Vegetarian House

January 13, 2011 by 2 Comments

One of F’s favorite places and conveniently located by his work is Vegetarian House. Actually, the restaurant is vegan, with all their dishes, which are Chinese style, using substitute meat products for the chicken, ham, beef, fish, shrimp, even squid. F usually goes for the lunch buffet, but recently we stopped by for a dinner on our way back from the convention center.

We started off by sharing the veggie chicken salad. It smells great when it arrived at the table, and the warm chicken was a nice contrast to the cool crisp salad that was dressed in a light tangy oil based dressing

His choice of entree was the veggie sesame chicken. The veggie chicken tastes just as good as it looks, though it was done extra spicy here, with the simplicity of the steamed broccoli giving you a break from the well sauced fake chicken which was cooked perfectly just like meat- it had the same texture with the crisp deep fried outside but moist inside.

Meanwhile, I went with the house special pan fried noodle. Look at that closer shot of some of the ingredients with the noodles- broccoli, carrots, mushrooms, fake chicken, fake shrimp in all its detail. Not shown- the fake ham (its the perfectly box shaped piece of meat in the previous picture of the dish). When the dish comes, it is presented on a sizzling plate with the noodles very crispy before the sauce begins to race you in absorbing the noodles, and then making this dish soggy. This probably would have been better if there had been more people sharing it to scoop out their crispy noodles immediately- and this platter is truly enough to feed a family. The fake chicken didn’t fare as well in the pan fried noodle dish as it did crisped up in the other two dishes. I couldn’t stop admiring the fake shrimp. The chef works pretty hard to make that fake shrimp look as shrimpy as it does… and it has the exact right texture, I actually was digging around looking for all the shrimp.

The interior of this place may not look like much, as the atmosphere is functional and simple. You may have mixed feelings about what is playing on the large screen TV against one wall of the room with its peace/vegetarian/Buddhist propaganda agenda. Do the vegan takes of the standard dishes stand up in terms of the flavors of an actual meat dish? Not from a good authentic restaurant, but from the average takeout place in the neighborhood when you have that craving for somewhat Americanized Chinese, yes it does, minus the grease and MSG and meat from who knows where from who knows when. A lot is depending on the dish- from my few visits, I thought the gluten fake meat works better in some preparations more than others. Crispy preparations of the fake meat in a dish generally fare better. Also, some dishes are better fresh from the kitchen because of the sauce ruining the texture or the steam in the box softening the dish. Although we made the mistake of taking the salt and pepper faux shrimp home so it was no longer fresh in terms of the breading, the taste itself was spot on.

Mostly, I admire this small business’s ethic and effort. The chef there really is a hard worker- they are open 365 days a year, 11-9, working through all holidays. The waitress even admired it- said they have only closed when the chef wanted to take off to see his daughter graduate. Same thing with the guy who usually runs the front of the house- everyday but Sunday, year round. Otherwise there they are, every day, all day, passionate about providing a full Chinese menu of all the expected options, but in an vegetarian way to save animals and encourage good health, making what difference he can in this lifetime, one dish at a time. When I first enter and leave, Vegetarian House is right next door (even sharing the same stairs) to another Chinese hole in the wall Good Taste- but this one is the type that has the Chinese duck hanging on a hook right in the front window, and maybe a crispy roast pork and bbq pork hanging right behind it… the type that in Asia would be an open air restaurant along the street…and I admit my steps slow down a bit as I feast with the eyes.

But every time I keep on walking into Vegetarian House. If you’re going to have Chinese, Vegetarian House offers the typical dishes but with extra care and concern- it’s better for your heart in more ways than one.

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Metrovino NYE Dinner Recap

January 1, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Ringing in 2011! Here’s a recap of our dinner on 12/31/2010 at Metrovino. After being seated promptly on arrival and being given the time to peruse and then taking our beverage order, we started with the Amuse bouche at Metrovino’s NYE Tasting 2010 dinner. It was  a spoonful of tomato and basil and perhaps also tuna tartare if you are an omnivore, along with a little container of Jerusulum artichoke soup. The soup was very nice and creamy and we both really enjoyed it, the spoons were ok- I was expecting more perky brightness in the flavor. As we would soon find out, that was the theme of the dinner- richness with an attempt at a bit of acid on the side.

First Course. For the vegetarian, it was an Alba White Truffle Blintz with house made ricotta cheese, alba white truffles, chives, celery-lemon vinaigrette. He found this too creamy for his liking, and passed the plate over for me to ensure bread mopped off every last bit of truffle (which he didn’t notice!!).

For the omnivore, it was Caviar Blintz: california sturgeon caviar served over a warm blintz stuffed with dungeness crab, house made ricotta, chives, lemon zest. Spreading the caviar over the blintz to even out the saltiness balanced out the creaminess of the inside along with the soft but crisp crepe outside. Along with our dinner, he had a “Syrah Smackdown” flight that consisted of wines from Washington (Tyrus Evan), Oregon (Cristom), and Australia (Mitolo “Jester”). I had a “Sparkling Smackdown” wine flight of Italy (Dama del Rovere Durello Brut) vs Oregon (J Albin Brut Rosé) vs France (Huber-Verdereau Crémant de Bourgogne). Washington won in the Syrah, but France won in the sparkling.

Alba White Truffle Blintz with house made ricotta cheese, alba white truffles, chives, celery-lemon vinaigrette >Caviar Blintz: california sturgeon caviar served over a warm blintz stuffed with dungeness crab, house made ricotta, chives, lemon zest

Second Course. For the vegetarian, this course was a Warm Winter Squash & Belgian Endive Salad with goat cheese croquette, lentil & leek vinaigrette, toasted walnut. He didn’t care for his cheese croquette, so I got to spread 3/4 of it on bread to enjoy. And admittedly the cheese was only so-so, croquette form did not improve it- whatever breading was around it was more like soft breadcrumb then crunch. The cheese inside the breading was sticky creamy rather then light fluffy and no additional flavor from a nice culture, now that I recognize the difference in making goat cheese myself at home.

For the omnivore, this course was Lobster, Avocado & Green Apple Salad with Braised Pork Belly, Crispy Potato & Alba White Truffles poached lobster salad with crème fraîche, fines herbes, avocado, celery vinaigrette. I liked the flavor from the pork belly along with the lobster and green apple, but I thought they could have dialed back the creaminess from the avocado a bit and instead added more green apple for more balance against so much savory. The crispy potato also was not very crispy. For a “salad” course, this was a terrible salad, it’s better as a starter, unless they add in more greens as this was so creamy.

Warm Winter Squash & Belgian Endive Salad with goat cheese croquette, lentil & leek vinaigrette, toasted walnut Lobster, Avocado & Green Apple Salad with Braised Pork Belly, Crispy Potato & Alba White Truffles poached lobster salad with crème fraîche, fines herbes, avocado, celery vinaigrette

As a special additional course for the omnivore, there was Cold-Smoked Foie Gras “Pastrami” with red cabbage marmalade, blood orange & caraway gastrique, dark bread and duck rillettes. This was incredibly rich and like thick tablespoons of Irish butter- I wish there had been more of everything else= be it marmalade, blood orange, or bread to spread that meat butter around. The quotes around the pastrami came from the fact that rillette was coated on the outside with the typical seasoning for pastrami- garlic, coriander, pepper, etc- and when presented at the table a glass container was upside down on it, and when lifted smoke steam wafted up. F also extracted a promise that I would never have foie gras again based on the principle that it is a cruel and unnecessary item to produce and eat.

Cold-Smoked Foie Gras Pastrami with red cabbage marmalade, blood orange & caraway gastrique, dark bread and duck rillettes Cold-Smoked Foie Gras Pastrami with red cabbage marmalade, blood orange & caraway gastrique, dark bread and duck rillettes

Course 3, Mains. For the vegetarian, this was Napoleon of Wild Mushroom & Perigord Truffle and sautéed spinach, cauliflower, grilled quince and truffled pine nut anglaise. This was F’s favorite dish, the spinach was tender and cauliflower were seared so had a bit of crisp burnt part to it.

For the omnivore, the main course was Grilled Cattail Creek Lamb Loin,Foie Gras Wellington with Perigord Black Truffles, sautéed spinach and black trumpet mushrooms, grilled quince, sauce perigourdine. The lamb loin was perfectly cooked, and the sauteed spinach still juicy, and man that perigourdine sauce really rocked. The Foie Gras Wellington seemed extraneous to me.

Napoleon of Wild Mushroom & Perigord Truffle and sautéed spinach, cauliflower, grilled quince and truffled pine nut anglaise Grilled Cattail Creek Lamb Loin,Foie Gras Wellington with Perigord Black Truffles, sautéed spinach and black trumpet mushrooms, grilled quince, sauce perigourdine

Course 4, Dessert. For the vegetarian, Bosc Pear Crème Caramel chocolate hazelnut crumble, pear salad, nutella semifreddo, and the omnivore a similar set, Bosc Pear and Triple Cream Cheesecake with chocolate hazelnut cookie crust, pear salad, nutella semifreddo. The semifreddo was really thick and chocolate-y- we both had problems finishing it. The crumble, being less creamy and rich then the cheesecake, was the winner between the two. The pear salad was not full of enough juice from a fresh pear to balance out the other two rich components. We were both also pretty full from this very reasonably priced tasting course dinner, the mains really packed a punch in terms of both flavor and being fulfilling as a course, so something more light and palate-cleansing at the end would have been more what we were looking for. However, both of us are not into desserts normally anyway.

Bosc Pear Crème Caramel chocolate hazelnut crumble, pear salad, nutella semifreddo Bosc Pear and Triple Cream Cheesecake with chocolate hazelnut cookie crust, pear salad, nutella semifreddo

Overall, this was a wonderful dinner, despite the critiques you saw above. F’s taste doesn’t like creaminess, but I found the blitz to be great. The salad courses they served didn’t work as traditional salads, but could definitely stand as first course starters on their own. The main courses we both really enjoyed in flavor and texture as it balanced many profiles in every bite and combined the various ingredients well. And, although the dessert was a bit too heavy for us,  we admit we generally lean towards lighter palate cleansing desserts, and especially after such richness in the previous courses it seemed like a bit of overload. Similar to the salads though, if those desserts were paired with a different type of dinner, could work well on its own. The main flaw was the progression of the courses put together in a sequence, not the concepts of the dishes- at least on this visit. I’m all for luxury on New Year’s Eve, but the richness here was even a bit much for a butter, bacon, duck fat lover like myself.

The atmosphere was modern but still warm, with the wait staff continually keeping our water glasses filled (F was very thirsty) and checking in on us but still being unobtrusive so we could have our private conversations. We sat by the window but never felt cold, and got to enjoy the view as the evening went on of people travelling to their New  Year’s Eve countdown destination with potluck dishes or beverages.

Their wine menu is huge, with tastings (1/2 glass )  and a glass available on most of their wine options rather then the normal only a dozen glasses of wine to choose from. They also had 2 dozen wine flights to choose from if you wanted their suggestions that would be a “smackdown” of various wine regions, definitely an interesting take- but you could have easily made your own wine flight as well with all those tasting options. This would be a great place to explore wine, and since it’s right across the street from the streetcar stop, you could even do so with public transit as your safe option home so you can enjoy all you wanted. Metrovino also was rated “best burger” in Portland, and based on this dinner, has culinary strength to match its impressive wine list.

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Colonial Food in Virginia Part 2… Dinner at Gadsby’s Tavern

November 10, 2010 by 2 Comments

Our second colonial meal was at Gadsby’s Tavern. Gadsby’s Tavern is located in Alexandria, and has been serving food since 1770 where it functioned both as a restaurant and inn, and saw customers such as George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, James Madison & James Monroe and Marquis de Lafayette. George Washington twice celebrated a ball held in his honor here.  Here’s a look at the tavern in daylight when we passed by it again the next day.

But our first look was at night. As we stepped in on Halloween night after slipping past costumed masqueraders on the cobblestone streets, we felt like we really did step back in time. Outside our window, only the occasional car headlights checked us on the time period- even the night revelers seemed to fit in since several ghost tours walked by with the tour guide waving a lantern in their hand. Inside, the staff was dressed in traditional colonial clothing, and a man dressed as Benjamin Franklin walked on his cane to visit and chat at various tables.

One question I was fascinated by was the painting above. Exactly what kind of dinner party was being portrayed in that painting over the mantle: what kind of colonial party involves people falling off their chairs while sharing a giant bowl of soup??

Unfortunately, the atmosphere was the best part of dinner. My appetizer of baked brie en croute in puff pastry stuffed with cardamom spiced apples and finished with raspberry coulis and sprinkles of cinnamon and sugar was nothing special. The bread was not necessary at all (and toasted too a point of being too hard) and the cheese barely warm and melted. His salad was spinach in truffled honey and cider vinaigrette with dried cranberries, toasted almonds, and shaved gruyere- it needed more dressing. His grilled vegetable napoleon with flame-roasted seasonal vegetables layered with imported brie and topped with a roasted red pepper puree and served with risotto was average except that the spinach in his napoleon was a little gritty from not being washed well enough!

I went with triple small dishes- a cup of surrey co peanut soup (chicken stock simmered with roasted peanuts, garlic, and ginger) , an appetizer of hot smithfield ham biscuits with mascarpone cheese and raspberry puree dip, and a side of corn pudding because honestly I was suspicious of entree size quality. The soup was not as good as what I had at Mt Vernon (which had the additional richness of chestnut), the biscuits were a little dry and the mascarpone not rich- but at least the corn pudding was moist. We finished with a very dense but not interestingly spiced rum and apple bread pudding with coffees that apparently don’t get refilled.

I couldn’t help but leave with a smile anyway after seeing this on the way to the bathroom at the end though. Later though, I was a teeny spooked how in between the two pictures, it looks like GW sent me a ghostly smile (as much as he can manage with his bad teeth and usual stoic look anyway)?? Can you see the difference in the two pictures?

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Portobello + Beermongers

August 29, 2010 by 1 Comment

An all veggie restaurant! Portobello is a vegan trattoria that offers food from the regions of Italy, Spain, and France. I had seen great reviews on Yelp, but going to a vegan restaurant also made me temper my expectations. Was it only so raved about because of the vegan adjective in front of it?

We had a great time though, and would visit again. The atmosphere was lovely, a combination of laid back and homey with the friendly openness of the servers in their casual dress and wildflowers in vases, yet a bit of fancy to feel like you are indeed dining out and it is going to be a nicer than an everyday meal, thanks to chandeliers and an interesting wall of wood with little artsy details scattered. I found a little owl in a corner particularly endearing.

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Drink selection was full of creativity that perked a lot of interest for us. He settled for a mocktail called the "Ginger Rawgers" which was a mix of housemade kambucha called "herbucha" mixed with blueberry, ginger, and lime. We were also tempted by another mocktail called the "Red Scare" of beet, ginger, lemon, apple, and strawberry shrub. In terms of actual cocktails, the same dilemna. I ended up with "Lila's Limeade" with cherry-vanilla bean vodka, lime, and soda. Though I was tempted by the "Harper" with black pepper ginger vodka, strawberry puree, ginger, and prosecco. It was fun to see such a flirty and fun drink menu, they obviously put it together thoughtfully.

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We started off with white truffle mushroom pate with accoutrements. This first appetizer didn't impress me- the pate just didn't have the soft almost buttery texture that spread and rich flavor that balanced the perfectly fine other accompaniments of fresh crusty bread and tarty cornichons. Using white truffle and mushroom I really expected more as mushrooms really can be rich. Next time I'll try the beet tartare.

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For the first course, a half order of pan crisped polenta topped with a sweet and sour eggplant tomato ragout had a perfectly executed polenta that balanced the crisp exterior and creamy grit interior, and the ragout was very flavorful, a chunky sauce that gave you both the sweet and tart of tomato.

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For the mains, the red wine braised seitan short rib with olive oil mashed potatoes, amaranth, lemon and fried garlic (we ordered a half portion) was more of a typical vegan dish (albeit excellent for being vegan) where it was clear that the seitan couldn't compare with real meat. But, the dish itself, if judged on its own and not as a short rib, was flavorful although texturewise all soft. It would have been a nice touch if the fried garlic has been more fried, adding some crispness. Look how meaty the seitan looks appearance wise though I missed the richness and tiny bit of gristle that real short rib would have had. As a vegan dish it was good- but the short rib adjective set the dish up to where it couldn't reach.

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The "stravagante pollo falso", with gardein chick'n topped with thinly sliced daiya cheese and field roast mushroom loaf, herbs, and marsala wine jus (also a half portion pictured here!) was really outstanding. This was something that could definitely compete with a real chicken dish, and even trounce many normal implementations.

The "chicken" here, the gardein chick'n topped with the mushroom loaf, was the texture of if you had taken a chicken breast and pounded it to tenderness, and the mushroom loaf gave it a tinge of salty toughness on top almost like a skin. The cheese and the jus gave the whole dish a creamy richness almost like it had been cooked in chicken stock, and the entire dish was juicy. Throw in a starch and veggie onto the dish and you could believe it was up to par with any normal meat entree dish at any other restaurant… and the fact it beats the moistness level of most chicken dishes makes it even better. I wish it had come with olive oil mashed potatoes like the short rib dish or some sort of side to absorb those juices.

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So my overall impression? Like any restaurant there are some hits and misses- but the misses aren't terrible, just didn't live up to full potential.  Sometimes vegan food can be very dry or limited in taste because they dial back not only the meat but also unhealthy components like fats that make food taste good (heh my opinion anyway), but Portobello doesn't suffer from this at all. It draws from ingredients that already pack a lot of flavor, and they buy it fresh. If you have a veggie or vegan dining companion, they will definitely enjoy this, "a night dining out" with all food done vegan- and the whole menu to choose from instead of just one or two choices and sometimes after verbal negotiation with the waiter/chef.  

If you are looking to replace a restaurant dining experience that offers meat on the menu with an evening at Portobello and do eat meat, go in looking for something that tastes good, but doesn't necessarily need to compare/replace meat. It would be like going to a French-Japanese restaurant and lamenting that the food isn't French enough even though the food is tasty. As a restaurant, Portobello gives you what it advertises- a trattoria experience, simple, casual, but good, but defined on its own terms. The flavors their dishes offers that seem simple are not simple at all because the flavors have been carefully constructed to parallell traditional dishes in a vegan way. Sometimes this makes it better then the traditional dish- and sometimes it just makes it a different kind of dish.

As for dessert? After being torn about the tiramisu, we passed (though we sorta wish we hadn't in retrospect). Beermongers is basically next door, so we stopped there for some interesting beer. Dogfish Head's Theobroma peaked our interest first since no Dogfish beer has been disliked. Theobroma ("food of the gods") is an ale brewed with honey, Aztec cocoa nibs, cocoa powder, ancho chilies and ground annato.  

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We also tried two Mikkeller barrel aged Black Hole bottles- both were stouts brewed with coffee, honey, and vanilla. However, one was aged in rum barrels (giving it a smoky flavor), and another bottle had that same beer aged in red wine barrels (giving it more acid background). There are two other versions of this- aged in scotch peat whiskey barrels and aged in bourbon barrels- which unfortunately Beermongers didn't have anymore. What an awesome series though, and it was very cool to be doing vertical tasting with that same stout backdrop. 

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All these beers gave us a little munchie craving, so we got a takeout Arrabiata pizza from Portobello. Beermongers doesn't serve any food, but they allow you to bring any food you want in. The Arrabiata had chile-fennel marinara, hot cherry peppers, "sausage" and daiya cheese. It's a thin crust, and we wish it just had a little more sauce. The sausage is cut into slices and spread, rather then crumbled I would have preferred to to spread that taste out all over and I could get that meaty burst in every bite.

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This little corner at SE 12th and Division, with Portobello and Beermongers which both change their menu offerings per what is available and seasonally, certainly has some unusual tastebud offerings if you want to try exploring the definitions of traditional flavor profiles of food and going to whole new places in drink. 

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Annibrew Summary, and Prepare for Bite-time

August 1, 2010 by Leave a Comment

The Bailey's Taproom Annibrew Cubed event was what I had hoped it would be- full of good beers and conversations with other beer enthusiasts, it wasn't crowded or hot and there were no obnoxious people that I could tell, which is good enough. We were there when they opened their doors to ensure we would get to taste everything, and sure enough a few hours in our top favorite, the Cascade Bailey's Quadratic Formula in beautiful beer geekiness of ax^2 + bx + c = 4 where a= 1 bubonic Plague(Heaven's Hills) b= 1 Spiced Quad (Maker's Mark) and c=2 Big Red(Maker's Mark)  all equating into a wonderful swirl of complex flavor, was out. As we left, our second place winner in our eyes, the Firestone Parabola with a bold bourbon and tobacco initial punch followed by dark chocolate and smoke as it bloomed on the palate, also tapped out.

During our 5 hour stay (which also included a cheerful passing by of pirates outside from Plunderthon which many along the windows raised their glass and waved to but still everyone withstrained from any shouts or screams even after a couple hours of drinking, inner woo hoos only!), we chose to get a few repeat token taste. The beers that made this cut included the Russian River Consecration (Belgian style aged in Cabernet Sauvignon barrels with Brettanomyces, Lactobacillus, Saccharomyces and Pediococcus and currants added to make one sour beer) and Hair of the Dog Cherry Adam from the Wood (a bourbon nose with a very dark cherry profile and only a hint of tartness Pilsner malt aged with black cherries in bourbon casks). We were at a draw whether the Hopworks For Those About to Bock had vanilla tones or yeast tones in it or not- even 20 minutes after we had left and were on the way home the debate continued.

And we will never forget the barnyard nose, our first experience of barnyard in beer, on the Block 15 #181- despite its aroma the yeasty ferment did even out on the tongue. The biggest disappointment was the Allagash 08 Curieux, a Belgian Tripel aged in Jim Beam for 8 weeks that didn't have much to show for its age. The New Holland Dragon's Milk was a soft caramel nice beer, but not as deep as hoped either. And no, there are no pictures from this event because hey, I was tasting 20 barrel aged beers. The veggie sandwich I had right before and the chorizo burrito from Santeria afterward were still not enough to combat the heavenly effects of the alcohol content ingested at this Bailey's third anniversary. Still my favorite beer event of all July.

So no beverage photos… though I do have a token photo of the best happy hour menu in Beaverton that I know of, Decarli's. The pizzettas are enough for two, and their best one is the portobello mushroom, gorgonzola, sweet onion, and walnut-sage pizza. The best option is still the polenta fries with gorgonzola butter, but if you want to share, go with this pizzetta.

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Next weekend is Bite of Oregon, including 120 items from restaurants, food carts, and a dessert pavilion to taste. I'll also be switching gears from tasting beer to tasting wine. On Monday, there is a Groupon special where you can purchase 2 admissions for the price of 1!

We'll be stopping by on Saturday afternoon, after a class I'm very excited about, a cheese making class with Hip Cooks where we'll be making and sampling Ricotta, Goat Cheese, Mozzarella, Mascarpone and Fromage Fort in a menu that includes

  • Roasted tomatoes filled with fresh ricotta
  • Goat Cheese and Fromage Fort with french bread
  • Pizza bianca with fresh Mozzarella
  • Poached apricots stuffed with Mascarpone, rolled in pistachio

Isn't my countdown to this coming weekend worth it?

 

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