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First National Taphouse, Portland

October 8, 2014 by Pechluck 4 Comments

After months of walking by and peering at the construction, finally the Eugene outpost of a taphouse in a bank has come to Portland, although the Portland location is not in a bank. It still carries over the official looking lettering in money-looking gold, as well as the First National coin symbol (with its slogan “In Beer & Wine We Trust”, which you can also find on the tables.)
First National Taphouse in Portland, located at 1962 SW 5th Ave by PSU, the Portland outpost of the original Eugene location

The First National Taphouse in PDX at 1962 SW 5th Ave, is a welcome addition to the area by Portland State University, where so far the main beer drinking options have been a McMenamins Market Street Pub, Rogue Hall, and if you wanted to go upscale, the bar at Higgins, or a few nice selections at Raven & Rose.

First National is just right, filling in with a wide variety of brew options (as well as wine and cocktails and food) that is more than any of these options, offering some great food just like Higgins, but at a price point that is more amenable to those who would dine at Market Street or Rogue.

And, First National has a big space, one that would be great for groups, be it professionals relaxing at a happy hour after work, or a group of friends needing a break after some time studying. And, the decor is on par with a restaurant – no worn carpets and sticky tables like a brewpub, though admittedly it does have the volume of one.
First National Taphouse in Portland

Garage door windows give them the option to throw them open so everyone feels like they are dining al fresco in good weather, the front feels like a bustling restaurant with a view of the many pours going on at the bar and 3 large screen TVs.
First National Taphouse in Portland has a a taplist of 30 options

Meanwhile as you head towards the back, it’s a bit more romantic with an area that can be curtained and with light fixtures made from various liquor bottles.
First National Taphouse in Portland

I personally like the peaceful vibe back there with the liquor fixtures the most. Don’t worry, there’s even still a view of the TV here, if you need it, without the bustle by the bar area.
First National Taphouse in Portland, the back area has the most privacy, with less tables, still access to a TV, and these lovely light fixtures of various liquor bottles

Similar to Raven & Rose, First National seems to want to support special events as well. My first visit was when Breakside Brewery was having a special Farmhouse/Wild Ale tasting night. They offered 8 wild ales and saisons from Breakside, of which each guest could get a tasting paddle with your choice of four 5 ounce pours, and if you bought a flight, you got a $1 any pint. There were also some selections of cheese from Steve’s Cheese, though we did not partake.
First National Taphouse Portland hosted a Breakside Farmhouse/Wild Ale tasting night. They offered 8 wild ales and saisons from Breakside, of which each guest could get a tasting paddle with your choice of four 5oz pours, and if you bougt a flight, you got a $1 any pint.

During that first visit, we kept it small for food, sticking to the appetizer of Irish Rarebit, which is basically a beer cheese spread on bread and then broiled to melty goodness. It’s vegetarian, so satisfied both F and I.
First National Taphouse Portland, Irish Rarebit, which is basically a beer cheese spread on bread and then broiled to melty goodness

We also indulged in a dessert after our waitress mentioned twice how good their desserts were. She did not steer us wrong, because by the time she came back to ask us how the dessert was tasting, we actually were already done eating it, haha. This is the Taphouse Bread Pudding with vanilla custard, brioche, raisins, and whiskey crème anglaise. The waitress, F, and I heartily recommend it.
First National Taphouse Portland, Taphouse Bread Pudding with vanilla custard, brioche, raisins, whiskey crème anglaise

For our second visit, we tried a different menu- a pairing of food and beer in 5 courses. They even had a vegetarian version, so F could have the same fun as me!
5 courses of food and beer at First National Taphouse, Portland

For our first pairing, while I enjoyed a Prawn Boule with Brunoise Vegetables, Prawns, Brandy Nosh in a Potato Roll with Wild Ride Brewing Whoopty Whoop Wheat beer, he had a smaller sample of their regular main dish, a Baked Acorn Squash with grilled seasonal vegetables, goat cheese, and sun dried tomato tapenade with that same beer. The beer is a hefe style so had some yeastiness, but also some sweetness with a tinge of tart, though not as much citrus tone as I would have liked. And clearly, both these first courses are eye pleasers.
First National Taphouse Portland, Baked Acorn Squash with grilled seasonal vegetables, goat cheese, and sun dried tomato tapenade with Wild Ride Brewing Whoopty Whoop Wheat beer

For our second course, we both enjoyed Artisan Cheese Terrine with Brabander Goat Gouda, Taphouse Ricotta, Ancient Heritage Hannah, Asian Pear and a baguette, paired with Duche De Longueville Cidre Antoinette. A jar of cheese you say to eat? Yes please. The cider was also wonderfully refreshing and tart, balancing the cheese but also carrying its own hint of funk that also worked well with the cheese. I don’t know if it was a one off cheese dish for that evening, but it was tasty.
First National Taphouse Portland, Artisan, Cheese Terrine with Barbander Goat Gouda, Taphouse Ricotta, Ancient Heritage Hannah, Asian Pear and a baguette, paired with Duche De Longueville Cidre Antoinette

Next, we enjoyed Honey Root Vegetable Boxty with parsnip, carrot, yellow beet, Irish potato pancake, and spiced honey paired with Elysian’s The Great Pumpkin Imperial. Again, these were visual delights full of autumn color, and when they placed our plates down the aromas of the spiced honey was intoxicating. First National offers boxty as part of their brunch, 5 different ways varying from with Irish Whiskey and Granny Smith apple and ricotta to with Smoked Wild Salmon Candy… something to consider for a future brunch possibility. At dinner, the boxty comes with an Irish Whiskey Pepper steak. In terms of pumpkin beer this one by Elysian, the Great Pumpkin Imperial, is all right but leans more towards cinnamon and nutmeg than any pumpkin flavor.
First National Taphouse, Portland Course 3 of Honey Root Vegetable Boxty with parsnip, carrot, yellow beet, Irish potato pancake, and spiced honey paired with Elysian's The Great Pumpkin Imperial

Fred had been tempted to order this soup of the moment on our last visit, so was happy to see that his next course was the Cannellini Bean IPA Stew with Irish Cheddar, scallions, and fried onion straws. Meanwhile, I enjoyed a smaller version of their regular dinner plate of Irish Whiskey Pepper Steak with my course of Irish Whiskey Pepper Steak Frite with pepper crusted hanger steak, Irish Whiskey demi glace, and microbrew fries. Both dishes, all meat and vegetarian, were paired with Oskar Blues Deviant Dale’s IPA on Nitro.
First National Taphouse Portland, Cannellini Bean IPA Stew with Irish Cheddar, scallions, and fried onion straws paired with Oskar Blues Deviant Dale's IPA on Nitro

For our last course, F saw cocoa glitter for the first time with our desserts of Chocolate Porter Ice Cream and Young’s Double Chocolate Stout Foam with a side of hazelnut brittle paired with Young’s Double Chocolate Stout beer
First National Taphouse Portland, Chocolate Porter Ice Cream and Young's Double Chocolate Stout Foam with a side of hazelnut brittle paired with Young's Double Chocolate Stout beer

Besides the 30 taps, there are supposedly some 400 some bottles of beers and ciders to select from. The bottle prices you see in the cooler are to go – if you drink them at the restaurant, expect a $1-3 corkage fee, depending on the size of the bottle. We were impressed by some of the bottles in their selection- they are ones we haven’t seen at other bottleshops in Porltand.
First National Taphouse in Portland has a pretty good bottle selection. Corkage fee is $1-3 depending on size of the bottle

First National Taphouse also has a happy hour everyday 4 – 6:30 PM, and serves brunch on Saturday and Sunday from 9:30AM – 2PM. Brunch includes several Boxty topped with eggs (a boxty is an Irish Potato Pancake), such as the one I tried below with smoked wild salmon, poached egg, capers, tomato, and touch of Hollandaise.
First National Taphouse Portland Brunch includes several Boxty topped with eggs (a boxty is an Irish Potato Pancake), such as the one I tried below with smoked wild salmon, poached egg, capers, tomato, and touch of Hollandaise

Mine was ok- I think the tomato ruined the experience for me because I had to walk through the Portland Farmers Market to get to brunch, and knowing the delicious heirloom tomatoes available there, this regular beefsteak tomato was unappealing and flavorless when it could have really made the dish. I didn’t take a photo of it, but after saying he wasn’t sure how hungry he was, F completely polished off his Oat Grouts with Irish Oatmeal, Fresh Barries, Spiced Honey, Candied Walnut and Maple Cream. Also on their brunch menu are several hashes (including a salt roasted beef or a duck confit). There was a vegetarian version of the boxty and hash as well, and I appreciated that thoughtfulness to think of vegetarians for every section of the menu.

Various sandwiches such as a triple grilled cheese with marscarpone, white cheddar, and Cashel Blue, a Cannelini Bean Rarebit, Mushroom Barley Burgers or Kobe Beef Burgers, Country Ham Scones and other savory selections round out the brunch menu. There are also two versions of a bloody mary- a regular one with Vodka, Tomato Juice, Tomato Consome, Veal Stock, Lemon, Aardvark Hot Sauce, Cerignola Olives, House Pickled Green Beans and Smoked Salt. There is also a Vegan Bloody Mary with Vodka, Tomato Juice, Shitake Kombu Dashi, Bragg’s Aminos, Aardvark Hot Sauce, Horseradish, Lime Juice, Castelvetrano Olives and Giardiniera Relish. There are 4 other brunch cocktails as well.
First National Taphouse Portland Bloody Mary with Vodka, Tomato Juice, Tomato Consome, Veal Stock, Lemon, Aardvark Hot Sauce, Cerignola Olives, House Pickled Green Beans and Smoked Salt

Pours from the draft depend on the size as you would expect, but there are also two tiers depending on the beer (a regular and premium price point) , though I can’t quite ascertain if it’s based on difficulty to get the keg or price of the keg or what. I suppose more investigation might be necessary…

First National also offers a full bar, including cocktails and wine. Cocktails include those named Banker’s Manhattan, Frank Nash, The Greenback, Cat Ballou, and Bonnie Parker.
First National Taphouse, cocktail

With the 3 tvs at the bar playing different games, it’s not a bad place to cheer with other fans while enjoying a wide variety of selections, but other customers also included an age range of students, work professionals, and those who live in the area so it’s not just a sports bar or for the twenty-somethings. With seating for probably 100, you’re likely be able to easily get a seat and start enjoying. The only caution is though it would be fine for a casual date, since it can be a bit boisterous except for on the back or for brunch, it may not be suitable for a romantic rendezvous.

Welcome to Portland, First National Taphouse!

Disclosure: Thank you to Watershed Communications, as one of the four meals was complimentary, but the other three visits I came on my own and paid for myself. I will always provide my honest opinion and assessment of all products and experiences I may be given. The views and opinions expressed in this blog are entirely my own.

Filed Under: Beer Review, Food and Drink, Restaurant Review, Sponsored Post Tagged With: Ancient Heritage Hannah, Artisan Cheese Terrine, Baked Acorn Squash, bloody mary, boxty, Brabander Goat Gouda, bread pudding, Cannellini Bean IPA Stew, Chocolate Porter Ice Cream and Young's Double Chocolate Stout Foam, Duche De Longueville Cidre Antoinette, Elysian's The Great Pumpkin Imperial, First National Taphouse, Honey Root Vegetable Boxty, Irish Rarebit, Irish Whiskey Pepper Steak, Oskar Blues Deviant Dale's IPA, portland, Prawn Boule, whiskey crème anglaise, Wild Ride Brewing Whoopty Whoop Wheat beer, Young's Double Chocolate Stout beer

Bouillon Bilk, Montreal and other Montreal eats

October 6, 2014 by Pechluck 10 Comments

Breathe, breathe… in 5 days, my youngest, baby sister will be getting married!

Well, until then, I wanted to share my favorite eat that I think we had when we were in Montreal for her bachelorette party. It’s also one of her favorite dining experiences while we were there. Because we have excellent taste. And, sisters.

After taking a red-eye from Portland to Newark, I then embarked on a puddle jumper to Montreal, Canada. As soon as the plane landed, I connected to the wireless at the Montreal airport and on the long hallway towards customs, found a sign next to a bench for this selfie…

At the airport in baggage claim, I met up with two of Judy’s friends. After a stop for some sugar and caffeine at the airport’s Tim Horton‘s – a place I would recommend for meeting people, as they have seats and tables, and you can then use the airport wireless while having a snack/waiting, and the taxis or Metro Network shuttle bus 747 into the city all leave from basically in front of that anyway. We took a selfie proof of life/arrival to send her before we left baggage claim though!

I had found a place for all of girls to stay all in one loft to maximize all our time together, at the request of my sister. Thanks AirBnB. I picked our final location not just based on the number of occupants, but I had mapped various activities we were interested in, most of them being um restaurants and bars, and based on where they all ended up clustering on Google Maps picked a home base convenient to that…. which meant we were in walking distance of Old Montreal and downtown.

After dropping off our luggage, we killed some time before our official check-in and when our friends would arrive by walking to the dining on tapas at Tapas 24. This is a Montreal outpost of the Barcelona tapas place, which one of the ladies had visited and raved about there, and wanted to try the one here. Unlike the version in Spain, the one here in Montreal was spacious and full of light, with a hip black, orange, and maple wood theme.

Here, our lunch consisted of various tapas and a whole bottle of wine between the 3 of us. Yep. You can pick whichever wine you want and they can make sangria with it. This is also where I think I had my favorite poutine of the whole trip.

Tapas 24 had a whole section of the menu dedicated to “manda huevos” (Send Eggs) so we thought we should have at least one. We picked “manda huevos…con FOIE GRAS. fried eggs – potatoes – foie gras poêlé. We had no idea it would be essentially fries that absorbed the scrambled eggs which I’m pretty sure were just cooked in fat and then topped with foie. But I think I maybe ate half of this dish myself. Foie and eggs are excellent together.

This is also how I found out that these two ladies are not much in terms of drinkers… so maybe I was assisting a lot in trying to drink that pitcher. And so I really needed that dish! I was trying to carefully balance between how sometimes alcohol can help perk you up and be social, and other times start to make you sleepy (which I already was tired from the redeye here!).
Pick a bottle and they will make sangria with it at Tapas 24 Foie eggs and potatoes - a Tapas poutine at Tapas 24

Overall, with Tapas 24, my friend was disappointed that they didn’t have the variety that the Barcelona Tapas 24 has, and for the price the food portions were tiny.

We didn’t think much of the McFoie burger that is really the size of a Mc-sandwich and whose only saving grace is the foie mousse on the side…which I ate without the dried out meat of the burger and bun.

With all the deliciuosness that Montreal has to offer, this had promise but didn’t deliver. After this lunch, we spent the next couple hours walking the Underground City to keep busy, as well as buy snacks (I love buying international flavors of chips) and champagne to welcome our friends when they arrived.
A collage of our eats at Tapas 24 that day for lunch, 3 people and one big pitcher of sangria

My favorite dinner of the 3 evenings was at a restaurant called Bouillon Bilk, which we dined at on very same day, Thursday evening. Looking back at my Google spreadsheet where I was copying and pasting various ideas for restaurants and their addresses, hours, cuisine type, and url, Bouillon Bilk was one of the first 10 restaurants I highlighted as it ranked high on Tripadvisor in their restaurant list, was mentioned on Eater, and in other reviews I read online as a wonderful experience.

They were all exactly right.

Sign of Bouillon Bilk, snuggled between two electronic shops in Montreal Menu of Bouillon Bilk

This was the beginning of ordering family style, where we essentially would order “we’ll have this entire section except X and Y”. So I was able to try most of the menu. Every dish was plated like a work of art, and the flavors were either fresh and best ingredients, or layered on top of each other so even with a little bite you wanted to let it just dissolve on your tongue.

As I said, this was my favorite of where we dined, with other dining destinations that weekend including Jardin Nelson for lunch (a glimpse from a collage photo below – it does have an extensive menu and is great for groups, but only takes reservations for lunch not dinner), Le Deux Gamins for dinner, carry out lunch at Olive & Gourmando (a place I would also try again, but definitely not with a group as they are too small and busy to accommodate a large party. I had a lovely Housemade Ricotta “salty” with Summer tomatoes, sweet summer corn and pine nuts served with toasts shown below), and Au Pied du Cuchon. My sister’s other favorite dining experience was Au Pied du Cochon, so I’ll write a separate post about that later.

A glimpse of a lunch at Jardin Nelson grabbing lunch to go at Olive et Gourmando - my Housemade Ricotta

Here’s what we had between the 7 of us that evening at Bouillon Bilk. These photos are not mine, I believe they came from my sister’s camera but we all put our pictures together so it’s hard to tell. All I did was crop and clean up the photos slightly if I could.

Starters

melons, blackberries, pistachios, goat cheese, heart of palm. I liked this refreshing dish with its play on various textures.
Bouillon Bilk in Montreal, melons, blackberries, pistachios, goat cheese, heart of palm
dumpling, pork, plum, celery, rice stem. This was one giant dumpling!
Bouillon Bilk in Montreal, dumpling, pork, plum, celery, rice stem
risotto, carrot, basil, passion fruit. this usually also has shrimp but we asked for it sans for the vegetarian.
Bouillon Bilk in Montreal, risotto, carrot, basil, passion fruit
hamachi, yuzu kosho, raspberry, fennel, cucumber. That hamachi was melt in your mouth.
Bouillon Bilk in Montreal, hamachi, yuzu kosho, raspberry, fennel, cucumber
lobster, tomato, chili, avocado, nectarine
Bouillon Bilk in Montreal, lobster, tomato, chili, avocado, nectarine
tuna tartare, which was INCREDIBLE. It was a special for that night and almost ordered it again because it was so good, but they ran out!
Bouillon Bilk in Montreal, tuna tartare

Mains

scallops, zucchinis, shitake, pear, watercress, beurre noisette
Bouillon Bilk in Montreal, scallops, zucchinis, shitake, pear, watercress, beurre noisette
ravioli, corn, lamb, porcini, olive, swiss chard
Bouillon Bilk in Montreal, ravioli, corn, lamb, porcini, olive, swiss chard
salmon, artichoke, romano, tomato, apricot, fennel vadouven
Bouillon Bilk in Montreal, salmon, artichoke, romano, tomato, apricot, fennel vadouven
duck, a special that night of magret or duck breast filet
Bouillon Bilk in Montreal, magret or duck special that night
guinea fowl, lentils, radish, yellow feet mushrooms, figs
Bouillon Bilk in Montreal, guinea fowl, lentils, radish, yellow feet mushrooms, figs

I would definitely come back here if I return to Montreal again. Montreal has a big beer scene, and I didn’t see any of that as we were mostly focused on wine and cocktails and shots…

I hope to see you again, Bouillon Bilk, Montreal. Wonderful dinner and company with Team Thursday of Montreal on September 11, 2014. After this incredible dinner, we were revived and continued on to the club Velvet within L’Auberge Saint-Gabriel and even bagels at Fairmont Bagel (note: next time take a BAG of Montreal bagels back home, don’t just buy 1!). It was a fantastic start to our Bachelorette Weekend!
Team Thursday at Judy's Bachelorette Party, dining at Bouillon Bilk in Montreal on September 11, 2014

Have you been to Montreal? What would you recommend the next time I visit?

What did you think of my dilemma of ordering a pitcher that includes a whole bottle of wine and then finding out they each probably can’t drink more than 2 glasses, if that? Have you ever flown a redeye and what did you do to keep yourself up and lasting for the day?

Filed Under: Food and Drink, Restaurant Review, Travel Tagged With: Bouillon Bilk, foie gras, foie gras and eggs, foie gras poêlé, Housemade Ricotta "salty", magret, McFoie burger, Montreal, Olive & Gourmando, sangria, steak tartare, tapas, Tapas 24

September Nodoguro Theme Totoro

October 3, 2014 by Pechluck 6 Comments

I think this has been my favorite tablescape yet, with September’s Nodoguro theme Totoro from My Neighbor Totoro, a film by Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli.

Seriously, at nine courses for $85, these Nodoguro PDX dinners are such an amazing value. Now that Evoe has closed and the space next to Pastaworks on Hawthorne is theirs, I expect Nodoguro to start settling in now that it’s not a hobo that needs to pop up at different locations.

So far, the main noticeable change is the expansion of when they can have their dinners: the one I attended was on a Saturday evening, instead of being limited to Tuesday and Wednesday nights like before. The chalkboards that used to list the Evoe menu have been wiped clean, and I hope that Ryan and Elena will display all the various paintings that have been created for each of the past pop-up dinner themes, sort of like a Nodoguro Art Exhibit. Although I loved Totoro, and of course the food and my dining companions, one of the highlights this past dinner was meeting Elena’s father, who paints an art piece each month reflecting the latest Nodoguro theme. I would be proud to hang any one of his work on my walls at home!

A new addition to the menu is that Nodoguro also debuted a pairing menu for their courses that was suggested by a very knowledgeable guest and locally known drinks connossieur Paul Willenberg. At $50 for six beverage pairings, and at least at my seating everything but the beer was a full pour (and the beer was still at a generous 10 ounces), it’s another bargain value and all together makes for a very filling meal indeed. There were several bottles that I jotted down the name on my phone to seek out later as they were great unique finds, and I loved being introduced to them. I would definitely recommend the pairing menu.

If you are going to explore and be taken on a culinary adventure, might as well go all in right? So eat light the day you are coming to your dinner!

I knew I was going to have a fabulous time when I saw the new Nodoguro host standing there to greet us as we arrived. I hope they continue to employ him because he was so welcoming and warm and I immediately felt comfortable.
The host Totoro at the Nodoguro Dinner for September

Meanwhile, on the side of the wall that is usually the latest Nodoguro theme painting, a projector instead showed the Totoro movie while just below the screen seemed to be a little shrine…
Nodoguro PDX September 2014, theme dinner Totoro

The tablescape also included Totoro on the menus for food and drink, and peeking at guests as they dined from the terrariums. A dragon also was a callback to another Hayao Miyazaki film, Spirited Away.
Nodoguro PDX September 2014, theme dinner Totoro. The tablescape had lots of Totoros peeking at the guest diners

First Course: Phantom Rabbit Melon slice

I can’t get over Totoro with his little “o” on his mouth watching me eat this melon with the champagne pairing, as you can see in the last photo in the background. I can never complain with starting a meal with a pairing that includes sparkling, in this case the Lamiable Champagne Brut Grand Cru.

Also in the background, as a little dinner party group we also decided to bring some corn as a little joke to Nodoguro – the youngest daughter bringing a fresh sweet corn to her mother is an important plot point in the Totoro movie.

Second Course: Poached Octopus with Wasabi and Citrus

A glimpse of Chef Ryan Roadhouse slicing the Poached Octopus like a ninja.
Nodoguro PDX September 2014, theme dinner Totoro. Chef Ryan Roadhouse slicing the Poached Octopus

Don’t be afraid of the little suckers of these tentacles- eating these was so soft, reminiscent of the texture of a poached lobster, this was so tender.

Nodoguro PDX September 2014, theme dinner Totoro. Second Course: Poached Octopus with Wasabi and Citrus

Third Course: Tomato Oden with Ham and Eggs

Teamwork in plating the course between Ryan Roadhouse and Mark Wooten!
Nodoguro PDX September 2014, theme dinner Totoro. Third Course: Tomato Oden with Ham and Eggs. Teamwork in plating by Ryan Roadhouse and Mark Wooten
And the beautiful result of two tomatoes, 3 year aged ham, and egg yolk cream…

Not pictured is the beautiful glass of the next beverage pairing, a 2013 Fossil and Fawn Rosé of Pinot Gris, Crowley Station which was just lovely. I thought I took a photo of it to show the colors of that beautiful rose color (in fact it bordered more on strawberry red than a light pink!) of this Pinot Gris with the tomato, but apparently I got excited and just ate this dish.

Fourth Course: Dungeness Crab and Fennel Sunomono

Time for a little palate cleanser with the “salad” course of sunomono, which as Ryan wryly explained, is “stuff in vinegar”.
Nodoguro PDX September 2014, theme dinner Totoro. Fourth Course: Dungeness Crab and Fennel Sunomono and Uni wrapped in kelp
What is this tubular vegetable thing? Oh says Ryan offhandedly, just Uni wrapped in Kelp. No big deal.

Fifth Course: Monkfish Liver Torchon with Ground Cherry Miso

I don’t know why I’ve been so lucky to get to eat delicious rich fatty liver for 3 weeks now!
Nodoguro PDX September 2014, theme dinner Totoro. Fifth Course: Monkfish Liver Torchon with Ground Cherry Miso

This is where I had my very favorite pairing, which was the Fuku Chitose “Happy Owl” Yamahai Junmai sake that had a very mushroom quality to the flavor that really complimented the melt in your mouth liver torchon here.
Nodoguro PDX September 2014, theme dinner Totoro. Fifth Course: Monkfish Liver Torchon with Ground Cherry Miso

Sixth Course: Smoked Salmon and Nanban Carrots

As soon as they opened the oven the room practically fell into silence as we breathed in heavily the incredibly smoky aromas of this dish.

This time Ryan went with smoked alder on sashimi grade salmon, and the beautiful colors of the corn and carrot flowers adding some delicacy to this big hunk of fish that just tenderly flaked off with our chopsticks. I almost wished I had a whiskey to enjoy with this, but the sake also went well in emphasizing the grand earthiness of this dish.
Nodoguro PDX September 2014, theme dinner Totoro. Sixth Course: Smoked Salmon and Nanban Carrots

Seventh Course: Chiashu with Turnip, Miso, and Walnut

This chiashu is a call back to Spirited Away, which is one of the foodiest movies Hayao Miyazaki has made. In the movie, the heroine’s parents are turned into pigs as they eat like pigs at an empty restaurant stall on food probably much like this luscious pork belly. I imagine if I saw an empty foodstand with the dish lined up like this, it would indeed be a mighty strong temptation…
Nodoguro PDX September 2014, theme dinner Totoro. Seventh Course: Chiashu with Turnip, Miso, and Walnut, a dish that is a nod to Spirited Away also by Hayao Miyazaki

The mustard greens and the beverage pairing, a 2012 Johan Vineyards Blaufränkisch (a grape I had never heard of until I was introduced at this meal, and was very pleased to make the acquaintance and look forward to being friends) were a great contrast to the richness of the meat. Yet, at the same time the Blaufränkisch was contrasting it with a hint of spice, the wine was also wonderfully complimenting the meat with its round fruit that is silky and rich without heavy tannins.

The miso was providing extra umami along with a bit of salt highlight, and the turnip here being a nod to the use of radish.
Nodoguro PDX September 2014, theme dinner Totoro. Seventh Course: Chiashu with Turnip, Miso, and Walnut, a dish that is a nod to Spirited Away also by Hayao Miyazaki

Can you tell I was excited by this slow roasted pork dish?
Nodoguro PDX September 2014, theme dinner Totoro. Seventh Course: Chiashu with Turnip, Miso, and Walnut, a dish that is a nod to Spirited Away also by Hayao Miyazaki

Eighth Course: Satsuki’s Bento

This is the Nodoguro interpretation of the bento box that the older sister character puts together for her family in the My Neighbor Totoro movie. This was the only pairing that I didn’t like, as at least for me the Upright Six dark rye saison beer had caramel notes that I didn’t understand with the mackerel fish and Italian plum flavors of this rice bowl.
Nodoguro PDX September 2014, theme dinner Totoro. Eighth Course: Satsuki's Bento

Ninth Course: Tamago Sushi

On the other hand, I did like the Rye Saison beer with the rice stuffed sweet rolled egg!
Nodoguro PDX September 2014, theme dinner Totoro. Ninth Course: Tamago Sushi with the rice stuffed inside the sweet rolled egg

Tenth Course: Acorn, Figs, and Honey

Acorns play a big part in Totoro, so I was not surprised to see them in the decorative elements of the restaurant this month as well as in a dish. This was paired with a 2001 Jos. Christoffel Jr Orziger Wurzgarten Riesling Auslese, a terrific riesling that offered both sweetness that blossomed into spiciness that was so incredibly I preferred drinking it alone to eating it with the food so I could enjoy its complexity.

In this dish, the acorns are in gel form and paired with popped soba and figs right from the chef’s personal family garden and some Bee Local Honey (no surprise as besides having amazing honey, I saw these two dark haired curly gentlemen Ryan at the and Damian of Bee Local right next to each other at the Feast Oregon County tables on Saturday.
Nodoguro PDX September 2014, theme dinner Totoro. Tenth Course: Acorn, Figs, and honey from Bee Local, and some popped soba

Tea Service: Moon Manju with Peppermint Tea

And then all too soon, it was the end, with the traditional Japanese tea service of a manju with a rabbit on it (a popular folklore in Asian cultures is that a rabbit lives on the moon) and the peppermint tea which started as green tea and then added the peppermint layer.
Nodoguro PDX September 2014, theme dinner Totoro. Tea Service: Moon Manju with Peppermint Tea

It was a pretty delicious dinner, as always… interestingly enough, there is a LOT of food in the Hayao Miyazaki films, particularly Spirited Away which had tons of food including a street full of food stalls inspired by the town of Jiufen in Taiwan. Maybe some day in the future… a repeat with dishes inspired by more films?

The October theme for the Nodoguro Dinners is “A Tribute to Water”. Check the website often as they will sometimes announce new dates! Buy your seats and experience what I think is the best Japanese cuisine in Portland!

Some of the draft courses (dependent on what is best and fresh at the time of the dinner, they even change it out during the month sometimes as needed) include dishes like

Charred Hakurei Tofu with ikura, and Matsutake
Hirame Usuzukuri (a thinly sliced Halibut sashimi served with Ponzu sauce)
Orca beans, scallop, Uni, and water pepper
Air dried Sanma with citrus, and grated karaine
Duck, Soba, and Chrysanthemum
Chocolate and Filbert Beer Float

Get your tickets at the Nodoguro website!

Filed Under: Food and Drink, Portland Highlights, Restaurant Review Tagged With: #foodiefriday, #nodoguropdx, #nodoguropopup, Acorn, and honey, Chiashu, dinner, Figs, Fossil and Fawn rosé of Pinot Gris, Happy Owl Yamahai Junmai, Hayao Miyazaki, japanese cuisine, japanese food, Johan Vineyards Blaufrankisch, Lamiable Champagne Brut Grand Cru, Miyazaki inspired dinner, Monkfish Liver Torchon, Moon Manju with Peppermint Tea, Nodoguro, Nodoguro Dinner, Nodoguro Ghibli Dinner, Nodoguro Miyazaki Dinner, Nodoguro PDX, Nodoguro Portland, Nodoguro recap, nodoguro review, Nodoguro Totoro Dinner, Phantom Rabbit, Poached Octopus, sake, Satsuki's Bento, Studio Ghibli inspired dinner, Tamago Sushi, Tomato Oden with Ham and Eggs, Totoro

Review of Instacart in Portland

October 1, 2014 by Pechluck 9 Comments

When I heard that Instacart was coming to Portland, and it offered fast delivery services similar to now the now defunct Kozmo, I was pretty excited. Finally, Portland is not a second class city while other cities like New York, Chicago, Boston, San Francisco, Seattle etc. get the new modern services to bring urban convenience with technology together.

I recently decided to try out their grocery delivery services, so here is my review of Instacart in Portland. Would you like to try Instacart yourself?! If you don’t mind, would you consider using my referral link? As long as you spend $10, your first delivery will be free and you get a $10 credit on top of the free delivery.

Instacart Home Screen

Delivery Service All Grown Up

If you were not around or aware of Kozmo, it was a service I remember fondly where after placing an order on the internet for items like milk or ice cream or a movie rental, it would be delivered to your front door within an hour.

As probably all of us have experienced, there are many a time you start putting together a meal and find out that the milk is no longer good or you’re out of lemon juice, or have a craving (say, ice cream, chocolate, mac and cheese).

Then, comes the internal struggle- do you take the time to change out of your comfortable pjs/loungewear that you have decompressing from your hard weekdays and make yourself travel to the store, deal with going down the aisle, and the checkout process… or do you just do without?

Then add if the weather sucks because it’s cold and raining, or even snowing… I seriously used Kozmo probably every week. And then, with the burst of the dot com bubble, Kozmo went away, to the sadness of many college students and young professionals.

Instacart aims to provide that second answer once again, but has expanded the offerings from the small goods that Kozmo had to now, in the Instacart incarnation, include partners such as Whole Foods, Costco, and Uwajimaya, as well as additional local stores to come. Update: Instacart has now added Safeway, Natural Grocers, and Green Zebra Grocery.
Whole Foods Logo Costco Logo Uwajimaya Logo

It’s delivery service all grown up.

So once again, you can go online and order through their website so you can continue doing what you need to at home (be it watching the kids or writing work documents or trying to edit photos for your blogposts). And, this is important, in one shopping and check out process you can combine multiple stores.

You can shop bulk, and shop organic, and shop those special Asian goods that are hard to find, all in one sitting, literally!

Using the Instacart Website

I tried this Instacart service out myself this past week. After all the gastronomic fun of Feast, I decided I wanted to try to do a juice cleanse. This time, I’m all about making it easier for myself. So I borrowed my friend’s Vitamix so hopefully it would not be an 8 hour ordeal again to make all my juices from scratch. I decided to try Instacart, so I wouldn’t have to run to multiple grocery stores like last time trying to gather all the ingredients. By combining what was available from both Costco and Whole Foods, I was able to order everything without the hassle of driving across town to hit both stores.

This is especially a bonus for me as I am car-free – I don’t own a car. I do belong to car sharing services like Zipcar and Car2Go, but similar to how you would be out the cost of gas, that meant I would even in getting in the car and before I got to the store, already spent money for the car rental.

Starting up was extremely easy- just enter a zip code to verify Instacart works for your area, a first and last name, email address, and password. I loved how they made such a low barrier to get through before I could start looking around the website to see what they had.
Instacart start screen after creating a login, start shopping!

As I was shopping for my various ingredients. there was a little work in that since I didn’t see the packaging right in front of me, I didn’t know how many apples were in the bag, or how many celery stalks in a 4 ounce bunch. But since I was already at home, based on the packaging of each ingredient, I was able to just open another internet browser tab to calculate via a Google search based on Oz weights or such that were given.

This is maybe a work in progress- sometimes they have information, and sometimes not. When information is available it’s divided into tabs you have to click on to see what’s there that include general description, nutrition information, and recipes. See the difference between a description from another delivery service I use, Safeway, in description?
Instacart, the garbanzo beans description, or more like lack of Safeway, the garbanzo beans description
Instacart, the lime juice description Safeway, the lime juice description

However, if you are pretty familiar with packages at your store, this may not be as much of a problem. For instance, I was very familiar with the sizes of the Lysol, tomatoes, spinach, cauliflower, etc already from purchasing them before.

As you add items, you can use a dropdown located in the top, just to the right of the Instacart logo to switch between checking the offering for the same ingredient (such as lime juice for me) in one store vs another in terms of size and price, such as when I was searching for lime juice. This was great for comparison shopping on prices between the stores so I could decide whether I wanted to buy from one store versus another.
Instacart, search for the same ingredient across multiple stores

Keep in mind though that there is a $10 minimum for each store you want to include in your shopping cart.
Instacart shopping cart in progress

You can also use the dropdown next to that decide to shop by browsing aisles of that store instead, or based on what is popular. I stuck to the search so I wouldn’t get tempted to buy additional things I didn’t have in mind, which is usually a problem when I grocery shop in person but easy to resist when you’re shopping online.

After I was done, it asked whether I wanted delivery within 1 hour, 2 hours, or other time slots that I could select that were each one hour, either today or tomorrow, between 9am to midnight everyday (including Sunday, which is when I made my first order). For your very first order they offer free delivery, but otherwise the pricing looks like $3.99 for all the slots except the “within 1 hour” slot which is $5.99 if you spend $35 or more on groceries, or $7.99 / $9.99 “within one hour” if you spend less then $35.
Instacart Delivery Time options

Again, that’s cheaper then if I tried to drive to Costco gas-wise, even if I did own a car. And, certainly my time is worth that I’m thinking! When I use Safeway delivery, their prices for delivery start at $9.95 for an order of $150 or more or $12.95 for less than $150, so I don’t think much of the $35 minimum that Instacart uses at all. It is much harder for me to get to $150 then $35.

I should note though that the delivery fee, and $35 total to reach the lower delivery cost, is also per store. It’s only a few dollars more if your order is less than $35 so as long as you hit the $10 minimum per store you don’t have to buy more. You will get 2 deliveries if you order from 2 stores, even though you are doing one combined but separated shopping cart.

In comparison, Safeway can only do same day delivery if you order essentially 6 hours ahead of the delivery schedule, which is not as responsive as Instacart either. I also have let my Costco membership expire, so it was great that I was still able to save money by purchasing some Costco bulk goods without having to pay for a membership myself.

Alternately, if you think you might use Instacart’s delivery service a lot, you might consider getting a membership instead of paying the delivery fee. The memberships are called “Instacart Express” and are $10/month or $95/year, and with that membership all deliveries except the “within 1 hour” one are free as long as you spend $35.

It also looks like they have a way to share your shopping cart so that can be a help in bringing up your order total. I did not try that feature, though if you are doing that it looks like you have to define it as a shared cart at the beginning before you add items.

Also, if you don’t see something listed on the website, you can still request it – so for instance even though only the packaged croissants are listed on the Whole Foods site, since I know they almost always have these delicious cheese spinach cheese croissants at the store, I could have asked for that using that form.
Request form on the Instacart website

During checkout you can select whether you want substitutions on certain items and what substitution item you would want. This is more flexible then Safeway as I can actually search and select whether I want to for instance, substitute garbanzo beans with a can of black beans instead. You can add extra text to help them get to you, and also add the tip to your order directly at this point.

The Delivery

So after ordering 1:35pm, I waited for my order to be delivered around 2:40-3:40pm. I saw minutes later the names of the personal shoppers who were filling out from my virtual shopping cart into a real shopping cart!
Instacart shopping status

I got calls from both shoppers who wanted to check on whether some of the items they were able to find in the store were acceptable. For instance, whether it was ok that the Lysol pack from Costco has both Ocean and Lemon scent and not just Lemon like it showed online, or at Whole Foods the lime juice they had was a smaller bottle but also cheaper – and thankfully still enough for my juice cleanse recipes! It was nice to know they would contact me if they weren’t sure, and I got to talk to both ladies to answer their questions and explain what I needed just like I had asked a friend to pick up something for the grocery store for me.

Next, I got a text telling me that my Whole Foods delivery was on its way and an estimate of time in 30 minutes, in case I had to make myself presentable. How did they know…

The first to arrive was Whole Foods a little before 3pm, which isn’t that surprising to me as I had ordered less items. It came just as if I had gone to the store myself!
My delivery via Instacart from Whole Foods

The Costco delivery arrived around 3:20, and was even better than going myself because rather than having to deal with putting things in random boxes in the shopping cart, she had put everything in 3-4 very large reusable shopping bags, and as I emptied those in my kitchen she went and retrieved the second load for me.
My delivery via Instacart from Costco

When I checked my email, it had the final receipt that showed how much I was charged that deducted items they could not get or that in some cases there was a substitution.

Try Instacart yourself!

I would definitely try Instacart again, especially for heavier items because that is so worth the delivery fee for me, as well as my time in the grocery store. And as a non car-owner, it is much more effective then carrying it from the store myself or temporarily renting a car. I particularly love the access to Costco without having to sometimes deal with the craziness an actual visit might entail!

Would you like to try Instacart yourself?! If you don’t mind, would you consider using my referral link? As long as you spend $10, your first delivery will be free and you get a $10 credit on top of the free delivery.

I did everything on my computer at home, but they also have an app for iPhone, iPad, and Android phones, so in theory I could put together an order while commuting on the train and then come home to ingredients to make dinner, or say apologize to my cats and have a refill of cat food and litter without having to lug the boxes up my steps myself.

Currently the service area for Instacart includes Portland city limits as well as west to Beaverton and Hillsboro, south to Tigard and Lake Oswego and Milwaukie. It does not quite reach Cornelius, Sherwood, Clackamas, Happy Valley, or Gresham yet, and it does not cross over to Vancouver: see the map here. Other cities besides Portland for now are Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles, New York City, Philadelphia, San Francisco Bay Area, Seattle, and Washington, D.C, so this is not a small time operation here.

Have you used Kozmo, or Instacart, or other grocery delivery services before? What do like to use, and why?

Filed Under: Food and Drink, Sponsored Post Tagged With: Costco delivery, Grocery delivery Portland, Instacart, Instacart delivery review, Instacart Portland, portland, Uwajamiya delivery, Whole Foods delivery

Book Club: Molecular Gastronomy by Herve This

September 30, 2014 by Pechluck 4 Comments

For September the selected book subject for my online book club, The Kitchen Reader, was Molecular Gastronomy: Exploring the Science of Flavor (Arts and Traditions of the Table: Perspectives on Culinary History) by Hervé This.

The subject of molecular gastronomy usually refers to the blending of the craft of cooking, which is so much hands on experience and a bit of an art form, with the science of chemistry and perhaps even engineering and physics in the execution of the food. It’s the combination of art and science, which results in sometimes pretty unique and spectacular concepts in both taste as well as other ways to experience the food such as visually or texturally.

That’s how, for instance, you get things like these from Moto in Chicago (I enjoyed more of the chef’s cooking recently at a Feast State of the Art dinner), with pictured below from a past meal at Moto an edible menu printed on edible, inkjet paper with inks of fruit and vegetables and a “Grapefruit” on a spoon that is designed to be like a gin and tonic-that’s what that liquid ball which bursts in your mouth is, the gin and tonic part, then balanced by the frozen pieces of grapefruit below and the creme fraiche and toasted coconut flake. The last photo is from when I attended the Modernist Cuisine exhibit when it was in Seattle and they were creating cross-sections to understand the heating elements in various cooking apparatus!
Moto, an edible menu printed on edible, inkjet paper with inks of fruit and vegetables Moto, Grapefruit dish, this is actually designed to be like a gin and tonic-that's what that liquid ball which bursts in your mouth is, the gin and tonic part. This is balanced by the frozen pieces of grapefruit below and the creme fraiche and toasted coconut flake. I like the touch of how the gelatinous gin and tonic has a picture of a grapefruit somehow Checking out the Modernist Cuisine Exhibit at Pacific Science Center

This month, reading this book made me feel like again I was back in school. Unlike the other month where I was with an American history professor following Thomas Jefferson’s time in France this time it was mini lectures by a Chemistry Professor. The chapters are short, so the equivalent of maybe a 20 minute lecture, and generally follow a Socratic method where we are first presented with some interesting questions. This may be followed up by some initial answers that are out there from others research or at least assertions. Then professor This starts to talk through his own experiment to find an answer, from setting it up, what happens, and his conclusion about what this means.

He provides enough science in his experiment that you can follow and believe you could even recreate some of these experiments yourself if you wanted, though some which talk about heating various temperatures on the human tongue to see how temperatures affect sense of taste, I will leave to the experts. Others are more simple, such as making a broth by putting meat in when the broth is boiling vs when the broth is unheated to see if it makes a difference. For the normal reader, thankfully, he leaves out the real hard science so you only need to think back to the level of science labs in middle and high school to understand the experiment – no chemical equations on the chalkboard!

Despite a lot of discussion in his chapters via question and experiment, the yield is some useful tips a well from the book, such as

To make sure your egg yolk in your boiled egg is always in the middle, roll it around in the pot or pan while it is cooked to keep the yolk from rising and so it stays centered
After cooking meat, consider letting the cooked meat cool in a broth as it will absorb those juices back in – say a juice made from truffles, he suggests!
Blowing on your coffee is more efficient than stirring hoping to equalize the temperature of your whole cup.
Teaspoons in the neck of a champagne bottle are not as good as cork stoppers which are not as good as hermetically sealing a bottle of champagne to preserve it – but “never mind… one should not putt off tomorrow what one can do today. One you’ve opened a bottle, finish it off!” he advises.
Also, champagne bubbles are more stable in glasses that have been cleaned without a dishwashing detergent. So hand clean your glassware /make sure it is rinsed thoroughly. Also, the foam in champagne also reacts with antifoaming agents usually in red lipstick, so those wearing lipstick have less foam in their glasses after the first sip.
Adding salt to a variety of dishes reduces bitterness even better than sugar and intensifies agreeable tastes, and is why some coffee lovers like to put a pinch of salt in the filter – to reduce the bitterness of caffeine. Hmm, neat idea!
To prevent chocolate from “whitening” because of crystallized fat, store your chocolates at 14 C / 57 F and then warm it up before eating it.
It is for reasons of habit not science that red wine glasses are different than white wines. The same well calibrated glass (ISO glass) is really best for both red and white wines.
A large population of children 2-3 years old were given a choice to serve themselves out of a set menu to see if there were natural inclinations for or against foods. It turns out children will not distinguish much between various meats, but for vegetables they WILL eat spinach if it is napped with a white sauce and avoid foods with a hard and fibrous texture as it takes them longer to chew or bitter. So now you know how to trick anyone to eat vegetables.

Interested in joining us? All you have to do to join our book club is sign up at the online book club Kitchen Reader, read the book (or part of it) and post your thoughts on your blog during the last week of the month. Next month for October, the reading is Anything That Moves: Renegade Chefs, Fearless Eaters, and the Making of a New American Food Culture by Dana Goodyear.

Then, in November, our next book is Born Round: A Story of Family, Food and a Ferocious Appetite by Frank Bruni which is a food critic’s autobiography that is a love/hate relationship with food.

Filed Under: Book Review Tagged With: book club, Molecular Gastronomy by Herve This, Molecular Gastronomy: Exploring the Science of Flavor, Review of Molecular Gastronomy, The Kitchen Reader