7123 N. Lombard St., Portland, Oregon 97203
A BBQ place that’s close to our house?? Woohoo!! We had to check it out! A new restaurant.com coupon showed up and we were there in no time!
What we ordered: Luau Sampler: Feeds 3 people. Includes: Kalua pig – Grilled huli huli chicken – Pork ribs – Grilled beef tri-tip – Smoked sausage - rice – Macaroni salad - Island slaw – Paniolo beans
How we ordered it: Substituted Mac Salad and Beans for Tropical Fruit and Steamed Vegetables. No rice please!
What we got:
Luau Platter
Sides
Cost: Luau Platter – $28
Quality: Wow, this meat was good! The brisket, ribs and chicken were all tasty and moist and flavorful. The sausages were just typical sausages. But it was a good combo of lean and fat meats. The Sides however, were a different story. Clearly this place is a meat place which is awesome! The steamed vegetables were nothing great. They looked and tasted like they were from a bag. The Tropical Fruit was definitely out of a can. Island slaw was nothing great….at least it didn’t have mayo in it! Booo, but the meat was pretty awesome!
Quantity: That platter had a ton of meat! Both of us could not finish all of it.
MEAT-O-METER
The meat was good, but the restaurant itself was tiny and awkward. There were only 4 tables, one consisting of a long and narrow table that faced the other three tables, not facing a window or anything. Very awkwardly spaced. The summer may be a bit better because there is outdoor seating. Regarding the food, however, the meat was pretty good, but the sides were terrible. I know this review is supposed to be about the meat, but I couldn’t NOT take in consideration everything else to give it a really good review…..It’s a give and take. Not our favorite place. If we wanted good barbecue we’d probably drive to Podnah’s.
1014 Southwest Stark Street, Portland, OR 97205-2610
503-228-3333
Going out to nice restaurants kind of makes me giddy. I love good food! At first glance, this restaurant is definitely Hoity Toityt fo’ sho’.
It’s nice to splurge every once in a while. Clyde Commons has huge tables downstairs, so you could possibly be sharing the table with strangers and upstairs there were smaller tables w/ a balcony style upstairs. The environment and feel of it is modern, European style tavern, and pretty shi-shi. They are located across from the Living Room Theatre. This whole side of the street has really improved since I moved here! It’s been a while since I’ve been downtown apparently.
What we ordered: Oh geez, we tried a bunch of stuff…..Appetizers: which I unfortunately did not get pics of, were great too. They had a wide range of meat from rabbit to octopus. Entree: Pork Shank w/ brussel sprouts and carmelized onion w/ tiny pieces of dough (i’d never seen this before. I tried not to eat them…..), Lamb sugo (shoulder) w/ farro (some type of ancient grain…), mint and ricotta salad.
How we ordered it: This place was pretty shi shi and usually restaurants like this don’t take substitutions. So we had to live with it and just order what we could. It did narrow down our choices a bit, but if it was a truly great restaurant, it would already have great Paleo choices.
What we got:
Lamb Shank
Lamb sugo
Cost: Pork Shank – $21. Lamb sugo – $15
Quality: Fantastic! The pork shank was falling off the bone! The lamb was super tasty and moist. It was pretty amazing how good the mint tasted with the lamb. An unlikely pairing, but totally tasty together! The Farro in the lamb was soooo good. I’d never heard of it, but apparently it is a grain:( Oops!
Quantity: For a really nice restaurant, you really don’t get a crap load of meat. There is less meat at really nice restaurants period. But the taste of the meat was FABULOUS!
MEAT-O-METER says!
Clyde Common was definitely a pleasant surprise. I am glad we came here. For the quality of the meat, the prices were really not that bad. The menu is ever changing so it may be difficult to get the same thing we did, but looking at their menu online, it looks like there’s always a good Paleo choice! All the food was really well made. I highly recommend this place when friends or family come in from out of town or when celebrating a special occasion or just for a nice night out. I know I will!!! We may have to do a Happy Hour review of this place too cuz the drinks were pretty amazing too….
Filed under: American, Breakfast, Southwest Portland | Tags: Breakfast, paleo, Portland
1510 Southwest Harbor Way, Portland, OR
(503) 295-6166
http://www.threedegreesrestaurant.com/portland
Happy birthday Kristi ! A long time reader and new Crossfitter! We had Sunday birthday brunch at 3 Degrees recently. So we decided to make a Meateats post out of it! They have bottomless champagne on Sunday mornings! Woohoo! :P
What we ordered: 3 Degrees Omelet - sausage, onions, mushrooms, tomatoes, goat cheese. Corned Beef and Sweet Potato Hash.
How we ordered it: No side of potatoes add in avocado, sub in side of fruit.
What we got:
Corned Beef and Sweet Potato Hash w/ poached eggs
Side of bacon and Side of sausage
3 Degrees Omelet
Side of fruit
Cost: Corned Beef and Sweet Potato Hash – $11, 3 Degrees Omelete – $10, Side of Bacon or Sausage or Ham – $4
Quality: This is a nice restaurant and the quality was pretty good. Everything was nicely presented and tasted just like good breakfast food.
Quantity: The quantity was OK too. It was regular, normal, about right, not too little, but not a lot….
MEAT-O-METER says!
In case you’re confused. The thumb is pointing towards him and the finger means he’s drunk! hahaha! The finger is for the bottomless champagne for $6.95. Seriously, that was pretty good. If you go with intention and bring a bucket, you can really capitalize on this offer.
Filed under: Hawaiian, Northeast Portland | Tags: Hawaiian, Milwaukee Oregon, Northeast Portland, paleo
(503) 335-5800
Since moving away from NoHo’s – the Southeast Hawaiian Restaurant, we haven’t had that much Hawaiian food lately. Also continuing on our quest to find good Poki outside of Hawaii has been very hard to find. Ah well, we’ll have to settle for what we can get locally.
What we ordered: Large Kalua Pig Main Plate, Garlic Mahi Mahi Main Plate
How we ordered it: No rice, No Macaroni Salad, Extra Salad please!
What we got:
Kalua Pig
Garlic Mahi Mahi
Let’s take a closer look at the fish.
Wow, very rare, moist and perfect!
Cost: Large Kalua Pig Plate – $10, Garlic Mahi Mahi – $12. Add $.50 for substituting green salad.
Quality: The Kalua Pig was a bit salty, but overall very moist and well done. The Mahi Mahi was Perfect! That’s how fish should be made. Melts in your mouth, on the very rare side, not fish smelling and definitely NOT DRY!
Quantity: OK. We were starving and after we ate this meal, we were still a bit hungry.
MEAT-O-METER says!
Even though it wasn’t an incredibly large quantity, the quality way exceeded our expectations. Meat is fer sure their specialty and they do it very well. The fact that eating Paleo here was so easy was awesome! They are great and a sure bet. They’ve also expanded to Milwaukee too!
707 Northeast 82nd Avenue, Portland, OR
(503) 261-1689
With the disappointment of Golden Coin closing, we haven’t found another LEGIT Chinese Restaurant. With the help of Yelp, Shenzhen seemed worth trying out. We did circle around the parking lot a couple times, partly because there were no spaces left, but exclaiming our hesitancy the whole time.
It was a gamble, but when we walked in and all the specials that were posted on the wall were written in Chinese, we were a little bit more optimistic.
What we ordered: Appetizers – Pig ears, 5 Spiced beef. Entree – Beef in a Bucket (With a name like that, how could you not!)
How we ordered it: As-is. No Rice.
What we got:
The menu: Another sign of a good Chinese restaurant...
Sliced Pig ears
5 Spiced Beef - Spicy w/ so much awesome flavor
Beef in a Bucket (really.)
Eating the Beef in a Bucket
Cost: Beef in a Bucket – $9.95, Pig Ears – $2.50, 5 Spiced Beef – $4.50
Quality: As the Meat-O-Meter would say, “It’s pretty legit”.
Quantity: The “Beef in a Bucket” lasted us another day. It was craziness!
MEAT-O-METER says!
Look there’s still leftover. We were stuffed! This restaurant is the real deal. AND they’re open until MIDNIGHT EVERYDAY! Woohoo! So next time you pick up friends or family from the airport and it’s after 9 pm and you need to go eat somewhere….GO HERE!
More photos of the 2nd and 3rd time we went back:
Lamb for the Hot Pot!
Hot Pot Setup
We got the seafood Hot Pot. It was the best meal to end the year! I think it’s a chinese tradition to eat it on New Year’s Eve, but not sure….If you haven’t gone here yet, for the love of the Paleo gods, GO!
Filed under: American, Fast Food | Tags: Paleo burger, Protein-style burger
Unfortunately not in Oregon 
http://www.in-n-out.com/menu.asp
If you’ve never been to In-N-Out, we highly suggest you visit one! There are only 4 items on their menu. Double Double Burger, Cheeseburger, Hamburger and Fries (which are fresh and awesome too, if you want to cheat a bit). Of course they have the regular libations at a fast food place, but also an assortment of milkshakes. I hear they are tasty! Not that I would know :P
We were in Arizona for Christmas. Everytime we go there or to California, we go to In-N-Out. They have a Secret menu, with options to order your burger “Protein-Style” or “Animal-Style”. ”Protein-Style” burger means no bun. ”Animal-Style” means mustard and relish cooked on your patty.
For a list of all the items on the Secret Menu, check this link out!
http://www.badmouth.net/in-n-outs-secret-menu/
What we ordered: 2 Double Double burgers
How we ordered it: 2 “Protein-Style” Double Double burgers please! No cheese or special sauce. Add onions!
What we got:
Protein Style Double Double Burger
Cost: cheap, it is fast food afterall…Double Double Burger – $2.99 + tax = $3.25-ish….
Quality: Their motto is – Quality you can taste. It’s pretty darn accurate. Their veggies are all cut on site. For a quick easy meal while you’re traveling to the Southwest – In-N-Out is perfect!
Quantity: If you order “Protein Style” and you’re hungry, definitely get at least two of them!
MEAT-O-METER says!
Since we were in Arizona for only a few days, we had to make the most of our In ‘n Out experience. Going on Christmas Eve (which was busy by the way) and on Sunday after Christmas, we ordered as many variations of the “Protein Style” burger as possible. We ordered the “Protein Style” burger with “Animal Style” additions. (mustard and relish on the patty). Also you can add pickles and fried onions. Mmmmmmm….so good.
We would love to open up an In-N-Out joint, but it is still a privately owned family business. Their employees get benefits! That’s pretty sweet.
In-N-Out is a multiple stop restaurant for your Paleo needs fer sure!!!!!
Filed under: Chinese, Northwest Portland | Tags: Chen's Good Taste, Chinese, Northwest Portland, paleo
18 NW 4th Ave, Portland, Oregon 97209
I really believe that cleanliness of the interior of a restaurant affects a restaurant experience. It’s odd because I would go to a Mexican taco stand and have no problems there. Maybe because this restaurant is in downtown Portland and I would expect a little bit of a cleaner atmosphere, but I think the cleanliness really did affect our visit this time. Call me a hypocrite, but I could not get over it.
It was very promising walking in; tiny, hole in the wall, cooked duck hanging out in the window, about half of the room was filled w/ other Asians. It looked a bit dirty, but it felt a bit dirty too.
What we ordered: Beef Brisket Hot Pot, Tripe Hot Pot, Garlic Bok Choy.
How we ordered it: Hold the rice!
What we got:
Beef Brisket Hot Pot
Tripe Hot Pot
Garlic Bok Choy
Cost: Each Hot Pot dish was about $9.95, Bok Choy – $7.95
Quality: I have no idea where this meat came from. In general, it tasted the way we would have expected. Personally, both meats were a bit too chewy for me. Not for the light stomached. Nothin’ special.
Quantity: There was plenty to go around and then some.
MEAT-O-METER SAYS!
BTW, that is the largest indoor bamboo plant that I’ve ever seen!
Maybe it was the dim lighting or the hygenically (is this a word?) odd event that we witnessed in the kitchen, which I will not go into detail here. Go at your own risk. Yelp reviews were generally positive, which I was surprised. But heck this restaurant has been there a long time and it sort of has a bit of a legacy, so maybe it’s reputation precedes itself to others. Go forth at your own risk!
Oh no! Cafe Cubano is no longer in business!
5225 N Lombard St,Portland, 97203
Tappas! Ok, let’s be honest. Do you really get enough meat at a Tappas place? The dishes are tiny and expensive and you have to order at least 4 plates to sort of feel full. I hadn’t been to a Tappas place in a while, so we decided to try it and find out!
What we ordered: Prawn and Mango Ceviche, Churasco (Steak), Lechon (Pork), Picadillo (Ground Beef), Camarones (shrimp)
How we ordered it: We pretty much ordered everything As-Is. We ordered all the meat Tappas; all 5 of them!
What we got:
Picadillo
Lechon "Pork"
Shrimp and Mango Ceviche
Cburasco - Steak
Camarones
Cost: Prawn and Mango Ceviche – $6, Churasco – $8, Lechon – $6, Picadillo – $6, Camarones – $7
Quality: Meat was tasty, well done and moist. The Picadillo was probably our least favorite as it was just ground beef w/ some veggies in it. We easily make this at home all the time! Nothing special to it. But the Lechon, pork, was fantastic! Well worth the $6.
Quantity: Eh, it’s tappas, about what we expected. Not as much as we would like for a meal.
MEAT-O-METER says!
Yeah, I don’t think we’ll be going to a Tappas place again in the near future. It’s just too expensive for little food. It doesn’t seem quite as satisfactory as a nice big meal w/ leftovers. It adds up pretty quickly, so that right there started Cafe Cubano at negative 1 in our books. Service was really great and the owners are really nice! Luckily there was a restaurant.com coupon, so we didn’t feel too much Buyer’s Remorse!
Filed under: American, Breakfast, North Portland | Tags: American breakfast, North Portland, paleo
3957 N Mississippi Ave, Portland, OR 97227
(503) 287-8800
Ya know when somebody describes something to you and they say,”My meal was the size of a football!”, or “The meat was huge, like a baby’s head!”….well, maybe not a baby’s head, but you get what I mean. Usually when this is being said, it’s really a slight exaggeration. However at Gravy the size of the omelettes are REALLY the size of a SMALL FOOTBALL!! It was crazy. I think the MEAT-O-METER’s eyes popped out of his head when he saw his food. (true exaggeration)
What we ordered: Omelette w/ choice of 3 ingredients; bacon, sausage and smoked salmon. Pork chop and eggs. Both dishes were served w/ the choice of fruit, potatoes or hash browns.
How we ordered it: The choice of ingredients for the omelette was really diverse. There was a list of cheeses, list of veggies and list of meats to add. This made it super easy to order Paleo. We ordered the omelette w/ smoked salmon, double-wide bacon and sausage. Pork and eggs were as is. Both dishes ordered w/ bowl of fruit.
What we got:
Omelette w/ your choice of 3 ingredients.
Ummm, let’s see that again….
Inside of the "Build your own omelette."
Pork Chops and Eggs
Cost: Omelette – $9.25, Pork chops and eggs – $11.75
Quality: Everything was very tasty. The smoked salmon was a bit dry b/c it was cooked a little too long, but apparently you can also get the salmon on the side if you like, so that it doesn’t cook any longer while in the omelette. I’d like to see how big that portion really is! Sausage and bacon was excellent as well.
Quantity: The salmon in the omelette was literally a whole filet. We had never seen anything so ginormous! The pic pretty much speaks for itself. The Pork Chops were perfect! I was definitely stuffed and very satisfied.
MEAT-O-METER says!
First meal in a long time where the MEAT-O-METER barely finished! It was a struggle but he did it and he was proud. It takes a lot to make him stuffed to the gills. Warning, do NOT go here on the weekend. If you go, be prepared to wait. During the weekdays, you are golden! They’re open until 3pm, so get in for a late breakfast and notice you will not have to eat for many many many hours.
Yay for Gravy!
Filed under: American, Southeast Portland | Tags: American, Happy Hour, paleo, Southeast
3862 SE Hawthorne Blvd, Portland, Oregon 97214
503-235-3364
Yay! A great new spectacular restaurant! A new coupon popped up on restaurant.com. There was a September sale on the coupons. Since it was restaurant.com’s 9th anniversary, they made all their coupons 90% off for 90 hours starting 9/9/09!!! We bought a bunch of them for $1!!!
Anywho, Arista was a new restaurant and it’s located in the same building as the Hawthorne Theatre on SE 39th and Hawthorne. The inside used to be the Indian restaurant, but now they totally remodeled it and it looks very shi-shi inside. Hence, the dark photos following….
What we ordered: Soups! Their soup du jour was Squash Soup. We also got a menu favorite, Wild Coho Chowder, Sweet potato fries, and for an entree we got the Wild Coho.
How we ordered it: Soups as is, yes chowder does have dairy in it, so not ideal, but not a terrible choice b/c it’s soooo freakin’ good. Sweet potato fries as is. Wild Coho came with a side of red potatoes, so we substituted for whatever their seasonal vegetable was; here it was mashed parsnips.
What we got:
Squash Soup
Wild Coho Chowder
Sweet Potato Fries
Wild Coho
Cost: Soups – $5 each, Sweet potato Fries – $2 (It was happy hour!), Wild Coho – $15
Quality: You could tell that they put in a lot of care into their dishes. The salmon was nice and rare! Tender and tasty.
Quantity: For $5 the soups were a great find! For the quality of the salmon, the amount was perfect. We were definitely stuffed after this meal.
MEAT-O-METER says!
Arista’s happy hour menu is pretty fantabulous as well. $2 sweet potato fries! Geez, we should have gotten 2 of them. And the soups, which weren’t on the Happy hour menu, were $5. Even better!
It’s interesting though, the more hoity toity the restaurant, the easier it is to order Paleo. Most higher end restaurants put quality foods into their dishes, so most of the time you can order As-is. Arista isn’t really super expensive, but you can order As-is for most of their dishes. Awesome! This was a great find!
