Eleni's Philoxenia

I wanted to eat a second time at Eleni's before I wrote my review of this hidden gem, but was ready to write about it after the first visit. A co-worker told me about Eleni's; this is he and his wife's favorite little place for a romantic dinner. It is such an easy place to miss on the street -- tucked away on NW 9th next to the Pearl Bakery -- it is a skinny, dark storefront with a long interior complete with a full bar. Choose from booths or tables (I personally like the tables for light and being more a part of the action). Don't worry about the "its all Greek to me" factor, all the menu items are well-described down to the individual spices. And the spices are part of what makes the food here so interesting. The prices are very reasonable and menu quite varied. I wanted to have at least one of the same dishes as our previous visit -- the pasta with tomatoes, nutmeg, cinnamon and Cascade Natural beef, called Makaronia Me Kima -- fantastic and highly recommended. Order the grilled calamari; you can get the fried stuff anywhere so try the grilled, it is excellent. The Kritikia Salad recommended by our server was very tasty with currants and a honey-balsamic vinegarette (which I've since made at home). A not-to-be-missed shrimp dish - Giardes me Skordo with sherry and cayenne - you will want to lick the plate! Finish it all off with the walnut, pistachio, hazelnut baklava drizzled with a spiced orange-infused honey! The wine list includes many local and Greek wines. I found a fantastic Greek Sauvignon Blanc blend to go with my creatures from the sea! Enjoy.

http://www.elenisrestaurant.com/

Del Inti - Lincoln - Andina - Pastini - Clark Lewis

Some quick reviews of places we've dined lately rated by how strongly we feel about going back
1= Loved it! Gotta go back immediately!
2= Liked it, but want to try other places before going back.
3= Liked it okay, but don't need to go back
4= Not going back

Del Inti on Alberta (Peruvian) - 2
http://www.delinti.com/
Do not miss the hangar steak saltado! Slurp!

Lincoln - 2
http://www.lincolnpdx.com/
Cool place in NE on Williams - across from Pix (how convenient)
Great dishes to include: the "hens eggs and cream" appetizer, hangar steak (do you see a pattern here?), and great drinks.

Andina - 1
http://www.andinarestaurant.com/
Love it. This is truly a happening place in every sense -- people, energy, food, bar, music, kitchen, location...
Don't miss the empanada appetizer, diver scallop entree', lomo saltado, and the torte de chocolate which far exceeded my expectations for so often getting mediocre desserts!

Pastini - 1
http://www.pastini.net/index.htm
A local Oregon restaurant chain - fresh, inexpensive and good!
Loved the salads (arugula and Caesar), carbonara (wow), and the molten lava cake for dessert!
All the pastas are tasty and the desserts are huge -- a lot of food for the money. I also give them a two thumbs up for donating a $100 gift certificate to the Columbia Land Trust for an auction item, which is why we went. Thanks Pastini!

Clark Lewis - 3
http://www.clarklewispdx.com/
Good but overpriced. Nice location and cool space. Love to see all the things going on in the kitchen front and center. Don't need to go back. Sorry!

ROUX, ROUX, We'll miss you!

Such an unfortunate thing this recession is. It really can sniff out and shake loose any hint of instability or business fatigue. In my opinion, Roux really had it going on; we patronized the place no less than 20 times with friends, family and just the two of us. It was the place in our hood to go for a high-end meal or an awesome burger. Everything was fabulous and there are so few places and keep us coming back; looking forward to that one delicious dish. Roux kept us coming back for more. So sad to see them go.

GRAVY

Gravy on Mississippi is another breakfast favorite. I tend to categorize the breakfast places we go to by the latest time that you need to show up to get a table without waiting (on a weekend). Gravy is an early one; I'd call it an 8:00'r or an 8:15'r. Any later and you'll be standing in the foyer; grab a cup of coffee and chill till the turnover begins. This is kid and family friendly place and people love to bring visiting guests here because it is so good. For this reason, it is often loud and tables close together.

I personally like the challah-bread french toast and a side of crispy bacon (in my best Homer Simpson voice- "mm...bacon"). But if you are into gigantic, tasty, loaded-up omelets, you are in luck. They use a lot of Chorizo sausage, bacon chunks and fresh herbs to make these extra flavorful. If you want a real treat, try the scrambles with cream cheese, bacon and other veggies. The gravy for your biscuits is tasty and has lots of big sausage chunks to give you real incentive for an afternoon workout! I haven't tried the Oatmeal Brulee', but it looks wonderful and creamy and has the caramelized sugar top to crack into. The portions are all generous; the prices good, and the atmosphere is truly Portland -- a local, lively, favorite neighborhood hangout.

Davis Street Tavern - great happy hour

New to the China Town neighborhood is the Davis Street Tavern, http://www.davisstreettavern.com/index.html right on the new Green Line Max rail -- 5th Ave. Can you guess what the cross street is? In an area of many new architectural and consulting firms, this new restaurant is a welcome addition to the neighborhood where good eateries aren't on every street corner. In fact with the exception of Ford's, there just isn't much in the immediate area. The architecture is typical of the neighborhood -- brick walls, high ceilings, wood floors and arched wood windows. Lots of light and a big restaurant space that is not visible in the front bar. We met friends there and went wild on the $5 each happy hour menu. We ordered the mussels steamed in coconut lemon grass sauce, a Caesar salad, the mini strip loin burger (to die for!) with its side of pickled vegetable salad, Cheese crostini trio, and the "Velvety Mac&Cheese (melt-in-your-mouth!) While the trio was really tasty, one of the cheeses was blended with beets and therefore -- pink. The brain says "stay away from pink cheesy stuff on toasted bread" while the mouth says "yum". That was a bit of a balancing act.

While there were no cocktails on the happy hour menu, there were a couple beers and wines -- all good. I gotta tell you, the cocktail menu seemed a bit too over done -- full of brands, drinks liquors, etc that I didn't understand. It was like reading a menu in Russian. Am I just showing my age? Curious what others think. The Syrah blend was nice.

For a someone who is not easily impressed by desserts in restaurants (cuz mine are always so much better), I flipped for the dark chocolate bread pudding with warm rum sauce. I've been thinking about that ever since... :)-

I'll be back, and would love to try dinner.

MISS DELTA!

*urp* I need to loosen my "belta" after eating at Miss Delta! Wow! First time to this great "joint" on Mississippi. Tucked into the main strip, this skinny little brick-walled restaurant vibrates with people who love and truly appreciate authentic creole/Cajun grub. The reviews I read were all about the "best Cajun food... the best Caesar salad... the fantastic catfish...". All true. Four of us ordered what felt like everything on the menu; in fact George ordered two entrees! Great cocktail menu - we had the martinis with orange blossum water -- good. Mojito; good as well. And the "Farmer's Daughter" -- great! Its definitely worth a try -- cucumber infused vodka and other fresh ingredients make for a light and refreshing drink (remember this for summer!) but way potent; they don't skim on the alcohol! Then came the hushpuppies. I haven't had a lot in my life, but these ranked up there. Then came the shrimp creole, jambalaya, blackened catfish, Caesar salad (which was very good), a special house-made meatloaf with peppers, onions and jalapenos; grits and shrimp, and as sides: Mac and cheese, collard greens and beans and rice. The plates are not small. It was a complete carb-o-rama!! If only we had "fries with that"! They must be used to people like us ordering the world and having to pack it up at the end when we are about to burst! Oh, we didn't stop at tolerable discomfort; we ordered the only desserts they had -- rum-pecan bread pudding. Enough for four. Wow, that sent even the best of us over the edge to near misery. Why do we do this to ourselves?!! For the LOVE of food! For the LOVE of great, local thoughtful food. For the infectious buzz you get walking into a packed, gem of a local "joint", and don't forget... contributing to the local economy! Keep on eating out! ;)

Nostrana

A friend from Boise had read a review that Nostrana makes one of the more authentic Pizza Margheritas around. It is. It reminded me of ole' Roma! Here's your menu -- you'll be a happy camper:

Glass of Montepulciano
Radicchio Salad
Pizza Margherita
Rum-raisin gelatto (I turned my nose up at this, but tried it anyway -- SO good and loaded with rum!)

That's it! Bon apetit!
http://www.nostrana.com/

Euphoric at Autentica -- again

Another night at Autentica --so good, it was one of those rare euphoric food moments! New to the menu are Carnitas and are they fantasic! The pile-o-roasted pork is tender and perfectly seasoned -- it comes with a side of amazing, silky-smooth refried black beans which were the best refried beans I think I've ever had. Again, fresh green aromatic cilantro, house-made tortillas and all the fixin's to go with this "they nailed it" plate of goodness! :)-

My new favorite breakfast spot

I love breakfast. We usually end up going out for breakfast once over a normal non-traveling weekend. Some friends invited us to go to the Veritable Quandry (VQ) for breakfast -- actually, brunch. I'd been there for lunch and dinner -- both wonderful, but now I'm a breakfast fan. VQ is the quintessential downtown Portland restaurant with truly NW cuisine and has been in business for nearly 40 years. Not your typical buffet style brunch, the breakfasts are ordered on the menu and are very reasonably priced. I finally hit the jackpot with the "Kings Choice"; it has everything I want in a breakfast, but must order ala carte, since they rarely make a group appearance as one menu item. King’s Choice: Two Eggs Any Style, French Toast, Crisp Potato Cake & Bacon 12. I will refer to it as "Queen's choice, since I can also get those two eggs poached! The potato cakes are crispy and flavorful and the bacon lean, thick and crispy and they use local eggs. Phil had fabulous Eggs Benedict with a twist: porkloin Eggs Benedict on Alonso’s House Made English MuffinHouse Smoked Porkloin, Hollandaise & Crisp Potato Cake 13. Try the Dungeness Crab Benedict too. Don't expect your best cup of coffee there though -- head over to Stumptown on 3rd and Pine for that.

Beautiful, interesting building and decor. Go there with friends or family who are in town or for a better-than-your-average weekend breakfast. Dress casual and make reservations.
http://www.veritablequandary.com/

Autentica Mexican Restaurant Review

I am constantly on the lookout for master margarita mixers! Autentica has one of the best fresh from scratch (no icky sweet and sour mixes) margarita. It is a healthy-sized drink which makes it also very reasonably priced at $8. I would come back for the house margarita alone, by why when I can come back for the spectacular food too? This was our second time there and this time I was even more impressed. My husband and I are both suckers for good ceviche and we found, again, some of the best at Autentica http://autenticaportland.com/. Apparently they just added this particular version to the menu and I made sure to tell them it was a hit. The dish: Three large very fresh and tender scallops marinated in lime juice just enough to keep the very inside slightly pink. It was topped with well-hydrated, green and fragrant cilantro; a perfectly ripened half an avocado; finely chopped red peppers, and red onions -- a hearty appetizer for two. On to dinner: Phil had a fabulous flank steak on a bed of juicy pinto beans. I had the fresh fish of the night -- rock fish -- that was so tender and moist, next to a bed of another kind of moist beans and fluffy white rice and cilantro. The meals were perfectly cooked; hot at the table; well-presented, and filling. We were pleasantly full...until dessert! I ordered a slice of cake that I saw go by to another table. It looked better than it tasted - not bad; but not memorable. We then walked out uncomfortably full!

A few things worth mentioning
They have many great standard dishes, some of which are specialities -- experiment!
The service can be very slow on a busy night, but when they arrive at the table they are very gracious and attentive.
It can be very busy on the weekends so reservations are recommended.
It is also very open and loud so you and your party will be competing for radio waves!
Not strong in the dessert department, but that's okay - spend your calories on the good stuff!
Highly Recommended! Que' rico!