Just called a few places yesterday... There seems to be an uptick in prices.
It's now $18.80/pound at SunSuiWah and $12.80 at Empire Seafood.

Personally, I just don't think Toshi's ramen is anything to write home about. Don't get me wrong, I love going to Toshi's, just not for ramen. I would recommend Yuzu, Shigezo, Biwa, or possibly Mirakutei for more authentic ramen. I've heard that Masu has a pretty good bowl but I haven't tried it myself.

However, the authenticity is relative since Portland doesn't have dedicated ramen shops. Vancouver or San Francisco Bay Area or LA are still way better in their ramen offerings.

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Biwa
215 SE 9th Ave Ste 102, Portland, OR 97214

Toshi Restaurant
745 SW 185th Ave, Beaverton, OR 97006

Yuzu
4130 SW 117th Ave Ste H, Beaverton, OR 97005

Beast does brunch as well on Sundays with seatings at 10 am or 12 pm for $28 per person.

I agree that L'atelier de Jean-Luc Rabanel was one of the most outstanding meals of our last year's trip in France which included many other starred restaurants. We were lucky enough to meet the chef himself as he came out to converse with us after our amazing lunch. It was creative, delicious, filling and the service was impeccable (in English too!).

My special occasion recommendation would be Beast and Le Pigeon. However, both of these are more or less community tables, but for foodies, they are both great restaurants for diners to drool over what the chefs are cooking.

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Le Pigeon
738 E Burnside St, Portland, OR 97214

Not necessarily all "straight forward" Italian, but the following are highly recommended and are open on Sunday evenings:
Nostrana
3 Doors Down
Tabla

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Nostrana
1401 SE Morrison St, Portland, OR 97214

A few places have all-day Sunday happy hours, like Red Star Tavern, Mint/820, 3 doors down, etc.

I personally like Mint/820 for their drinks plus lamb burger, but I also adore the food at 3 doors down. Cassidy's isn't bad either!

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Red Star
503 SW Alder St., Portland, OR 97204

I'm assuming you're asking about Apizza Scholls? They open at 5pm everyday except Sunday when they open at 4pm.

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Apizza Scholls
4741 SE Hawthorne Blvd, Portland, OR 97215

Apizza Scholls is DEFINITELY not a tourist trap. It is worth stopping at by all means if you love pizza. That said, it is truly no reservations, so depending on when you arrive, you might have to wait quite a while. If you come too late, they might be out of dough. My favorite time to arrive is slightly before they open and wait 10-20 minutes instead of 1-2 hour wait in the middle of dinner.

I like the food cart pod @ Hawthorne and SE 12th called Cartopia. They are open pretty from lunch through very late except for Monday. There, you'll find Whiffies which does amazing fried pies, Pyro Pizza which does wood-fired oven pizzas right on the spot, Potato Champion which does good fries, etc. You have lots of options for food cart lunches that people have detailed so I won't get into it.

If you're able to time your dinner around happy hour time, you'll find that many restaurants have amazing deals that are nowhere to be found in either San Franciso or Seattle.

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Apizza Scholls
4741 SE Hawthorne Blvd, Portland, OR 97215

Potato Champion
SE 12th and Hawthorne, Portland, OR

I agree I was also a bit confused by the "no host bar" question. I would normally assume when someone is talking about a "no host bar", it is in reference to holding an event at a restaurant/bar or something of the sort.

4th and Main is on the Max route, so you can basically hop on the Max and go most places. Along the Max line you've got tons of choices, like Davis Street Tavern and Ping are both good for drinks and appetizers in Old Town/Chinatown. Or Saucebox is along the way on Broadway. Or you can walk into the Pearl (from a Max stop) where you'll also have tons of choices like Ten01, Fenouil, among others. So, it really depends on what you're looking for. All of these are good for drinks as well as sit down dinners.

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Fenouil
900 NW 11th Avenue, Portland, OR 97209

Saucebox
214 SW Broadway, Portland, OR 97205

Davis Street Tavern
500 NW Davis Street, Portland, OR 97209

I think Saucebox or Clyde Common or Teardrop Lounge would be fun for drinks and snacks and are all within walking distance from the Pearl. I don't know much about the food at Teardrop Lounge, but the other two have really great food to pair with the drinks, especially during happy hour!

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Saucebox
214 SW Broadway, Portland, OR 97205

Clyde Common
, Portland, OR 97201

Your list looks good... although my favorite is Le Pigeon.

If you're thinking Screen Door for brunch, I would definitely try to line up in front about 15-30 mins before opening. Or else you're in for a 2 hour wait on most weekends.

If you want something Asian that is good, I think it would be worth it to hit up Pok Pok which is truly spectacular, even if you compare it with the best up and down the West Coast. I just simply haven't seen anyone else do the same.

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Pok Pok
3226 SE Division St, Portland, OR

Le Pigeon
738 E Burnside St, Portland, OR 97214

The xiao long bao here are not things that I would recommend to visitors. On the northwest coast, Vancouver, BC probably is your best bet for XLB or I would recommend going down to San Francisco or Los Angeles....

Sorry to disappoint you! There are tons of other good food options in Portland tho...

Chennai Masala in Hillsboro (Tanasbourne area) is authentic and reasonably priced. I think it's worth the trek out to the west side and the reviews have been consistent. I personally love it!

I'm also a fan of Gerard Mulot and Pierre Herme macarons, I think they're less sweet compared to Laduree. Gerard Mulot has interesting flavors such as Passion Basilic that are seasonal and interesting. When we were paying at the counter, they had some less pretty macarons (a bit crumbled but just as good) that were free for tasting too!

The club menu is lunch only (59 Euros now). We just went this past Monday. The atmosphere is more old-school, cigar lounge type of feel, but the food and service were quite good. You get a choice of appetizer, entree and desserts (also a cheese plate) as well as all the drinks, overall an awesome deal in Paris even with the price increase.

I second beaulieu and ChefJune's opinion on either Arles or Avignon... there are more sites to see as well as a larger choice of restaurants (in my opinion) with or without a car.

What about doing an omakase meal at Tanuki for $15? Of course since it's a bar it would only be appropriate to order some sake to go along with that, but I think you'll get a good variety of Japanese/izakaya dishes that will definitely be fulfilling.

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Tanuki
413 NW 21st Ave, Portland, OR 97209

For coffee your picks are excellent, but any Stumptown branch (I'm partial to the Ace Hotel one), Barista (two locations) and Albina Press (2 locations, one in Tabor) are also outstanding.

As for your splurge, both Beast and Le Pigeon are divine but you could possibly get away with under 40/person if you got one of the 4 limited burgers as one of the entrees. Btw, you can now reserve Beast on opentable.

For brunch, I'm hands down gonna recommend Simpatica. I think they open fairly early and if you arrive before 10:30 or so there's usually not much of a wait and it's gonna be pretty straightforward to get to laurelhurst market (another excellent choice).

Have fun eating!! Enjoy.

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Stumptown
4525 SE Division St, Portland, OR 97206

I like Hiroshi or Masu for sushi. Masu has a pretty good happy hour where almost all nigiri and some rolls are half off. On the other hand, Bamboo is the sustainable way to go but I just haven't been that wowed by their sushi.

We had the best oysters over at Bar Avignon during HH (M-F 4-6) for $1 each. Doesn't appear on their online menu, so best if you call to make sure.

I also remember that Fenouil also had good oysters during HH as well.

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Fenouil
900 NW 11th Avenue, Portland, OR 97209

Bar Avignon
2138 SE Division St, Portland, OR 97202

Just snatched 2 spots for Sept. 11 (Sat) for lunch. Note that it is now 80 Euros for lunch and 100 Euros for dinner, which is not a small increase, I hope it's as good as it's been!

I received an email from their website saying: "We are pleased to announce you that the project will open again from August, Saturday 14th for an extension until June 2011." Right now is a good time to book for August since lots of other restaurants are closed during August and not that many people know that Nomiya has reopened just yet! (Although it looks full for dinners right away, so perhaps someone is booking up all the dinners but not the lunches?)

Good luck everyone :)

Hope that this means that they're reopened on Sept 7th because I supposedly have reservations that night.

And when they are open, they tend to be quite good with email... otherwise, they suggest calling during the day (in the morning is what they said) instead of during dinner hours when it's too hectic for them to take a reservation.

Just for everyone's reference, someone usually picks up the phone during lunch hours (or right before). The lady who took my reservation for September today spoke excellent English and was extremely nice. Can't wait to sit at the chef's counter at L'Agrume!! Will report back in a few months...

Thanks for the report! We'll be headed to Millesime 82 at the end of August, great to hear the positive reports! Looks like we're on similar paths of travel, just that we're going to the South first and then to Paris. Love your Paris reports as well!

Thanks for the report!

We just got our reservations for a September lunch through the Spring Boutique phone as suggested by Paris by Mouth website. The person on the phone was truly very gracious and nice. We can't wait!

Could you give us an idea of the pricing for the lunch menu? I see that they have bouillon garni for 23 Euros, but what about the small plates?

Thanks so much!!!

I made my reservation at La Regalade St Honore around June 15th... they seemed really nice about it. Perhaps it is a new policy that they've put into place with all the calls and publicity they're getting.

I also managed to get through to L'Agrume who did say they did not accept reservations this far in advance and told me to call back in the middle of July for my September reservations which is what I intend to do.

Most Cartopia carts (almost all) are usually closed on Mondays... haven't heard about special opening for July 4th either....

I tried writing to contact@springparis.fr but the email got returned for user quota exceeded. Is there another way to contact them?? This is really exciting news!