Portland Restaurants

Bill T. wrote:

>Joseph L. wrote:
>|>
>|> Hi,
>|>
>|>    I'm going to be in Portland, OR for a week for a conference.  I was
>|> wondering if anyone could give me recomendations for any good
>|> restaurants. All ethnic types of food would be welcome.
>|>
>|>
>|> Thanks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
>|> Joe

>I have visited Portland on a couple of occasions and have been to only
>a few of the restaurants in the area but I'll give you the names
>of a couple I have been to.

>1) Marrakesh -- This is a Moroccan restaurant that serves pretty
>authentic food (at least as far as my Western taste is concerned).
>One can order items from the menu or if you are part of a group,
>the chef will prepare a six or seven course meal of his choosing
>for a fixed price -- Cost w/o drinks was around $25 per person.

>2) Trader Jack's(?)-- I'm not sure if this is the name or not but
>if my memory isn't too far gone, it has been voted one of the best
>seafood places in Portland.  However, it is a rather spendy place.

>I'm sure that there are a lot of Portlanders who can give you a
>better idea of what restaurants are there but I really enjoy visiting
>Portland and wanted to put in my $.02

>--
>________________________________________________________________________
>Bill Tripp, EDS                  | Whoa no...I don't pretend to know
>[email removed] | ev'rything...Don't have me wastin'
>				 | time fumblin' round lookin' for it...
>				 | Show me exactly where it's at.
>                                 | Show me where to scratch, baby...
>                                 | - Joe Williams
>------------------------------------------------------------------------

I'll add one more, err two more- well one restaurant with 2 locations: Try Rose's.  It's sort of a nice sit-down deli type of place that has some great sandwiches.  They also have a nice bakery with good desserts.  The location I'm most familiar with is the one that is shaped like a rose in Beaverton.  I personally think it's the best deli west of the Continental Divide.  Although, I still don't know if deli is the right word to use, as it is a little more formal than that would suggest.  Hmmm. :-Dan

Daniel C. wrote:
>I'll add one more, err two more- well one restaurant with 2 locations:
>Try Rose's.  It's sort of a nice sit-down deli type of place that has some
>great sandwiches.  They also have a nice bakery with good desserts.  The
>location I'm most familiar with is the one that is shaped like a rose in
>Beaverton.  I personally think it's the best deli west of the Continental
>Divide.  Although, I still don't know if deli is the right word to use, as it
>is a little more formal than that would suggest.  Hmmm.

Wait a minute.  Rose's is not a deli, at least not as the term is commonly understood.  Rose's reminds me of a suburban NY/NJ family-run neighborhood restaurant.  It serves American food.  Pot roast, turkey with mashed potatos, steaks, etc.  It also serves good sandwiches.  The bakery makes foot-tall elaborately decorated cakes as well as a donut the size of a dinner plate.

Now, Rose's does have pickled herring and matzo ball soup on the menu. It was founded by Max Biernbaum (in the late 40's, I think) and still retains a few traces of its roots.  But that doesn't make it a deli.

If you want to go to a deli in Portland, I recommend Kornblatt's on NW 23rd.  It's not bad for being 3000 miles away from New York.

...Lou

Lou F. wrote:
> Rose's reminds me of a suburban NY/NJ family-run neighborhood restaurant.

And a mediocre one to boot.

> If you want to go to a deli in Portland, I recommend Kornblatt's on NW
> 23rd.  It's not bad for being 3000 miles away from New York.

But no bialys, sigh.

And here is a mild update of my list of personal prejudices.

----------------

The following assumes that one travels to other places where there is good food, so may put down some of what other Portlanders' consider good.  I travel a bit, so this is a very biased view.

o Nick's is the best Italian, over $25/person.  But it's 45 minutes out of
 town.  Reservations required.
o Zell's is the best yuppie breakfast in town.  It's good to excellent. o Avoid the overrated breakfasts at the Bistro, Heathman Hotel, ... downtown. o The Heathman Pub, aka Moloch's, is a pretty good wood-table yuporium.  May
 be the best downtown place to both eat and sample some of the local brews. o Ignore all sunday brunch places, they're mediocre buffets.  My daughter
 liked brunch at Atwater's, but at 18 she was more easily impressed than I.
 Same goes for the Heathman, Benson, ... Hotels
o Papa Hayden's is considered the best general yuppie food.  Chocaholics' Anon
 official meeting place in town.  Very crowded in eves.  A bit over-rated
 IMIHO.
o But actually, some of the best non-pretentious yuppie food is Marco's in
 Multnomah.
o Hands on Cafe, in the Oregon School of Arts and Crafts on Barnes road, is a
 great yet inexpensive cafeteria-style mix of ethnic and yuppie food. o A number of other normal $20+ yuppie food places.  Skip them. o Cajun Cafe used to be great, but was sold and has become an overpriced
 disaster.  No Cajun place yet found to replace it. o But next door is an ok and cheap felafel bar which is open quite late (for
 Portland), Garbanzo's.  They also have an E Hawthorne location. o A number of Continental places, but none really worth it.  All over $20/per.
 Many rely on sugar to appeal to the American palate.  But note that I get
 Continental when I travel, so am comparing to serious cuisine. o No really good Chinese, but Hunan or Chen's, downtown, are acceptable. o Dim sum at Fung Chong's is quite good.  Only notable Chinese in the area. o Thai at the Bangkok Kitchen is great when Mama is cooking.  Avoid otherwise.
 Very informal, downright funky in fact.  All other Thai I have tried in town
 is quite mediocre.  Get the chicken soup with coconut milk, but ask for it
 heavy, as they've taken to diluting it.  The world did not need chicken soup
 'lite'.
o Vietnamese/Thai at Tanh Tao  at 40th and Hawthorne is good and inexpensive,
 order Vietnamese not Thai.  I have yet to find grerat Vietnamese in Portland,
 not that it may not be here.
o Sumida is the best Japanese, but the sushi bar at Ming Palace is quite good
 although the rest of the food there is the absolute pits. o In Beaverton, Yoshi's is by far the best Japanese, but does not have enough
 seating.
o There is a fast-food sushi place in Beaverton, Marineopolous, that is
 mediocre but damned cheap (which helps if one has a son who is an addict). o Have not found Pakistani, Malasian, Mid-Eastern, et al. o The Indian food at Plainfield's is good but does not match the prices, but
 they have the best wine list in town.  I can not believe that anybody in
 India eats losbster tail with silver foil.
o Lebanese at Al-Amir downtown is fairly good for this far West. o Swagat, in Beaverton, is fair Southern Indian food.  Steam table (shudder)
 lunch is reasonable.
o There is no Mexican, other Latino, or Caribe food worth mentioning. o For vegetarian, try Song of the Rose, in 'Yuptown' (NW 23rd). o The only deli I have found is Kornblatt's also in Yuptown. o Pazzo's downtown has a really tasty yup-Italian menu, and is not expensive
 for lunch.
o If you're with young children, Old Wives' Tales is well-designed to handle
 them, has a playroom, the staff is housebroken, and the food is ok. o Alexis is so-so Greek cuisine, and middle to low priced. o I have yet to find a good country-style steak place or an excellent (heck,
 even acceptable) steak in town, period.  Since Lou & Ev's closed in Eugene,
 there may not be one in Oregon or S Wash.
o There is no edible BBQ North of Oakland California.  Don't get suckered into
 trying, you'll become ill.
o Brasserie Montmartre is acceptable yuppie/continental and the best jazz with
 food in town.
o Jake's is the traditional fish place in town, and is good.  Generally, for a
 costal state, the fish at a random restaurant in Oregon is the pits unless
 you like deep fried everything.
o Nature's (the local yuppie food chain) recently opened a restaurant at 30th
 and Division.  Quality varies widely, but can be quite tasty. o The Northwest has gone coffee crazy.  Coffee People is Portland's local
 chain, but there are also the national chains like Starbucks. o A lot of great local brew pubs, but avoid the so-called food. o There is great bread in town, but it's bought in stores.  Avoid all Oregon
 cheeses except the Oregon bleu, which is becoming quite well known. o The only non-greaseburger hamburger is the Foothill Broiler. o If we've descended to hamburgers, it's time to stop.

A yet-to-be-tested report from someone whose taste seems quite reasonable:
 "... _tiny_ restaurant which is near Newberg (halfway between Nick's and
 Portland), called something like "Tricia's" (some woman'sname beginning with
 a T)?  It's relatively new, very clean and eclectic, with a menu that varies
 from night to night.  Great wine list, strangely-priced entrees, and clearly
 a labor of love for the people running it.  I had some truly amazing rabbit
 there, perhaps even better than the bunnies raised for Buca Giovanni's in
 SF.  Unfortunately, one or two of the other entrees were less than
 spectacular."

But Portland has one thing, albeit not a restaurant, that you do not want to miss; Powell's Bookstore.  New and used intermixed, a city block, eclectic, and a place to drink cofee and think/read.  As good a computer section as you'll find in town, but not at the same location.  It is very surprising to find such an excellent bookstore in a town the size of Portland.

There's a fair bit of good food in Seattle (which I will leave to the Seattle folk to describe), but to grab a quick inexpensive bite, go to the fish market at Pike's Market and have some clams for me.

93.11.07