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...

No Fish Go Fish

No Fish Go Fish, the food cart, has already been covered on this blog. What we haven’t discussed, however, is No Fish Go Fish, the restaurant (located at 40th and Hawthorne).

I’ve had a few opportunities to go recently. We went on my daughter’s second birthday, knowing that she’d love the “No Fish,” which are specially-prepared, fish-shaped cornmeal pastries containing a variety of fillings, while we enjoyed one of the scratch-made soups.

This weekend, to launch our anniversary eat-a-rama, we changed our minds. We’d been planning Pambiche, but had made the plan thinking that we’d already have left our daughter with her grandmother. Things didn’t work out like planned, however, so we chose a more family-friendly lunch location.

For this visit, my wife enjoyed the “Cowboy Chowder,” a concoction of rice, cheese, and potatoes in some sort of creamy broth. I went for the lentil dal, which is always fantastic and is a mainstay at No Fish Go Fish. For fish, I had a mushroom pate (one of the new line of special No Fish) and the black olive, garlic, and basil No Fish, while my daughter had Apple Cinnamon and a PB&J.

No Fish Go Fish is super-affordable; the average lunch special (soup and two No Fish) is about $5.50, and if you choose a deluxe No Fish the cost goes up by fifty cents each. And the people working there, whether one of the two owners or one of their chums, are always friendly. At the restaurant itself, you can opt for non-soup items, but where the strength of No Fish Go Fish is the soup, there’s no real reason to diverge from the really good stuff.

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.

New Year's Addendum

JLowe and I both gained a lot of weight this holiday season. He from his father's excellent cooking, me from my penchant for appetizers at my wife's and my various functions.

Anyway, the first half of January we're in detox mode, doing the annual flushing of our systems using the much-reviled but remarkably effective "The Master Cleanse" diet.

So, anyway, don't expect much new in the next two weeks (although JLowe did claim dibs on writing up our foursome's New Year's Eve outing to The Charthouse, which--aside from being seated an hour after our reservation time--was absolutely lovely).

New Year's Resolutions and the Appropriate Canning of the Rules

2007 was a banner year for our little blog here. Over the course of just a few months, we put out 76 posts, almost all with something worthwhile to say about the local food scene, and received 7,021 hits. Not too shabby.

But what is perhaps more remarkable is the amout of content that didn't get put up this year. We have this rule, you see: no writing about a place once a whole day has passed since you ate there. The rule was designed to ensure only the freshest of posts. The rule ended up killing a lot of good material.

Some of the places that didn't get posted last year, despite our gastronomic endeavors at each:

• The Hunan
• Gresham Typhoon
• Masu Sushi
• Yuki Sushi
• Buffalo Wildwings
• The Charthouse
• Chin Yen
• Jake's Bar and Grill
• Gustav's
• La Bamba

And, certainly, many more I'm just failing to remember.

Seems our "freshness" rule got in the way of sharing quality info. So, our New Year's resolutions:

MORE POSTS, MORE PICTURES, and NO MORE RULES (at least, none that constrain us from offering useful info; if a post will suffer from too much time passing, we'll let it go in favor of another outing).

Also, if you have a place you're interested in and want to know about, let us know. We take suggestions, but chances are also pretty high that, between JLowe and I, we've been there and can offer some advice.

Finally, I hereby declare the death of GastroBoy. He was once a useful member of this blog; now he's just dead weight. Fare thee well, Chuck.

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.

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.

Mayas Taqueria

I found myself at the corner of 10th and SW Morrison yesterday, having dropped off my dry cleaning at a different dry cleaner for the first time (I have fired the dry cleaner that has been taking care of my clothes for the past five years). I was on my way to a book store, when I saw Mayas Taqueria. It had been a long time since I had darken that door. Found memories flooded back, my belly said I needed lunch, so in I went.

It was much as I remembered. The first thing you see is the grill behind the counter. Then, the upstairs seating catches your I. I looked at the board menu, and I got the vague sense that I had seen that menu somewhere else before. My suspicion is that Mayas is affiliated with Santa Fe Taqueria on NW 23rd.

I decided to order the Spicy Brazilian Old World Wrap. The staff behind the counter was very friendly, even offering to bring my food to my table. I paid my $7.99 and headed off for a seat upstairs.

As I waited, I took a good hard look at what was around me. The place is a rather run down. There is pealing paint. The chairs are quite uncomfortable. The dust was an inch thick on the ceiling fans. It was certainly not a place for a lunch meeting. Then, my food arrived. My wrap was topped with a fruit salsa and there was a good amount of chips. The wrap was delicious and filling. The meat was just spicy enough.

Although I enjoyed my food, I thought it was overpriced. The interior needs a lot of work.

El Palmero

Yesterday, I met my friend Nick for lunch. It was his idea and his first suggestion was that we meet in the food court at Pioneer Place. I wasn't so excited about heading down there (see my previous reviews of the Pit), but it was Nick's idea, so I didn't seize the moment to squash his plan. He called back and said that maybe we should first meet in front of my building. We met up and began to walk. Nick then asked if I had any suggestions for lunch. Well, of course I did. I had been thinking about where to have lunch with him since we first made plans a week ago. So, I said, "Let's go to El Palmero."

El Palmero is located downtown at 320 SW Alder Street. My wife hates the place. She thinks it's way to greasy (she had a quesadilla there ONCE, and hasn't gone back). When I told Nick my wife's opinion (they go way back), he said, "Let's go there."

El Palmero is a fairly good-sized taqueria, with lots of seating and a familiar menu. It has changed over the years from when I first darkened the door with my buddy Travis, but I think it has only improved.

The dishes range from $6.25 to $12.00+, which seems to be the standard rate for meals in downtown Portland. I had the Chimichanga. It was hot, filling, tasty, and not at all greasy (my wife thinks I am delusional). El Palmero is Peruvian. Stop by, say hi to the very friendly waitstaff, and have a lovely lunch.

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.

The Greek Festival

Among the venues where food is somewhat incidental, the Greek Festival is high on my list. I’m not Greek, my wife’s not Greek, and few people I know are Greek. And, yet, every year the Greek Festival is a must-go destination for my family and a few of our friends.

It was no different this year.

The essentials are always the same. ALWAYS get a gyro. ALWAYS get some loukamades. And ALWAYS get some baklava. Everything else is icing on the cake, and recommended.

Gyro’s are $4 a piece. The spanikopita is always quite good, and is $3 for 2. Loukamades, which are sort of a honey and cinnamon-covered doughnut hole of sorts (but lighter), are $2 or $3, depending on if you get the small or large servings. The baklava, along with the remainder of the the Greek pastry, are $2 each, or 2 for $3. You can also get Greek coffee (more a matter of preparation than bean origin) for $2, or a normal one for $1 (which is the price for soda and water as well). There is a large beer garden there as well. In short, everything you need for a full dinner.

The food varies in degrees of goodness, but it’s all some sort of good. The gyros are probably the least sensational of the items offered, as they are pretty standard bulk-gyro type gyros. The spanikopita is delicious, with a wonderful filo preparation that is light and flaky, and not overly greasy.

The loukamades are always just fantastic. And the baklava is simply devine. And, this year, the servings are huge.

If you’re reading this post now, you’re too late for this year’s Greek Festival. My weekend prevented me from doing this post in time to offer a true public service. But, in the realm of seasonal event-driven eating, the Greek Festival is an absolute must. Make your way next year.

Two tips: first, bring $20 minimum. It’s enough for 2 people, and you shouldn’t need more unless you’re getting beer. And, second, bring cash. The money system is based on tokens. You buy “talents,” which are $1 each, but which speed transactions there substantially.

The place is always busy, and it usually rains during Greek Festival time, but it’s always covered so just go, swim in the humanity, and get full. It’s a glorious time, and it’s a ton of fun.

The Pumpkin Patch

‘Tis the season, or one of them, for some good, irregular food fun. So much goes on throughout the year, and my goal is to miss much of it in favor of huddling in my dungeon, getting a moon tan from my computer.

But, really, most food events just bug me, so I skip them as a rule.

There are events with related food, though, and those are the type I’ll show up at. Festivals, fairs, and the like.

And one of the like is the Pumpkin Patch.

One might think that this post is meant to allow me to post a cute picture of my daughter. And, in part, it is. But it’s also to shine a light on a worthwhile secondary purpose for making the annual trip with your kids.

In fact, I’ve been making this trip annually since before the kid came. But having the kid simply guaranteed that the trip will continue in perpetuity.

Most of us have gone to the Pumpkin Patch on Sauvie’s Island from time-to-time over the years. Back when I was a kid, I recall it being a bare-bones operation. Pumpkins in a patch, basically. The name, literally, said it all.

Over time, it’s built up into something grand. A pumpkin patch, sure, but so much more. There’s a corn maze (a “maize,” of course), outhouses, a store, and in the last few years a growing food area.

This year, I decided that there was the requisite supply of foodstuffs available to provide a meal, and I sampled them for you.

I spent about 10 bucks altogether. With that money, I had a pulled pork sandwich, some of a cob of corn (actually bought for my wife and daughter), an elephant ear, and a soda.

The pulled pork sandwich, in particular, was awesome. The bun was typical Costco bulk fare. The pork, well, I couldn’t vouch for the quality of the pig it came from, but it was nicely prepped and mixed with a good barbecue sauce. It was served atop the bun, and further topped with some bulk-brand cole slaw, then enclosed with the bun top. A very, very simple sandwich, and yet somehow I’ve never had anything like it. Surprisingly, it was super-good, on a scale of 1-10. JLowe and his wife brought their kid with me and my wife, and his wife (who’s notoriously finicky) downed her sandwich, offering him only a bite, which in turn forced him to drop a 5-spot of his own for his own delicious pulled-pork experience.

The corn was very sweet, and very fresh. I have no doubt it came from one of the multiple nearby, and well-stocked, corn fields, and it was prepared so it was juicy and crispy and so, so good.

The elephant ears are a mixed bag. I like my elephant ears somewhat doughy and soft. These were thin and almost entirely crispy. The advantage to them, though, is that you get to apply your own butter (you paint it on with a brush, which is a fun experience) and then pour your own cinnamon and sugar on to make the elephant ear as sinful as you need it to be.

$10 was probably a bit much for what I got, but it was $10 that I was very, very happy to spend.
So, if you go to the Pumpkin Patch, go hungry. Though you no-doubt will go for the gourds, you’ll certainly be happy if you stay for some food.

The Cajun Grill

Third time's the charm...for writing this review. I first ate at the Cajun Grill in mid-September with Rusty, and I failed to write a review. Which was sad, because I absolutely hated my dining experience. OK, it is in a food court, but this was really bad.

We got off on wrong foot when I was charged extra for the rice. On the menu board, it clearly stated that for $5.20 I would get my blackened chicken with a vegetable and rice. When I pointed this out to the cashier, the cashier stated that the particular rice I chose had an extra price to it (which is nowhere to be found on the menu board). I should have just walked away, leaving the food behind, but I didn't. Instead, I complained to Rusty and proceeded to place the food into my mouth.

The rice was icky (that's a profession term for tasteless, greasy and dry - how can a dish be greasy and dry at the same time? I don't know, but the Cajun Grill pulled it off). The chicken was gooey, due to the skin and fat still attached to the meat. I couldn't finish it. I only ate five bites and threw the rest away. The vegetables were tasty and crisp.

Imagine my distress when I failed to post the blog? All I could think was, "I have to eat that crap again?" And, back I went, because you, the readers of this blog, need to know the truth.

Round two happened a week or two ago. That time, I ordered the Bourbon Chicken and vegetables. I declined the rice, as I didn't trust them. The vegetables were mushier then the first time and the chicken was gross...sticky sweet with really no taste and a nice fatty finish. And yes, I failed to post a blog entry again. I felt ill (not due to the meal, just to the thought of having to return for Round Three).

Rusty berated me, and I deserved it. So, given my duty to you, and Rusty, I went back for a third time yesterday for the Blackened Fish and vegetables. I experienced a reversal of fortunes. This time, the vegetables were really very nasty (mushy and tasteless) and the fish was swallowable. But, for $5.99, it wasn't worth it. I would pay maybe 50 cents. And, now that I have posted this blog, I will never have to go there again.

The Daily Grill

(BLOGGER'S BEING A JERK. PICTURES WILL BE ADDED LATER)

I'm calling a JLowe Mulligan.

I told him this today, as I called him out for failing to fulfill the promise of writing up our trip to The Daily Grill on Thursday.

In my opinion, JLowe's pretty much a slack-ass bastard. Case in point: we went to the food court several weeks ago, and he had food from the Cajun place, as neither of us had reviewed it. He hated it, and couldn't wait to let you all know. Of course, the post was never written, because JLowe's a slack-ass bastard, as I've mentioned already.

Last week, he went there again, on Monday. He didn't want to, but he agreed with me that he owed you, our readers, the service of going again. We have a rule that all reviews need to be written by the end of the day following our visit. The rule is fairly strictly enforced. It's designed to make sure we don't forget things that influenced our opinion.

Since I, for one, would never go to the Cajun place after seeing JLowe's reaction, and he really wanted to be able to bag on them for how awful they were, and he has a "three visit" rule before he'll totally write a place off, he figured he owed it to everyone (including the Cajun place) to go back. And I told him that he could cheat a review of his first experience in with the second one.

Of course, he never wrote that review either. He sucks. A lot.

There are other reviews he's missed. Thankfully, I have a really bad memory, so you don't have to be bothered with hearing about them any further.

But, anyway, we went to The Daily Grill on Park Avenue for lunch on Thursday, and it was blog-worthy, so here's your JLowe Mulligan-ed late review.

We went to The Daily Grill not by design, but because the restaurant we wanted to go to (The Park), which was new, had apparently closed up shop, leaving us towards the end of Park Avenue with few choices. We didn't want Subway, and chinese at the Hunan (oh, yeah, that's one he forgot to write...) would have been to heavy.

We saw The Daily Grill, and decided to check it out.

The restaurant's is a nice space. You walk in to a stairway down into the bar area and the host/greeter area. We were seated promptly in the next room over, which is a nice open restaurant space with high ceilings and good lighting. We were handed a "Blue Plate Special" lunch menu and a normal menu, and our server went immediately to fetch us water.

The menu is something. The Thursday Special is Grilled Cheese with Tomato Soup for about $11. It has three kinds of cheese, but still, that's ridiculous, especially if you're going to call it a "special," which I've always thought meant "deal."

JLowe ordered the BLT. I ordered the California Turkey. We each ordered ours with the side of shoestring potatoes.

Each of our sandwiches was in the $10-12 price range, which was too much for what we got. JLowe opined that the prices were to "keep out the riff-raff." While the food was by no means bad, I'd suspect that he was right on the pricepoint selection. The Daily Grill appears to be as much about who's eating there as it is about what's being served.

For instance, the iced tea was $3, and my lemonade was $3.50. Sure, the refills were free, but the prices were still ridiculous.

On the positive side, the food was tasty and filling and the shoestring potatoes were nicely cooked, crispy, and not at all soggy. The service was excellent, with repeated visits to top off our water and other beverages and a visit by the manager to make sure all was well.

We left satiated. We felt heavier in our guts for having gone there. Sadly, we felt the wallet was a little too much lighter to justify a return trip. Apparently it got plenty of exercise while we were stuffing our gullets.

Gyros And Grill

JLowe's thrown this whole damned blog off. First of all, I'm behind on my blogging because I'm dealing with his being behind. So, technically, this post is an hour beyond the time limit we've imposed. But, hey, crap happens.

Second, he claims to have hit pretty much all of the Pioneer Place food court places for review, and I thought he said he'd done Gyros And Grill. But in reviewing our work, I don't find any such thing. So, thank God I had a gyro there the other day, because now we're almost done with "The Pit" and all of its infernal food stuffs.

Not that I dislike the food court. Nothing's further from the truth. But a food court, while a mecca for downtown lunchers, is not really what the bulk of a food blog should cover. I like JLowe's mission to review the whole thing, because if nothing else it's a public service. But I'll be happy when we're free of the place and can return to other pursuits.

But, I digress.

Friday, a co-worker offered to buy me lunch because I'd covered a bunch of her stuff while she dealt with kid issues. Which was awesome. I mean, my usual asking price for covering a few days of projects is a cup of coffee or whatever, and I told her lunch was unnecessary, but she demanded I allow her to treat me. And, really, I love free food. So off we went, to the food court.

The choices were California Crisp, Wrapture, and Gyros And Grill. All good selections, I made the decision based upon the only criteria that mattered on this particular day -- line length. G And G had none, so there we went.

I've been there once before, when I ordered the falafel gyro with the potatoes and tabouleh. I enjoyed it last time, though I found the falafel gyro a bit dry, and the tabouleh a bit boring.

This time I opted for the Gyro platter. I again took the side of potatoes, and again I took the tabouleh. My mom used to make it from time to time when I was a kid and she was in a hippy phase, so when I see it on a menu I order it, even if there are other perfectly good choices. Irrational, but that's okay.

The service was prompt. The servers themselves were efficient. Not super-friendly, but that was fine given that they got right to preparing the order and made short work of dishing up our food. They also didn't skimp. I watched the guy slicing the lamb for my gyro, then piling it in, and I was happy that he didn't seem to be paying too much heed to how big the mound of meat was growing.



The food was bagged up for us and we headed out, back to our office. As we sat down, I took in the delicious odor of our food. And then I dug in.

The potatoes aren't necessarily anything to write home about. Seasoned fried potato coins. They're pretty much what you'd expect.

The tabouleh was zippy and zesty. It surprised me, and I coughed a bit when it hit my tongue. I suspect they over-spiced it today, which was fine, because it was actually really good. It was spicy, which is unlike any tabouleh I've ever had, and it was a very pleasant surprise.

The gyro itself was pretty much the same as any gyro you get anywhere. The lamb was better than you'd expect from a food court, the pita-type bread was of good quality, and in all the food was good.

My lunch cost about $7.50. Probably a little more than it was actually worth, but still not offensive in any way.

If you're looking for a quick gyro in town, go to Foti's Greek Deli on Burnside. But if you're stuck downtown for lunch, Gyros And Grill won't disappoint.

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.

Yento Bento

I'm still trying to decide if the blog's quest to tackle the entire Pioneer Place food court is awesome or irksome.

That as I find myself nearly falling asleep at the keyboard to capture the magic of yesterday's trip to the food court, and as I notice that JLowe appears poised to have to repeat his dreadful visit to Cajun Whatever as the clock slowly advances to the "all posts by the end of the next day" deadline that we so strictly follow. Hopefully he gets his post up, because he really, really doesn't want to re-do his experience of yesterday.

It's an interesting time here at the PDX RRbRF blog. We've been in a bit of a hiatus as I've been hording wealth for my recent vacation(s) and JLowe's been trying to maximize his budget. That said, I'm back, and JLowe's on his own in-town vacation right now, and we decided to step out yesterday for some well-deserved hooky.

So we met up at our favorite coffee shop (City Coffee on 4th and Salmon) and, after talking to the proprietor for a bit, headed off to lunch and a movie. How a movie in the midst of my just-back-from-vacation work day? The curious workings of my office, which allow for goofing off when certain pieces fall into place, which they did yesterday. One of those being the absence of my boss, another being a major project removed from my day, one which would have had me out of the office all day anyway. The office rule is, if you would've been gone anyway, and you wouldn't have been available to address anything at your desk, you're nearly required to skip work and take advantage. So the 5 hours I put in yesterday was my gift to my corporate masters. You're welcome.

The movie? Superbad. If this were a movie blog, I'd write about how good it was and how it had me flashing back to college (though it's a high school flick). Perhaps I'll hit that topic on my other blog later. We're about the food here, so back to the point.

The movie (clearly, I've no focus this late at night...) was playing at Pioneer Place at 12:50. We met for lunch at high noon, so we had limited time. I suggested the food court, and JLowe seconded my motion. We headed on down, and began to ponder the options.

JLowe noted that there were still three establishments left for review: Cajun Whatever, Gyros and Grill (which I've eaten at, but failed to post in time--I'll just say it's good, and will provide an actual review some other time), and Yento Bento. I allowed Jeff to decide which way he'd be going, and he went cajun. With the long line at Gyros and Grill, and the no-line at Yento Bento, my decision basically made itself.



Normally I would've shied away from a place with no line and the employee slumped over the counter. I wasn't feeling normal, though, so I walked right up. The employee, who's name I neglected to get, was extremely likeable. We discussed the menu (everything under $6, basically, all meat cooked on a grill over flame) and I asked him his advice on ordering. He explained that the chicken was pretty good, the salmon was surprisingly good, and he had some fresh salmon on the grill. I didn't have time though, so I asked him what chicken dish I should get. He said I looked like a healthy type of guy, so he suggested the chicken and steamed veggies on brown rice. I asked whether I should go for the curry sauce, and he eagerly answered in the affirmative. He heaped my dish together and happily sauced it up, and I was on my way. As far as food court service goes, it was the best I'd had in quite a long time.

I found a table and looked at Cajun Whatever to see JLowe still only half-way through the line. A gentleman, I waited for him to arrive before digging into my food. He was quite displeased with his order, chicken and rice and some veggies. I, on the other hand, was quite happy with mine.



I sampled his chicken, and it was horrid. It seemed fatty and fried. I gave him a sample of mine, fresh off the grill, and he thought it was great. Tender yet firm, flavorful, delicious. I picked around the squash in my steamed vegetables but devoured the baby carrots and broccoli, which all tasted pretty fresh. The brown rice was not dry, which is what I was expecting based on brown rices I've had elsewhere. It may have been the curry, but whatever the reason it was very good,

We were done eating by 12:35, and made our way to the movie. JLowe was grumbling and feeling a bit ill from his lunch. I was happy and full (I couldn't finish the plate) and very happy to have a new place I could go to when I needed a quick lunch, a short line, and a good service experience. Give Yento Bento a shot; I'm certainly glad I did.