fattyChat: i left my stomach in portland

Some might say it's slightly absurd that I am choosing to revive this blog while I have a stomachache, but I say screw it! Let's do this!

I recently had the opportunity to whirlwind through the northwest and of course, as all good vacations go, it was filled with food and.. more food. I was afraid I was going to be let down since Seattle and Portland had both been somewhat hyped up for me, but they certainly did not disappoint. I cannot wait to go back and gorge again... especially wishing I could go to Feast Portland in September, but it may have to wait for next year considering Portland *again* and then Hawaii (R, I can think about nothing else...) might be a little much. In any case, we had the pleasure of staying at the Nines, which as fate would have it, was central to all the good food pods, and we were not complaining!

stumptown | voodoo
I don't think these need explanation... if you're in Portland, I think they're just a must if not just to say you've been!

food pods

schnitzelwich @ tabor | porkbelly bao @ baopdx | linguini w/ clams @ built to grill

mie goreng @ batavia | jalapeno cheddar dog @ bro-dogs

bombay chaat house

I'm a little ashamed to talk about this picture but...

the left is leftover abu-ramen from minizo and the right is pad thai from e-san.

The reason why you are getting a crappy picture of leftover is because I (we) had no self-discipline and couldn't even pause before eating to take a picture. We didn't even come close to getting a picture of the best dish we had from the food stands - loco moco from 808 grinds. I'm drooling just thinking about it.

As it turns out, these food stands are as good as the foodie world makes them out to be. This is good and bad. The good... well it's damn tasty. The bad... if I ran on the treadmill for 3 weeks straight, I probably still couldn't work off the calories consumed by these evil irresistible stands. Oh, the other good thing is that these places are actually cheap. Not like these "gourmet" food trucks popping up in SD trying to rob me of my future children's college funds.

pok pok

Ah. the famed Pok Pok. This was a bittersweet meal for me. Aside from the fact that it was our last meal in Portland, and the last meal of our vacation... I was trying to digest the fact that our (read: my) pathetic miscalculation of how far this was from our airport hotel cost us $70 in cab fare.... while ravenously consuming their ridiculously good fish sauce wings, papaya salad, and curry noodle soup (khao soi). Luckily, the meal only ran us about $40.

The lesson here... don't pass through Portland without going here. Also, don't mis-predict the cab fare.

the daily cafe
benny | shakshuka | walnut apple salmon salad & citrus salad

This was a great little breakfast place that had pre-fixe meals for $14.95 (appetizer, entree, basket of pastries). The food was light, fresh, and oh so good. I *had* to try their shakshuka so I could get some sort of validation that the time I tried to make it at home had some semblance to the real thing, and it was smoky, eggy, tomatoey, and yummmy (and I didn't do too bad at home either)! Cute little place.

andina

Happy hour skewers (chicken & squid) + asparagus tapas... noms. Also, steak tartare... first time, um amazing (I have been craving this ever since)! Oysters... yum! Pisco Sour, first time, delish. Acaipirinha... kicked my ass, but oh so good. This place is fantastic, don't miss it!

beer
We did a little tour with America's Hub World Tours - I had gotten 2 vouchers from travelzoo beforehand. Sergio was our tour guide, and we were the only tourees. I slept realll good this night. There's not too much to say except... if you're in Portland... you better be drinking beer.