I have found my favorite happy hour in Portland so far. At Saucebox, their happy hour from 4:30-6:30 T-Fri and 5-6:30 on Sat, boasts a 2 page menu of bites from $1 to $5, ranging from taro chips and spring rolls to udon noodles, burgers, and spare ribs. They also have a lot of really interesting drinks. I went for the Kickboxer- house infused Thai chili vodka with passionfruit puree and citrus juices and then topped with raspberry puree was delicious! Your first mouthful gives the sensation of delightful fruit juices, but then you get kicked by the chili! I loved it, it is my new favorite drink in Portland.
Their happy hour menu is incredibly impressive- three $1 items, three $2 items, six $3 items, eight $4 items, and four $5 items does not leave you wanting for what to order. The food is most Asian, though they also offer some normal bar favorites like a whole deep cereal bowl full of fries, and quarter pound sized burgers. They have a dozen really interesting signature cocktails, or you can go for the house red or white for $5, or a small little carafe of warm sake for $4. A great deal.
I was able to try the pork sarong, which is two meatballs with deep-fried noodles and a tamarind dipping sauce, was ok, but for that same $3 you would be better off with the crispy sweet potato spring rolls another person ordered at my table. Saucebox’s $5 happy hour special (their upper end) included crispy pork spareribs with a orange ginger bbq sauce. The meat was so good I didn’t even use the sauce. It was tender and falling off the bone meat, but thanks to the quick deep-fry the outside was super crispy crackly. This is better shared because 3 ribs was little too much for me- have one and get another dish or two (sorry for the blurred picture- the Kickboxer and the sake definitely affected me) and share the fatty deep fried-ness! Another dining friend had the pulled pork udon for $4, which was a great burst of flavor and is also recommended, though a bit hard to eat with the slipperyness- don’t be afraid to ask for a fork instead of using the chopsticks.
Tables filled up quickly between 4:30-5 with trendy hipsters making for some interesting people-watching in the atmosphere of dark wood and huge mirrors. This is just down the street from the Big Pink building, and so I am already itching to go back and try some more.
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