Portland Eats

Going to portland March 5th-8th.

Booked dinner res at Little Bird, Roe, Departure. Any must tries that I should sub in for any of those 3?

Thinking of doing pok pok for lunch probably Friday. Any recs for lunch eats? My wife really wants to get some oysters, so if there’s a great oyster bar that’d be a good rec as well!

Thanks!

le pigeon

pine st biscuits (lunch/brunch)

I would absolutely go to Castagna over Roe or Departure. Castagna is top 10 in the country. I’d rather do le pigeon than little bird too (don’t tell Andy though).

wish I could offer you a seat at Nodoguro but we’re booked through March 20.

The best oysters come in through EaT oyster bar. Their food isn’t any good though, so just eat oysters there or at their sister Parish and have dinner elsewhere.

The shellfish menu and cocktails at St. Jack are fantastic.

Fruits De Mer
OYSTERS* PICKLED SHALLOT MIGNONETTE
6 for 15. / 1 2 for 29.
BULOTS ANCHOVY & CHERVIL AIOLI 15.
CHILLED MUSSELS RAVIGOTE 12.
BLOOD CLAMS* CUCUMBER, GIN, LIME, CILANTRO 16.
KING SALMON TARTARE* DILL, CAPERS, ORANGE ZEST, ROE 9.
MARINATED BABY OCTOPUS PEPPERS, OLIVES, CELERY, DILL,
CUCUMBER, SHERRY VINEGAR 13.

i swear i saw another thread with this same subject. what happened to it? hahahaha

You knows i love the thai. I say stray from the beaten path.

I have cooked this and displayed here and cannot stress how good it is, Yam Makheua Yao.

Het Paa Naam Tok. Sounds weird. Is incredibly delicious and so unique, a must have.

I would try a laap beside that unless there is something you must have. Laaps are my new fave.

Btw, I found an incredible new thai place in Rancho Santa Margarita, Thai Smile. Incredibly fresh, authentic, and screamingly delicious. They grow all their own herbs and chilies. It is the first thai restaurant I have eaten at in Socal that uses fish sauce generously and also almost blew my face off with fresh thai chilies in a Som Tam. Awesome. They laugh at whitey.

Wife and I visited this past October; had a blast eating/drinking our way through the city.

Roe - absolute must imo. I loved the concept and food and can’t think of anything similar we have in LA. Just up the street, is the Richmond; cool bar/pub for a pre-dinner cocktail.

Couldn’t get a rez at Pigeon, but would definitely try to if I were you.

Pok Pok - our first meal; although we have great Thai here, it was still a very solid lunch and was a highlight.

Carts: loved the pork belly at Rua; thought Nong’s was OK.

Highly recommend Expatriate; killer craft cocktails and food.

Bijou served a delicious breakfast.

I wanted to do Le pigeon but no reservations available :frowning:. Earliest is 9:45pm. Too late for us, I get cranky when I don’t eat :wink:. Might consider waiting for a table.

Will change res from departure to castanaga. 7 course meals for sub $100 is my heaven. How heavy is the molecular gastronomy? My wife hates it :angry:

I saw nodoguro was booked already. Could have brought a nice burg to share :wink:. My problem for booking this trip so late!

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There are definitely molecular techniques at Castagna but that’s not the focus. It’s not trying to create “gotcha” moments like a WD50, but instead really elegant food. Similar to SAAM in Bazaar by Jose Andres but better imho.

If you’re willing to wait in line for 15 minutes you can get the Chef’s counter at Le Pigeon, especially on Thursday or Friday when everyone else has to work. Just show up at 4:45 and if the line is less than 10 people deep, you’re gold. Also, always call, most places here only release a small handful to online booking.

Another place to consider which isn’t as fancy: Smallwares. Jo is from the Momofuko family.
And if your wife is cool with a little tentacle porn on the TV, Tanuki is a great izakaya with predominately Okinawan food.

Little bird does lunch, btw. great happy hour with some oyster deals. http://www.portlandmonthlymag.com/eat-and-drink/eat-beat/articles/january-21-little-bird/

awesome. I put myself on the cancellation list for Le Pigeon. There’s a chance we might just go and wait for a seat at the counter on Thursday and do little bird for lunch another time.

excellent! I highly encourage the counter at Le Pigeon. it’s one of the most enjoyable dining experiences I’ve had.

I’ll be the first to admit that Le Pigeon is more cutting edge than Little Bird! Not sure where you’ll be staying. Little Bird is an easy walk from most downtown hotels and, from the beer perspective, right around the corner from Bailey’s Taproom.

BTW - Little Bird Lunch is weekdays only.

Hope you’ll find some room for Wine during your visit!

counter at le pigeon is legit. you’re basically watching the kitchen

Staying at Hotel Lucia, so really close to Little Bird. My wife really wants to go to Nong’s Khao Man Gai for lunch one day, so we’re doing that as well as Pok Pok. If we can get into Le Pigeon Thursday night, we’ll do lunch at Little Bird on the one extra lunch we have, which is probably Friday.

I might have to pick and choose re: wine/beer. Might lean toward doing beer instead of wine. Might do the grand trifecta of Commons, Hair of the Dog and Cascade. I did consider renting a car and spending a day in wine country, but I think we’ll stick to Portland.

That all sounds like an excellent plan. Don’t miss Andy’s rec for Bailey’s too.

If you’re doing HotD I recommend a pork belly Cubano at bunk bar just down the street

We really enjoyed Radar for brunch last trip up.

Oh. Cocktails at Imperial are good. Within the hotel.

go to Pok Pok twice. Le Pigeon was boring.