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.

Burgerville

I feel a bit bad writing this post. Really, JLowe is the resident Burgerville expert. And he has a regular Wednesday night date with Burgerville, whereas I simply manipulated my wife into letting me take us there as we were running late for a meeting last night.

So, JLowe, whereever you may be, please feel free to chime in on Burgerville in a separate post. In fact, here's a new rule: all three of us reserve the right to write our own posts on the same restaurants the others have already discussed. And we reserve the right to write new posts on places we've already written old posts on. However, if more than one of us goes someplace at the same time, only one of us will write up that particular visit.

Anyway, all that said, I went to Burgerville last night. Burgerville is, in my estimation, the best local burger franchise in Oregon, and one of the better burger franchises I've been to nationally, period. And apparently I'm not alone, as the Food Network recently awarded Burgerville with it's "Better Burger" award, whatever that means.

Burgerville offers much more than burgers, though. They have fish and chips (usually a little too greasy for my liking), a wide array of milkshakes (including seasonal ones based on current fresh fruits -- right now, it's strawberry), and exceptionally good fries. And, throughout the year, other things hop on and off of their menu (sweet potato fries, Walla Walla onion rings, the recent Yukon Gold criss-cut fries) as ideas and food staples become fresh and available.

Now, when I was more corpulent, my usual BV run consisted of either two cheeseburgers with extra onion and extra pickle, or one so-altered cheeseburger and the spicy black bean garden burger. And, sometimes, fries, although I've been pretty good about not ordering those for a few years now, since it's essentially a stick of oiled-up calories. I've decided I'm too old to be such a pig, so now I limit myself to one thing. And, generally, that means the spicy black bean garden burger.

The SBBGB has been on the menu at BV now for about 4 years. The inspiration is entirely unclear to me, except perhaps that Gardenburger is a local company and, generally, BV sticks with vendors from the Pacific NW. Though the genesis of the idea isn't apparent, the goodness of it is. The burger is spicy throughout, with the patty offering a hint of spiciness which is complemented and accentuated and amplified by a delicious chipolte-mayo spread and pepper jack cheese. Mmmm!

Last night's was spicier than most. And a little spread-ier than most (they always give extra spread if asked, but I never do, so when the extra shows up, it's a nice surprise). It was, without a doubt, the best one I've ever had.

My wife ordered the fries, so I had a few of hers (she only likes the stiff and crispy ones, while I'm far less picky). The oil was clean, the fries were salted just-enough, and they were fresh and hot.

The other major plus, for me, is free refills. I didn't get them last night, because we were driving through, but BV offers free refills inside, so if you can, stay there for a bit and order a small soda to take advantage of their generosity. They are also one of the few places that consistently offers caffeine-free Diet Coke (if that matters to you) and iced tea that's actually been brewed.

JLowe informed me that he'd had a milkshake. That's his own story to tell -- since we went to different locations last night, that's allowed. The punchline is that the shake that he drank, all for himself, was the one he'd bought for his wife. Priceless.

Burgerville. It's where you go when you know.