We decided to take a break from cooking this weekend and instead go on an adventure in Portland, Oregon. Rather than driving everywhere, or dealing with Portland’s better-than-Seattle-but-still-far-from-optimal trolley system, we decided to explore the city by bike (which has the added advantage of working up quite an appetite).

We rented our bikes first thing sunday morning, and rode off to begin our day at Doug Fir Lounge, one of Portland’s best brunches according to ChowHound. We were not disappointed. I had a delicious scramble with sharp cheddar, onions, delicious potatoes and more ham than you could shake a stick at, and Dan had a vegetable hash, with spinach, zucchini, tomatoes and perfectly poached eggs on top, and of course, bottomless coffee. Convenienly, Doug Fir lounge is located in the Hawthorne neighborhood, which is a lovely area to wander in while you’re trying to digest brunch enough so that you can get back on your bike and ride without cramping up. While wandering, we found a myriad of cool second hand stores, including Next Adventure, which has a basement full of affordable, if pre-loved, sporting gear (we found a helmet for Dan and biking shoes for me).

We rode about exploring various neighborhoods for the better part of the afternoon, and having missed lunch (brunch was fashionably late, since most brunch joints in Portland serve brunch until 3pm or later on weekends), decided an afternoon pint was in order. I did not realize until now how much I missed bike-friendly cities (Portland is supposedly second only to Montreal in terms of bikeable North American cities). At any rate, what caused me to remember was the sight of rows and rows of bike racks (mostly full) outside of New Old Lompoc microbrewpub. Somehow it just seemed much more inviting than the expanses of parking lot that tend to surround everything in Seattle. We found an open rack and headed in. Since it was late afternoon and we hadn’t eaten since breakfast, we went easy on the beer, ordering only a sampler to share. While all of Lompoc’s beers were quite nice (their light beers had that lovely refreshing “cottage” taste to them), the winners were definitely the hoppier options. Both the Imperial Pale Ale C-note, and its lighter cousin Centenial, the India Pale Ale had a lovely full hoppiness about them that stood up fine on its own, but worked well with food too. Perhaps their most interesting (and judging by surrounding tables) most popular beer, was LSD (Lompoc Strong Draft), which, in their own words, is:

A Portland Classic! This strong ale has a deep mahogany color and is crafted with seven different specialty malts. A touch of smoked malt gives it a complex aroma and incredible flavor. LSD is also generously hopped with six hop varieties to help create an awesome beer. 6.9% abv. 58 IBU

Somehow, the smokiness of the LSD gave it a tinge of esspresso flavor, which made it all the much more interesting.

Onward to dinner. Dinner was the second time in my life that I’ve been able to eat at a restaurant reviewed by Food and Wine Magazine (the first was a gourmet pizza place in Vancouver BC). Pok Pok is a low-key little place on Division St. (also around Hawthorne), supposedly started by a guy grilling in his backyard. The kitchen looks like it might once have been a foodcart, and the restaurant itself is a hodge-podge which blurs the line between inside and outside. At one point in the evening, a sudden cloudburst spang itself on us, and we watched as customers and waitstaff alike made a mad dash between the “indoor” part and the “covered outdoor part” through a narrow passagway whose eavestroughs had been hopelessly overwhelmed.

Anyways, on to the food. We started with G&T’s and fried papaya fritters across the street at Whiskey Soda Lounge, where we waited the supposed hour (actually much less) until our table was prepared. Then, we wandered over to Pok Pok. As soon as we sat down, the smells of the dishes passing by us told us this was a *can’t go wrong* sort of place. We could probably have just told the waitress “you pick for us!” and it all would have worked out. Alas, the almost tropical weather convinced us to forgo the curries (which smelled awesome). Instead, we went with the grilled game hen, the La Vong fish (Dan’s all-time favorite: pan-fried fish with tons of dill, and a bit of spice, served over noodles), an eggplant salad, and some sticky rice to sop it all up. It was all delicious. The game hen was juicy and moist, the eggplant salad (packed with herbs of all sorts) was bright and refreshing, and the fish was wonderful. Everything came with at least one, sometimes 2 sauces, which could be slathered over the sticky rice to make the flavors last even longer. We ended the meal with a totally decadent plate of sweet sticky rice, mango and condensed milk–which is a killer combo. Overall, a wonderful meal (and very reasonably priced). If you don’t mind the wait (or if you have 5+ people so you can make a reservation in advance), I strongly recommend it. We had big plans to end the evening with one more Portland pint somewhere, but alas, it being Sunday night on the west coast, the two bars we tried had both already called last call by the time we wandered it at 11:30 pm (there are some parts of living out here that I will never get used to. Early bar closures on holiday weekends is one of them).

Besides running a few errands (returning bikes, buying beer etc.) We didn’t do too much on Monday, as we wanted to get out in time to beat the traffic (or some of it at least). We did find time to wait the 1/2 hour for a famous Voodoo Doughnut. Dan tried cinnamon and I tried the classic old-fashioned. We decided we must not be doughnut-connaiseurs, because to us, both doughnuts tasted only marginally better, and a tad fresher, than the infamous Timbits we knew so well. Finally, on the way out of town, we hit the FoodCarts and loaded up on cheap Banh Mi (2 for $6) for the trip home, and lunch the next day. The Banh Mi, while not Montreal quality, were head and shoulders above Seattle Banh Mi in that their BBQ Pork was actually sliced thin, like cold cuts, and did require the gnawing and gnashing of teeth involved in eating a Seattle Banh Mi–oh and they had a magic sauce of some sort, and peppers, and pickled veggies.

A whirlwind tour of Portland, and I have no doubts we missed several gems, but at least we got there, and it certainly wouldn’t take much convincing to get me to go back again.