Kenny & Zuke's: Pastrami Heaven

Last year, I used to come here to eat the Pastrami Burger, almost every Thursday for a few months. Not so much anymore, but it is definitely still my favorite place to eat. After months of not eating here, their meals tastes better and I got the chance to try different dishes. The first time I came here, I never heard such thing as "PASTRAMI", probably because I grew up in Asia.

Kenny and Zuke's is a Delicatessen owned by Nick Zukin and Ken Gordon. They felt that there were not that much Jewish food and more particularly Pastrami in Portland, OR. They started their business at a little farmer's market in Hillsdale, then got popular and was expanded to a standing room for brunch only at Ken's old restaurant, Ken's Place. And finally, not long after that, they finally decided to open a proper Delicatessen that bears the name Kenny and Zuke's.

Salt and Straw: Savory Sweet Ice Creams

Would you like to try a savory yummy dessert? We got one here in Portland, it's called Salt and Straw! This ice cream place offers weird kinds of flavors. Ever tried a SEA SALT with Caramel Ribbon flavor? or Honey Balsamic Strawberry with Cracked PEPPER? Think of some weird flavors you would want to try, they might have it here. Seasonally, they change their specials menu and so you can come back every season to try their new unique flavors. They started out their business as a food cart. As they got very popular, they finally opened an actually shop, and now they have 2 shops. Their food cart is located in SE Division (closed for winter) and the other 2 shops are in NE Alberta and NW 23rd (Uptown Portland)

Pine State Biscuits: You Chicken Fried My Heart ♥

Let the fun begins!

KUDOS to South American because I think they cook the best food. I have a thing for gravy and breakfast meals and let me introduce to you my most favorite breakfast place in Portland, Oregon.

Pine State Biscuits started in early 2008, opened and run by three awesome people; Walt, Kevin, and Brian. They first opened a small biscuit shop on Belmont Ave where people can enjoy a wholesome brunch 7 days a week. They now have 2 restaurants in Portland, OR the bigger branch is located in NE Alberta and their first ever Pine State Biscuits in SE Belmont. If you have a party of 2 people or less, I suggest you try and go to the SE Belmont because the ambience is more authentic while the bigger branch feels more modern.

Pre-Thanksgiving

It's not even Thanksgiving yet, but my tummy is already in holiday mode. My cousin came for a visit to Portland, Oregon and so I took him to a few popular restaurants here. I yelped, googled, and researched on some popular places for breakfast and dessert. When I typed in 'Breakfast' on Yelp, I was attracted to Tasty n Sons, which was on the top results of my search. I ate here before, I believe it was last year and this time, somehow the food tastes better. It's either I was starving or it was really good.

Tasty n Sons located in North Portland, around 10 minutes from Downtown Portland by car.

We waited for around 15-20 minutes, googled their dishes and finally got our seats. After we ate at Tasty n Sons, we went to a dessert place called Papa Haydn in uptown Portland. In total, we had 6 meals before sundown today, definitely one of the best food culinary experience in Portland!

Tasty n Sons food menu!

Tasty n Sons drinks menu!

 Here's a clear look of the menu from their website.

After several minutes researching on what we think is good on this place, we decided to try 4 different dishes, for two.

We tried the Griddled bacon wrapped date with maple syrup & almond, it was $2 each and one was not enough for me. Yum! I actually thought it would tastes weird, but it surprisingly was delicious. Usually dates have seeds inside the fruit, but here they replaced it with almond. I almost threw them away, then the waitress told me that they're almonds. (9/10)

This is Burmese red pork stew with short grain rice & eggs two ways, it was really good. It was recommended by the waitress. We googled it to see how it looks, then it was so mouthwatering that we decided to order that right away. (9/10)

To me, the over and easy egg was the thing that makes this dish even better. The barbecue sauce was just enough to add flavor to the rice. It was pork, over and easy egg, and rice. I usually don't like pork, but this is one of those 'yummy pork' exceptions. (9/10)

This is how the place looks like. Kitchen near our tables, it was interesting to see them cook. It made me hungry, especially when I saw them preparing the food while I wait for my seat.

Another look of the place. There are shops out from the glass door and a butcher shop called Chop that I found quite interesting. You should check them out while you wait.

This is, Polenta & Sausage Ragu with mozarella & over easy egg. I was quite disappointed of this dish because it looks good when I googled it, but it didn't tastes as good as it looks :( The egg and sausage ragu was alright, but the polenta was a little too much. According to Wikipedia, Polenta is coarsely or finely ground yellow or white maize (cornmeal). (6/10)

When we waited for our meal, the table next to us ordered this and it looks so good! This is Potatoes Bravas with over easy eggs and aioli. It was hard for me to judge this meal. It wasn't that good, but it wasn't bad either. The sauce was something new to me, something like tomato based sauce, but also a little sweet and a teeny bit spicy. I wouldn't count this as my favorite though. (6/10)

We finally finished our meals at Tasty n Sons. I've never been so full for quite some time, but there's always place for desserts, right?

Next stop, Papa Haydn! Located in Uptown Portland, but they also have another branch on Southeast Portland. I personally liked the one in Uptown Portland better because of the location and the atmosphere of the place is very... I want to say 'fine'.

The first sweet treat that we tried was Six Layer Glace. This is an ice cream cake with layers of vanilla, chocolate, banana, and gianduja ice creams with fudge and hazelnut croquant with an addition of a few blueberries. It was not bad because I actually needed something cold, but not just plain ice cream. (8/10)

This is a Chocolate Cube, I personally thought that the display was too pretty that I didn't want to start digging into it. A bittersweet single origin Cordillera Cocuy chocolate shell filled with dark chocolate mousse. Served with vanilla ice cream. I actually liked this better probably because of the dark chocolate mousse that they served inside the cube. It literally was bittersweet. The outer part of the cube was really thick and hard, try knocking on it. (9/10)

DIG IN! :')

The price per person at Tasty n Sons is around $10 to $15. On Willamette Week, they were awarded for "Restaurant of the Year 2010"

The price per person at Papa Haydn is around $8 to $12.

Tasty n Sons
Hub Building
3808 N Williams Ave, Ste C
Portland, OR 97212
(503) 621-1400
YELP

Papa Haydn
701 NW 23rd Ave
Portland, OR 97210
(503) 228-7317
YELP

Another Branch:
5829 SE Milwaukie Ave
Portland, OR 97202
(503) 232-9440
YELP

Boke Bowl: BEST FRIED CHICKEN BUNS!

I just got home from one fine dinner and a well spent Friday. My friend recommended this Japanese fusion restaurant that she tried. She said that the Ramen was not that special, but the steamed buns were YUM! and I agreed.

Boke Bowl is located on Southeast Portland, around 5 minutes from Downtown Portland by car. These are the things that they offered:

It was packed when we came and there was a short queue before we could order. We had to order and pay before we could find our seats, that's just how they roll.

The cashier right near the entrance. PAY BEFORE YOU EAT!

KITCHEN

KITCHEN

KITCHEN

PACKED! :( lucky there was an empty table just enough for us.

Finally got our table and this is how crowded it was.

Pork Ramen. I honestly thought it tasted a bit weird. There's something about the noodle that I don't really like. It wasn't as soft as usual and the soup tasted kind of sweet which is weird to me. They gave such generous pork meat though. (7/10)

Probably the best Fried Chicken Bun I've ever tasted. I will definitely come back for this. It was really crispy and seasoned well. The bun was soft just like Chinese buns, YUM! It was really delicious, one bun was just not enough for me. (10/10) 

Seafood Miso. This was my friend's, he said it wasn't that good.

Seafood Miso close up

Pork Belly bun, my friends said it was not that good compared to the fried chicken. I didn't try it because I don't like pork :|

YUM! Table full of food is always the best.

I will definitely come back for you!

The price per person was around $15-20, I feel that the Ramen was not that worth it. I LIKED THE BUNS A LOT THOUGH! :) They open at 10:30am to 3pm on Monday to Wednesday on Thursday to Saturday, they open at 10:30am to 9:30pm.

Boke Bowl
1028 SE Water Ave
Portland, OR 97214
(503) 719-5698
WEB

Du Kuh Bee: Eat-out at Late Night

I haven't had the chance to eat proper restaurant's meals lately. Portland, Oregon is famous for their culinary (foodcarts) but, there aren't a lot of places or dine-in restaurants that opens late at night. Du Kuh Bee is one of my favorite places to eat when most restaurants are already closed. This place is in Beaverton, Oregon which is on Southwest Portland.

They open until 12am on Monday to Thursday and closes at 1am on Friday and Saturday. Their special dish is 'Pork Noodle' the noodle is freshly handmade. You can choose the level of spiciness, usually I go with the medium spicy, trust me it's not even that hot.

Du Kuh Bee is rather small, sometimes you have to wait for a while because it can get quite packed at times. The restaurant itself can hold around 30-40 people.

Appetizers from the kitchen!

Chinese Herbal Pork Hock, this was probably the most disgusting edible dish I've ever eaten. I'm not a pork fan and so this was not my favorite. It was chewy, quite similar to jellyfish and very oily. At first I thought it was pig's ears, but it doesn't look like it, turns out it's their feet. (3/10)

Close up pic of the Pork Hock

Shrimp Fried Rice, THIS WAS MINE! :') I'm not sure why, but to me this tastes perfect. Though it looks simple and plain, but it somehow tastes really good. It contains prawn, green peas, scrambled egg, and thin cuts of leeks. The prawn tasted fresh and the whole meal was evenly seasoned. Yum! If you don't eat seafood, they also offer 'Kimchee Fried Rice', 'Egg Fried Rice', or 'Chicken Fried Rice' (8/10)

Close up pic of the Shrimp Fried Rice

Du Kuh Bee's Special Pork Noodle (Medium Spicy) People usually come here to eat this. I remember ordering this dish with zero spicy and it tasted bland. The spicy seasoning is what makes this dish tastes really good. It contains cabbage, FRESH HANDMADE noodles, blocks of pork meat, and thin cuts of leeks. If you don't like pork, they also have 'Vegetarian Noodle', 'Chicken Noodle', 'Shrimp Noodle', or 'Squid Noodle'. (8/10)

The price person is around $15-$20/person for all these dishes. Here's a review from Oregonlive that I found online.

Du Kuh Bee
12590 SW 1st St
Beaverton, OR 97005
(503) 643-5388

Hours:
Monday to Thursday
16:00 - 00:00

Friday and Saturday
16:00 - 1:00

More on 'Chart House'

A couple of months ago, I posted a blogpost about my favorite dessert place, Chart House. I am just going to add a few dishes that I tried last night. It was my first time to try their entree courses and I actually thought the dishes were not too bad.

They offer a set menu (appetizer, entree, and dessert) for $29.99 every Sunday - Thursday.

Appetizer:
Chart House Chopped Salad

OR

Clam Chowder

Main Course:
Short Rib
Fork tender with Cabernet demi glace, served with Yukon Gold mashed potatoes

Macadamia Crusted Shrimp
Topped with mango salsa served with Asian green beans & peanut sauce

Bronzed Tilapia
Pan seared, savory balance of sweet & spicy, shallot butter & crabmeat, served with coconut ginger rice

Dessert:
Chart House Famous Mud Pie

Hot Chocolate Lava Cake, click here for the review (10/10)

Prime Rib 16oz. This was medium-rare, it looks really raw and red. At first it doesn't look that appetizing, but once you've tried it, it was chewy, soft, and doesn't taste raw at all. (8/10)

New York Strip*

Chart House Famous Mud Pie. It was not as good as the lava cake. It was basically ice cream cake with chocolate syrup and cream to me. (6/10)

Clam Chowder (appetizer) Click here for review. The clam chowder from the $29.99 course is slightly smaller.

Filet Mignon*

Calamari*

*I didn't get to try these dishes

The price per person was around $40 per person, gratuity tax not included. I wrote a review on this place a few months ago, click here to read the post.

All pictures by Ignatius F (instagram: predsusanto)

Chart House

5700 SW Terwilliger Blvd
Portland, OR 97239

(503) 246-6963

WEB

Leftovers!

I missed on posting a few restaurants that I went to during the summer and decided to combine them in a single post. I might have said this a few times already that I went to Seattle, Washington during the holiday and am going to add on that. Can't believe I forgot to write about my favorite place ever, it is a Russian bakery opened since 1992 also known as Piroshky. Every time I come for a visit to Seattle, I try to come here and buy their Smoked Salmon Pate, no matter how long the queue is. The second place that I forgot to mention is Podnah's Pit located in Northeast Portland and probably the best barbecue in town.

Piroshky, Piroshky, Piroshky :')

Piroshky's Publications. Popular and still the best since 1992. On May 2006, one of the best American chef, Anthony Bourdain: No Reservation came for a visit. Piroshky has been reviewed and published in newspapers: Seattle Post and New York Times, and has got hundreds of good reviews from food critics.

This is the menu, I'm not quite sure why they covered their prices, but it ranges around $4-$5 each buns.

The buns are all fresh from the oven. They rarely run out of the buns because they keep baking it, sometimes if let's say they run out of your favorite buns, the longest time you'll wait is probably around 15-20 minutes.

Buns buns, breads breads, appetizers :)

Most Piroshkies are $4.90 each.

Smoked Salmon Pate, crispy on the outer part of the bun. Hot smoked salmon fillings, they never serve cold buns. Best of the best!

The next place is Podnah's in Portland, Oregon:

It was crowded when we came, so we ended up waiting for around 20-25 minutes.

It was on NE 17th Ave and NE Killingsworth, FYI :)

Pit's Boss with Mac & Cheese and Baked Beans, I really liked the baked beans, mac & cheese, and sausage. I didn't like the beef brisket, I just don't like pork :) My dad and brothers really liked it though.

We ordered the same thing, just with different sides. This is collard greens. We decided to try it because someone said that it was good, it turned out not so bad after all.

Piroshky is quite popular because it is located on the same street as the Pike Place Market or Fish Market. It's always crowded around that area.

That time when I visit Podnah's Pit was my very first time to eat there. My dad saw it on TV and I'm guessing it was on Guy Fieri's Diners, Drives-Ins, & Dives (Video)

For Piroshky, Piroshky the price per person is around $10/person and for Podnah's Pit, it is around  $15/person.

Piroshky, Piroshky
1908 Pike Pl(between Stewart St & Western Ave)
Seattle, WA 98101
(206) 441-6068
YELP

Podnah's Pit
1625 NE Killingsworth
Portland, OR 97211
(503) 281-3700
YELP