Burgers, Dogs, & Pizza, Oh My!

Posts Tagged ‘Portland Happy Hour’

In 1805, explorers Meriwether Lewis and Daniel Clark were deep in the midst of the first transcontinental exploration to the West Coast of the United States; in 1905, to celebrate the centennial of that expedition, Portland hosted a “world’s fair”, the Lewis and Clark Exposition.  At that time in history, “World’s Fairs” were held annually in cities around the world, as showcases of the local resources and potential opportunities for both companies and individuals.

The building which housed the entrance area to that exposition now houses Meriweather’s – an apt location for a restaurant that concentrates on featuring food prepared using local resources – in fact, Meriwether’s has their own nearby farm and serves in excess of 8 tons of locally grown produce annually.

Open for lunch  Mon-Fri, dinner seven days, and weekend brunch, the chef has come up with an interesting menu with new twists on old favorites, and created a number of his own daring entrees; the restaurant offers full meals, small plates, and a great variety of ‘samplers’  one can order in multiples from their happy hour menu.

We had received a gift card from some dear friends, and had it in our mind to spend a leisurely weekend afternoon happy hour at the restaurant.

Mrs. Burgerdogboy had been once before for a business engagement, but it was my first visit.  She started happy hour with an adult beverage, Meriweather’s French Pair, featuring Grey Goose pepper vodka, sweet liqueur, and prosecco.

On our small plate “board”, we went with five choices for $16: anchovy and avocado toast, chickpea fries, artisan salami, cheese & honeycomb, and raw oysters;  I added the bacon and cheeseburger as an afterthought, but it was served to us first.

The high quality ground beef was served medium rare at my specification, thick-sliced bacon, a mild cheese, and marsala mayo adorning possibly one of the finest hamburger buns the planet has ever witnessed.  The beef was lightly-seasoned and the seasoning did not overpower the ‘beefy’ taste of the thick patty.

While the sampler plate servings were small, all were pleasing, with Mrs. BDB especially enjoying the anchovy and avocado toast, small whole anchovies adorning a spread of very creamy avocado adorning slivers of toasted bread. I enjoyed the small square of honeycomb adorning a piece of cheese, and knew well enough that if I reached for one of the oysters, I might lose a finger to Mrs. BDB’s protective eye.

We arrived at 3pm and the bar (the only venue the happy hour menu is served) attendance was fairly light; by 5p, that had changed considerably.

Service was perfunctory, but the food is the real attraction.  I’m sure Meriwether’s will be added to our new favorites list.

“Dressed to the nines” – is a riff on an old English idiom, which means “to perfection” or “to the highest degree.” Basically, putting on your best duds in order to impress.

When one visits the Departure Restaurant in the “Nines” Hotel in downtown Portland, one might consider “dressing to the nines” – not to impress your date, spouse, or colleague, but because you’re going to want to develop a relationship with Executive Chef Gregory Gourdet’s amazing creations. Relationship? Hell, you’re going to want to go steady with this food, maybe marry it, have babies with it. It’s that good.

In a city chock-a-block full of interesting and quality restaurants, Departure stands head and shoulders (and 15 stories) above the pack. With a modern Pan Asian menu, Gourdet was quoted in Nation’s Restaurant Food Magazine as saying ““People just want to be wowed. They know a lot more about food these days, so they expect more creativity from chefs and that translates to flavors as well.”

And does he ever hit the mark, over and over again with his carefully honed menu.

The occasion of our outing was to celebrate Mrs. Burgerdogboy’s birthday, and I wanted to pick a place that was “above nice” (she deserves the best), but also that served some of her favorite tastes. I suspected Departure would please on both counts, and when I heard Gourdet was offering a traditional Peking duck this month, I knew the evening had the potential for being close to her idea of heaven.

Gourdet, the food, service, the room, ambiance, view, all contributed to a perfect evening, but the food was the real star.

I had preselected our menu choices, with the duck being the centerpiece of the meal. Departure’s plates are meant for sharing, so I ordered fairly deep on the menu, including edamame and panko-encrusted Kobe meatballs for starters.

Even something has simple as the soybeans were special, with a rich buttery flavor, a hint of salt. The meatballs incorporated fois gras, and were served with tonkatsu sauce, which is generally made with pureed apples and Japanese Worcestershire.

We moved on to the crispy pork belly, served with pickled cherries, ginger, and pumpkin seeds. The belly was prepared perfectly, crispy exterior, flavorful bites of sus scrofa domesticus (pig).

Roughly-diced brussels sprouts, sauteed with chili, lime and mint came next. As simple a vegetable as brussels sprouts are, they can be difficult to prepare well, and once again, Gourdet has found the solution creating a very tender, packed with flavor offering.

The show piece duck takes 35 minutes to “fire” (after two days of intense prep), and was presented whole to the table by the waitstaff prior to being returned to the kitchen for the final presentation. In Beijing, there is a particular procedure to presenting and serving whole duck, and it’s generally offered as a three course experience, starting first with the crispy skin, dipped in a sugar/garlic sauce; followed by the meat, served with steamed pancakes, spring onions, cucumbers, and plum and/or hoison sauce. One wraps the duck, onions, cuke spears and a dab of sauce in the pancakes, folds or rolls it, and eats it much as if it was a Chinese “street taco.”

The final plate in Beijing would be for the chef to take the remaining fat, meat, and bones, and make it into a broth, or perhaps a stir-fry.

Gourdet follows the game plan, adding his own twists. The pancakes, in their own right, were thicker and smaller than you would find in China, and more akin to a taco one would find from a street vendor in Tijuana. Even on their own, they were delicious, but add the duck, vegetables and sauce, and you will find few, if any, better restaurant meals in Portland.

Chef has avoided offending American palate “sensibilites” by using meat, instead of fat and bones, for his accompanying fried rice dish. Again, this dish could stand on its own as an entree.

The duck is a very LTO (limited time offer) and you should order a day ahead of time to assure a bird will be available for you. It is intended to be shared by four persons, but the two of us did serious damage on it, and had enough to bring home for another couple of meals.

Gourdet stopped by the table to wish Mrs. Burgerdogboy a “bon anniversaire”  and to inquire how we liked the meal.

Well, Chef, hopefully we sung your praises loud enough at the table, but if not, perhaps this review states it emphatically.

You are a rising star on the Portland national food scene. You deserve any and all accolades and recognition that will come your way in what is sure to be an outstanding career.

Thanks to you, and the staff at Departure for one of the best nights out in Portland we have experienced.

Departure’s menu is online.

Yippee kay yay, pardner!  Belly up to the bar, straddle the saddle, and be welcomed to one of the friendliest “dive bars” in the Portland area, with food all day long, and nightly specials.

What constitutes a “dive bar?”  Well, according to the all knowing, all seeing, magic 8 ball Wikipedia, these days, it’s really a term of endearment, meaning “relaxed, casual, neighborhood” type place.    And the Stagecoach fits that bill.

So while ordinarily you will find a strictly local crowd, I urge you, if this kind of place is your thing, to take the drive to Fairview and experience the food, ambiance, and staff of the Stagecoach.

Not only is the waitstaff friendly and efficient, they are very easy on the eyes.  Hopefully you will experience Sara or Kaitlan manning the shift.

Of all the goofy circumstances, we hit the Stagecoach after a massive Thanksgiving feast at a friend’s house nearby.  Not hungry at all, but merely looking for a little additional holiday libation, we did sample the Stagecoach’s Thanksgiving dinner ($6.95) – perfectly done deep fried turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, stuffing, and a fluffy yummy dinner roll with a big gob of butter.

I had my heart set on trying the local specialty “Pappy Dog” (Mondays only), and I’ll get back there for that.

We did share the deep-fried pickle spears, and Stagecoach understands what a deep-fried pickle is all about.  A little seasoned battered spear, perfectly crisp, crunchy, flavorful pickle inside, and a ramekin of ranch on the side.  I love these!

The Stagecoach is located in a small strip small of NE Sandy. 20101 NE Sandy Blvd, in Portland, or Fairview, depending on the attitude of your GPS.  The #12 bus stops at the door, so leave your car at home and make it a TriMet adventure night!

Giddyup.  Pull into the Stagecoach, and have a great time!

Tip often, tip heavily.  These women work hard!

Update: “Taco Tuesday”. 4 for a buck! Good stuff!  Menu is online.

Ah, back in my salad days, Trader Vic’s, in Mpls-St. Paul, used to be one of my “go-to” places to impress the ladies!   Did it work?  Oh, yeah!   So now, TV’s has returned to open in Portland, and is chock-a-block full of authentic tiki decor, and serves up some of the best exotic cocktails and pu-pus you can ever imagine.

What is tiki?  The word refers to large wood carvings from the Polynesia culture, and TV’s theme reflects both the culture and the geography.

Mrs. Burgerdogboy and I hit a special event at the Vic’s yday, one intended to allow us to sample the wares, service, and ambiance, and we surely did.  Greeted at the door with a fresh mai-tai (HELLO!), we took our place at  a couple of bar stools, talked with old and new friends, and partook in the grub samples.

Our family rib expert, Mrs. Burgerdogboy, loved the Asian-style BBQ ribs, and I went for the Ahi poke in a big way.   The smoked tofu, and the crab rangoon also delighted.

Trader Vic’s in Portland opens at 3pm daily, and will soon be offering a weekend brunch, as well (Portland is THE ultimate brunch town!).

We’ll be returning soon to graze thru the balance of the menu, of course I’m interested in scoping out the burger, and the ahi sliders sound great as well!

As with many Portland establishments, TV’s tries to source local, and puts their own spin on area ingredients.

Who, and especially BurgerDogBoy, doesn’t love an afternoon surrounded by tropical decor, food, and where one is encouraged to wear Hawaiian shirts?

Sunshine Tavern Pepp Pizza

Had a great time at a private fete at Sunshine Tavern in Portland on Saturday afternoon. I’m sure I will return, it’s a menu made just for me!

We were served a wide variety of dishes, and overall my favorite was Sunshine’s take on the national dish of Canada, poutine. Sunshine’s version adds Italian pork sausage to the gravy, and it was absolutely superb. They have mastered the art of keeping hand-cut fries very crisp, even when bathed in gravy, no easy feat!

We had a couple slices of pepperoni pizza, and that was grand, for my likes, as you know, are cracker thin crust, and Sunshine’s fit that description, crispy on the edges, chewier working inward. Loved it.

Finally, we had bits of the fried chicken sandwich, and washed it all down with slushee margaritas (wow!).

Looking foward to heading back for brunch and dinner items, including their burger, pork belly sandwich, chicken and waffles, and their biscuits and gravy, which features the same Italian sausage gravy as the fries!  Sunshine will be one of my new regular hangouts, no question!

Sunshine Tavern Cheese Fries w/ Gravy

Canvas Art Bar and Bistro

This may be the funnest place in Portland you’ve never heard of! Nestled in an industrial neighborhood in NW, almost under I-405, the  Canvas Art Bar and Bistro makes for a very special date night with your significant other or your children!

As they indicate on their website, you can go there to eat, meet, and make?  What do you eat?  Delicious small plates, sandwiches, and soups. (And yes, there is a happy hour menu!).  What do you make?  Anything ‘artistic’ you are feel a passion for!  Paint, draw, mixed media.

The Canvas “make” menu provides you with an ala carte selection of materials to use for your creation, and you, or you and your date/friend can pass a very pleasant evening having a little nosh, creating something together, having a local microbrew, and taking in whatever other fun event (like live Mic music on Fridays!) the owners have cooked up.

Absolutely over-the-top service and assistance from the two owners, we enjoyed a variety of appetizers, nuts, olives, shrimp skewers, quesadillas.  They feature some daily specials, while we didn’t select it, last night’s Southwestern Pork Soup sounded fantastic.

Mrs. Burgerdogboy and I were accompanied by our date friends from Vancouver, we used to get together them on occasion to sample local Sunday breakfasts, but we have taken this path now of having ‘create dates’, and The Canvas was a stop worth crowing about.

Our friends chose to create some projects with paint, and Mrs. BDB and I went with making a collage that is representative of a lot of our interests.  Yes, of course I went with the burgers, dogs, pizza theme! 

You’ll find the Canvas Art Bar at 1800 NW Upshur St., and they open Mon-Fri at 11A, and Saturdays at 4.  Closed Sundays.

Get there!

Food offerings posted on our menu page.

Canvas Art Bar and Bistro

This may be the funnest place in Portland you’ve never heard of! Nestled in an industrial neighborhood in NW, almost under I-405, the Canvas Art Bar and Bistro makes for a very special date night with your significant other or your children!

As they indicate on their website, you can go there to eat, meet, and make? What do you eat? Delicious small plates, sandwiches, and soups. (And yes, there is a happy hour menu!). What do you make? Anything ‘artistic’ you are feel a passion for! Paint, draw, mixed media.

The Canvas “make” menu provides you with an ala carte selection of materials to use for your creation, and you, or you and your date/friend can pass a very pleasant evening having a little nosh, creating something together, having a local microbrew, and taking in whatever other fun event (like live Mic music on Fridays!) the owners have cooked up.

Absolutely over-the-top service and assistance from the two owners, we enjoyed a variety of appetizers, nuts, olives, shrimp skewers, quesadillas. They feature some daily specials, while we didn’t select it, last night’s Southwestern Pork Soup sounded fantastic.

Mrs. Burgerdogboy and I were accompanied by our date friends from Vancouver, we used to get together them on occasion to sample local Sunday breakfasts, but we have taken this path now of having ‘create dates’, and The Canvas was a stop worth crowing about.

Our friends chose to create some projects with paint, and Mrs. BDB and I went with making a collage that is representative of a lot of our interests. Yes, of course I went with the burgers, dogs, pizza theme!

You’ll find the Canvas Art Bar at 1800 NW Upshur St., and they open Mon-Fri at 11A, and Saturdays at 4. Closed Sundays.

Not a full posting, but they deserve one in the future.  El Gaucho is a mini chain of premium steakhouses in the Pacific NW.  I’ve been numerous times, but never for happy hour, which is really poppin’ if you arrive any later than the time the doors open at 5pm.

We grazed the happy hour menu, but I ordered one thing from the dinner menu, Steak Tartare, getting harder and harder to find, and El Gaucho is one of the few places that has it.

It is prepared table side, in the traditional manner, and is absolutely delicious.

El Gaucho Portland

Masu Sushi, Portland

Mrs. BurgerDogBoy and I found ourselves downtown Portland on Saturday, she had a brief appointment near the end of the day, and I told her I would wait for her at the Virginia Cafe on 10th.  Mrs. BDB and I have enjoyed the start of a bender or two at the Virginia, but that was not to be Saturday, as it was a day when (apparently) my super-powers kicked in, and I turned invisible to the help at the Virginia.  So five minutes after sitting down at the bar, I picked up my money and left, preferring to stand on the street corner.  This, in fact, turned out good for two reasons:  Mrs. BDB went home with 1) a cute red clutch I spotted in a store window, and b) a belly full of quality sushi, and saki.

When she approached me on the corner, I asked if she wanted a drink or to eat, she replied in the affirmative, and I suggested sushi, knowing it would get me on her good side.

We walked up to Masu,on 13th. Masu is a Japanese word meaning ‘little square box for measuring sake”, and the Masu restaurant serves its sake that way, and is also home to some of the freshest and best sushi Mrs. BDB says she has had in Portland. “Happy wife, happy life,” someone always says.

Being as I am one cheap son-of-a-bitch, I was delighted that the waitress told us it was happy hour, and there was a long discounted menu. Whoo hoo!

I figured I was in for an evening repasts of tempura vegetables, when i spotted the burger on the menu: “kobe beef burger with house tonkatsu.” Sounded good to me, as did “japanese “poutine” with curry and curds”, but I did not inquire of that, nor order. Some other time maybe.

The burger was $8, and no, I am not going to go on my usual rant about “of course at that price, it wasn’t kobe.” Tonkatsu is a japanese fried pork cutlet, usually found in a bento box type offering, but I have no idea in what context Masu used the world, the side dish on the burger plate was a smidgen of kim chi. (After thought:  I am guessing they meant tonkatsu “sauce”, which is a Japanese concoction of ketchup, sake, sugar,etc).

The menu, nor the waitress (who was very efficient and informed) did not make any mention that it was a cheeseburger, which is fine w/ me, but some people might object to being served cheese w/o ordering it. The menu did not make a reference as to how the burger might be cooked, nor did the waitress ask my preference.

It arrived, beautifully plated, amply sized, cooked to medium, with a hearty slab of Tillamook White Cheddar blanketing the top. Side condiments on the plate included an heirloom tomato slice, and shreds of raw onion. Mrs. BDB helped herself to some of the kim chi, I tried a bite, and it was very good.

The thick burger patty was good, juicy despite the cook stage, and had a flavor quality close to Kobe, in that Kobe is very fatty (rich). The bun was exactly the type I prefer, almost kaer dough, soft in the middle, but firm enough to entrap the burger juices and condiments.

In my travels, Portland is unique in offering burgers at sushi bars, and it has sure been good for my marriage. I’d place this particular patty as #2 in burgers I have liked in Portland sushi bars, with the one at Bamboo Sushi besting it, and the one at Yakusa following it in the line up.

Will I go back? Sure, next time we’re downtown and its decidedly in my favor to court and spark my wife (which I like to do as often as possible), but next time, I think I will go for the tempura. Just my opinion, which is, of course, worth what you paid for it!

(Photo credits:  All photos @BurgerDogBoy, w/ exception of exterior photo/sign, from Masu’s website.)

Masu Sushi Cheeseburger

Masu Sushi Cheeseburger

Mrs. Burgerdogboy and I have switched our weekly happy hour nite out to Tuesdays, instead of Wednesdays, as she has a crack o’ dawn biz obligation every Thursday, and works entirely at home on Wednesdays. So we can be a little footloose on Tuesday nites.

We stayed close to home tonight and went to downtown Lake Oswego to hit Five Spice Seafood & Wine Bar, sit outside overlooking the lake, and have a few happy hour noshes and quaffs.

The menu is similar to many Portland happy hour offerings these days, with everything from roasted nuts, marinated olives, beet salad to grilled squid, or some various tartares, oysters, and of course a burger. Five Spice pretty much sticks to a $5 price point, for cocktails and wine, and $2- $13 for the food items from 3-6P.

Mrs. BDB had a couple of pours of the happy hour French Rose, and I went with one glass of Trumer’s Pilsner.  Trumer is an old label from Salzburg, which also brews in Berkeley, CA, claiming the water at the California location is nearly identical to the Austrian site.   To me, beer is beer.

I opened with the marinated olives at $2, Mrs. BDB went for five on the half-shell for $6,  sourced in the  NW, with a vinegar peppercorn marinade, which she adored.

Next up was a trio of tartares for her, beef (grand), seared ahi (left something to be desired) and a pureed edamame with rosemary-orange oil, the latter which should have been left in the test kitchen.

For $8, I went with the cheeseburger, with hand-cut fries, the fries were great, the burger, served plain on a charred bun, was a hand-formed patty of at least a third pound, overcooked to the point of producing its own arid-like ecosystem on the plate.  The sesame bun was very similar in taste and texture to the buns Foster Burger fetches from their neighbor Vietnamese bakery.  As the burger was so overcooked, I really am unable to comment on the flavor of the meat. Nice pickle, tho.

Curious footnote:  no salt or pepper on any table in the joint, but available upon request.

Total tab, including tip, was $46, spending for happy hour, not as bad at the tab at the Benson the other week, but service was pleasant as are the surroundings.  The ambiance is modern/tech, but the air of sophistication was clouded with two televisions in the bar with sports airing on them, totally not necessary for the place or the zip code.

We finished the evening with a coffee and pastry from the St. Honore bakery, which is nestled underneath the restaurant, along the shores of the big lake they call Kitchigumee,  er, Oswego. Coffee and pastries at St. Honore are over the top, as French as one might find in Western Oregon.

Will we return to Five Spice? Possibly we’ll try their dinner offerings at some point.

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In my opinion, it’s hard to find anything affiliated with the Kimpton Hotel chain that is “wrong.” Our experiences in these hotels, around the country, and here in Portland, have been absolutely superb. In fact, the Portland Monaco (formerly Fifth Avenue Suites) was Mrs. BDB and my choice to host our wedding party, back in the day. The concierge there, during our visit, saved our bacon on more than one occasion during the turmoil of putting a wedding together!

We’ve also stayed at their sister hotel across the street, the Vintage Plaza, and been equally impressed. Pazzo is the in-house restaurant at the Vintage Plaza, and we have eaten there on several occasions. We ventured there last night looking for a happy hour where we could enjoy Portland’s brief flirtation with the sun, and sit outside, if possible.

Wednesdays are our “happy hour” night out, and we set out early, arriving just after 5p, so there was no problem getting a table outside, to enjoy the evening sun and watch the pedestrian traffic on Broadway.

Pazzo has a bar menu all the time, and the happy hour menu is the same, but at greatly reduced prices. So reduced, that we shot our wad and ordered the entire menu, skipping only the pasta. This is the bar menu, but with the regular (not happy hour) prices:

Everything we tried was absolutely “Kimpton wonderful,” as was the over the top service from our waitress, who is in her third year at the Pazzo, previously having been down the street at Portland’s luxe hostelry, the Benson.

We grazed in the order the dishes were served, starting with complementary breads and oil,  the salad, and one of the impressive aspects of our server is she went ahead and delivered the smaller items on two plates, so sharing was easily.   The salad was delightfully refreshing in the evening heat, and we followed that with the salumi plate, loaded up with beautiful Italian processed pork products, olives, and, fresh mozzarella.

The wood-fired pizza came next, I had chosed sausage, fresh mozzarella, and basil for the toppings, the crust was cracker thin and had a nice char around the edges from the oven.  Pazzo also operates a take-out shop and bakery next door to the restaurant, opening during the daytime only, and they have a great pizza, as well, but their version is not baked in the wood oven.   The sausage was tasty, the basil and mozzarella fresh, the cheese added a nice creaminess to the pie.  Since I do so love ‘cracker-thin’, this is one of my favorite pizzas in Portland.

After the bread, salad, salamis, and some pizza, I couldn’t even touch the hero sandwich, but Mrs. BDB had a bite and said it was excellent. Upon our departure, the served boxed up the remaining food, and we’ll have enough to get through the morning after…if not the day.

Like most people, we enjoy these happy hour meals because they are inexpensive, and allow us to sample the fare of a variety of Portland restaurants.   We went over the top here, with an $80 tab, but that included over $50 in beverages.   You can get by for much less, well drinks during happy hour at Pazzo are only $3.00.

I really love the folks at Kimpton.  Luxurious accomodations, top notch staff, plush amenities, a wine party at night at most hotels, pet friendly.

And food like Pazzo. BRAVO! Ahhhhhhh.

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