Filed under: Southeast Portland, Thai | Tags: Hawthorne, paleo, pandanus leaf, pok pok, southeast portland, thai restaurant, yelp
3145 SE Hawthorne Blvd., Portland, OR 97214
503 234 6192
Thanks Tami for the recommendation!
Saw this restaurant on our way to another restaurant and was reminded that it was recommended to us by someone. We made a knee jerk reaction to stop by and eat here. We then looked up some photos on Yelp and we were In like Flynn. We were starving too. But hopefully that did not bias our opinion that the food was so dang amazing!
What we ordered: From the section in the menu called “Specialties” we ordered:
SP6 – “Gang Om” – Tender slow-cooked beef in a home-style gang om curry with lemongrass, kaffir leaf, galangal root and Thai herbs topped with green onion and cilantro.
SP10 – “Gang Hung Lay” – Tender slow-cooked pork and pork belly in a Northern Thai-style curry with pineapple, garlic, ginger and peanuts.
From their Specials of the Day – “Kai yet Sai” – sweet and sour ground pork and shrimp stir fried with carrot, onion, tomato and green onion wrapped in an omelet.
How we ordered it: Everything we ordered as is. Each dish comes with a side of rice. We did receive the rice, but you can easily pass on the rice.
What we received:
SP6 – “Gang Om”
SP10 – “Gang Hung Lay”
Special: “Kai Yat Sai”
Cost: SP6 “Gang Om”‘ – $11.50, SP10 – “Gang Hung Lay” – $11.50, Special “Kai Yet Sai” – $11.00
Quantity: At first glance, we were unimpressed of the portion size. Mind you, we did have rice with our entrees. With that being said, we were INCREDIBLY stuffed by the time we reached the end of our meal. Like normal people who stop when they are full, we of course did not. Without the rice, the stews would have still been a hearty, but we would recommend ordering an additional dish; which we did, but really did not need to.
Quality: The specials SP6 and SP10 were incredibly tasty. I was thoroughly satisfied with every aspect of these dishes.
SP6 tasted savory and flavorful, very Asian tasting because of the lemongrass.
SP10 was a little sweet, because of the pineapple, and spicy; a really great combo!
The Special “Kai Yat Sai” was kind of like an elaborate version of ketchup and eggs. Really tasty, but not as original tasting as we had hoped. The three pieces of shrimp that came with it were less than impressive. I probably wouldn’t order it again, but since it was a Special of the Day, you probably don’t need to worry about it.
Meat-O-Meter says:
So stinking impressed with the food here! We’re just sorry we didn’t come here sooner. We’ll be back for sure.
On a side note, Chiang Mai flavors their water with a leaf called the Padanus Leaf. It makes the water taste like there is a hint of coconut, sweet and a slight depth of a nutty flavor. It was really really good.
We will be buying Pandanus and putting it in our Brita. Apparently Pok Pok does this as well. It was such a nice discovery that added to the awesome experience we had at Chiang Mai. Oh, what a pleasant discovery!
Filed under: Japanese, Korean, Southeast Portland | Tags: Japanese, kimchee, Korean, paleo, restaurant, southeast portland
15 Southeast 9th Avenue, Portland, OR
Happy New Year! Sorry for the long hiatus. The holidays get pretty crazy!
Our first new restaurant of 2013 was not a complete bust we are happy to say 
They’re in the same building of Simpatica, so we’ve heard about it, but didn’t know much about it. Then over the holidays it was recommended to us, so we thought we’d stop by here for Happy Hour.
What we ordered: From the Happy Hour Menu: Chicken skewer, Beef steak skewer, “Bara” Pork Belly Skewer, Onigiri (Grilled rice ball), Yakionigiri (seaweed wrapped rice with pickled plum inside), From Regular Menu: Kani Salad (The Special of the day: crabmeat with arugula), Pork Kimchee Stew
How we ordered it: As is. We’ve added rice to our diet…. Though for no rice, you could easily get the pork kimchee stew without rice cakes if you wanted. Also, you could easily not order the rice balls or seaweed rice wrap as well 
What we received:
Small bowl of mildly spiced popcorn, they give everyone at the beginning of your meal.
Kani salad (crabmeat with arugula)
Chicken and Beef Steak skewer
“Bara” Pork Belly Skewer
Yakionigiri (Rice wrapped in seaweed with pickled plum inside)
Pork kimchee stew with rice cake
Grilled rice balls.
It’s amazing how the pictures look when you have good lighting! Gee…
Cost: Kani Salad (crabmeat and arugula)- $12, Chicken, Steak, Pork Belly Skewers – $2 each (happy hour special), Rice balls and rice seaweed wrap – $1 each (happy hour special), Pork kimchee stew – $7
Quality: Very high quality meat. They’re like the other restaurants in Portland, it’s hormone free, antibiotic free, natural…’n all that good stuff. Really tasty, really surprised at how good it was!
Quantity: Hmmm…how do you verbalize that look when you’re thinking, ‘I don’t think so” or “oooo! that’s gotta hurt”, and you suck air in your mouth with widened bottom lip….
MEAT-O-METER SAYS!!
The Kani Salad was described as a sizable salad. Eek, maybe we should have told him that we’re big eaters and I guess we should have told him we were sharing it. Considering how hungry I was, I would have eaten the entire thing in 6 bites. For $11, I was expecting it to be slightly larger. Though it was dungeness crab meat, so I guess that’s how it goes….don’t get me wrong though, it was very very tasty.
Which led us to be slightly worried about the size of the rest of our meal. The skewers, though single portioned, were incredibly well made: moist and tasty, really great meat. Since it was Happy Hour, we decided to get another Pork Belly Skewer. I think on the regular menu the skewers are $4 each, so a bit on the expensive side for our tastes.
For our sizable meat intake needs, Biwa didn’t quite meet them. Hence, the sideways thumbs. Happy hour is great here though!
If you didn’t want to eat rice, didn’t go during Happy Hour and wanted a really fulfilling meal, you will have to be ready to spend a bit more. You’ll be dropping some dollars for small portioned dishes as well as the number of dishes you’ll have to order to feel full. Though this is a Japanese/Korean restaurant with rice being a staple of the culture’s diet, not eating rice would be difficult here, but do-able.
When we left at 6:30 pm-ish, it was packed and a line had formed! So obviously a very popular joint with high quality cooking.
Overall though, we enjoyed it and we’ll definitely be back fro Happy Hour! Pork belly skewer…mmmmmm.
Filed under: Korean, Northeast Portland | Tags: chicken wings, micro-restaurant, Northeast Portland, paleo, Portland
2329 NE Glisan St., Portland, OR 97232
(971) 271-8260
There’s a micro restaurant complex on NE Glisan and 24th. A couple restaurants opened that are small and “micro” meaning you order at the register, get a number and they bring you your food. We’ve been to a bunch of these restaurants and the quality of the food has been very surprising. The first one of the many micro restaurants that had popped up in this area is Basa Basa. It’s Korean-fried chicken. It’s gaining in popularity. In Korea, the fried chicken is a popular street and bar food, mostly eaten with some Soju or beer. It’s amazingly moist and crispy, so I’ve heard. There is a US food chain called Bon Chon that serves Korean Fried Chicken and I’ve been so curious to try it. So when we heard this place opened up in Portland, we had to try it!
What we ordered: Basa Box of 6 chicken wings, comes with mac salad and rice.
How we ordered it: Well, the menu is very simple. 1) Choose between a Box of 3, 6, or 10 wings. (Boxes come with two sides: mac salad and rice) 2) Choose between 3 sauces. 3) If you order a la cart wings, then the sides are mac salad or rice. That’s it. Here’s the menu:
Basa Basa Menu (Click to Enlarge)
What we received:
6 chicken wings
Cost: Box of 6 wings – $10, Box of 10 wings – $14, only 6 wings – $6.50, only 9 wings – $11.50
Quantity: I’d say they were a little on the small side. Small scoop of the sides was OK. I definitely was not full after this plate of wings. Probably because of all the gluten.
Quality: These wings were very tasty. Of course it could have been because I had forgotten how good meat is when it has flour breading on it and when it’s fried. It was hard to appreciate it, everything definitely tasted good, but as far as trying to eat “cleaner” when at a restaurant, this place is NOT the place to go if you are trying to go “clean”.
Meat-O-Meter says!
I so wanted this place to be awesome. The very simple menu didn’t have any options with vegetables. Unfortunately for us, we like to have a lot of options, especially if all there are high carb foods on their menu. Granted the fried chicken itself should have given us a clue, but what if the chicken was mind blowing? I had heard so many great things about Korean fried chicken that I couldn’t pass it up without first trying it out. (If Fire on the Mountain can not use flour on their wings, maybe this place could too?)
Well, now we know. Super tasty, but maybe it would be appreciated more by people on less dietary restrictions such as ourselves.
On another note, this micro restaurant complex does have an awesome taco place though, Uno Mas, review coming soon!
Filed under: Food cart, Mexican | Tags: fish tacos, food cart, gluten-free, Mexican food, North Portland, paleo
Food Cart Pod on South West Corner of North Lombard and Burr Ave.
971 271 8183
These are “hands down” my favorite FISH TACOS….ever……It’s a bold statement, I know.
What we ordered: Fish Tacos – tilapia w/ special sauce, slice of avocado and corn tortilla, Lengua (Cow tongue) Taco, Pastor (Pork) Taco,
How we ordered it: As is.
What we received:
Lengua Tacos
Fish Tacos
Pastor Taco
Cost: All Tacos are $1.50 except for Fish tacos which are $2.
Quality: So much flavor in these tacos. We just went somewhere else for tacos, and they were bland and every different type of meat tasted the same…booooo! This was not the case with Velas’ tacos. The fish tacos had avocado, sliced cabbage and tomatoes….my mouth is watering…so good! The Lengua and Pastor Tacos were good as well, but the fish tacos were definitely our favorite.
Quantity: Though these tacos are small they are only $1.50 each. I will come here over PorQue No! any day! Also, I hear Velas’ burritos are ginormous.
Meat-O-Meter says!
He’s drunk with flavor and high on the smell that is the fish tacos. The fish tacos were a knock out! They are these huge patties of tilapia that have this really nice smooth consistency, kind of like scrambled eggs. It’s hard to explain, but it just tastes so good! I ordered 2 to start with and then ordered 2 more.
The cart is located in a small food cart pod next to Kruger’s Farmer’s Market. On the weekends at night there’s live music playing and tons of kids running around everywhere. It’s turned into a nice little spot in North Portland. Good food, fresh produce next door and live music…oh Portland, how we love you!
Filed under: Food cart, Northeast Portland | Tags: beef tallow, bone broth soup, chicken tenders, chill, food cart, fries, grass-fed beef, paleo, Portland, sweet potato fries
1477 NE Alberta St, Portland, OR 97211
Wow! This is what we’ve been waiting for! This is what we dreamed of having in Portland. A Paleo food cart. This food cart is PALEO LEGIT.
The fries are made out of sweet potatoes and purple sweet potatoes. They are fried in tallow. The chicken tenders are coated in coconut flour. The all-meat-chili is made out of grass fed beef cheeks.
What we ordered: Grass fed All Meat Chili, Rainbow Fries, Bacon Egg Frittata Muffin, Bone Broth Soup, Chicken Tenders.
How we ordered it: As is. Though we did put the chili on top of the fries and that was amazing. You could even ask to put the chili on top of the frittata muffins…yum!
What we received:
Chili Fries
Bacon Egg Frittata Muffin
Bone Broth Soup
Chicken Tenders in Coconut Flour
Cost: Chili – $5, Bacon Egg Frittata Muffin – 2 for $5, Bone Broth – $4, Chicken Tenders – $5
Quality: Umm, let’s see. Grass-fed? Check. Beef tallow? Check. Local? Check. 100% grain free, dairy free and soy free? Check. Check and Check.
Quantity: We ate around 11:30 am. We were not hungry until 5 pm. It was filling and extremely satisfying; exactly what a good Paleo meal should do for you. I didn’t feel terrible, sluggish or moody after the meal, as I usually do after eating fried foods. It was an awesome amount of meat and I just can’t say enough about it!
Meat-O-Meter says!
Words can’t really describe this picture…
OK, so for an entire meal at any food cart in town, you’d pay about 5-8 bucks maybe. BUT, is it real quality food? Is it grass-fed beef? Cooked in grass-fed beef tallow? Is there any type of processed oils in the mix? Cultured Caveman has all non-processed, grass-fed high quality meat in their dishes. It doesn’t get better than this.
For this, I will pay a little bit more for a food cart meal. This place is the whole package for the cost, quality and quantity, it’s 100% Meat-O-Meter approved!
They are doing so well that they are opening a second location on SE 41st and Hawthorne. I think this Paleo thing might be catching on….cross your fingers!
Filed under: Breakfast, Southeast Portland | Tags: Breakfast, ground beef dish, pale, Portland, potato pancakes
3200 SE Milwaukee, Portland, OR 97202
503 963 8000
This was my birthday breakfast! Sanborn’s has been around for a while and all they serve is breakfast. They specialize in fruit pancakes and waffles, but they have a lot of other choices as well. As per usual for Portland breakfast places, they are pretty busy during the weekend, unless there’s a parade (tis the season) going on, then there’s no wait! We found a small Groupon Instant Coupon (which is only redeemable on the weekdays); it was $5 for $10 worth of food.
What we ordered: Potato Pancakes, Build your own 3-egg Omelet (choice of two ingredients: sausage and peppers), Kelly Street Special (ground beef, onions mushrooms, spinach and eggs)
How we ordered it: The omelet can be ordered whipped and baked OR scrambled . We ordered it baked, just to see what it would look like. We did sub in side of fruit instead of toast for an extra cost. You can totally sub the fruit in with no cost if you don’t get the potatoes AND the toast.
What we received:
Potato Pancakes
Build your own omelet (baked)
Kelly Street Special
Cost: Potato Pancakes – ~$9, Build your own omelet – ~$10.99 (baked), Kelly Street Special – ~$10 (Dangit they don’t have the prices on the menu and I forgot the prices) But they are all between $9-$12. Sorry! I will update as soon as I get a chance to go back.
Quality: Everything was super tasty. Why can’t our ground beef taste like this? It turns out they put Worcestershire Sauce in it….yum.
The omelet tasted a little different though, since it is baked it’s a bit dryer on the outside and really light and fluffy on the inside. It’s not for everyone, though I thought it was pretty good.
Quantity: That is a huge omelet. Well, at least it looked huge. That is also a huge plate of ground beef and eggs and a huge plate of potato pancakes. They were ridiculous! Awesome that they were gluten free! Just potatoes and egg.
Did we eat all of it? Actually, no. 2 entrees would have been fine, but we had to order more for the blog!….(any excuse to order a lot of food )
Meat-O-Meter says!
Holy cow, this was pretty awesome. We were pleasantly surprised. Granted Sanborn’s has been around for a long time and they for sure have honed their craft. They are only open for breakfast and they do it well. The Kelly Street Special is soooo great for the amount of meat they give you! Now only if it were grass-fed beef.
We’d say it’s pretty competitive with Gravy, just because of the other non-pancake and non-omelet choices. We went on a Friday morning, so I’d be hesitant to come here on the weekend where it’s probably ridiculously busy. Though, that’s Portland breakfast for you….
Filed under: Uncategorized
8115 SE Stark St., Portland, OR 97203
503 445 6284
The stars are alive with the sound of muuuussic! This places sounds like such a magical place…the name, The Observatory, makes me think of musical theatre school or something….probably because it rhymes with Conservatory. Eh, whatever, this places is music to my ears!
I first was skeptical because I bought, “Two great restaurants next to each other on Stark St. out by 82nd Ave? Really?” I thought wrong. Believe it baby!
What we ordered: Apple and Beet Salad, Maple Pork Chop with a sweet potato cake, Baby Back Ribs with Polenta.
How we ordered it: Everything we ordered as is.
What we received:
Salad
Maple pork chop
Baby back ribs
Cost: Beet and Apple Salad – $9, Maple Pork Chop – $12, Baby Back Ribs – $12
Quality: I really think The Observatory is on board with the rest of the restaurants in Portland; serving meat from local farms ‘n all. I’d be surprised if they weren’t. All the meat tasted like the Hoity Toity Restaurants we have gone to in the past. The meat was not at all dry and the pork chop was made perfectly! They even had a side of chimmichurri sauce available, our favorite!
Quantity: These portions were just awesome! Theses entrees were hearty and comforting. Each entree alone is enough for one large man. We would have been fine without the salad, though the salad was also amazing.
MEAT-O-METER says!
What a pleasant surprise! The price for these entrees are what blew us away! With the quality of the food and the portion sizes, we thought the average dish price would be between $18-$24 at least!
The Observatory’s Happy Hour is also pretty great. Their HH chicken pate is legit and it’s only $5. The portion size is huge…(Pay no attention to the bread and cracker next to the pate! Hmmm. now that i look at the pic, the pate doesn’t look that big…maybe I should explain that the Meat-O-Meter has big hands…) It’s a log….
Chicken Pate
Geez, if you haven’t made it out to this area of Portland to eat, I think you are missing out. Granted though that there is some Red-Light-District-Like activity out on 82nd, this area is developing really well and is pretty happening. With the Country Cat nearby and a great Meditarranean restaurant next door this area, called the Montavilla neighborhood, is worth the trek. The sound of music is awaiting you!
