On the trail of great food in Portland Oregon - part five

Our last day, we went in search of multi-cultural fun...Cuban and Indian!

Fabulous Cuban breakfast at Pambiche

Picadillo Cua-Cua with eggs, avocado, fruit, rice, and fried plantains

Cuban French toast with almonds and fruit

Bistek - steak and eggs

And an equally fabulous Indian dinner at Swagat!

Braised goat, on the bone

On the trail of great food in Portland Oregon - part four

St John's Pub and Theater (McMenamin's)

The gold-domed building was originally built for the 1905 Lewis and Clark Exposition, Portland's World's Fair, and was meant to last just 6 months.  It has been relocated and used for many purposes, both sacred and profane ever since!  In 1998, Mike and Brian McMenamin restored it to run it as a pub/theater).

I knew nothing about Nitro taps until visiting here.  Nitro makes everything better!

Grateful Veg Burger with cajun tater tots and peppercorn ranch.

On the trail of great food in Portland Oregon - part three

Breakfast at Pine State Biscuits

Another day, a few more pounds.  Which we then walked off!

This is "The Chatfield" -  biscuit, fried chicken, bacon, cheese, apple butter

Much much much later in the day...

Affogato Gelato with Simon, the owner

Coconut (toasted!) and chocolate chip gelato

Blueberry and lavender gelato

On the trail of great food in Portland Oregon - part two

It's a miracle that we didn't gain weight on this trip!

Jam on Hawthorne
Breakfast wrap with homemade lamb sausage, eggs, arugula, tomatoes, goat cheese

Hallah french toast, grand Marnier dipped, fruit compote

Pink Harley-Davidson coffee mug

Oatmeal-chai blueberry pancakes

Bella Sunrise - spinach with eggs, red pepper sauce, and feta

Salt & Straw...is it worth the wait?  Oh yeah...

Handmade waffle cones

Amazing ice cream

There's always still room for chocolate at Moonstruck

Clear Creek pear brandy, Pure gold with Drambuie, Grand Marnier truffles

On the trail of great food in Portland Oregon - part one

 

A number of years ago, I shared with you about our daughter's decision to move across country to Portland, and our subsequent discovery of Voodoo Doughnuts and Dick's Kitchen, the home of the dork burger.  We've had several trips out to visit her since then, and I think it's past time that I shared some of our favorite eating establishments and shops that we have visited.  Lest you think all we did was eat, let me tell you that we didn't come back any heavier than we left...we also did a LOT of walking and hiking!

In no particular order:

Just to remind you how we like to start the day...Voodoo Doughnuts

Cinnamon bun French toast at 10-2-1 Cafe

Full Sail Brewing and Pub

Whole Foods, aka Whole Paycheck...a place the girls almost never shop

Planked salmon at Jake's Grill 

The dessert tray at Jake's

Great American Grill

Our local Marriott has a built-in restaurant called the Great American Grill.  Maybe they all have them...I wouldn't know.  Marriotts aren't usually in our budget when we're traveling, but the diner is really quite good.  At least for breakfast and lunch!   Here's my quesadilla...that's a mouthful, huh?  A lot of it went home with me.

KJ's Airport Diner

In Shirley, Massachusetts.  How can you NOT like a diner with a breakfast menu like this?  KJ's Airport Diner

An adventure in Portland...Voodoo Doughnuts

We fell in love with Portland Oregon when we visited our daughter Dani there!  And I want you to know that we're doing the best we can to help Keep Portland Weird...we sent her to live there permanently!

We had lots of good food while visiting, but far and away our favorite stop was to Voodoo Doughnut to sample what Dani assured us was the best maple and bacon raised bar doughnut on the face of the earth.  I think she's right!

We also had a fabulous meal at Dick's Kitchen, home of the Dork Burger (duck and pork).  Just enough duck to make it moist, not enough to make it greasy greasy greasy!

Thai Thai Restaurant

Oh, so worth the trip!  After we spent all day hiking in Volcanoes National Park on the Big Island of Hawaii, we were beyond famished.  But we were also grubby, smelly, and in my case, sunburned.  Oh, and not very well dressed either.

We were immediately ushered in and made to feel very welcome at the Thai Thai Restaurant in spite of all of that!  We had no idea what a treat we had in store...

Let me start by saying that Hawaii has the world's best produce, and one of the world's most uninteresting cuisines that I've ever experienced.  It's strange: here you have all these amazing fresh fruits and vegetables that grow year round, and for the most part they are simply whacked open and served as is.  Don't get me wrong...this is how I eat during the day anyway, everyday.  But for dinner I want something that takes some care and includes some seasoning.  The Thai Thai has it down pat!  The freshest organic ingredients you'd ever want to see, beautifully prepared and just plain delicious.

You can choose your level of hotness: mild, medium, hot, and Thai hot.  I wanted hot, but kept vacillating between hot and medium.  Well, no problem, I was told.  We'll make it medium-hot for you!  How was it?  Perfect.

We shared summer rolls (shown above) which were out of this world, and I ordered the seasonal mixed vegetable stir fry with tofu.  Perfect.  Just perfect.