Category: Portland Oregon

Portland Pub Crawl

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Throwback to 2020

(well we had a bit of fun before the epidemic became a global pandemic)

N&K at Justin Timberlake concert courtside
N&K at the Justin Timberlake concert.

This pandemic nonsense had us out of touch for a wee bit.

Kells has been diligently updating our IG.

Nals has not been doing a whole heckuva lot creatively-speaking. Nals hasn’t been super inspired and TBH was in a rut. When restrictions loosened up last year, the P-N-dubs was knee-deep in summer and there were some muses about town.

So let’s rewind to Feb 2020: before the pandemic closed the borders and restricted our lifestyles.

Miss Kells, Cutie T & I took a jaunt down to Portland for a girl’s weekend. It was Cutie T’s first time! And in true N&K fashion, we ate and drunk up a storm. Here is a brief review of the pubs we visited.

OLD TOWN PIZZA
visit

We had been eating all day so we kept it light.

(Plus we had to be able to jump to our exit in case a ghost popped by.)

We had the tasty Pilsner Lager and Stout. To sop up the alky, we knoshed on the made-to-order Garlic Knots and Ghost Pizza.

HOPS at HILTON
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Lovely drinks and even better charcuterie. Upon request, they custom made our 2nd board! Pickled onions and artisan cheese were da bomb diggedy.

DESCHUTES
visit

To quench our thirst, we had the following brews: Head of the Table, Wowza and the Neon Daydream. All were delicious.

To fill our gobs in between sips, we had the Beer Board (chacoots!) – crisp house brined vegetables, smoky dried stout salami, housemade apple walnut bread & rosemary crackers. To. Die. For.

SCANDALS
website
IG

We discovered this pub-club by looking online. They had drag queen trivia night scheduled online, but when we arrived, we realized their socials were not regularly updated. The night wasn’t as exciting as we had hoped, but we had a couple beers after dinner and enjoyed a bit of music.

N&K Review of Bamboo Sushi (Portland)

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Kells, Cutie T & I went on a girls weekend getaway to Portland Oregon🔗, earlier this year (pre-pandemic times). As it was Cutie’s first time, we wanted it to be extra special. We stayed at the ritzy Hotel Monaco🔗.

One evening we chose to dine at Bamboo Sushi🔗 (downtown location). They’ve got 3 locations in The PDX.

Kells has had Bamboo Sushi 🔗 before.

But, it was mine & Cutie T’s first time. Bonus: it was right around the corner from our hotel.

Our order

Garden of Eden roll – Micro crunch, tart, slight sweet,

Chasing the Dragon roll – tempura shrimp, tart at first, soft spicy flavour, chewy rice, elevated dynamite

Eden & Chasing

Soft shell crab bao – soft tempura crunch salt, heaven

Friday the 13th -taste the sweet salt then slow spicy heat (delayed). Table fave.

Kimono -elevated cali roll, complicated, starts apple then sweet crab, chewy rice, salty goodness.

Ocean Farmer Roll-garlic butter with seared salmon, “delicious”, starts soft smoke then rice then fresh.

Itame Roll -Special, cilantro, light flavour, fresh, ideal for those starting to eat raw fish.

Itame

Considerations

Parking: on the street or find a lot.

Pricing: it’s not cheap but it is cheery.

Ambience: Pimped-Up Casual.

Recommendation

Yes! Go stuff your gobs with this fabulous food!

(We do mean after the pandemic precautions have lifted. Also, bring a cigarette cuz you’ll need after you finish this sexy sushi.)

Review of Kimpton Hotel Monaco Portland

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We had opportunity to take a girl’s trip to Portland🔗 recently.

It was our friend Cutie T’s first time in the PDX so we wanted to stay in a central area, park then walk everywhere. We chose Kimpton Hotel Monaco Portland🔗

The entrance is magnificent

As you can see, the hotel’s entry is elegant from the outside and… magnificently opulent inside. It reminds us of old gallant hotels for the rich riches but not gaudy or tacky.

LOBBY LOUNGING to meet people, to wait or have a lovely wine-y evening.

The staff and service

Everyone was warm and friendly. Check-in was fairly quick, as we were pre-paid.

As soon as we got to our room, the front desk texted us to say if we needed anything, just let them know. We needed extra pillows, blankets, a straightening iron, suggestions for a night out… and they got back to us!

To the room…

Elevator and walk to to the room was delightful.

… And beyond

This King Suite was sumptuous!

Seating areas

Yes lots of areas to park your sweet booty.

Bathroom

Large, airy, light. Shower, tub, lots of counterspace.

Sleeping areas

The king bed had a sliding door with a huge TV, dresser, comfy chair, night tables with lamps and plenty o’ plug ins. The bed was fabulous firm. I didn’t feel Kells move around at all. In the evenings, the three us snuggled up with snacks and the TV.

Cutie T preferred to sleep solo on the sofa bed. She had her own TV. Mattress looked a bit thin but Cutie T slept fine curled up in the mountain of blankets and pillows.

Lighting & Space

King bed had large windows with sheets and blackout curtains. There were some floor ceiling and table lamps. Seemed a bit dark in the foyer but who cares.

Room felt very airy, due to the vaulted ceilings.

In-room amenities

Mini bar, intimacy kits, snack items and room service are available for additional costs.

Included in-room are animal print robes, landline, basic drinking glasses, bar fridge, hair dryer & delicious toiletries. Other things available upon request (such as Keurig, tea, cutlery and coffee pods).

In-room entertainment

There were 2 TVs. TVs don’t have internet or bluetooth capabilities. There is cable with pay-per-view options.

Hotel amenities and entertainment

With resort fees, you can use the fitness room.

Coffee, tea, swanky hot chocolate in lobby in the mornings.

Wine, beer, amuse bouche are available every evening 5-7 pm for all hotel guests. They also have live music in the lobby.

Concierge service also available by text.

Transportation

Valet parking was included in our package. But we were close enough to walk everywhere downtown.

Recommendation

Yes we absolutely recommend it.

Voodoo Donuts

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We had opportunity to take a girl’s trip to Portland🔗 recently.

And of course we had to pop in to sample a bit of somethin’ somethin’ at the infamous Voodoo Donuts🔗.

Voodoo Donut’s crazy decor and outrageous flavour combos go right along with the city’s slogan “Keep Portland Weird”.

for more info on stumptown’s classy slogan, click here🔗.

We got there around 9 pm. The lineup was only about 20 minutes. Warning that it can be as long as 2 hours. Since they’re open 24 hours, we suggest checking in on the lineups… and go later if it’s nutso.

We got:
-guava colada: kapow guava in centre and soft coconut donut surrounds.
-mango tango: yep it’s mango jelly and is fluffier.
-dirty old bastard: PB&C have joined forces, firmer texture like a fritter.
-portland cream: like the Boston cream but not custard. It was an indescribable flavour. We’d skip this.
-maple bacon: yep exactly like it sounds. This will be your jam if you enjoy maple syrup waffles with a side o’ pig strips.
-apple fritter: classic and a goodie.

K&I have healthy appetites. But one Voodoo donut could easily feed 2 or 3 folks.

Go check them out!

Food Truck Review: Manger á Portland

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This is a special ed of Food Truck Reviews.

We started off with Things to Do in Portland. We will continue today with a summary of our food tour.

Farm Boy Drive In

A sleepy eatery in an odd duck corner of Olympia. Here the corn dogs are crispy fresh, the official certificate of The Daughters of American Revolution has made an impression (literally & figuratively) on the wall and where a visible minority is rarely seen. Staff were nice. Corn dog was corny tasty. And, we had that feeling that a climactic horror movie scene was about to unfold.  We made sure not to overstay¹.

Lompoc Tavern

Is right around the corner from Pecularium. Large airy tavern with a terrace, and lots of nooks and crannies to squirrel away into. We had beef burger sliders (delicious) and Southwest Chicken salad (lovely spicy dry rub on grilled chicken that crisped up real good under the hot loving grill. And, this fit in quite nicely with the greens and other healthy crap. With numma nums dressing².)

Lima Peruvian Restaurant

We’ve never had Peruvian food so this was a delight. We ordered Ají de Gallina . This is a Creole4 dish consisting of shredded strips of chicken cooked in a creamy sauce. Sauce contains ají5 and milk. It is accompanied by potatoes, white rice, hard-boiled egg and olives3. To Mr. Nals and I, this dish sounded very different from anything we’ve tried. It had a rich mouthfeel, but wasn’t overwhelmed with a fatty taste. It was smooth creamy perfection with different bites of chicken, potato or egg inside. Also had some wine to give it complexity. Fair warning: this dish was not made to feast your eyes.

Our next dish Bisteck a la Chorillana is described as “Fried steak smothered with sauteed onions & tomatoes served with rice and fried potatoes.” This dish had more pungeant flavour so it was a great contrast to the chicken dish. Smoky grilled flavour, acidic, delicious.

San Francisco Mexicana Tienda
Facebook and Menu

We didn’t take pictures but in the deli section, we ordered Taquitos and Tostado. Amazing fresh ingredients, crispy, flavourful. It is so worth it to come here just to eat, nevermind their glorious market area where you can buy groceries, snacks, hot sauces and drinks.

Food Pods

…are a convenient gathering of food trucks in parts of downtown Portland. The Mr and I visited 2 of them.

Phat Blue Buddha

We got the Korean Beef & Rice. The meat was tender, flavourful. The whole dish was perfection. The chef-owner is super friendly and apparently spent some time in B.C.

Don Jalapeno Mexican Food

Mmm delicious Tacos. Tender tasty meat, crispy fresh veg and tortilla were magnificent! And reasonably priced so you can try a few different ones without breaking the bank.

 

These are just a few places that we tried in Portland, Oregon in August.

Have you tried any of these places?

Footnotes
1 A bit of artistic license. But don’t they say art imitates life?
2 In Amur’ca, the portions and salads are very different from Vancouver’s. Ask for dressing on the side unless you like globs of gloop.
3 You may have noticed that Lima’s menu does not list this dish. I remembered the name of the dish and so I went off-roading on The Google. I found a description on Adventure Life.
4 Creoles in Peru? Yessuh!
5 WTF is a Scoville unit?