Shipwreck PDX

I was able to attend Shipwreck PDX at their first pop up in March at Jacqueline, and they made my Eater PDX top pop up list. I plan to attend again at their next pop up in May 15 next from 5 PM to 2 AM at Taqueria Nueve, which is now additionally partnering with Rum Club while waiting for your table. It’s a strong sign how they are continually improving and actively making choices by learning from their experience in March.

The very best thing about Shipwreck PDX is their drinks. I’m not sure their beverages always pair with their food: the beverages lean towards more tropical, and despite the seafood focus the flavors are more dive bar/east coast seafood fast food then beachy eats. Whatever, I still like the drinks enough that I would recommend going. I was able to taste all their beverages except their Midori Sour, and my favorites of the menu were the

• Northern Way with Primario Mezcal, Los Nahuales Reposado Mezcal, Tempis Fugit Creme de Cacao, Luxardo Maraschino, Green Chartreuse, Scrappy’s Firewater tincture. I thought this was the drink that did best with the food, I was in love with its smokiness though I admit I’m a huge fan of Mezcal too.
  
• Pina Colada with Plantation Pineapple Rum, Primario Mezcal, Ancho Reyes, Coconut Cream, Pineapple, Cream, Coffee, Salt (also available dairy free). Only THE BEST PINA COLADA that I’ve ever had. I ordered this with a bit of trepidation because I’m usually not a fan as these are too sweet, but this was a wonderful combo of sweet and savory. I’m not sure this went with the food unless you dunked the fried shrimp in the hot sauce, but that seemed like a disservice to how tasty that popcorn shrimp was already without needing the sauce.
  
• Daggermouth with Plantation 3 Star Rum, Key Lime Frozen Yogurt, Fresh Lime. I enjoyed this while waiting for a table thus the artsy shot on a bench. I don’t think this was the usual glass they presented it in, but they were having a hard time keeping up with dishware. During my first visit I killed some time at nearby walking around and browsing New Seasons and then with two drinks before I got seated – so if you don’t arrive early at their next pop up, be prepared to be at Rum Club enjoying drinks there or walk around to increase your step count during your wait. When they called me in this was my first drink and it was wonderfully refreshing and a little too easy to drink!
  
• Acid Tongue with Martin Miller’s Westbourne Strength Gin, Campari, Vanilla, Blood Orange Sorbet, Fresh Lemon, Sanbitter Soda is another good option if you are looking for something refreshing and easy to drink
  

Food-wise, I ordered their Tom Yum Popcorn Shrimp with fried kaffir lime leaves, cocktail sauce, Lingham’s Original hot sauce, tartar sauce during both my visits, I think it’s the star knock out dish of what I tried so far. I am going to order it again when I visit next time too.

For my first visit they were sold out already of their Fish Sandwich with tartar sauce, pickles, lettuce, potato bun, fast food fries, spicy dipping sauce – even though each night they were increasing the amount of fish they were purchasing by another 50%, they just couldn’t keep up with demand. So I came back the next day naturally to get it, though arriving much earlier. At the time, this was the most substantial food dish of the menu – they are adding more sandwich options for the next popup.

I ate about half the sandwich and then ordered the popcorn shrimp again – maybe it is something about me and my experience with fish houses and McD Fish o Filet, but I just really craved having a slice of cheese with the sandwich. When I had this again at home shortly after with my Cheese addition,  it was still pretty good (both the shrimp and sandwich made good take home options). I don’t find seafood and cheese an abomination though I know some people do – but I have no problem with shrimp and crab melts or pasta with shrimp and a generous rain of parmesan, though I draw the line at Lobster Thermidor.

I wasn’t a fan of the crab dip myself – served with seasonal vegetables, lemon, olive oil, Jacobsen’s kosher salt and crackers – I guess I was really expecting a hot crab dip and this one is cold. The Crab Louis salad is also servicable, but a hard compare because it’s been chilly so I really wanted more warm food then a salad, though maybe this will be refreshing if finally warms up by mid May. I did really like the Steamer Clams with butter, white wine, garlic, chili flakes, curly parsley and Accuardi’s Garlic Bread. Admittedly there’s nothing that necessarily makes the steamer clams on its own different then other joints in town – though you can’t really go wrong with a classic combo of butter, wine, and garlic, especially if served with garlic bread. It’s the pairing with the Northern Way cocktail to add some smokiness, or with a tropical cocktail,  that gives it the edge.

The crew for Shipwreck PDX is lead by owner Eric Nelson, bar manager of Laurelhurst Market and veteran of stints at Expatriate, Pok Pok, Jacqueline, Langbaan and Suttle Lodge & Boathouse. Also behind the bar was fellow Laurelhurst Market bartender Chris Abbott, and one evening I sat at the bar watching them furiously try to keep up with the non stop drink orders. In the kitchen for the food you’ll find Beast chef de cuisine Jake Stevens and pasty chef Eve Kuttemann of Sage Hen. Unfortunately I only had enough stomach room to try one of the two options, which were a Dessert of Cream-filled Snack Cake, either Roasted Lemon or Malted Chocolate Fudge. Wanting something a little more citrusy and light I went with Roasted Lemon (I’ve always preferred Twinkie to Ho-Hos or Ding Dongs).

The next Shipwreck PDX pop up will be upping the bartender count and probably the beverage options, with Giuseppe Gonzalez (visiting bartender from New York of his own bar Suffolk Arms), Evan Zimmerman (Woodsman Tavern, Ava Gene’s, and Laurelhurst Market), Emily Mistell (Rum Club, The Alibi) and Den Stephens (Hamlet, Laurelhurst Market). Clearly they must be upping the cocktail game even more then before! Chef Stevens is going to have more help in the kitchen with more Beast kitchen staff joining him as well. Apparently they plan to add more to the menu, such as a bay shrimp salad and bay shrimp roll.

What do you think of the Shipwreck PDX offerings, what would you order?