Tea and snacks at the Chinese Classical Garden
Typhoon
Fish at Typhoon
Eggplant and tofu at Typhoon
Veggie dishes at Paradox Cafe - Solstice Corn Cakes, which are corncakes with apples and toasted walnuts in the mix (I had them with quite a big pat of butter
Veggie dishes at Paradox Cafe - Biscuits and Gravy "HOB version" which is herb and onion bread with almond gravy.
Veggie dishes at Paradox Cafe - Sloppy Joe, vegan style
Guava margarita, $5 at Oba's happy hour
ecuadorian griddled potato cakes of yukon gold potatoes, muenster cheese, achiote and green onions topped with peanut sauce- I thought the flavor profile was good, but it needed better texture instead of just being soft mush
Disturbingly pink prickly pear margarita
chilé-corn fritters with pasilla-tomato sauce andlime crema- this had the much needed crunch that the potato cakes should have had a bit of, but to the opposite end because they were pretty greasy and could have used more sauce to balance out the oil.
Fritters and fries at Portland City Grill. The Risotto Fritters made of Carnaroli rice, northwest salmon, peppered bacon, onion, edamame and Parmesan flash fried with piminton aïoli- bland. I tasted rice and the flash fried and nothing else in the description. The Togarashi Spiced Fire-shoestring fries, spicy togarashi, garlic-Parmesan aïoli - awesome. and $2!
Lamenting our lack of view but still having a good time at Portland City Grill
Desperate Housewife cocktail: white sangria, triple sec, blood orange, cava
Great vegetarian sandwich with cheese from Moe's, home of where F gets his coffee and marionberry scone when he has time to make a stop on his work to the office. This vegetarian sandwich on wheat has cucumbers, tomatoes, carrots, lettuce, hummus, and swiss cheese. I was full all day from this. A little place in the South Park Blocks, but a favorite of ours! I also had some fresh apple juice, and they have fresh vegetables and fruits for other juices as well.
The beautiful first look at my cocktail called the Kickboxer- Thai chile vodka with passionfruit puree and citrus juices, topped with raspberry puree. Yum! You get a mouthful of fruitiness, followed by a kick from the chili at the end. This is one of the signature drinks at Saucebox.
This is my new favorite drink- the Kickboxer at Saucebox.
Look at that happy hour menu at Saucebox! So many choices! This trendy place filled up quickly between 4:30-5, and made for some great people watching as well.
Some of the signature cocktails at Saucebox. There is another drink for two that comes in a pineapple with pineapple vodka and pineapple puree- one day I'll be back for that!
Saucebox's Pork Sarong, which is two meatballs with deep-fried noodles and a tamarind dipping sauce, was ok, but for that same $3 you would be better off with the crispy sweet potato spring rolls another person ordered at my table.
Saucebox's $5 happy hour special (their upper end) included this choice I made of crispy pork spareribs with a orange ginger bbq sauce. The meat was so good I didn't even use the sauce. It was tender and falling off the bone meat, but thanks to the quick deep-fry the outside was super crispy crackly. This is better shared because 3 ribs was little too much for me- have one and get another dish or two! Another dining friend had the pulled pork udon, which was a great burst of flavor and is also recommended! Sorry for the blurred picture- the Kickboxer, and then my lil carafe of $4 sake, kicked me!
Pok Pok- bloody mary made with Thai chili vodka has the lovely recognition of the Thai chili, but not enough tomato juice- look how watery it is.
Pok Pok's Khanom Jiin Naam Yaa, a ground fresh fish curry with krachai, lemongrass, chilies and glangal, served over rice vermicelli with herbs, pickled mustard greens and boiled egg, did not have enough daring fish parts and I was able to tell. Passable, but not remarkable.
Pok Pok's Kaeng Hung Leh, a curry withsweet pork belly and pork shoulder curry with ginger, palm sugar, tamarind, turmeric, Burmese curry powder and pickled garlic. It was marinated just to the right falling off the bone tenderness, and the curry was very savory and rich- more rich than I had in Chiang Mai, but I had no problems with this upgrade.
Pok Pok's Het Paa Naam Tok, a Spicy Isaan forest mushroom “salad” with soy sauce, lime and chili powder dressing, shallots,lemongrass,mint, cilantro and toasted rice powder (basically the vegetarian equivalent of the traditional Waterfall Thai Beef dish), it was ok.
Pok Pok's Khao Soi with tofu, made with their "secret curry paste recipe, house-pressed fresh coconut milk. Served with pickled mustard greens, shallots, crispy yellow noodles and roasted chili paste. Chiang Mai specialty, with Burmese origins." The curry itself had great flavor, though I admonished my companions for not using the sides, but the noodles were not fresh egg noodles (though the crispy noodles were right on)
Pok Pok's Vietnamese dish of Ca Muc Nuong, with nice squares of large calamari, grilled whole over charcoal, chopped and served with lettuce and herbs served with a spicy lime/garlic/chile dipping sauce. That dipping sauce was awesomely spicy.
I tried to challenge Pok Pok by ordering a dessert which sounded like an improvement of normal breakfast food: Pok Pok Affogato, which they offer as condensed milk ice cream drowned in a shot of Vietnamese coffee, served with a Chinese fried donut. I thought the donut was fried too crispy rather than being doughy on the inside and crisp on the outside-it would shatter as we tried to break it, almost like a chip. But it tasted perfect, and the bowl of ice cream and coffee was perfection
Pok Pok's Coconut Ice Cream Sandwich, which is coconut - jackfruit ice cream served on a sweet bun with sweet sticky rice, peanuts, condensed milk and chocolate syrup. The sweet bun was not sweet enough though, not like what you would get in Thailand. But, I was still impressed by the Pok Affogato and am ok with it. I smile because they did get the size of the scoops of ice cream right
Toro Bravo: Tortilla Espanola with nettles. I always get a tortilla as a tapa because it is one of the ways I judge a tapas restaurant. Tortillas should be firm but not too solid, and cool to room temperature but not chilled. Because this is a cold tapa, it usually comes out immediatly too, which I appreciate (especially with the lack of bread). In fact, my tortilla was passed out at the same time as the bread plate another diner ordered at my table. They were really generous with their sauce on the tortilla, and it was a chucky pie size with a creamier white sauce and a spicier red sauce. It was a tasty start, and I wouldn't mind ordering it again to start a tapas experience again here, though definitely be prepared to share this portion!
Toro Bravo: Griddled Bacon Wrapped Dates with warm honey. At $6 and 3 dates in the dish, you're talking about $2 a piece for a date with its bacon wrapper and drizzle of sweet honey. But, this delicious complexity of flavor is worth ordering.
Toro Bravo: Oxtail Croquettes with spice roasted chili mayonnaise- you end up with 3 croquettes for $14. The flavor is good, very savory and rich, but there is another beef dish which you would get better bang for your taste, and value for your stomach portion-wise, for the same price: the House Smoked Coppa Steak with olive oil poached potatoes, chopped olives & salbitxada. I only had a little bite of this steak that was the entire length of a palm, and you didn't even need the rest of the sides because the steak itself was so full of flavor. It's like a whole entree, for the same $14 price that you would have gotten these oxtail croquettes.
Saucebox: “Introducing the new Saucebox GojiBerry cocktail: Eternal Youth made with sun-dried, all-natural goji berries from Heaven Mountain in Central Asia. This delicious "super-fruit" is the world's most-powerful anti-aging food, rated #1 on the ORAC (Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity) scale” seems the right drink to celebrate a birthday, right?
Saucebox's Eternal Youth cocktail, a GojiBerry cocktail where they muddle housemade Goji-ice with kaffir lime infused gin, lilikoi and lime
Saucebox's happy hour includes this $2 bowl of frites- perfectly prepared so that the ketchup was unnecessary and would mark the crispyness
Saucebox's Pineapple for two is also a perfect beverage for celebrating a birthday, I think!
Saucebox's Crispy Sweet Potato Spring Rolls with lettuce, cilantro, and sour lime dipping sauce. The spring roll was cooked perfectly but a bit bland, but the sour lime dipping sauce made up for it with its burst of flavor
Saucebox's Peanut noodles
Saucebox's pulled pork udon noodles are a great dish, though not suited for eating while also drinking the Kickboxer cocktail (which uses Thai chili vodka) because your mouth is too much on fire from so much flavor!
Multnomah Falls- top half...
Multnomah Falls- top and bottom parts. Um, this picture is taken from the car... in the parking lot looking for a space...
After mailing draft invitations at Bridal Veil, we stopped off at Multnomah Falls for a quick look (we didn't even go past the visitor's center) and lunch at the lodge there. There is a trail you can go up and view the falls from the top, which you can see people doing in the top right outlook
Walkin from the parking lot to the waterfall area, you pass by this river with water from the falls.
This is us walking up to the Rose Garden on the way from our house to Burnside and then following the trail there
Mossy steps...
Reservoir of water
No bathing!
Flowering trees at the Rose Garden. The roses were not blooming yet.
Walking along the Rose Garden is pretty flat and stable. And also other pretty trees
Before we get exhausted on our hike to Pittock Mansion...
Views of Mt Hood teases us at the Rose Garden
view of Mt Hood from the Rose Garden. The Rose Garden is actually below where you see that railing- that area is bathrooms, snack truck, and gift shop.
Have a snack and enjoy the view at the snack spot (free to sit, you pay for snacks :P ) at the International Rose Garden
the pink building where F works
Tennis courts... and flowering trees, on the way from the Rose Garden to the Japanese Garden
Some trees by the entrance to the Japanese Gardens
Looking down at the Japanese Garden from the Wildwood Trail
A peek at the Japanese Gardens
Behind that greenery on the left is actually a waterfall, and you see there is koi in the water too, in this stalker shot using the zoom lens...
Pretty trees... by the bathroom area at Pittock Mansion
Look what we found on the Wildwood Trail on the way to Pittock Mansion from the Rose Garden...
Viewing areas to pause and gaze at the sequoias along Wildwood Trail
On the Wildwood trail leading from the Rose Garden up to Pittock Mansion, we found these sequoias...
Sequoias are tall
Sequoias are tall.
Sequoias hanging out along the Wildwood Trail
We walked along Wildwood Trail to get to Pittock Mansion, but you can actually drive and just park in the lot just a few yards from here...
Pittock Mansion, front
Pittock Mansion- walking towards the back to see the view
View of Portland from Pittock Mansion. We didn't go inside the mansion because it was already closed- it's free to walk on the outside
view of Portland from Pittock Mansion
This is the more panaramic spot in the exact back of the Pittock mansion yard (were off to the right a little previous shots)
Portland is bigger than you think...
F works in the “Big Pink” US Bancorp building, which is that tallest building you see on the left. He can walk there from the house in 30 min.
Gazing at the city...
Why is it taking so long to take my picture?
You can see a video I have of this view at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zzihPY7IYc
Spring in Portland- a tree right next to the entrance of my building at work
This is also on my work campus, but by the entrance of another building a bit down the street
Aw, baby bush
Teenage bush
Grown up bush
Tree... by the train stop that I get on/off between home and work. This is Millkan Way, the stop by work.
East India Company: Papdi Chaat- mini crispy poories filled with potatoes and spiced with chaat then topped with yogurt, tamarind, and mint chutney
East India Company's Begam Bahar Ratan (Scallops & Asparagus)Baby scallops and chopped asparagus cooked in an aromatic sauce with cashew nuts, lemon, ginger, green chilies and cilantro.
East India Company: Dhal, naan, and Aloo Gobi Fragrant cauliflower with new potatoes, stir fried with ground spices & tomatoes garnished with cilantro
East India Company's Kulfi, Pistachio flavor (Indian ice cream)
Belly Timber- the bread with softened sweet butter and coriander salt and chili salt.
Belly Timber- Small plate of asparagus with poached egg, duck bacon, and pistachio vinaigrette. Wonderfully savory rich starter.
Belly Timber- housemade fries with bone marrow aioli. Good, but had high hopes for these and they did not match those expectations, though the fries were still crisp and tasty (though they could be even crispier). The aioli was more creamy with a subtle bit of marrow, very tame despite the description.
Belly Timber- the Beets, watercress, and carrot with goat cheese vinaigrette was very mild and a bit salty. Would have prefered this to be premixed rather than having all the sauce at the bottom as it made it uneven.
Belly Timber- stinging nettles risotto with asparagus, spring onion, lemon and grana disappointed. The oil collected at the bottom and was just too much. The lemon was a nice addition to this though- the rest of the ingredients just didn't balance out to anything.
Belly Timber- Swiss chard, currants, and pine nuts inside of phyllo and resting atop ricotta salata and aged balsamic was a lot of flavor- didn't need the butter phyllo, but maybe some other starch as a better counterweight. Great flavor inside the dough though!
Belly Timber- simple but well executed, excellently balanced dish of honey poached chicken breast, then topped with crumbled crispy skin (genius combination! You get the juicy moistness and the crispy goodness) accompanied with glazed carrots and tarragon. If I could criticize anything, it is only that the chicken and carrots alone were so wonderful that the tarrogon seemed like a runt tagging along on the plate- didn't hurt the dish though.
Belly Timber- little bite of dessert, Stumptown custard with caramel foam is like having an airy coffee for dessert. Yum.
View from my bedroom window, looking north. You can see Big Pink to the right, and the Fremont Bridge (the white bridge). Straight shot with no zoom.
Closer look at Fremont Bridge and Mt St Helens past the building across the street...
Mt St Helens from the air
Mt St Helens from the airplane
View of Mt St Helens from my airplane window
Watching Mt St Helens from airplane window on flight to Vancouver BC
View of the lava flow that came from Mt St Helens, as seen from airplane window
View from my flight from Portland to Vancouver BC of Mt St Helens
Closeup of the ground where the lava once flowed...
sunset on vancouver b.c. at salmon house
Salmon House on the Hill: halibut cheeks for mom
Salmon House on the Hill dinner: seared tuna
Sadly this appetizer of Dungeness Crab & Shrimp Tian (avocado, local tomato, herb salad) was a bit on the bland side
I ordered the "Uniquely BC" 3 course menu. This is the appetizer course of "Qualicum Scallop Mousse" with foie gras torchon, apple and elderflower sorbet, golden raisin coulis
I ordered the "Uniquely BC" 3 course menu. This is the appetizer course of Qualicum Scallop Mousse's foie gras torchon
I ordered the "Uniquely BC" 3 course menu. This is the appetizer course of Qualicum Scallop Mousse and the apple and elderflower sorbet, golden raisin coulis
Qualicom Scallop Mousse
Salmon House Sampler of alder grilled BC salmon with tomato ginger chutney, candied salmon spring roll with hoisin aioli, smoked salmon mousses with creme fraiche
Salmon House Sampler: candied salmon spring roll with hoisin aioli
Salmon House Sampler: smoked salmon mousses with creme fraiche
Salmon House Sampler: the half of alder grilled BC salmon with tomato ginger chutney that was left post-Steven's taste
Steven did not offer me a taste of his entree of Roasted 7 Bone Rack of Lamb with pomme puree, apple & mint salsa verde
Lynn's entree disappeared quickly: after negotiation with Steven, she was allowed to order the Aldergrilled Queen Charlotte Pink Salmon with crispy goujon, horseradish & yukon gold potato pave, smoked tomato and caper beurre blank
Dad's entree: Famous Alder Grilled Sockeye Salmon with beet and potato
My great entree of Alder-Grilled "Dixon Entrance" Salmon with coconut sticky rice, minted dungeness crab quenelle, chili and mango butter served with green beans. Great flavor, I was wiping that sauce off the plate with whatever I had left at the end.
Cheese dessert course with my 3 course meal. Disappointing cheese- there was better to be had at the Public Market at Granville the next day.
Mom admired the arrangement though
I ate the right half (cheese- could have used a bit more balsalmic, how stingy), and the rest of the family ate the left half of natural croccatini cracker, candied pecan and fresh and dried fruits... the cheeses were Poplar Grove "Blue Juliette" and "Harvest Moon"
chinese garden in old chinatown, vancouver b.c.
chinese garden in vancouver bc
Dim Sum at Kirin- the boneless duck web
Doughy chinese doughnut- the condensed milk was requested and is not pictured. Served warm!
Kirin's squid in spicy peppery salt
Squid in spicy peppery salt at Kirin
Soft shell crab in spicy salt at Kirin for dim sum
pan fried rice roll with sauces of peanut and hoisin at Kirin for dim sum
Kirin's pan fried rice roll comes with peanut sauce and hoisin sauce
pan fried rice roll
After a 1.5 hour wait on a Sat night, we enjoyed dinner at Sun Sui Wah in Richmond, B.C. This is their “world famous squab”
The famous roasted squab
Best dish of the night at Sun Sui Wah was the dark horse! The sweet and sour soup!
Alaskan King crab at Sun Sui Wah
Guuu... the Garlic branch of Guu, a Japanese izakaya, pub food
Guu with Garlic Izakaye: Salmon-Carpaccio
Nong's Khao Man Gai: from a cart in Portland, for $6
Nong's Khao Man Gai: from a cart in Portland, for $6, includes the chicken broth flavored rice, the poached chicken, winter melon soup, and the important soy bean sauce with garlic ginger and chili
Nong's Khao Man Gai
Koi Fusion food cart, which is really a food truck that is actually mobile, unlike other food carts in Portland. The truck is in pretty good shape and full of amenities like the various soda behind the glass to the left of the girls, in the ice in front of them, a condiment station, and there is a trash can below the condiment station. Snacks, like fried pork skin, sit on shelves right above where the girls' heads are.
Waiting for my lunch as others order or also await their orders on their lunchtime spot between 6th and Broadway on College, in a lot.
The toppings on Koi Fusion's tacos (this one is a short rib taco- all their meat is natural) include some shreeded cabbage, bean sprout, chinese cilantro, cucumber, and a wedge of lime. if you wanted to add red or green Mexican salsa you were on your own to add them from the bottle.
Good look at the short rib meat in the taco from Koi Fusion's food truck
Good look at the spicy pork meat in Koi Fusion's spicy pork taco.
A Koi Fusion special of the day- sliders! I asked for short rib sliders. These were insanely good- soft doughy roll with a touch of crunch from being toasted, spicy creamy sauce with the cheese and lettuce and savory meat, and a lime wedgie to squeeze for a bit of acid.
Koi Fusion sliders
Koi Fusion sliders- these are with short rib meat, well worth the $1 extra
Mmmm short rib from Koi Fusion
