Mini-Post - Long time no see! A few new-ish thoughts for 2014 Portland Food

Remember us?

We're still here. More or less. We both have maintained too-busy lives with wives and kids and what-not. We continue to eat a lot; we just haven't sat down to write as much. Sorry.

So what if we hardly write anything anymore? There's still food to eat, and there will still be occasions to write about it.

Here are a few thoughts on a few places.

Where to Get Brunch and/or Portland's Best Fried Chicken: Screen Door. Great Bloody Mary's, most of the time. The chicken is Portland's best, in a family establishment, until someone proves me wrong.

Other quality brunches: Delta Cafe; Tin Shed; Jam; Toast; anything else named after a breakfast item

Where to Get Thai Food: Sweet Basil. Solid menu, seasonal items, plenty of flavor, and take out portions are generous. My biggest knock is that the spice level you choose doesn't necessarily determine what you get.

Other quality Thai: Chai Thai; Pok Pok (though I don't really consider this Thai, you'd stop reading if it didn't get mentioned); Tom Yum

Best Dinner for People Who Like to Drink Beer: Tabor Tavern. Portland has lots of beer, and lots of places to eat food with it. Most of Portland's more major local breweries have a brick-and-mortar restaurant presence, and many of these are quite fine. Tabor Tavern has a number of taps with a number of higher-end micros, and augments that with a very solid menu. Try the fish and chips if you want a tavern food staple with a twist.

Other quality food/beer hybrids: Burnside Brewery is the only one that really merits getting their name on the list. If you're trying to pick between the ubiquitous McMenamins restaurants, go to the Black Rabbit in Troutdale (for a slightly better kitchen and the campus surrounding it) or the Blue Moon because that puts you close to the rest of the action on a weekend or evening.

Best "Chinese" Food: The best Chinese places are a bit non-traditional. In Portland, Lucky Strike gets the nod. Although if you want more typical Chinese-ish cuisine with something special, go to Thien Hong and get the pepper salted squid. In fact, just get 4 orders of that and eat it until your gut bursts.

Other quality Chinese: Wong's King (also good for a dim sum brunch); The Hunan.

By the way, every single place I've listed is one where kids can be, but none of them are kid magnets. So they strike a nice balance.

Send us your food thoughts. We'd love to be relevant again.

Sweet Basil

It's been a long time since I have been to Sweet Basil. We just haven't been able to go. And, oh, how I have missed it. Sweet Basil is located at 3135 NE Broadway, which makes it 5 minutes from my house. I think it is one of the best Thai restaurants in Portland.

The restaurant is in a converted house and has a large back deck that is covered with grapes. We prefer to sit on the deck. The table inside can get a bit cramped, because the space is small.

My wife's favorite part of the meal is the appetizer. She always orders the Fresh Wraps, and I am thankful that she does. It's incredible how crisp and delicious they always turn out. The Fresh Wraps are served with an outstanding peanut sauce.

Last night we shared our dishes. We shared the String Beans and the House Special Curry. They made a great pair. We ordered the Curry as mild, because my wife can't handle the spice. I prefer Extremely Wild. But even without the extra heat, the Curry was spectacular.

The only issue last night was that the service was a little slow. Usually, the service is prompt. But, there were a number of other parties that were seated just after us, so I expect it was an aberration. I've only been to Sweet Basil about 30 or 40 times, and it was the first time the service was slow. Regardless, the waitstaff was still terrifically friendly.

Sweet Basil also has carry out and they will deliver for free to some area codes.

Typhoon!

So yesterday was like the perfect storm for free food. Our regional manager was in town, two people from our office are moving on to new jobs (including GastroBoy) which meant a goodbye lunch, and someone reminded me that Typhoon! had a downtown location. As the office social chair, I set lunch up.

Typhoon! is a Portland-based regional Thai food chain. The locations used to each have special menus, which appears to no longer be the case. The set-up in all of them is up-scale, with elegant interior decoration that is generally minimalist in order to allow the food to be the spotlight. Presentation is important here, but not as important as taste.

Typhoon! is well-known for the tea selection. The menu is vast in that regard, and I usually find it intimidating. Since yesterday was warm, I opted for Pellegrino.

Our group of nine people split a couple of "Nibble Platters" for appetizers. Given the number of people sharing, I fought my natural urge to grab one-of-each from them and instead limited myself to a chicken skewer, a half a spring roll, and a small nibble that I simply can't describe. I was later given a shrimp wonton that otherwise would've gone to waste. All were very, very good.

For lunch I ordered the General's Noodles. I usually opt for Pad Thai, but decided to branch out into something new. The General's Noodles are a thinner rice noodle (similar to angel hair pasta) served with shrimp and chicken, topped with a combination of crushed red pepper, crushed peanuts, lime, and garlic (along with some spices I couldn't pinpoint) and a wonton on the side. I think I would've been happier with the Pad Thai, but with the crushed peanuts, my lunch was close enough in spirit to be satisfying. It wasn't particularly filling, though.



Everyone at the table was very happy with their selections, and they covered a wide range of the menu, so from that I'd say this is a safe place to take anyone with the assurance that they'll enjoy the food. I never saw the bill, but I'd imagine from the menu that the nine of us cost about $150. Not horrible, given the nibble platters.

Typhoon! is excellent, though I prefer Sweet Basil when it comes to Thai, and there are other places I've yet to try. The food is not disappointing, there are several locations (including downtown, NW Portland, Gresham, and Beaverton) and the prices are quite reasonable given the quality of the cuisine.

Thai Go!

There are a lot of very tasty Thai restaurants throughout Portland. But, I must admit, one of my very favorites is located in the food court at Pioneer Place.

Thai Go! opened up about two years ago. There are two ways to get your food: 1) there are some dishes under a heat lamp or 2) you can order it fresh. I've never had the stuff under the heat lamp.

Yesterday, I had the Showering Rama, which is baby bok choi in peanut sauce, with your choice of chicken, pork, beef or tofu. I had the chicken, spicy level 5 (1 is mild and 5 is as hot as they will make it). They added some broccoli. Meals cost $6.50 and there is a lot of food on the plate. I haven't finished a meal in a very long time.

The best part is the punch card. Each time you go, they mark off your card. Buy nine dishes, and your tenth is free. Yesterday, I had my forth free one.

Tom Yum Thai Cuisine

In my opinion, there are three or four kinds of Asian food places. Actually, this probably works for all sorts of food, but it rang especially true in my mind for Asian food places while I was pondering the issue.

Anyway, the four types are:

1. Destination - This is a place you plan on going, seek out, recommend highly, take friends to, etc.
2. Old Stand-by - This is a place you know will be good but you only go there in a pinch.
3. Guilty Pleasure - This place looks horrible, and the food is horrible, but you love it. But no one must ever know.
4. Buyer Beware - You wouldn't touch this place with a ten-foot pole, and when you see people coming out of it you wonder how long 'til they're at the ER getting their stomach pumped.

Tonight, after picking my daughter up from daycare and realizing I was on my own for dinner, I opted to swing by a place that firmly belongs in Category #2, Tom Yum Thai Cuisine. Located at 44th and Woodstock, this place is set back in a mini-mini-mall sort of arrangement.

I've been there about 5 times, since I live nearby, and usually I order some sort of Pad-something and some salad rolls. Tonight, I phoned in on my way and ordered the Chicken Pad Thai, medium-spicy. "Okay, ten minutes, goodbye."

Eight minutes later, I was there, waiting in line (the place is always busy, a sure sign of goodness) and my food was already waiting.

Now, as I type, I'm eating it. Delicious. I often get mild, but I decided I wanted some kick tonight, and I got it. The chicken is lean and plentiful, and the chunks aren't hard to find. Plenty of peanut, nice load of noodles, and a good mix of vegetables on the side that can be mixed in.

I don't claim to be a Thai food expert by any means, but let me say this: if you're in SE Portland and jonesing for some quick Thai, you could do far worse than Tom Yum.