Jassy-50

We are going to be in Portland this weekend. Unfortunately, with travel times, we will only have one full day, Saturday, for being tourists. However, we will have Friday and Saturday nights for dining, and so I am looking for any suggestions for delicious restaurants in downtown Portland (we will be staying at the downtown Hilton).

Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated!

Sweet Willie

Here you go, Search function is a good thing. Here are just a few threads that came up in a search for Portland, enjoy!

http://flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=309641
http://flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=309582
http://flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=309581
http://flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=309560

Jassy-50

Yes, Sweet Willie , I did a search. Unfortunately, "Portland restaurant" and "Portland restaurants" did not bring up any of the threads you listed. And even if they had, I would still have put out my question, although I would have qualified it and been more specific (also, the threads are all about a year old, and restaurant scenes change quickly).

So, will try again.... I am interested in finding good restaurants (not vegetarian, not BBQ) within the downtown Portland area, e.g. within walking distance of the Hilton on SW 6th Ave. Higgins sounds excellent. What others could folks recommend for a nice dinner?

opushomes

Downtown Portland has an incredible range of restaurants in the downtown area. They are all price ranges, cuisines, decor, and ambiance. It is hard to go wrong within walking distance of the Hilton, or free bus, MAX, Streetcar distance since there is no charge for public transportation in the downtown area.

If you would be more specific about what you want to spend, the cuisine and the ambiance, perhaps a couple of us could help.

carlhaynes

I've had really good luck at Pazzo, an italian restaurant downtown. I'm not sure what it is but I really like their food. In fact the first time I went there, I returned the next night and ordered the exact same meal!

Jassy-50

It is good to hear that downtown Portland has a lot of dining choices! It is sounding like my kind of town . Types of cuisine would be seafood, northwest cuisine (is there such a thing?), Italian (but not pizza parlors), steaks/lamb. Price can be up to about $50 per person (more if the food is really worth it). Ambiance: nice casual to more upscale; and/or restaurants with a good selection of wines (preferably local if possible). I have heard somewhere that pinot noirs are a specialty of the region - is that correct? Thanks for your help!

opushomes

Yes, there is a Northwest cuisine. I suggest that when you arrive, you get a copy of "Willamette Week", free in news boxes around the city and look in the food section.

That said, it will be tough to spend $50 per person unless you are including wine in the equation or eating at a really top end restaurant. Two evenings ago, we went to "Henry's" for the first time. It has a broad menu which includes some Northwest cuisine. Skip the Asian fusion part. Domaine Drouhan 2001 Pinot Noir was $59/bottle. It retails for approximately $35. Try pinots from Lange, Witness Tree, Erath, Eyrie, Brickhouse, Chehalem and Yamhill Valley and you should be pleased. Also triy Pinot Gris (Pinot Grigio), a white, from any of the above. There are numerous other small Pinot-producing wineries in the area. If you have car and a day to wander go down to the Yamhill Valley. 1-1.5 hour away and wine taste. Or wine taste in town at a number of very good wine shops.

Italian restaurants are IMO a weakness of my hometown, not that they are bad. Perhaps because I grew up in the Southern Tier of New York. Seafood is excellent and readily available. Try fried quohogs. Or Pacific Northwest Oysters. Of course, Dungeness Crab. The Original Jakes was one of the first good seafood restaurants in Portland. You mentioned Higgins, it is good. Steak, I believe has been covered in this forum. Just do a search, Mortons, Ruth Chris, Portland Chop House, Redstar and others.

If you can get a Portland Zagats, that is a good guide.

Ask the conceirge at the hotel for recommendations, or just walk around downtown including Northwest and read menus. You will find many places that will fit the bill of what you describe. Portland is pretty casual despite a recent influx of trendiness in the Pearl District and N.W. 23rd. Avenue.

Enjoy

Jassy-50

Thanks, opushomes , for your many suggestions, especially for wines to try. We in California can be quite snobby (no!) and think that the only good wines are CA wines. I am looking forward to tasting Oregon's offerings.

Jassy-50

Am back from Portland and here is where we ate: First night was at the Heathman Hotel restaurant (on SW Broadway, downtown). It's a past James Beard award winner and the food was interesting and excellent. It was very crowded and the tables are close together, but we still enjoyed it. The second night's dinner was at Salty's on the Columbia [River] (NE Marine Dr., i.e. on the levee on the Oregon side of the Columbia, heading out towards the airport). Good seafood, very fresh -- great views of the river if you can get a window table, or sit outside on the deck. We were lucky that it was a sunny pleasant evening . On Saturday we decided to drive out to McMinnville (be aware that the traffic can get really bad on 99W so I would recommend leaving early) to the Evergreen Aviation Museum to see the Spruce Goose and SR-71 (amongst many other great airplanes) and so we had lunch at the Hotel Oregon in McMinnville (at 3rd and Evans), one of the McMenamins many brew pubs (although this one was an old hotel rather than a brewery). Not bad pub fare, good beers and a rain-or-shine rooftop bar (where you can also get lunch) as well as the regular dining room. Very casual.

Edited because I forgot to mention that 99W to McMinnville also has several wineries, with tasting rooms, either directly on the highway or a couple miles off, including some that were recommended above.

essxjay

I'm living temporarily in the Sellwood part of Portland, so my list of faves is now updated, thusly:

Gino's, S.E. 13th Ave./Tacoma St.: A good friend convinced me to give this faboriffic neighborhood eatery a whirl if only to verify that he wasn't pulling my leg about its truly authentic Ceasar salad. I'll be damned if he wasn't right. Better than any I've had in the city, including the venerable London Grill at the Benson Hotel as well as honorable mentions, El Gaucho and Ringside. Basically, Gino's Ceasar salad had me at hello. I was in love.

There's no skimping on the garlic here and the dressing is of a perfect consistency to stick to the just-picked romaine lettuce. A small order is *huge*, yielding two portions each for the two of us. $10.25


For my main course, I chose the cioppino and doubt I could've made a better selection, although I came this close to ordering the night's special ravioli: pumpkin and sage with browned butter sauce. Anyway, the cioppino was simply packed with local mussels, clams, tender calamari rings and chunks of halibut ... and more. $17.75.

My dining companion had chicken marsala, which he reported was melt-in-your mouth great, and came with garlic mashed potatoes and perfectly steamed local brocolli. $14.25.

The desserts were pretty standard offerings, tiramisu, chocolate mouse, lemon tart, etc. But we were too stuffed to try any of them. They're probably classically prepared and well executed, just like our salad and entrees were.

One other thing to mention is the wine list. Lots of offerings in the $20 range, but we just ordered by the glass. I had 2 rounds of the Barberra offering, which was perfect for the seafood.

Other faves:

Saburo sushi house S.E. Bybee Blvd./Milwaukee Ave. -- Huge honkin cuts o' fresh fish. Not the greatest sushi you'll ever have and the wait staff can be surly at times, but Saburo is best bang for the buck. No reservations accepted, so go early or expect a long wait.

Pho Van, 1919 S.E. 82nd Ave. -- The first of the Van family's greater Portland area establishments and still the best Pho in a city where there's no wanting for this Vietnamese staple.

Ba'an Thai, 1924 S.W. Broadway -- This family run Thai hot spot vaulted to the top of my fave list just months after it opened in 2002. Little did I know that the quality-drop in my previous #1 (Thai Peacock) was due to a huge staff exodus to open Ba'an, a stone's throw from Portland State University where I'm currently a student. Warning, the capsacin quotient here is serious. Medium-hot will likely be too much for most palates unless your heat tolerance is quite high. BTW, there isn't a dodgy item on the menu, and the owners are charming. Generous portions and an excellent value for the money. (Lunch, dinner M-Sa., closed Sundays.)

Higgins, 1230 S.W. Broadway/Jefferson St. -- Frankly, I've only eaten in the dining room three times since Greg Higgins and Paul Mallory opened this palace of Pacific Northwest cuisine in 1994. I still prefer to dine in the bar, where I can get almost anything that the main dining room offers. I still go nuts over the open-face house-cured pastrami sandwich with aged white cheddar cheese, but my heart belongs to the Painted Hills ground sirloin beef hamburger on the homemade rosemary bun with housemade pickles and all the fixin's on the side. It comes served with wild greens and a perfect fresh herb vinegarette. The Oregon oysters on half-shell w/habanero and carrot granite is sublime.

Voodoo Doughnuts, S.W. 3rd Ave./Burnside -- This late night only joint defies description. Here's the link ... http://www.voodoodoughnut.com/. Try the Arnold Palmer, a cake doughnut covered with lemon and tea powder, the house special Voodoo Doughnut (voodoo doll doughnut) or the bizarre Nyquil Glazed and Pepto-Bismol house special (currently unavailable due to bureaucratic nonsense). And there's always the bachlorette party favorite, Cock-n-Balls (triple cream-filled, with your favorite saying written right on it.) It comes in its own pink box. $4.95. Order ahead as supplies can be limited.

... and last but not least ...

From the humble kitchen of chez essxjay, chef's choice Thai curry is almost a quotidian thing in this den of dementia. There's always a batch on the stove or extra leftovers in the fridge. One day it's red curry with fried tofu, peas, yellow bell peppers and green onions and the next it could be green chicken or shrimp curry with red bell peppers, red onions and yellow zuchinni. Basically, whatever meat, tofu and veggies are in the fridge, I throw it all together and chow about 15 minutes later.

Hungry now? C'mon over to my place!

SanDiego1K

I'm sold. Does Tuesday sound good?

wck4

Pearl Bakery (102 NW 9TH Ave) is a great little bakery if you have a sweet tooth. It's right next to the North Park Blocks at 9th and Couch. They have really yummy cakes and pastries as well as nice sandwiches and muchie things.

essxjay

That's a great place. I'd rate the Pearl and Grand Central a tie for first, even though their styles are so different. Pix is great too.

opushomes

The newest dim sum restaurant is Jin Wah in the same shopping center on TV highway as Red Robin in Beaverton. Jin Wah used to be a Chinese and Vietnamese (with a little Thai and Singapore thrown in) place just up the road on TV highway (Canyon Road). It recently expanded and added dim sum which is available everday from 10 a.m. on. They have the usual suspects as well as congee, baked and steamed buns (bau), and other items. The Shui Mai is some of the best that I've had. Steamed bbq pork buns are quite good.

The other fairly new restaurant is Rama Thai on the south side of TV highway next to the Sherwin Williams Paint Store before Cedar Hills Blvd. Coincidentally it is across from the cheapest 76 station on the west side. Cuisine is Lanna Thai and Lao. IMO the best northern thai available in the area. Note: most Thai restaurants do not include northern Thai as part of their offerings.

When is the essx Thai do??

Sweet Willie

Gourmet Mag’s (Oct 04) “Big Deal / Good Deal” restaurants in Portland

Big Deal = Gourmet, Elegant food
Good Deal = “cheap” local’s spots

Big Deal Restaurants:

Hurley's
1987 Northwest Kearney Street
503.295.6487

Andina
1314 Northwest Glisan Street
203.228.9535

Good Deal Restaurants:

Clarklewis
1001 Southeast Water Avenue
503.235.2294

Carafe
200 Southwest Market Street
503.248.0004