearance. While in many ways that could be a bad thing, it fits well within the archetype of the family-owned Italian restaurant, and helps sell the place as being thoroughly what it sets out to be. When you sit there, you feel like you can expect good food.


Second, the food has some good qualities. The garlic bread (which you have to pay extra for, and which I'd rather see as a throw-in) is good. The pizzas are made with quality ingredients and have good flavor. The noodles are good quality.


Finally, the service was great, and the people were all friendly. And kids are welcomed and accomodated, which is always a plus.


The problem with the place is that the food is too rich, across the board. Nobody at our table is a dainty eater; we all had skills. I ordered a pasta dish with a "Mezza Mezza" sauce, meaning it was a mix of marinara and cream-based. My wife ordered a pizza, figuring she and my daughter would share a couple of slices and we'd take the rest home. Our friends ordered a separate pizza to split.


I couldn't get through much of my dish. Not that is tasted bad, but it just sits in your stomach like a rock. I took some home and tried again for lunch the next day, and ran into the same problem. It just sits too heavy and ends up making a person feel a bit queasy. My wife had the same issue with her pizza, and a couple of days later I had a slice and, again, felt gastronomically overwhelmed. Our friends didn't offer any actual complaints, but they didn't seem all that pleased with what they'd ended up getting.


We ended up throwing away about half of the pizza because, although it was tasty, it just wouldn't sit well.


Now, it could be that we were there on an off-night, either for us or for the restaurant. I'm open to input to that point, and I'm actually interested in getting some feedback from readers on this place. But given my experience, I'm not going to be heading back anytime soon, unless I hear some pretty clear indications that I'm being unduly harsh...

La Bamba

Having recently finished a weekend of eating out a lot, generally in celebration of my 7th wedding anniversary but also because I like eating out, I figured this week would involve lots of not-eating-out. So what a pleasant surprise when my friend Dave asked if my wife and I would like to go out todinner tonight.

The decision of where to eat was left to me, and I opted for Mexican food.

A couple of years ago, I mentioned in an old post on the Portland Metroblog that Portland has a serious dearth of good Mexican food. Recently, one of my favorite places, Romo’s, shut down, and I was left in a bit of a learch until my wife heard about La Bamba. Located on SE 49th and Powell, the restaurant appears to be family-owned.

In my two visits, I’ve found two truths. The place is not busy. And the food is some of the best Mexican I’ve ever had.

Last night, I opted for the Burrito Cancun. A combination of shrimp, crab, and chicken stuffed into a flour tortilla, it was absolutely delicious. The beans that came with it were typically delicious black beans. The rice was good, not too dry and well-flavored, which I find to be the exception as opposed to the rule in the world of Mexican rices.



There’s a wide selection of drinks available, though I always lean towards beer with Mexican food. The restaurant has all the usual suspects in bottles (including Corona and Sol, which are the beers I lean towards in these contexts) as well as a variety of local micros and other beers (Dave had a Mirror Pond on tap).



La Bamba has a very diverse menu. See these examples...




I’ve found that although there are all of the usual things that one could jump to in order to have what they’re used to (chimichangas, fish tacos, etc.), I’ve also found that the menu has a lot of exciting stuff that I’ve never seen before, and as such I find La Bamba to be an exciting, and inexpensive, place to challenge my palate and discover something new. I hope to see you there.

Higgins

For our anniversary dinner, the wife and I headed out to Higgins, which we've been to once previously and like enough for a return visit.

The restaurant, located on Jefferson and Broadway in downtown Portland, is a beautifully-appointed place, ideal for a quiet dinner with someone special. The service is among the best in town, very attentive and quite knowledgeable about the components of the constantly-shifting menu and the over-sized bar selection. And the creations capitalize on local fare, as the place is owned and operated by local institution and super-chef Greg Higgins.

Upon arrival, we were greeted by a menu that boasted a variety of starters, mostly focussing on local fresh seafood and seasonal vegetable. My wife opted for the salad of "gathered greens," which has an interesting sound to it (so yuppy), while I had a wonderful potato-broccoli puree soup that was just fabulous.

For dinner, my wife opted for the off-menu special flat-iron steak. It came with potatoes and parsnips, but she had been hoping for polenta, and they were kind enough to make a substitution without any trouble.

I opted for the pasta e fagioli, as I've been shifting away from meaty dishes towards dishes lower in fat and higher in variety. For lack of a more insightful description, it was ridiculously good.

For dessert, my wife had a chocolate something-or-other. I had a warm apple crisp with vanilla bean ice cream.

The dinner was expensive, but also quite good. Higgins is a great event-type restaurant: anniversaries; birthdays; family-in-town. It isn't my favorite place, but I cannot say anything other than it's a great part of our local food scene.

Masu

On Saturday, JLowe and I took our wives out for sushi at Masu, on the 400 block of SW 13th.

My wife and I had been one time previously, around Christmas time, and had found it to be worth a quick return. The reasons to go there are numerous.

First, the place is incredibly hip. I've yet to find a sushi place in town that I just can't stand, but with each one you get a different vibe. There's the usually-cramped Koji's type places, which are generally not very big but are bright and clean and spare in appointments. There's Kappaya, on Division, which has okay food but is essentially a dive to sit in. There's Yoko's in SE Portland on Gladstone, which is still one of my favorite places, which is dimly lit but really non-descript, in my opinion, if you're trying to define the style.

Masu is different from them all. The place is just south of the Pearl District, but has all the industrial-hip, low-light and big windows flare of all of my favorite places there.

Of course, the reason to go to these places is never so much the atmosphere, but instead is about the food. And, as sushi goes, Masu is currently 1a on my list (if Yoko's is 1) of the top places in town.

The servings at Masu are generally quite generous. Nigiri, as usual, comes in servings of two pieces per order. Rolls generally come in servings of 6-12 pieces, depending on what kind you get. They aren't inexpensive, but that said, they are worth what you pay. The fish is very good quality, the combinations in the rolls are creative, and there are a variety of interesting sauces that get worked into the rotation which provide some interesting variety you don't get at most places.

And they have a neat nigiri order of quail egg on fish egg, which is good for impressing the ladies.




And then bonus points to any place that has a future-tech hand-warmer in the restroom...



Masu is incredible. I'll be going back to Yoko's to see if a re-ranking is in order. And I'm interested in suggestions for other sushi places in town, so share your thoughts...

The Chart House

For New Year's Eve, we went to one of my favorite restaurants...the Chart House. My wife and I were joined by Rusty and his wife.

Our reservations were for 8:30 pm. Alas, we were not seated until about 10 pm. The place was packed, and it was New Year's Eve, so I wasn't too upset. That was the only down-side to the evening.

We started with two appetizers, the crab-stuffed mushrooms and the calamari. Both were delicous, and there was enough for four people (even after the 1 1/2 hour wait).

For dinner, my wife had the Macadamia Crusted Mahi Mahi (she always has the Macadamia Crusted Mahi Mahi). I opted for the swordfish, blackened. She loved her selection (that's why she always gets it). And, I must say, my swordfish was the best I have ever had, anywhere. It was blackened to perfection, and the swordfish was moist and tender.

For dessert, each couple ordered the Hot Chocolate Lava Cake. Here's the description from the menu: "Godiva Chocolate Liqueur, molten center, Dreyer's® vanilla ice cream, served with warm chocolate sauce and Heath Bar Crunch>" The shorter description would be "chocolate sin." If you are going to select this for dessert, and you really must order it, please be advised that you must order it when you order your dinner, as it takes 20 minutes, to prepare.

All in all, a wonderful evening and meal...good company, good food and a good view. The Chart House demonstrated once again why it remains in my top ten restaurants in Portland.

Sunsai

For a belated birthday dinner, two of my pals took me out to Sunsai, located at 539 NW 21st Avenue this past Tuesday. I can't say that I am that discriminating when it comes to sushi, as I have only been to about five or six different places in Portland. But I will say that I did quite enjoy my meal.

I let my pals do most of the ordering, but I did have some say in a couple of the items. One item that just had to be tried was a sushi roll that included jalapenos...truly east meets west. I appreciated the spice that the jalapenos brought to the roll.

I also picked out some yellow tail tuna and some salmon sashimi. The fish came out draped across shredded daikon. Quite fresh, quite firm, quite delicious...if you are not afraid of fish in the raw.

The restaurant was clean. The service was punctual. All in all, a very nice experience. Price? Good sushi will always run you a few dollars. Come ready to spend.

Ruth's Chris

My wife and I went to Ruth's Chris the other night to celebrate the eight years that we have been together. There is no better way to say, "I love you," then over to perfect steaks.

I've been to several of the local steak houses in Portland, and I have to admit, Ruth's Chris is still my favorite. In fact, I have voted it my second favorite restaurant in Portland.

The interior is clean, well laid out and elegant. However, it's not so stuffy that you would feel under-dressed in a nice pair of jeans and a sweater.

The waitstaff is superb, quite friendly, very professional and prompt.

And the meat, well, it's to die for. I had the New York strip and my wife had the Kobe sirloin. I ordered the strip medium rare and the chef hit it right on the mark. It was flavorful and filling...nothing fancy, just salt, pepper in a bit of butter. Ruth's Chris serves a la cart, so if you want a side, you will have to order one. We chose to share the green beans, which was plenty for two.

My wife's Kobe sirloin was medium well. It was tenderized, so although I prefer my meat still mooing, I was quite satisfied with the bites she shared with me.

For dessert, we shared the chocolate sin cake. It had a strong coffee flavor to it, which was fine by me. Others might find it overbearing.

Ruth's Chris is not cheap. Our meal, with tip, came out to +$130.00. That bought us two drinks, two steaks, green beans and a single dessert. Come prepared to spend. Leave very very happy.

Laurelwood Public House and Brewery

Last night, in the ramp up to our 2nd Annual Stellaween festivities, we took our daughter and some family members out for dinner. Since the goal was to celebrate Stella's 2nd birthday (which is on the 29th, so we hence call this season Stellaween in honor of both her and the fun holiday she was born so close to), we decided to find a place that would be fun for her.

Unfortunately, Portland no longer has Farrell's Ice Cream Parlour (or Portland Ice Cream, the poseur that took it over). And we've sworn off of Chuck E. Cheese. So pickin's were slim.

My wife's dad suggested Laurelwood, which had also crossed my mind, seeing as they are touted as kid-friendly and a fun place for the whole family.

So we went. Upon arrival at the newest location, situated at 51st and Sandy in Northeast Portland, I was pleased at how clean and nice the space was to be in. I looked for the kid's play area, which I'd heard so much about. I was saddened to see it consisted of a small 4'x4' niche in the restaurant. If there was more for kids to do, I didn't see it.

We sat down and started looking for food, as various members of the family took turns running Stella to the play area. We were thrilled to find that Laurelwood has a happy hour every day, including Sunday, from 3-6 pm and from 9-close. Beers are $2.75/pint. Food's about $3.50 off of the happy hour menu.

We ordered two orders of the garlic fries to start. These are awesome. Fries, which in and of themselves are more or less normal (though none were soggy and all were fresh-cooked and crispy), topped with a bunch of minced garlic, some parsley, and some parmesan. They were simply delicious. I've never had garlic fries so good.

The menu is a bit all over the place, which made it hard for everyone to settle on something. There are menus that offer a nice selection, and then menus that offer too much. Laurelwood's falls in the second category. They'd benefit from finding a theme to work around, to help focus the mind of the diner and also to help complement their ample beer selection better.

I had a ton of trouble choosing. Until it was time to order, I was fixated on the crispy buffalo chicken sandwich. However, at the last minute, I switched to the santa fe burger (I'm a sucker for chiles and pepper jack cheese) with a side of onion rings. Total: $9.95.

The food wasn't fast getting out, but it wasn't too slow. We had a party of 8, and service took about 20 minutes, which is okay given that number of people. Our waitress was very friendly, if not entirely on-the-ball, and at least noticed empty drinks fairly promptly (though, on average, it would take 5 minutes to fill a drink order, though I was literally 8 feet from the bar). In terms of a place to go to enjoy company as well as food, Laurelwood does fit the bill.

I took some time to check out the play area with Stella. It was really a let-down. A few broken toys on a small city-scape carpet (if they'd had Hotwheel cars, we could've pretended to drive them on the roads, but alas they didn't). Toward the back corner of the space, I saw what appeared to be old mess of some sort under the carpet. There was no associated smell or crustiness or anything, but it conveyed a feeling of dinginess that was very unappealing. Stella didn't seem to mind, but at the same time she was obviously not that interested in the offerings for kids.

The food finally came and we all dug in. Stella ordered (via her parents, of course) the kids mac and cheese ala carte for $2.50 (you can get the main dish with fries and a dessert for $4.50), which she seemed to enjoy.

My burger initially looked like a sloppy joe. Though I didn't read the menu as indicating it, it was actually sort of a chili burger. The chiles were not really discernable, nor were any of the seasoning elements I'd homed in on while reviewing the dish on the menu. All in all, it was edible but disappointing. The onion rings were quite good, though, and didn't survive to make into my picture, below. My brother in law got the turkey burger, and he said it was good. My other brother in law got the open-faced meatloaf sandwich, which came with whipped potatoes (I tried them and they were alright, but not special) and green beans (cooked a bit too long, so more chewy than crispy, but seasoned nicely). I didn't get to sample the loaf itself, but he ate it all without any complaint, so it must have been at least decent.

My father-in-law ended up performing an act of grandfatherly exuberance, pulling out his card at the last minute to pay, so I never saw the bill. I think, for 8 people with drinks and the appetizers, we ended up around $100, which really isn't bad.

Laurelwood is touted as highly kid friendly. It's smoke free, generally clean, and noone minds your kid running from the table to the play area. But otherwise I don't see how it differs from most other restaurants. Perhaps other locations are more deserving of the kid-free mantle. The food is okay, but not special. The beer is good, and the plentiful happy hours make it a place to keep in mind, especially on a Sunday afternoon when you want to catch a game on the big screen over an affordable pint. It's a place that you'll never miss if you don't visit it, but also one that I could understand you liking if you're nearby and hungry.

Blue Moon Tavern & Grill

Last night I was disappointed and pleasantly surprised by McMenamins, all at once. Which pretty much sums up my life's experience with them.

The disappointments generally are outweighed by the pleasant times, which is why I keep going back.

Last night my wife and I and a bunch of friends (including JLowe and his missus) were all going to go to the Mission Theater to watch a movie, drink beer, and eat. When we got there, we found that the movie time was different from the listing that we'd read, so we scrambled to find an alternative. As I looked, through the magic of web-enabled cell phones, for other movies, the rest of the group agreed that, really, they were mostly just interested in the eating and beer. Which was fine with me.

So we headed a few blocks west to The Blue Moon, a McMenamins restaurant and bar located on the southeast corner of NW 21st and Glisan.

I've learned a few things over time about McMenamins restaurants. Don't expect good service. Don't expect consistent food. Always order tots. And only go there if beer is an essential part of your meal.

There were four couples in our party. There was plenty of seating, at 7:30 on a Friday, which was curious to me. The restaurant itself is neat looking, has a section near the bar with some pool tables for folks who want a more tavern-esque experience, and yet also has substantial sections of wall that can slide open on nice nights such as last night, to give the open-air effect. The only reason not to be there would be if you were looking for consistent food and/or good service.

Each of the fellows in our group ordered themselves a pitcher of beer. Really, that's the only cost-efficient way to handle things. Each pitcher is 3 pints, and for most guys that's just the right amount for a nice sit-down dinner where you plan on hanging with friends for awhile and chatting. My wife had a Ruby, JLowe's wife had a lemondrop of some sort, my friend Dave's wife stuck with water, and I don't remember what the fourth wife got. I had the Nebraska Bitter (which I liked quite a bit). JLowe opted for the porter, and the other two fellas got Hammerhead, which is my usual choice.

To start, we ordered two orders of tots for the table. I highly recommend the Cajunized tots, which are sprinkled with spicy stuff and are always delicious. We also had the regular tots, which I didn't like because they exposed some sort of odd taste in the oil. Of course, that didn't stop me from eating some of them.



We went on to scan the menu, which for me is generally a mere formality. My food choices at the McMenamins joints are usually pizza of some sort, or the Communication Breakdown Burger. I decided to diverge from the norm, though, and go with the Captain Neon. Something about bleu cheese and bacon was sounding mighty tasty last night. And, on the side, more tots.



Now, the surprise. Our server was (for the most part) very attentive last night, and the food was served rather quickly. And it was delicious. All perks, because I generally resign myself to poor service and slow food delivery at McMenamins, the trade-off being ample beverage.

For my wife and I (and keeping in mind that I had a whole pitcher of beer and we decided to pay for the two orders of tots we'd bought for everybody) the bill came up to about $37. Not that bad, really.

My parting thoughts? If you're looking for pub-type atmosphere, McMenamins is never a horrible choice. You'd do better, generally, at Concordia Ale House. You'd do worse, generally, at Widmer. If you're going to McMenamins, though, don't expect great service, order some tots, and buy pitchers, not pints.

Andina

Andina is located at 14th and NW Gleason and is Peruvian. We went with a large group, so our meal was served in this private room below the restaurant. My, oh my, what a place!

We started off with several dishes from the menu de Entradas, such as the Yuca Rellena (I had three because I couldn't stop), the Tortilla de Patata (quite heavy and quite delicious), the Conchas a la Parilla (unbelievable), the De Pescado 5 Elementos (melted in my mouth) and the Palta Rellena de Cangrejo (the crab was very mild).

I really could have stopped at that point. I was full and happy, but we pressed on to the main course. I chose the Seco a la Norena. Now, the flavor of the lamb shank was mind-boggling (sweet and savory), but, I must confess, it was also a bit drier then I like. My wife had the ribeye steak...of which I had a small bite or two. I've eaten several ribeyes in my life in several steak houses in Portland. This ribeye was phenomenal. Ruth's Chris should take note.

Dessert. Why? Because I couldn't pass at that point. I went with the trio of Creme Brulee. Each night, different flavors are used. Last night my trio consisted of coconut, key lime and Kahlua. Each was quite tasty, but each was a bit too soft.

The Service. Our server was quite gifted, well-mannered, knowledgeable, pleasant, timely, you get the picture.

Will I go back? Absolutely. Andina has won me over.

Jake's Famous Crawfish

Last night we had dinner at Jake's Famous Crawfish located at 401 SW 12th. It's been around for over 100 years. And, I could taste why it's still around.

We were with a large group, and we all started with some appetizers; crab cakes, coconut shrimp, calamari...all delicious.

Then, I had the French Onion Soup. Not the best, but definitely very good (where's the best French Onion Soup in Portland? I can't tell you yet, although I have a very good idea where it may be found).

For my entree, I decided to have the ahi. It was grilled rare and served sliced into thin strips. Although it was rare, it was well done;) There was a very nice cucumber salad with it and a couple of sushi rolls. The rolls were not good, not good at all. Horrid. Jake's must stay away from pseudo-sushi. But other than those two hard little items, everything else was superb.

The service was great. The restaurant was very busy, our group was large, and we had the baby with us. I felt we had plenty of attention.

Dessert was terrific. My wife loves the bag of chocolate, which is a chocolate-shaped bag, filled with white chocolate mouse and whipped cream, showered in an assortment of berries. It's large enough for two to share. But, we were greedy, and we both got our own (which means I had one and a half bags). All in all, a very nice meal indeed.