Chinese for me, Chinese for you…

November 24, 2008 by Leave a Comment

I really wanted some Chinese food, so on the way home from work I stopped at Jin Wah. I had smelled it a few times, since it is located in this mall by the Beaverton Transit Center that my train goes by every day, and there happens to be a Petco also here so I had stopped there for a scratching post and this time needed a cat food refill. This third time, I couldn’t resist.

I was quite pleased that the food here was fast and delicious. They had a huge menu- sort of the equivalent of a small book here like you would get at the big restaurants in Chicago’s Chinatown, but in a place the size of the hole in the walls places like Seven Treasures is, although it does have a nicer feel (closer to the bigger Three Happiness). Besides that initial book, there was also a second menu that just had pictures (similar to what Joy Yee’s does in Chicago, but not with photos of all the dishes), I guess in case you have no idea what Chinese sausage fried rice looks like and such?

I came in thinking about chow fuun, but since my tastebuds perked up at the thought of chinese sausage, I ordered that instead…and it was pretty dang good! The veggies I also ordered, which were morning glory stir fried with garlic, was a bit on the oily side and less flavorful, but the fried rice made up for it. It is bizarre that I am raving about the fried rice, but it wasn’t the normal greasy chinese fried rice with hard rice kernals or in a puddle of oil that you would normally expect, it was fluffy and not too greasy given that there are chinese sausages punctuating the dish. The portion was huge, and I still ate that whole thing up on my own!

As I mentioned, the menu is extensive, so there is a a lot of variety to choose from. Seriously. I took a copy of the take out menu so I can order carry-out on the way home in the future, and I can count more than 200 different items on their take-out menu, and I know I saw more in the restaurant, not to mention they also have a specials board.  Although I was really wondering if I made the right choice when I first walked in and saw Thai and Vietnamese dishes alongside the Chinese, and the fact that underneath the English translation of the Chinese symbols was the dish in Vietnamese…

I was comforted to actually see other Asians in the place though, the way the wait staff is dressed reminds me of the outfits at Three Little Happiness back in the 80s (and they have the same stand-offish but efficient serving style), and as I scanned the menu I immediately saw items like jellyfish and home style chicken feet in appetizers, hong kong style pork spareribs, seafood bird nest, sea cucumber with duck feet clay pot, goose intestine with black bean sauce, 15 kinds of egg noodle soup, congee, and fried chinese bread, so I forgave the entries of pad thai and the pho and bun sections. This place has got to be authentic Asian. Yeah, I am totally going back.

The prices are very reasonable, and the restaurant is pretty large to accomodate a lot of customers. It’s not a trendy or even necessarily a nice looking establishment- it’s what you would expect to see in a strip mall- but sometimes, these strip malls hide yummy treasures, and really, I admit I have always have given a wide berth to Chinese restaurants after what I’ve seen in Chicago’s Chinatown and in China.

When I got home, I decided to treat Mew and Lobo to Chinese food too. Sadly, only Lobo was interested.

DSCN0288DSCN0289DSCN0293

 

 

Signature

Filed Under: Food and Drink, Restaurant Review, Weblogs Tagged With: , , , ,

Dinner at Le Pigeon

November 22, 2008 by Leave a Comment

The menu changes at Le Pigeon weekly, but only slightly to account for the seasonal ingredients and what is best on the market. So, it should be no surprise that perhaps the staff when it's time for them to eat, turn to ramen or… a girlfriend delivering Burger King! Ha! At least, that's what we learned from a fellow diner is what she saw the previous time she visited. She thought it was scandalous, while I just thought that if someone ate like this all the time, it wouldn't be that healthy… since I'm not cooking, who knows what butter/lard/cream/etc is in this stuff. Who cares! We're eating out, which isn't everyday! And bad things make food delicious. Several tablemates said they wish they could eat like this all the time, while I was thinking it was an interesting treat but even too rich for me to imagine dining like this daily. I guess the problem overall I had was that I was quite cognizent of the richness, rather than complexity of flavor and texture, or simple good ingredients. I still thought it was an interesting experience, but perhaps my expectations were too high coming in.

Take the starter course- the healthiest offering was probably the beets, walnuts, endive, and toast. The others probably were quite savory- a flatbread with lamb, pecorino, and caramalized onion was tempting to me, as was the pork belly with gribiche and cabbage (I was not interested in the foie gras with apples and cinnamon roll or the mackerel with broccoli, prosciutto, and croquette), but I ordered the sweetbreads with fallen porcini souffle and truffle. The sweetbread was great- the souffle was good for the first few bites, but then was sorta mushy- not sure if that was a casualty of the large party of 13 at our table since I was with a dinner group. The truffle was ok, but it is hard to be impressed with truffle shavings anymore when I see them offered at the Portland Farmer's Market at $15 an ounce and I can shave them myself on whatever I want (which in fact, I did the next day with the truffle I had bought earlier that day). One great thing with living in a dark damp northwest is the mushrooms! Perhaps the dish should have used truffle shavings and truffle oil to really push the flavor profile.

DSCN0301DSCN0303

 

DSCN0306DSCN0307
Entrees, the cornbread stuffed onion with butternut squash and pear had an execution problem- dry at the top, but getting moister as you continued down the onion, but then greasy at the bottom. The part that was in the middle was good, but sadly, the salad that accompanied it ended up being the star on the plate. M
 
My monkfish with lobster and leeks had a great broth which flavored the lobster wonderfully, and my only small complaint is that the monkfish, though perfectly cooked and moist and tender and delicious, did not pick up that great flavor and I had to keep sopping it back and forth in the broth- if only it had transferred to the fish as well. Not that the fish wasn't fresh and tasty- like I said, it was cooked just perfectly, I just wanted some of that broth to have transferred onto it as well as it did the lobster and vegetables, which were amazing. That broth really was wonderfully flavorful. I could have picked up the bowl and drank it.
 
Also looking around the table, the only entree I was jealous of was the beef cheek bourguignon- I stole a picture taken by Joanne, the delightful group organize, to share with you. If only it had been organic beef, but as you can see, it was quite a meaty dish…

DSCN0312DSCN0314Highres_6340330
The dessert board teased me from the moment I sat down. What would I want, the foie gras profiteroles with caramel sauce and sea salt, or the honey bacon apricot cornbread with maple ice cream? So torn! Eventually I asked the waiter to break the tie in my mind, and went with the latter. I also got a bite of the chocolate date cake but I thought it couldn't compare to the great chocolate dessert that I had had at Belly. The cornbread was generously bacon-ed, and all I could wish for was more butter for the cornbread or some tabasco (which is how I usually like my cornbread) to add a bit of kick to it. I barely noticed any apricot, and really… some spice would to contrast with the honey would have made this so much better. But, I did eat the whole thing up, so not like it was bad either. How can I say no to bits of warm bacon bits?

DSCN0304DSCN0324
And, as a surprise treat, Joanne took pictures of the table, so you can actually see me for a change since I am not behind the camera. As you can see, the kitchen is directly behind the table (if you don't have reservations and don't have to wait, you can sit at the counter and actually watch them cook right there before you- like a sushi bar but it's an actual restaurant kitchen), and I would turn to strain my neck once in a while. This place is teeny- besides the 10 seats at the kitchen bar and the table I was at which fit 14, there were only two other eight-top tables (if I recall correctly) to support the communical dining setting here. Here's a glimpse at me beyond the food!

Highres_6340309Highres_6340308Highres_6340402
Overall, I wasn't unhappy- but I did not feel it was necessarily a five star experience. Maybe three and a half or four stars. As I mentioned, there were little things they could have done which would have brought them up to the level I've seen in Chicago, such as Shawn McClain of Spring and Custom House (as well as Green Zebra, but I prefer those two other restaurants of his), but this didn't even compare to Chicago's Sweet and Savories for me, though I felt like Le Pigeon was trying to fit in a similar niche. I tell you, I'm a bit spoiled from other experiences, that's all, and because of the hype, I was expecting that level, and it just wasn't there, though it wasn't a bad restaurant. Just didn't meet my expectations: it need a bit more finess in execution, but I can see the potential in the creativity of the menu created. 

 

Signature

Filed Under: Food and Drink, Restaurant Review Tagged With: ,

Later Boss…

November 15, 2008 by Leave a Comment

It's been pretty hectic on my front the past two weeks. Little did I know that when I had my one on one with my manager on the night of Halloween, that it would be my last. We chatted about the work I had been doing, and particularly that morning I had led a meeting that aired out some undercurrents and by doing so, made them confrontable and what I theorized, solvable. The meeting outcomes met my hypothesis, and helped solidify us in the direction of my vision of where I wanted my work and the team's work to go. After chatting with him for a while about this, we also turned to discussing what I had been exploring in Portland which as you probably noticed in my previous posts, just happened to be alcohol related. In fact, I was going to a beer meet up the next night at Bridgeport. My manager was more of a sake enthusiast though, and chatting with him on a local sake, it put me in the mood for sake and to Dragonfish I went, again.

As it turned out, on Monday morning, my manager ceased to be my manager because my team was laid off… except for me. I was moved into what was previously our internal client's team and now reported to one client instead of being in a central services area. That Monday was pretty surreal- I had come in with a list of things to do since I was going on a trip to gather customer input the next day and I wanted to have a paper prototype. Instead of working with my team, I ended up building that prototype that late afternoon after some of my former co-workers had already left and that evening before my flight by myself. Instead, the day became one of trying to help the people I had chosen to join in a team make their exit, and also transfer as much as that knowledge to me as possible so it wasn't lost. One of my coworkers had been with the company for 30 years, and it was the only employer she had ever had. Keep in mind that I had only been with the company for 5 weeks.

So as you can imagine, these past two weeks have been busy days in which I am trying to understand my roles and responsibilties- both what is expected of me, and then also trying to carve out the space so that I can continue doing what I intended to come to the company to do in the first place. It has taken two weeks, but I think I have basically regained the foundation that I thought I was establishing two weeks ago- now it's on to the planning how to execute the work and getting buy-in from the next level up in the chain on that plan now that they are warm to the concept at least.

Here are photos from that dinner at Dragonfish that Halloween night though. I found the sushi rolls disappointing, the guacapoke had too much avocado and needed more tuna, and the dessert was disapointing. You'd think that they would realize that after a dinner of cold to room temperature food, dessert should be either a really cold temperature like green tea ice cream something or a oven-warmed tart to finish, and with the dessert we ordered it seemed a perfect combo of the two, but the tart was room temperature and the bananas inside slightly chilled/room temperature instead of being warm and gooey inside.

I should have tried the Lobster Roll, which is the only thing left on the menu now that I am curious about (lobster salad and cucumber wrapped with tuna and avocado, with blood orange sauce and lemon mayo). But on the waitress' recommendation I tried the other roll that had caught my eye, the Dragonfi Roll (tempura shrimp, enoki and shiitake mushrooms, and asparagus wrapped with eel, tuna, orange and green tobiko and eel sauce and lemon peel mayo). Unfortunately, this turned out to be a flavor mess- I was hoping it would be a cool twist on the rainbow roll which also has quite a medley of ingredients but winds up being like a neopolitan in sushi form, but… well, it wasn't. At least F's spicy mushroom fried rice was delicious! Also per my ex-manager's recommendation, I tried the Momokawa Flight, which consists of Ruby, Silver, Diamond, and Pearl, and I really did like that. The Ruby was described as "soft and lightly sweet with hints of honeydew", Silver as "smooth with a dry tart green apple finish" (this was our favorite), the Diamond as "dry with a crisp favor and granite aroma" (much sniffing and tasting was done trying to figure out this granite description), and the Pearl, the cloudy one pictured, is "unfiltered and sweet with a coconut undertone" which I didn't find too bad either.

DSCN0273DSCN0278DSCN0280

 

DSCN0272DSCN0267DSCN0269

Tonight I am going to Le Pigeon, which was Portland Restaurant of the Year in Diner 2008. I've also volunteered in one of my dining groups to host a dinner meeting once a month, so there will be more food reports!

 

Signature

Filed Under: Food and Drink, Restaurant Review, Weblogs Tagged With: ,

Craving some carbs…

October 30, 2008 by 1 Comment

I can't wait to go to the Portland Farmer's market again come Saturday. Although I'm a little surprised out by some bread and meat offerings (which I still purchased and ate anyway) that I've seen. Examples? A lamb sausage from the wood-fire baked oven bagel vendors Tastebud (the bread was great, the meat was too chewy and hard).

DSCN0179DSCN0181

 

Or the mysterious meat muffin (the muffin and meat were both dry, but the muffin so dry I actually was wishing the meat was greasier to help me out), I am still always a sucker for bread at a farmer's market. Also, being to say "I'll take a meat muffin".

DSCN0185
DSCN0185

I think I mentioned before some great seedy cheese bread that I had there that made a nice Sunday breakfast the first time I had it. I bought it again the other week so I could have it for breakfast on Sunday and I had it at work on Monday. And I want it again.

DSCN0195
DSCN0195

Also visited another brewery, this time Rogue Distillery & Public House (PDX). The beer was great- I liked the selection better than all the others, and I didn't even get a sampler tasting. Gotta respect a place that offers you a leather bound book akin to what you would usually see a wine list presented in and say "this is our beer album". Each page was dedicated to the story of a beer they brew. This location actually is a distillery as well and it sounded interesting, but more then I could handle for a Sunday brunch/lunch.

But, the bread here (what's with the breweries having such great house-made bread here?) was really great: a fresh warm loaf of bread baked with Hazelnut Brown Nectar Ale. The bread and the beer were so delicious, we overlooked the salty hummus and dry Kobe Bleu Balls (ok, I ordered it just to say it. Meatballs stuffed with Rogue Creamery Oregon Bleu cheese). And the fries were nice and crispy, just how I love them. Seriously, look at that bread for that sandwich. It was soft and warm and fresh.

DSCN0257DSCN0258DSCN0259DSCN0257DSCN0256P1000653P1000659P1000661

We took our favorites, the smokey ale (which really was super smokey- like enjoying the charcoal you've been barbecuing on during a summer Sunday afternoon. Would be good with so much food) and rich chocolate stout, to go. Sitting where we could see the bathrooms, we also enjoyed observing what other patrons would decide was the correct door.This place is a bit divier than the other breweries in the neighborhood (Deschutes and Bridgeport) since it's not fancied up with beautiful wood or a loft-style interior- just benches, booths, and good beer.

P1000657P1000658P1000662P1000656

 

Signature

Filed Under: Food and Drink, Portland Highlights, Restaurant Review, Weblogs Tagged With: , , , ,

Burgers… and burgers

October 23, 2008 by Leave a Comment

Recently, I was able to enjoy two burgers. One, was at Deschutes Brewery in the Pearl District. After attending the first of a series of photography classes that had come free with my new Nikon camera (and where I learned the tricks for composing shots, taking advantage of telephoto to bring scenic backgrounds closer in shots with people, and focus holding), we went looking for Rogue Brewery. Instead, we ran into Deschutes and just stopped there. I loved the look inside that retreats from the modernity of the Pearl with nod to the natural character of Oregon thanks to incredible wood carved into forest creatures and mountains and valleys of river, just like Oregon itself.

DSCN0227DSCN0226DSCN0225

Besides the great beer, they had a really great pub menu. I really liked the appetizer of wild mushroom bruschetta, which was seasonal Northwest Wild Mushrooms sautéed in a Mirror Pond Wort Sauce with roasted garlic topped with Juniper Grove Farms goat cheese and served with fresh artisan bread. That bread was really good. In fact, when the burger was taken home for leftovers, I just ate each half of the bun on its own, leaving a naked veggie burger. The veggie burger here is made in house with Black Beans, Vegetables, Spent Grain from the brewery and fresh spices with avocado-tomatillo salsa, with a brewery-baked wheat bun. The burger patty had great taste, and the buns was great, but really it would have been better topped with a bbq sauce to play up the spice instead of creamy avocado which flattened the complexity with mediocrity. The other entree, an arugula, grilled pear, hazelnut, Juniper Grove goat cheese and housemade duck prosciutto pizza using spent grain dough, was good but unfortunately couldn't quite compare up to great wood-burning oven pizzas at various places in Chicago (Pizza DOC, Spacca Napoli, Crust, etc). The duck confit was too salty, the pears sliced too thin so that they dried out, and the cheese too overwhelming and should have been added less heavy handedly instead of making the pizza soggy and overpowering the subtler taste of the dough. I'd definitely go again though- the menu still had lots of other options I was interested in trying.

DSCN0228DSCN0230DSCN0233DSCN0235DSCN0236DSCN0237

You may think I am such a picky eater because I always critique the things I eat and don't seem happy with them. But, I'm actually not picky! I like to eat a lot of food! I just have an opinion on how the food could have been at a higher level. Today I went with two co-workers to a new place that just opened by my work… Five Guys Burgers and Fries. We got there when the line was not quite at the door yet (and there were more then five guys back in the open kitchen- more like a dozen), making burger patties and fries fresh before our very eyes while peanuts in the shell were offered to help with the wait. They are raved about in other places in the US for having best burgers and best fries, and even written on some index cards on a bulletin board along the wall were handwritten comments from customers attesting great affection for the burger and fries (including illustrations- one of a burger saying "I see you!" which was a little freaky) and notes saying they were better than In and Out! What!

They are! Well, just the burger. I have to say, the burger patty itself is better tasting then In and Out's. The bun was soft and doughy and fresh too, and though I wasn't so sure about the lettuce and tomato being as fresh as what I had from Cali In and Out's, the rest of the "everything" toppings of fried onions, sauteed mushrooms, ketchup, mustard, mayo and pickles I think is a better combo than Animal Sauce. Maybe the fried onions could have been cooked a bit more (some of them were a little raw), but that burger was so juicy and hand formed that when part of the burger fell apart and I was just holding some meat, I had just that and was in heaven. Of course, I just also had a large portion of my calorie intake for the day with just the burger- I guess I should at least hold the mayo.

The fries are offered regular or cajun, and cajun is definitely the better choice. I didn't like that they were serving the fries in styrofoam cup- isn't there a more eco-friendly way? But, I like my fries crispy and well done, and these were not, and that's my personal preference.

But that burger was great! I would just eat that burger patty plain without the toppings and even without the bun! What I have pictured is actually not the regular, which comes with TWO patties- I had the "little cheeseburger with everything". This outpost (the only one in Oregon) is still new and my team members and I naturally observed and critiqued their process and roles of the assembly team, but they are still brand new, they just need to figure out how to still serve things fresh but without such a long wait for the food (took us 20 minutes between ordering and getting our sack to go). I can't help it, I'm a natural critique of process and design.

DSCN0243DSCN0245DSCN0248

 

 

 

Signature

Filed Under: Food and Drink, Restaurant Review Tagged With: , ,
« Previous Page
Next Page »