SauceSupreme's Recent Activity
Chowhound Post
looking for a east Coast Eggplant parm hero in portland?
Garden State has an eggplant parm from time to time.
Chowhound Post
Best beer bar in Portland, Or.?
Perhaps you should peruse Henry's beer list, because I would disagree with the notion that it's a bunch of beers you can get anywhere or aren't special or rare in the least.
Website:
http://henrystavern.com/page/menu/42083
PDF:
http://pmgdata.s3.amazonaws.com/menu/...
Chowhound Post
Portland for 2.5 days - help needed with Willamette Valley winery tour and Portland itinerary!
Funny, the whole "Ten01 has a new chef" is the reason a lot of people shy'ed away from the new chef, and now he's gone, too.
Frankly, I'd skip Karam, opting for Ping or Pok Pok instead. Sure, it's nice enough, and I love Lebanese food, but I don't think it's noteworthy enough to add into a rotation that includes all-stars like Toro Bravo and Tanuki.
The only seafood cart that I know of is Rick's Wild Seafood near Voodoo Donut in Old Town.
I think Beaker and Flask has the best seafood menu in town. Everyone else is stuck in a mussels-salmon-halibut frame of mind, while the chef at Beaker (awarded the 2009 Restaurant of the Year by Willamette Week) has featured such items as skate, sturgeon, octopus, mackerel, etc. To find a better variety, you'd end up having to go to a Japanese restaurant.
Chowhound Post
PDX - what stores carry "hard-to-find" cocktail ingredients
In the Pearl itself is Pearl Specialty:
http://pearlspecialty.com/
But the place you really want to visit is The Meadow:
http://www.atthemeadow.com/shop/index...
Chowhound Post
Chinese on Sandy or 82nd in Portland?
http://pdxplate.com/forum/wai-kong
I agree whole heartedly with HWL's assessment of the Chinese food scene here. The only two other places of note for me are Powell Seafood and Mandarin House.
Chowhound Post
Foodies dining with picky eaters in PDX
I've brought families to Laurelhurst Market and had an amazing time (and found it quite charming when a server said to a child in a high chair that they would be charged corkage for their sippy cup).
I say go to LM, tell them you have kids with you, and all will be fine.
Chowhound Post
Foodies dining with picky eaters in PDX
Downtown, there's the Heathman, Veritable Quandary, Ten01 and Davis Street Tavern.
If you're willing to drive, Laurelhurst Market would be perfect.
Chowhound Post
Shabu Shabu in PDX?
I thought the shabu shabu was a tad overpriced for one and even two, so I would certainly recommend going as a group to help distribute the cost.
That being said, DJK has a lot of other great items, my favorite being the oxtail and cabbage soup.
Chowhound Post
PDX this weekend...the goods?
Pok Pok is excellent at lunch, and truly one of my favorite all time Thai dishes is served there and is available only at lunch.
I think Carlyle in particular is doing great things, everything from the burger, their charcuterie, their pasta and their cocktails. Plus, it's a bit more understated than most other restaurants, which imparts certain level of elegance in an otherwise very casual city.
On the other side of the spectrum is Beaker and Flask, which had always been a popular bar since it's opening, but now very much so since being named WWeek's Restaurant of the Year. You'll still find me there, though, and while their cocktails are well celebrated, I'm thrilled that the kitchen is getting recognition, too. I especially think their seafood dishes are where they shine brighter than other restaurants.
Chowhound Post
Shiro's or Kappo? (Seattle)
I prefer Chiso Kappo but this decision is really six of one and half a dozen of the other. You won't go wrong either way.
http://japaninfusion.com/interviews/26/
(But again, if it were up to me, I'd go to Chiso Kappo; the only place that's better is Urasawa.)
Chowhound Post
Best cocktail(s) in Portland
Evan Zimmerman, the bar manager at Laurelhurst Market, just took 1st place in the Great American Distillers Festival cocktail competition.
Chowhound Post
Best cocktail(s) in Portland
The crowd notwithstanding, Clyde is still very good. Other than that, Laurelhurst Market on the eastside would be a fantastic Sunday option. Secret Society on NE Russell is open Sundays as well.
Chowhound Post
Malaysian or Singaporean food in Portland?
I recognize that this thread is 5 years old, but still... there's now Taste of Jakarta
http://pdxplate.com/forum/taste-jakarta
Chowhound Post
Visiting Portland from LA, need recs
Perhaps it would be prudent to follow in the footsteps of some esteemed LA food bloggers.
Part 1 - http://eatdrinknbmerry.blogspot.com/2...
Part 2 - http://eatdrinknbmerry.blogspot.com/2...
Chowhound Post
Best Kept Secrets on the Eastside
Mmm.... Takohachi. I kinda wish I had the chance to try it back when it was in the ID.
Chowhound Post
Best Kept Secrets on the Eastside
Granted I only had two dishes but both were very poor -- the khao soi and the eponymous noodle boat. I found the sauces weak and underseasoned, compounded by the fact that the kitchen made an error in swapping the noodles (the thin vermicelli in the khao soi and the the flat noodle in the noodle boat).
Chantanee on the other hand was quite vibrant. I'll give you the price difference, but I'll disagree on the interestingness. The miang kham was excellent, using real betel leaves, and they had one of the better stir-fried beef in holy basil ผัด ใบ กะเพรา เนื้อ preps I've had. I'll admit I was there for the cocktails first and foremost, but I was duly impressed with the food, too.
Chowhound Post
Food Centric Neighborhoods Seattle/Portland
I didn't think El Masry was doing Egyptian food anymore. Has anyone been lately? I haven't been down that block in about a month or so.
Chowhound Post
Best Kept Secrets on the Eastside
I went to Noodle Boat in Issaquah based on numerous recommendations and found myself incredibly disappointed.
I much preferred the food at Chantanee. Add on the fact that you can get craft cocktails at the bar, and you've got yourself a winner.
I'm a fan of the Indian food at Kanishka.
Chowhound Post
Whats with the beef @ Fred Meyer???
In Portland, I find myself going either to Sheridans, Chop Butchery or even HMart for my meat needs. Not sure what a good Eugene alternative would be.
Chowhound Post
Portland and around
The menu rotates at Pok Pok so it's really best to check the menu just as you're arriving. My favorite dishes in the past include the Singaporean-style crab curry and the kaeng hung leh pork stew. Also, lunch is a different menu, featuring items like my favorite Thai dish of all, kuaytiao reua "boat noodles". And of course there's the ever popular grilled game hen and fish sauce wings.
Laurelhurst Market is our local representative of the growing butcher shop trend (though really Viande/Simpatica has been doing it for a while now), though it's not just slabs of pork and beef. The mussels frites are excellent, as are all the salads and sandwiches. The deli case is open for lunch, providing sandwiches there too. Top notch bar program as well.
Beaker and Flask gets a lot of deserved praise as a cocktail bar, but I've always said that their secret weapon is the kitchen, veterans of places like Paley's Place, Clyde Common and Ten01. Strange to think, but they've got some of the best seafood going right now, such as the grilled and smoked mackerel with Dungeness crab. In the past they've featured skate wing and sturgeon, and so Beaker and Flask gets a lot of credit for me not only for resisting the urge to have a burger on the menu, but also resisting the urge to have halibut and salmon.
Chowhound Post
Food Centric Neighborhoods Seattle/Portland
Portland's small enough where the whole town should be considered one neighborhood. That being said, I like to show people the following food neighborhoods:
* 82nd Ave (the unofficial official Asian part of town)
* SE Division/Belmont (a residentially neighborhood with tons of awesome eats)
* The Pearl (very much the martini-lounge part of town, and for better or for worse, the fastest growing)
* NW 21st/23rd (mostly for the picturesque Victorian homes, coupled with some fun dining spots)
* Alberta (Portland's most vibrant arts district)
* Cart Pods on SW 10th and Alder and SW 5th and Oak (carts are the lifeblood of downtown lunch, and I also show them the carts on SE 12th and Hawthorne which are quite the late night scene)
* Inner East Side (since this is where I spend most of my time)
My lease is up in December, and I'm hoping to move somewhere around in the teens on the eastside, which centrally locates me between the inner east bars, the restaurants on Hawthorne and Division, and easy freeway access.
Chowhound Post
portland restaurant choices - help please!
I find that the ambience at each is a reflection of the food. Sel Gris is a bit more modern, Laurelhurst more casual and Le Pigeon very classic. All are among Portland's best, so it's a matter of preference.
For what it's worth, I'm at Laurelhurst Market much much more often than the other two.
Chowhound Post
Dinner tonight near NE Alberta?
I'm a big fan of Del Inti. Though really whenever I'm in NE I'm usually at either Acadia or EaT Oyster Bar. Hell, Podnah's is a good bet, too.
Chowhound Post
Portland - breakfast near Pioneer Square?
Actually the boutique hotels in Downtown Portland are of pretty good quality. It sounds like you're staying at either the Nines or the Hilton, and in either case it's an easy walk to Kenny & Zukes Deli in one direction, or hop on the street car and head to Nel Centro in the other direction.
Chowhound Post
Best Burger in Portland?
My favorite LA burgers are the Comme Ca, Father's Office and Hungry Cat burgers. Hell, I'll even give love to 25 Degrees. My comparable Portland burgers can be found at Carlyle, Ten01 and Toro Bravo, restaurants one normally doesn't think of when it comes to a burger, but it stands to reason that the best kitchen puts out the best food, regardless of the rest of the menu.
While the PoMo article lists some very good burgers, they miss those three. They get some picks that I'd agree with (like the Clyde Common happy hour burger or the Victory Bar venison burger).
A more interesting quest is looking for Portland's best -sandwich-. Then it gets really fun.
Chowhound Post
Best cocktail(s) in Portland
I think Laurelhurst Market's best drink is the famed Smoke Signals, so I'm going to nominate that one for its flavor as well as the technical expertise required to make smoked ice.
Similarly, Teardrop Lounge does all kinds of alchemy in a glass. Of the current menu, my favorite is Respect Your Elders, which takes gin, St. Germain and thai chili tincture.
Ten01 recently expanded their cocktail menu, and I have lots of favorites, but the best one is probably the Celeriac, which partakes of that PDX bartender sport of using cynar and tequila, combined to great effect with celery bitters and egg white.
Clyde Common also has great stuff on it, but the one that I keep turning back to, whether it be the beginning, the middle, or the end of my evening, is the Dissident, combining their house made tonic water, squeezed lime, and Becherovka.
I've been hanging out at Carlyle a lot lately, and one of my favorite drinks there is an homage to the West Coast bartenders' love of Fernet: it combines rye, Fernet, and ginger liqueur.
House Spirits does these RPM (Recession Proof Mixology) events all over town every week, going to various bars and making $5 craft cocktails. But for me I like to go to one of the RPM bartender's home base at Belly Timber, where not only can you get their rendition of that aforementioned Carlyle "Shift Drink", but you also get to try out all kinds of other cool tinctures and infusions, not as extensive as Teardrop, but still notable. My favorite thing to get here is actually an Krogstad Aquavit old fashioned.
And of course, there's Beaker and Flask, which I seem to visit with alarming regularity. Lots of great drinks on this menu, my favorite being the Coltrane! Coltrane! Coltrane! which is no longer on the menu. Currently, they're rocking a great smoky drink called Lima Time.
Chowhound Post
PDX Portland in the vicinity of Lloyd Center - In search of delicious food
Fenouil really isn't in the vicinity of the Lloyd Center. Your best bet would be to go to Meiji-En on Broadway. I think there's a Scottish pub nearby there, too. Frankly from the Lloyd Center it's really easy to hop down 12th and end up at places like Biwa or even Beaker & Flask.
Chowhound Post
Where to find Maggi seasoning sauce? SE PDX
It's most definitely in Fubonn
Chowhound Post
Who has the best cheese plate in Portland?
Yes it is, $9 during happy hour with a purchase of a cocktail.
I'm also partial to the cheeses at Le Pigeon and Ten01, though the place where I've most often gotten the cheese plate was at Clyde Common.
Chowhound Post
1 night in Portland, where to go?
Well, the reason why I say Laurelhurst Market is because the whole "local sustainable ingredient-driven and chef-driven menu" thing is fairly universal, which is why you're getting a whole slew of suggestions, but Laurelhurst Market also has the added bonus of being a butcher shop, so you'll also get to partake in that growing trend.
Beaker and Flask likewise allows you to go someplace where not only do they celebrate the local breweries, but local distilleries as well.
And Whiffies on the corner of 12th and Hawthorne is a great example of the food cart scene.
So really it's a matter of what you're trying to accomplish in terms of your one night in Portland. If the character Portland really could be distilled in one meal or one place, believe me, it would have been suggested, but perhaps you should note that Portland really isn't that "distillable".
One more note regarding Pok Pok. It's quintessential Portland in the sense that a Thai joint *doesn't* have pad thai and yet has a long wait list. We're really a city that embraces pretty much anything as long as the idea is followed through with vigor. That's why seemingly simple ideas develop into places with huge followings. Whiffies might be just a fried a pie to the casual observer, but it's a really damn good one, and served out of a space no larger than some trucks. Nong's Khao Man Gai and HaVL Sandwiches sell out by, say, 1pm at the latest. And have fun waiting at Apizza Scholls or Toro Bravo on a Friday night.
