Before and After Hiking

I had a exhaustingly fun Sunday, it was worth the pain.

We went for a hike at the Multnomah Falls trail in Portland, Oregon. It took us around 4-5 hours to finish the whole trail. It was a great trip after all! Before that, I and 6 others went for a brunch at Thien Hong. I wanna say that it's a Vietnamese restaurant from the food, but it looks more like a Chinese restaurant from the interior.

Sample of the menu

More glances of the menu

Chinese tea served before the meals

Salt and Pepper Squid. This was their special. I would rate this 9/10!

Cube Beef. This was my first time eating this. It was too soft and a bit rubbery(?), it was a bit difficult for me to swallow. I would give this a 5/10. The sauce tastes amazing though!

Spicy Pork Spareribs. This was also my first, I only ate a bit of this just because I'm not a big fan of Pork. My friends liked it and we managed to finish the whole thing. The sauce was a bit sweet, it was not bad. I give this a 6/10.

Honey Walnut Shrimp. Every time we come to Thien Hong, we always never forget to order this. This is one of their specials, just like the Salt and Pepper Squid. The portion is not this small, my friends were so hungry that they couldn't help waiting for me to take pictures. 

After we had our brunch, we head straight to Multnomah Falls which was around 45 minutes drive. It was probably the highlight of my July :)

For dinner, we were starving and so we went to Pokpok. It is quite popular in Portland, Oregon that almost all Indonesians from Seattle, Washington always come here to eat. We wanted to eat this for lunch, but the wait was too long. The wait for the dinner was around 30 minutes, but I think it was worth the wait. This was my first time here and I liked the food!

Outdoor, they closed at 10pm

Specials!

A glance of the menu

We had to sit inside because the outdoor was closed.

Drinking Vinegar: Lychee, it tastes like something I've never tasted before. It was carbonated, sour, but a bit sweet(?) it was complicated and hard to explain. Super refreshing! I didn't like it as much just because it was too sour and carbonated. Rating: 5/10

Table set. The drinking water was mineral water with a bit of Pandan. I liked it a lot, but some of my friends thought it tastes weird and too strong.  I personally think it was a 10/10 just for the water.

Khao Soi. Northern Thai mild curry noodle soup made with secret curry paste recipe and house-pressed fresh coconut milk. Served with house pickled mustard greens, shallots, crispy yellow noodles, and roasted chili paste. Chiang Mai specialty with Chinese Muslim and/or Burmese origins. This was actually my favorite among all the dishes we ordered.

Cha Ca "La Vong". Catfish marinated in turmeric and sour-stickyy rice. Fried in turmeric oil with scallions and dill served on rice vermicelli with peanuts mint, cilantro, and mam nem. Our stab at the famous dish from La Vong Restaurant in Hanoi, Vietnam. The catfish was delicious, but the sauce was bearably spicy. It was an okay dish, 7/10!

It is a MUST to eat the chicken wings in Pokpok! They offer different levels of spiciness mild to spicy. This is Ike's Vietnamese Fish Sauce Wings. Fresh natural chicken wings marinated in fish sauce and palm sugar. Deep fried. Tossed in caramelized Phu Quoo fish sauce and garlic and served with Vietnamese table salad. Based on our daytime cook Ike's recipe from his home in Vietnam. It was too salty if you eat just the chicken wings, you should eat it with rice. They offer 2 types of rice: Coconut rice and Jasmine rice. The Coconut Rice was something new, definitely a must-try. Rating: 9/10

Thien Hong
6749 NE Sandy Blvd
Portland, OR 97213
(503) 281-1247

Pokpok
3226 SE Division St
Portland, OR 97202
(503) 232-1387


Twitter: @cathkosasih
Web: www.catherinekosasih.com