Filed under: Argentinian, Hoity Toity, Northeast Portland | Tags: Argentinian, gluten-free, paleo, pork chop, Portland
2225 NE MLK Blvd., Portland, OR 97212
503-284-3366
A new restaurant that has a lot of meat choices!?!? You can bet we were there as soon as possible!
After watching Anthony Bourdain’s visit to Uruguay episode, we are thinking this will be our next vacay…South America here we come! But in the mean time, we’ll take what we can get in the States. When we found out about how Ox is Argentinian influenced (their giant oven for meat grilling is pretty sweet) and has a lot of meat choices, it was a no brainer.
What we ordered: Green kale salad with feta ranch dressing, fired chickpeas, kalamata olives and strawberries / House Chorizo and Blood Sausage / Mote con habas: heirloom hominy, braised pork belly, fava beans, chiles, olive oil-fried duck egg / Beef Skirt Steak / Maple-brined pork loin chop (comes with chimichurri dipping oil) / and finally for dessert – grilled pineapple with coconut milk sorbet, toasted cashew, rum raisins and fleur de sel. (it was the Meat-O-Meter’s birthday, so we celebrated in good form!)
How we ordered it: Everything was ordered as is. We consider this place Hoity Toity. You may have heard me mention this before, but the more expensive the restaurant, the better quality and the better the food is prepared. To eat Paleo or close to Paleo, Hoity Toity restaurants are the way to go if you can afford it. You can’t get any more organic, locally raised, gluten-free, grass-fed than this!!
What we got:
Green Kale Salad
Blood and Chorizo Sausage
Mote con habas (hominy, pork belly, fried duck egg)
Beef skirt steak
Maple-brined pork loin chop
chimichurri (oil based deliciousness of a dipping sauce)
Grilled pineapple w/ coconut milk sorbet
Cost: Green kale salad – $9, Blood Sausage – $9, Chorizo Sausage – $9, Mote con habas – $8, Beef skirt steak – $19, Maple-brined pork loin chop – $19, Grilled pinapple w/ coconut milk sorbet – $8
Quality: You can just take the skit from Portlandia’s “where does your chicken come from?” and there you have it. The server told us it’s all grass-fed and local. All of it was very well made, tasty in every bite, what you would expect from a nice restaurant.
Quantity: All of this was enough for the two of us and a little extra. I wouldn’t say that the skirt steak was a great amount of meat, but the pork chop was a good size for a hoity toity restaurant. Sausages were super tasty! Blood sausage was my fave. Though both were disappointingly small for $9. The Mote con habas had a disappointingly small amount of pork belly. 3 pieces of meat maybe in the whole dish. Would not get it again, but very tasty.
With the extra side dishes, this meal was incredibly satisfying and we were stuffed. The chimichurri sauce was AMAZING!!! A suggestion from the Meat-O-Meter: ”Sell that shit at New Seasons and I will buy it in bottles!”
Meat-O-Meter says!
Yes this place was good. However, he wasn’t over the moon. It’s all about the price and amount of the meat.
On a side note, the dessert was perplexing. It didn’t blend well together. We felt like we were eating some pineapple, then some sorbet, and then a cashew and a raisin. The dessert wasn’t “composed” well together, I guess you could say it was underwhelming for 8 bucks. Also couldn’t help but think that we could have made it at home with pineapple/Coconut Bliss and some cashews and raisins. On a positive note, it is Paleo.
Overall, pretty good though for a birthday dinner! Ox restaurant is nice. The food is great and there are lots of meat/veggie choices and combinations to choose from.
We give it a thumbs up!
Filed under: American, Southeast Portland, Southwest Portland | Tags: fish and chips, gluten-free, Portland, restaurant
5901 SW Corbett Ave., Portland, OR 97239
503-246-4434
Amy G. found this place and thought we should try it, Thanks Amy! They are self proclaimed Portland’s Best Fish and Chips!
What caught our eyes was the gluten-free menu. The entire restaurant is gluten-free. No butts about it! Here’s a snippet of their story (click to enlarge):
Click here for more about their Gluten-Free Story.
Their breading is brown rice flour, they flash fry it in rice bran oil and they filter the oil twice a day. Granted of course this is not paleo, but IMO way better than the vegetable oil and regular wheat flour most restaurants use to fry stuff. The Meat-OMeter LOVES fish and chips. It’s a love hate relationship. His mind Loves it, but his gut does Hates it. Not quite worth it, until we found Corbett Fish House.
What we ordered: Regular Size Pacific Cod Fish and Chips, Regular Size Halibut Fish and Chips and Buttermilk Garlic Chicken Strips
How we ordered it: We didn’t realize you could get Sweet Potato Fries!! Dangit! So we ordered all as is.
What we got:
Chicken Strips
Pacific Cod
Halibut
Cost: Chicken Strips – $7.75, Pacific Cod Fish and Chips – $9.75, Halibut Fish and Chips – market price – $18.75
Quality: Their fried fish is pretty legit. The fish was not too greasy and very lightly battered. Granted I’m not a big connoisseur of fried fish, but it was overall pretty tasty. Chicken strips, flavorful, not too greasy, not dry, and really good. Of course you can order non-fried foods here, which looks tasty, but why would you go to a steak place and order a salad?
Quantity: When the plastic baskets were placed in front of us, I must admit I was not impressed; especially for the Halibut. However it was deceivingly enough food for a meal. The Chicken Strips at $7.75 were by far the BEST bang for your dollar. NOT worth it for the Halibut, just get the Cod. When it’s fried, the difference is slightly noticeable and therefore not worth it for the huge price increase.
MEAT-O-METER says!
Yes we ordered a fried crazy mess! I know, we could have picked a better restaurant that was a bit more “Paleo-ish friendly”, but do you see that picture above? He loves this shit. He just wants some fish and chips at a good price. The fact that Corbett Fish House is openly and legitimately gluten-free gives it major points. BIG PROPS to the owners for doing this. They even have a little pamphlet on the table explaining why gluten is bad for you and some basic information about Celiac disease. Can’t argue with that! It’s like they were preachin’ to the choir! Hallelujah!
I didn’t leave here feeling bloated with the food just sitting at the pit of my stomach, waiting to make it’s impact. I felt close to normal and I left satisfied. Granted I won’t be coming here every week, but it’s comforting that there is a place out there that’s slightly more forgiving on your gut.
PS, I heard the fish tacos were pretty good. It didn’t look like a large amount of meat, but maybe worth it….order at your own risk!
One of Groupon’s current deals is for Lucky Strike. One is to pay $12 for $25 worth of food for any weekend or weekday. The other is $15 for $30 worth of food, but only can be used on the weekdays. You can buy a max of 3 Groupins by “gifting” 2 to a lucky friend that you will use it with or your significant other. Go get one or two or three!!
Filed under: Breakfast, North Portland | Tags: Breakfast, gluten free biscuit, omelette, paleo, Portland
2201 N. Killingsworth St., Portland Oregon, 97217
503-735-4652
As of late the Meat-O-Meter and I can’t seem to justify going out to breakfast. Breakfast is eggs and bacon. Both of which we can EASILY make at home. Also the markup on this stuff is crazy in restaurants. Sure we pay for the time saved in cooking, interacting with other people and contributing to local business, but it’s still hard to justify. Hence my obsession with coupon-ing. Scout Mob is a new iphone app that has 50% off coupons in the Portland area. They also have a fun nifty mustache cam on their app. You can use this while you wait for the food you ordered using one of their restaurant coupons! Beaterville Cafe was on Scout Mob and so we decided to go on one lazy Thursday morning 
What we ordered: Salmon Street Omelette: salmon, tomatoes, green onion and dill sour cream, Toronado Omelette: Chorizo, Red Onions, Mushrooms, Garlic, Cheddar & Tomatillo Salsa
How we ordered it: Salmon Street – Gluten free biscuit, next time (if there is a next time…) I’ll say no sour cream, Toronado – No cheese, biscuit or toast.
What we got:
Salmon Street Omelette
Toronado Omelette
Cost: Salmon Street – $10, Toronado – $9.50
Quality: Tasty Chorizo and Salmon, have no idea where this meat came from. (FYI gluten free biscuit was really good if you put a ton of butter on it 
)
Quantity: The Meat-O-Meter ordered another plate of the Toronado!! One entree was NOT enough to satisfy this guy. (at least we had a coupon)
MEAT-O-METER says!
I’m getting so good at what the Meat-O-Meter thinks that I did this one for him. Though the face really speaks for itself. Yikes, if we didn’t have the coupon, this would NOT have been a filling meal. I was OK satisfied, but the MEAT-O-METER was….well I think you get the picture, literally.
Oh, breakfast. Gravy you are still our top choice, though going out for breakfast still is not.
Filed under: Mexican, Northwest Portland | Tags: Mexican, molcajete, oregon, paleo, Portland
305 Northwest 21st Avenue # 203, Portland, OR 97209-1141
So of course as usual, we found a Living Social Deal/Coupon for Cha Taqueria. The owner of Cha is also the owner of Cha Cha Cha. Cha Taqueria was opened so the owner could “expand on the culinary ideas he started at Cha!Cha!Cha! wanting to create a more formal and modern Mexican dining experience”. I must agree, that that is what he did! Their philosophy of sustainability and local-ness in their foods still rings true with this restaurant. We checked it out and this is what we found!
What we ordered: We were big fans of the “Molcajete” at Cha Cha Cha and so when we saw this at Cha, I was curious to see if anything was different here. So we ordered it. We also ordered the Barbacoa (mix of lamb and goat meat). I couldn’t find it on the menu, but I know it was on the menu at the restaurant, so just in case it’s not on the menu, you should ask for it anyway.
How we ordered it: Hold the tortillas and rice please.
What we got:
Molcajete
Barbacoa
Cost: Molcajete – $14, Barbacoa – $18
Quantity: El Molcajete was decent. Great mix of veggies and meat, but really not a ton of meat. It was almost exactly, if not exactly the same as the $10 Molcajete you get at Cha Cha Cha. Not sure what the difference is, but it’s really close, maybe Cha had a tad bit bigger-crazy-rock-like-plate-presentation….eh. The Barbacoa was just ALL meat. It was a ton of meat. Very filling.
Quality: Very good. They get their meat from Carleton Farms and it was tasty just like at Cha Cha Cha. Thought it’s not grass-fed meat, it’s local. However grass is what goat and lamb eat anyway, so that’s usually the most paleo meat you can order at a restaurant anyway.
MEAT-O-METER says!
Sorry these pics are off a bit. This place is a fancier, more expensive, better decorated version of Cha Cha Cha. The Barbacoa was very generous with its meat. I loved it because it’s great atmosphere for a date night and you can still wear your gym clothes there, as pictured. With the coupon and our overall experience here, this restaurant is pretty great. Not many substitutions need to be made and the portions were pretty decent. We’ll be back again of course, with our other coupon.
On a side note, I will try to keep posting Groupon/LivingSocial Deals that I find for you to take advantage of!
Filed under: American, Northeast Portland, Southeast Portland | Tags: chicken, east burnside, oregon, paleo, Portland, salad
1708 East Burnside Street, Portland, OR 97214
(503) 230-9464
(This tip was given to us by Jake M.! Thanks Jake! Hope school is going well and we miss you at the gym )
This place has a special place in my heart. Growing up in upstate New York, the Buffalo Chicken Wings were something that were taken for granted. I didn’t realize you couldn’t get that Buffalo sauce outside of upstate New York. If you did, it was terrible. The owners of FOTM are from Buffalo, New York (home of the Buffalo Wing w/ the special sauce) and they also used to play Ultimate Frisbee, (which is even closer to my heart!), sometimes using frisbees as serving plates for their wings, this place is awesome! Unfortunately this post has nothing to do with Chicken Wings. Their wings are slightly battered, but their sauces are gluten free…if that counts for anything….
What we ordered: House salad with chicken. (2 grilled tasty chicken breasts)
How we ordered it: Ask for House salad with chicken and to add an additional side of chicken. (double the chicken)
What we got:
House salad with double the chicken
Cost: House salad – $2.95, Add grilled chicken for $2.50 and then add an extra side of chicken for an additional $2.50. Total = $7.95!!!!
Quality: Awesomeness! The grilled chicken was tasty, moist, not dry at all! The chicken is from Northern California, and free range according to the blurb on their menu and website.
Quantity: This salad should be called, “Would you like some greens with your chicken?”. Just how we like it!
MEAT-O-METER says!
Woohoo!! We have one happy camper. This salad is pretty amazing, I was really impressed. It’s a ton of protein with your salad. Very Paleo friendly, the only thing on the fence is the balsamic vinegrette. Not sure how much sugar they put in their dressing, but they didn’t have oil and vinegar, that is the only thing that was kind-of-not-so-paleorific.
Other than that this is a great restaurant that you can go with your non-paleo friends. They can have their beer and wings, while you can still have a tasty paleo friendly chicken-tastic salad.
Filed under: American, Southeast Portland | Tags: beanless chili, Northwest Portland, oregon, paleo, Paleo burger, southeast portland, sweet potato fries
3312 SE Belmont St. Portland, OR 97214
503 235 0146
Sorry, to temporarily excite some of you, but we still think Dick’s is……eh….
But because so many people at the gym go there frequently and rave about it, we were curious just how much Dick’s changed their menu. When we were there last, they did say they were still going through some changes and trying to figure out their menu. So of course we had to go back and try it out. Otherwise it would always be lingering in the back of our minds and we would regret not trying one more time.
The first thing I noticed when we arrived for the second time was that the advertisements and articles saying that they are the first Paleolithic Restaurant were gone. That was really refreshing actually. They weren’t trying to be something they weren’t.
DK's Original Medium Size Chili
DK Burger bowl
Bacon Burger served Naked with side of "Yam Not Fries" and coleslaw. Yes that's cheese on there...
Cost: DK’s Original Chili – $4.50, DK Thai Burger Bowl – $9.00, Bacon Burger Naked – $8.75, side of Yam Not Fries – $3.00
Quantity: Not the greatest. 5.5 oz of burger before cooked. So it ends up being a tiny burger. I still don’t get it, the coleslaw bowl is so small!
Quality: Beef is grass-fed. Can’t get any better than that!
MEAT-O-METER Says!
Well, its not great, but it’s better than it was before! Not bad…I can see if you’re in a bind for some grass-fed beef, you can go here and spend more money than you would like. The substitutions and additions add up really fast! My Bacon Burger ended up being $11.75 total. It was small, though the quality was good, I still spent more than I would have liked on a burger combo meal even though it was grass-fed. Though they must be doing something great because they have a second location in the Northwest! I would love to hear your thoughts!
Filed under: Uncategorized
Here is the link! It is a coupon you purchase for $15 and it allows you to order $30 worth of food.
The offer expires today, so get on it!!!! (Maximum purchase of 2 per person)
On a side note: The Meat-O-Meter and I have embarked on the Whole 30 Challenge. So for the month of January we are super strict Paleo. That means no sugar, wheat, legumes, potatoes, or dairy for 30 days. Yeah, so what’s left? Meat, veggies and little fruit and nuts. This also means NO restaurants and A LOT of cooking. I’m becoming a much better cook, I’m finding. 
Unfortunately, not so good for the blog, but a really good life experience for us and we’re learning more about out bodies! So far I’ve lost 3 pounds and I have been making PR’s at the gym, so I can’t complain. Plus it’s only for 30 days.
So far it’s been 2 weeks and we are half way done! In the meantime, take advantage of this Google Offer and get out there and try some great restaurants!!
Filed under: Uncategorized
Look left, it’s the top link….Now you can search easily by location!!!
Filed under: Uncategorized
5225 N Lombard, Portland, OR 97203
503-802-2262
This post should be called EL MULCAJETE, instead of Cha Cha Cha.
El Mulcajete is a special that Cha Cha Cha was serving over the summer for a limited amount of time. However, when we last went there and it wasn’t listed on their Specials board menu, we asked them if they could make it and they did!!!!
Thanks for the tip, Katie!
What we ordered: El Mucajete: mixed together beef, onions and peppers (kind of like fajita mix)
How we ordered it: As is. Though next time we will order with no cheese.
What we got:
El Mulcajete
a half eaten Mulcajete
Cost: $10
Quality: Painted Hills Beef - pretty darn good for local meat. Unfortunately not grass-fed 
Quantity: It’s a good portion size for a single person. Though the serving bowl makes it look bigger than it really is.
MEAT-O-METER says!
There they are!!! That’s what was missing before
El mulcajete (pronounced: mulkahete-ay) is awesome if you want something pretty clean. Make sure you ask for no cheese. They will give you tortillas on the side, so you can also tell them that you do not need any tortillas as well. They do give you a small size of guacamole, which is a nice touch. Would be nicer if it was bigger, but all in all, this dish is a great paleo meal if you don’t feel like cooking. I’m pretty sure all the Cha Cha Cha’s in Portland will serve El Mulcajete, but just in case you can always call ahead!
