Japanese Food to Portland Food-carts

Last weekend, my friends and I did some food-hopping. First, we tried this Japanese restaurant in Pearl - Portland, Oregon called Masu Sushi. It was a really nice place, perfect for a casual-fine dining. The place looks fine, but since the food is 'snackish' the dress-code is casual. Happy hour available 3-6pm on Monday - Friday, 5-6pm on Saturday - Sunday, and EVERY NIGHT 10pm - close.

St. Helen Volcano. This was the second best dish I tried. The candle-like on the middle is a cucumber that actually was just for decoration. This sushi contains "Whitefish, crab, scallops, shrimp and avocado, baked with volcano cream sauce, eel sauce, and smoked bonito" The top part tastes like mayonaise with a touch of cheese. It was a perfect mix. (8/10)

This is Japanista, "Spicy crab, spicy tuna, and kawaire with seared hamachi, cilantro, and red jalapeno on top served with hana and sweet chili sauce." This to me was the third best because the sauce was amazing. It was like takoyaki sauce and mayonaise. I'm a huge fan of mayo and so anything with mayo tastes good in my mouth. (6/10)

This was the two Sake that my friends tried. Let's start from the right, it's Bunraku Yamahai, "brewed using traditional methods, this sake is smooth, earthy, and slightly dry. You can keep the bottle!" The one on the left is called Hakutsuru Sayuri Nigori, "sweet and creamy revealing light tropical flavors" My friends thought Bunraku was stronger that Hakutsuru. To them, Hakutsuru was too sweet.

Last but not the least, this was my favorite of all. This is called 'Death by Sushi' it consists of "salmon, unagi, crab, avocado, and cream cheese rolled and fried then topped with masago, green onion, fantasy, and eel sauce. It was a perfect combination of cream cheese and crisp. It was a little bit spicy, but the crispiness topped it. (8/10)

After dinner, we decided to head for supper. We went to Hawthorne Foodcarts and that's where you can find my favorite food-cart. I was talking about Potato Champion, they offer fries with different kinds of sauces. AND, they open from 12pm till 3AM.

This is Fries with Satay sauce. For those who don't know what satay sauce is, "peanut sauce, bumbu kacang, or also called sambal kacang is widely used in cuisines of Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, and China." 

Pulled-Pork Fries. This is what I think heaven looks like. Fries topped with stew cooked pork shoulder and BBQ sauce over it. Nothing can top these pork fries. I'm not a porky-lover kind of person, but this made me fall in love. There are different sizes of portions: Small (personal), Medium (Sharing 2-4 people), Large (5 or more). This was 9 out of 10!

Masu Sushi
406 SW 13th Ave
Portland, OR 97205
(503) 221- masu (6278)

Potato Champion
1207 SE Hawthorne Blvd
Portland, OR 97214
(503) 683-3797

(Photos credit: Ignatius F S)


Twitter: @cathkosasih
Web: www.catherinekosasih.com

Army Stew

I've always wanted to try cooking Budae Jjigae, but I never have the time. Finally, it's summer and I have so much useless spare time. I bought almost all the ingredients from Fubonn Asian Market.

Bacon!

This is my favorite, rice cake

Cut those bacon to little pieces

Spam

Ramen

Mix them all together

Nyammmm <3

I added some kimchi and chicken broth to the soup to make it more savory. Also some Kimchi paste to create stronger smell and taste.

Fubonn
2850 SE 82nd Ave
Portland, OR 97266
(503) 517-8899


Twitter: @cathkosasih
Web: www.catherinekosasih.com

Breakfast

This has been my favorite breakfast since I first started school. It's Sausage and Egg Breakfast Sandwich. You can buy this from Starbucks, it only costs $2.95 and it's perfect for breakfast.

This is my breakfast, almost everyday. It's usually out front on the glass food display, but they put it in usually after 12pm.


Twitter: @cathkosasih
Web: www.catherinekosasih.com

Moroccan Dinner

It was a great experience to try different types of food here in Portland, Oregon. For its small area, luckily there are still some International foods around here. This time, my friends and I went to a Moroccan restaurant, Marrakesh. First of all, I really liked the Arabian ambience and interior, it makes me feel like I'm not in Portland. The word 'Marrakesh' or some call it "Marrakech' is known as the "Ochre City". It is the most important former imperial city in Morocco's history and also the third largest city in Morocco according to 2004 census.

Due to the poor lighting, we couldn't get that much pictures, but my friend got some good ones. When we reached the place, it was really dark and the interior was so 'Arabic'. We sat down on a rather short cushion and decided to order the "Royale Feast Dinner" it includes all of their specials and it is for 4 persons or more, and if you're a vegetarian, they'll serve the vegetarian dishes for you. While we wait, we got to watch the Belly Dancer Show...

Belly dancer was the highlight of my trip!

Before they serve the food, they also washed our hands which was something new to me.

The waiter told us to put our hands on this container and then he poured the water from a silver kettle.

After we washed our hands, they finally served the appetizers. First, they served us a Traditional Morrocan Lentil Soup which has a strong tomato taste and a bit too sour. The beans were like small red beans which was okay (5/10). Then, the second dish was the main appetizer,

This was the appetizer, the onion was too strong, but with the bread it tastes really good. They'll give you breads and you eat it with this dish. The sauce on the middle tastes something like a Bolognese paste, but it was more like beans. This was not my favorite, but it was not bad, 6/10 

The second dish was another appetizer,

This was the second appetizer, the white stuff was powdered sugar and the stuff inside was chicken. This dish is called 'B'stilla Royale' this was my favorite! I thought it would taste weird because it's sugar on something savory, but it mixed so well that it turns out amazing! 9/10

Last but not least, they served the main dish. I think there were at least 5 different dishes for us to finish. There were lamb, chicken, and beef. It was pretty much a mix of everything with different sauces. 

This was lamb, beans, vegetables, and their special yellow rice. It kinda tastes like Jasmine Rice, but you can really feel the textures. It feels like eating fish roe because of the round tiny pieces. 7/10

It was really difficult to take pictures in such poor lighting, that's why we didn't take that much pictures. You can see samples of the food and the place here 

Marrakesh
1201 NW 21st Ave
Portland, OR 97209
(503) 248-9442

(Marrakech/Marrakesh info - Source: Wikipedia)
(Photos credit: Anthony N S)


Twitter: @cathkosasih
Web: www.catherinekosasih.com

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

Late Night Snack

I just got home from my so called 'late dinner'. Blaming my brother if I gain weight because he offered me to go to iHop and I can never say no to food. For those who don't know what iHop is, it is abbreviated from 'International House of Pancakes'. It opens 24 hours and they sell all breakfast-like kind of meals.

They currently have this deal called '7 for 7' which is basically 7 choices of food and they all cost $7.00. They also have cheap sets for those breakfast classic meals lovers such as: egg, ham, hash brown, sausages, and bacon combination for $7.99 and you get pancakes too!

Menu

This was our food, we both ordered 2 same meals. Egg, Sausage, and Hashbrown 9/10

Egg, Sausage, and Hashbrown

I had to choose between: Classic plain, Strawberry, or Red Velvet Pancake for dessert. I would give this a 7/10 just because I didn't like the sour Strawberries. The sorbet, pancake, and sugar glaze itself was perfect.

My brother tried the Red Velvet, it was not bad at all. I actually liked his better than my Sweet Strawberry Pancake. 9/10!

You can find iHop everywhere in USA. This is a diner that has at least 5 branches in each state.


Twitter: @cathkosasih
Web: www.catherinekosasih.com

Sushi Fusion

My brother and I went to Sushi Hana for brunch today and it was surprisingly 'nyummy'! Address at the end of this post.

This was the sushi rolls menu, there were also sashimi sold by 2 pieces. They also offer Happy Hour prices :)

Soft Shell Crab, I would rate this 6/10, not bad though.

Yellowtail Sushi or known as Hamachi, $4 it was pretty cheap for its taste. 6/10

Alberta Roll, $8 the sauce was a bit spicy, but it was still bearable. Deep fried 8/10

Midnight Sun, $9 it has the same sauce as Alberta roll. 8/10

This was our meal!

Hana
2236 NE Alberta St 
Portland, OR 97211
(503) 719-6984


Twitter: @cathkosasih
Web: www.catherinekosasih.com

Homemade

A couple of days ago, I tried to grill some 'Filet Mignon' for my brother and I. The total cost of both meat, sauces, and spices was so cheap compared to eating it out at a steakhouse. Bought everything from Safeway, Whole Foods (meat) and some were stuff I found in my fridge.

Filet Mignon <$25.00 for 0.85 lbs 2 pieces. I think it was around $28.00 per pound

Jack Daniel's Barbecue Sauce $3.99

Vegetables in Packs (corn, peas, carrots, french beans) $5

French Fries $5

(all prices rounded/approximated)

I used Happycall to do all the cooking, it was really helpful.

Nomnomnom this was my dinner :)

Twitter: @cathkosasih
Web: www.catherinekosasih.com