Tasty Portland

I'm reluctant to leave behind the fabulous food scene in Portland, but I'm looking forward to wine country and the SF Bay Area which have never disappointed me. A quick review of everywhere I ate outside my cousin's house.


Apologies to those of you who were hoping for some photographic food porn. Three reasons I don't have any money shots here:

1. I really felt self-conscious about being that girl taking pictures of her food. Never stopped me in Madison, but I usually try to avoid drawing attention to myself when traveling, when in crowded restaurants, and when in large cities.
2. Since I was dining with my hosts most of the time, I didn't want to be discourteous. Often when I'm photographing my food with my cell phone, I'm by myself or with another friend doing the exact same thing.
3. This food was tasty. Seriously tasty. Too-tasty-to-take-the-time-to-photograph-it tasty. I've blogged about this concept before.

So, here it is. The Rundown. <insert awesome Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson movie reference here>

• Rogue Distillery and Public House. Good beer, lots of Kobe beef choices, great atmosphere for hanging out.
• Petite Provence. Beautiful and delicious pastries, and their breakfast looked good too. I had the savory goat cheese and butternut squash-stuffed brioche as well as the Pear Provence (half a pear on pastry cream on puff pastry). I also hear that their coffee is excellent, but I was skipping caffeine that morning.
• Red Onion. This was a super-quick lunch right before they closed for change-over. So, you go with the Pad Thai because it's not going to suck, and if you're lucky, it will be tasty. The veggies were crisp, the staff were extremely nice despite how late I was dining, and it was indeed tasty.
• Andina. Modern and traditional Peruvian cuisine, and the most fun way to eat there is to order a bunch of their tapas plates. My main takeaway from this eating experience: I will coat everything in quinoa and fry it when I get home. Everything. My favorite dishes were the "chicharrones", which in this case were chicken tenders and prawns coated in quinoa and deep-fried. I just can't get over how delicious they were.
• Tasty n Sons. Best. Brunch. Ever. Trios of tiny biscuits with sweet cream and berries or a venison sausage gravy, creative bloody marys, coffee while you wait (because you will have to wait). Open kitchen with a dining counter as well as tables on the floor. The aesthetic is industrial-rustic, exactly what I think of when I think of trendy Portland brunch. And the food is simply fantastic. I was bowled over by the breakfast sandwich I had, aptly called a "Tasty Muffin": boudin blanc sausage patty with soft-fried egg and arugula on a house-made English muffin spread with apple butter. If I'd been hungover, I would have ordered a second one after finishing the first. And based on this dining experience, I believe that I would rate anything here 5 stars.
• Mextiza. Great modern Mexican food and a unique cocktail. More here.
• Salt and Straw. Because you need dessert after eating your fill at Mextiza. If you've been to Bi-Rite Creamery in San Francisco, then you know what kind of ice cream place this is. The kind with gastronomically adventurous flavors that is packed at 9 pm on a Saturday night in January and has lines around the block in the summertime. I sampled the Pear and Blue Cheese ice cream and ordered the Buttered Roasted Chestnut ice cream. Perfect amount of savory and sweet, and light, creamy texture.

I should also add that every single one of these places is madly popular and, as a result, often very crowded. Fortunately, we either had reservations or it was easy for them to accommodate a party of 1 (in my case) or 2 (as when Bryan and I had brunch at Tasty n Sons). I recommend them all and will eventually get around to reviewing them on Yelp.