A Lunch at McGrath’s Fish House

January 18, 2010 by Leave a Comment

McGrath's Fish house in Beaverton for a lunch started with Strawberry Lemonade and a Pear, Bleu Cheese and Walnut salad. The crispy fried yams on top I wasn't expected was a welcome addition. Next time, reminder to self- ask to have the dressing on the side. The rolls were also served warm, yay- it's always a thoughtful touch. Usually you get a garden salad, but I had a craving for the pear and walnuts so upgraded for a few extra dollars.

I ordered red potatoes to go with my cod parmesan. During dinner apparently it is halibut instead- which would go better with this parmesan coating. The veggies are roasted and then sauteed in olive oil. Another option is the wood fired seafood with the standard mixed veggies and your choice of one additional side- in this case, rice pilaf.

For $10, having this dish with a garden salad is a pretty good lunch deal.

I was really tempted to get another dish- the hazelnut dover sole rolled in crushed hazelnut, grilled and topped with Lemon Dill Sauce. Maybe next time. Although I know how bad Red Lobster is (how many calories in just one cheddar biscuit!), them continually running commercials during primetime TV is really making me crave seafood lately.

 

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H50- confused but trying so hard…

January 14, 2010 by Leave a Comment

Seeing H50 is like seeing a young man with so much potential who still hasn't quite come to self-realization of his potential and ability. He's going through a kind of growing pains as he strikes out to try a little bit of this and that, with mediocre results. You want to tell him exactly what he should do- but you shouldn't, because even if he did what you said, it wouldn't turn out right- it has to come from his own independent discovery and success. So you patiently watch him flounder, hoping he won't give up and satisfice- that he'll keep pushing and find that sweet spot that you can see the big bud just waiting to blossom. Boy, what a bunch of mixed metaphors huh.

H50 Bistro opened in 2008, and it happened to be when I came in to visit Portland. I met the ambitious chef with a dream at Bite of Portland. He had an example of his menu, and boy he was sooo hopeful. I remember perusing it and blinking quite a few times at mentions of some molecular gastronomy techniques in fancy dishes. Honestly, I would have felt right at home if that menu had been a trendy new place in LA or New  York or Vegas… but Portland? As part of a renovated Sheraton? Would the market support someplace that was trying to bring in the world's latest avant-garde to food in a city that seemed to care more about classic and local?

When I finally made my way there, I had to admit the atmosphere was just right- trendy but not hipster- it has more of a refined, modern contemporary art lounge quality, but not pretentiousness. The first cocktail I ordered was one that caught my eye out of a really interesting cocktail menu: "Desperate Housewives", with white sangria, triple sec, blood orange, and cava. It seemed to perfectly personify what H50 was trying to do- be beautiful and post-modern and tasty.

However, the food wasn't holding up. When my seafood salad sandwich showed up and was this mess, I realized that H50 was still trying to grow up. That mayo and carrot slop just destroyed what should have been fresh Pacific Northwest seafood.

They had a veggie sushi which presented much better- but didn't offer much in terms of favor. A blue cheese tart with balsamic vinegar hit the sweet spot of offering both visual appeal and good flavors, but seemed muted- I'd had tarts just as good from the Tart Lady Monia Halici (of the Market Gourmet) at the Portland Farmers Market, though I did appreciate the attempt to bring it to a restaurant setting. If there had been more on the menu similar in class to the tart- well, that was what I was expecting. Instead, it was as if the restaurant wussed out.

    

A year later, I went with some friends to lunch. They are trying to redo their menu, and I noticed he's since dropped a lot of those original concepts from that first menu I saw. Fortunately, his eye for presentations are still there- gorgeous platings so you can eat with the eyes before you taste. But, still the same in that it stumbles. The lunch menu had a few appetizers which I could tell were his refuge for his more creative ideas, such as smoked salmon fritters and pork belly in a beggars purse.

H50's dubiously arranged Smoked Salmon Fritters hickory smoked salmon, lemon, capers spicy parsley cream were mostly batter and fritter, and not sure where the salmon was. I guess there were some flecks- disappointing. After all, it was supposed to be hickory smoked salmon, lemon, capers, spicy parsley cream- and all I tasted was batter, much less any trace of smoked salmon, much less the hickory smoked taste of that salmon.

 

Meanwhile, the Nueskes Pork Belly dish of crispy beggars purse, pineapple and jalapeno relish, orange puree… the dish just looked spectacular, and the relish and puree were a great foil for the richness of the pork belly. But the crispy beggars purse? Can you say… wonton? Overwhelming taste of dough and oil that seemed to fight tooth and nail to not let me enjoy the fat and acid of the meat and fruit. This dish could have been so great. Instead, it wasn't bad. It was the difference between an A and a B.

At least the soups didn't stumble. Besides the appetizers, there was a section for… sushi? And five different kind of burgers? And… that's it? Really? There are so many great paninis that could have played well with the soups and salads (which from looking at all the other diner's food, really were the stars here)- and you could get pretty creative with those. In fact, the way the soups were plated (a Manila Clam Chowder with yukon gold potato, crispy nueskes bacon, and green onion, or a Tomato Basil Soup with san marzano tomato, organic basil, and cream) it was perfect for having a great grilled cheese sandwich (perhaps make your own a la Savor Soup House's cart).

Also, seriously how can sushi and burgers appear on the same menu. Who are you trying to be here? I can understand one really incredible sushi creation, or one really incredible burger- but that's half your all day menu? Even though that blue cheese burger was good (how can you go wrong if you cook the meat right and have good ingredients, in this case mushrooms, smoky bleu cheese, and caramelized onion), but there are lots of good burgers in this town- hope that's not what you counting on to bring in an audience for a place that looks as lovely as this. Brunchbox has more buzz for that and they are cart. You can have one outstanding amazing burger that let's say makes it on Portland Monthly's list… but having five on the menu seems to be counter-intuitive when you say you want to represent all the latest innovation and whimsy in food.

But the drinks are still gorgeous.

Caramel Corn Martini: buttered popcorn-infused vodka, tuaca and caramel. Would have liked to see it topped with a caramel drizzle since most of that stuck on the glass and didn't mix.

Cinnamon blood orange margarita: cinnamon-infused tequila, fresh orange, blood orange puree. Tasty, but this needs to be served by the pitcher to get you going…

Figgie port, a concoction of  vanilla vodka and fig-infused vodka, white port was surprisingly light and delicate

Lemon candy "oybe" with grappa, yazi ginger vodka, orange, lemon and creamWould have been perfect in summer.

Orange Chocolate: yes, I licked this glass clean

I would not be surprised if I saw the executive chef on Top Chef: he would be one of those young chefs you see mixed results from, who has great ideas but you can see still needs to be mentored and learn from those who are able to both conceptualize and execute consistently, or better get a better wingman aka combination of both sous chef and business manager to help round him out. Or, to use another show's analogy, if you are going to be on Project Runway and produce really couture looking designs you better have impeccable execution on your sewing and tailoring and go all out and have a full complete vision- don't only go halfway, commit to it. Actually, I think that's perfectly how I am interpreting what is going on here, IMHO. Man, I hope he never reads this blog entry. Really, cuz I'm pulling for him. Yeah, it's a restaurant in a hotel. But Grant Achatz also did the same thing at Trio, which was the restaurant of a boutique Homestead Hotel- just like H50 anchors Hotel 50. I think that's where he is trying to go- and keeps stumbling. The ideas are there in his dishes- just not fully formed, definitely not always well executed- and it's about successfully marketing this kind of food to the audience that does exist here- we don't necessarily mind whimsical innovation, this is a town of so many artists after all- but we also want real as the foundation underneath that.

Hope H50 finds that self-awareness.

 

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Another go at Slappy Cakes

January 13, 2010 by Leave a Comment

Some lessons from this second visit to Slappy Cakes:

1. It is crowded in the morning on weekends. However, if you don't want to make pancakes at the griddle, you can easily get a seat. I also spoke with the bar host and the waiter, and both confirmed that it gets real quiet after 2 and they actually have a happy hour from 2-4. So, if you want to really sleep in and get some hangover food (or re-vitalize your tipsyness), this might be an option.

2. The benedict dishes: we tried the veggie and the pork belly confit. The veggie one was actually better- the pork belly portion was pretty small- there was much more tasteless carrot ribbon and of the four pieces of belly one was pretty fatty. I was going to write a comment card on it- and found someone had already filled it in! She had the same comments about the pork belly and the carrots as I did. I also found the english muffin overcooked (had to really use some knife work to cut pieces), and was not able to detect any extra flavor from using bacon fat in the hollandaise. The hollandaise at Mother's is better. The veggie version of a benedict, with seared tofu, romesca, polenta, and seasonal root veggies had more flavor then the confit of pork belly, pickled carrot ribbons and bacon fat hollandaise, which is a sad statement. The side of potatoes in both dishes was a good portion but tasteless until you added one of the hot sauces on the table.

3. It is harder to make shapes with pancakes then you might think without a cookie cutter. I also wonder if we can sneak in our own extra ingredients to add to the pancakes… they hardly check back on the table, and what would they say if I had a lil ziploc of

Also, the best drink by far is the Slappy Bloody Mary. I don't think I would return for breakfast- but I might try their lunch.

Pork Belly Benedict:

Veggie Benedict:

Pancakes:

It was disappointing that the pork belly benedict wasn't up to snuff. Although the pancakes are fun, they just aren't delicious enough to want time and time again- and especially with that kind of wait. The additional dishes need to be up to snuff to help be able to justify that besides the fun of making pancakes, you can also get a pretty tasty breakfast that you couldn't make at home or say, get at any generic diner. After all, if you wanted an electric griddle and all this at home, it might cost you the same as two meals here and you can add additional things at the same time (Slappy only allows pancakes). I'm personally a picturing mini-slider party… I can also imagine everyone hand-making potstickers or pierogi would be fun. I never was good at successfully closing them- the two times I made dumplings at chinese parties mine were always the one that leaked out meat and became just dough balls :X

Edit 2011: It looks like Slappy Cakes has upped the number of interesting ingredients a customer can order to put in their pancakes now, allowing for a much more personalized experience per person that might be harder to create at home unless you invest in a big buffet of both savory and sweet ingredients. They also are offering more pancake batter flavors that vary seasonally. However, they've also decided to focus mainly on breakfast/brunch now, so no more happy hour or afternoon pancakes past 3pm. Check out this video demo!

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Nakwon- A Homey Korean Restaurant in Beaverton

January 8, 2010 by 1 Comment

The intention was to go to Du Kuh Bee to try their famous fresh noodles, but when we found they were closed, Nakwon was right next door so made that our impromptu lunch destination. I rationalized, if this restaurant can survive next door to Du Kuh Bee in a pretty non-busy non-descript part of a Beaverton, it must have something to offer. I don't know why some people thought this area was sketchy, or why it wasn't clean. There is so much worse out there. The description of service getting slow because they are not staffed adequately is right on though. 

As soon as we walked in, I saw we were fortunate enough to only be the second table for lunch. The only server by the register had a bubbling bowl of soup, and let us pick whatever table we wanted and handed us the menus. He was young and cheery, but got overwhelmed as all the tables filled up. Just as some reviews on the internet had noted, the menu is a bit of a mess to read- but oddly this doesn't bother me because Korean menus are often very mysterious with their mix of English and Korean letters, and then the English often including romanization of the korean words mixed with descriptive English of what the dish is. And then add special color coding and icons sometimes to try to show spice level and vegetarian, and there's a lot going on the page. Ironically, I had just mentioned in my previous post that Pho Hoa Hung is one of the few Korean places I've ever seen that has made their menu more accessible.

My tip here for reading these type of Asian restaurant menus is to first do a scan of the categories and for any key themes of ingredients. If you're fortunate enough to find a theme, you probably have hit upon the specialities of the restaurant. These establishments are usually family run with dad or mom or grandpa in the back, and they are going to naturally offer some of the key dishes they are good at in multiple formats, rather then just a dish that has a choice of beef, chicken, or pork- instead these three options will be presented as three different entrees you could order. But, the key is the dish- which I saw from Nakwon's menu were their soup broths, their dumplings, and rice cake with spicy sauce. Sure, they offer the usual bulgogi and kalbi and spicy pork, but it's at the way back of the menu, and this is not even set up as a bbq joint- the grills are not already on the table with vents installed above, so don't bother with korean bbq as a choice. It's on the menu probably as an obligation, not because it's good. This also explains some of the other ratings people gave- just look at what dish they ordered, and their experience with Korean cuisine in general.

Ordering soup, dumplings, and a dish with rice cake was way more then my stomach could handle, so I settled for two appetizers. The first thing to arrive was the panchan, all the little side dishes. Man, I love panchan. How can you not get excited when your meal starts with all these little tastes arrayed before you like a little buffet?

I downgraded my usual seafood pancake choice to a kimchee pancake since I fortunately found out early on that my dining companion eats seafood but not squid. The pancake was mixed- I think if I had simplified it to just green onion (which is used I think in all three versions of the pancake on their menu), or gone all out with seafood but had to eat it alone, they would have tasted better. The execution of cooking the pancake was perfect- crispy edges and outside- but the kimchee didn't have either the spicy or sour pickle tinge I was expecting. It could be an unfortunate helping of the kimchee ingredient I received on this visit, or the frying of kimchee as part of the pancake leeched out that flavoring. I tend to believe the latter, because the kimchee in the pan-chan was fine. The menu has the font in red to indicate spicyness, but this wasn't spicy.

On the other hand, the other appetizer I ordered, pan fried rice cake with spicy sauce with dumplings and ramen, in the same red font, is super spicy. Some might wonder what is going on with the little tupperware jug of water being put on the table, but don't question it- you will need that water. The hot rice water is nice, but is not enough relief in those little teacups for the hotness here. The ramen are soft tasty noodles cooked to the right chewy texture, and the rice cake slices are thin slices that have the same impact as slivers of umami. The dumplings are thick round tubes in this case, very firm and definitely not what I was expecting for a dumpling. I was thinking the kind that look like stuffed bags, not a combo of gnocchi and rigatoni. In the end, it all added up to an interesting mouthful of different kinds of chewyness- I think some additional ingredients like veggies besides the few sprigs of green onion or seafood would really finish the potential of this dish. 

My dining friend has the shrimp curry. It was an ok curry- thick and stewy, almost like a gravy- and would have benefited from more rice. It was brimming full of chunks of potatoes, peas, carrots, like you would imagine your Asian mom would throw in to make sure you get all your veggies. On the other hand, look at how the portion is so large it's in a big casserole dish! It was still steaming a bit even when we put it into the to-go containers. It would be easy to ask for more rice and make this a shared dish, or take it home for a second meal. Seriously, portions are huge here  if it's not obvious from the pictures already.

Next time, I'm getting the dumplings with my soup. From what I saw from other orders as the place quickly filled up for lunch, the soup bowls are pretty big, and they come bubbling and boiling so that if you drop a raw egg in it, it would cook right there at your table in less then a minute. And, it smelled and looked delicous. As you walk to this place after parking your car on the street, you'll be enjoying the aromas as you walk up to the door. Looking at the ratings you may see reviewers at various places are giving it 3 stars, but it's more like 3.5-4 out of 5- and that soup might be a 5 since that really does stand out in the menu. I just didn't want to burn my taste buds before I go to Slappy Cakes tomorrow- which I inevitably would have with my impatience- so I skipped over what is probably their best dish.

If you're look for Korean BBQ or more generic dishes like stone rice bowls and bibombop, there are plenty of other options in the area for those: aka go to a seafood restaurant for the best seafood, not a steakhouse. Your odds will be a lot better. Nakwon offers the hearty hot dishes that you would find in a Korean home during the winter, just as they would be eating them, take advantage of that.

As I have been reading through Fearless Food Critic's book on Portland, they have highlighted many Korean and a few Japanese places in Beaverton, which was surprising. It's not obvious that there is a mini Korea-town or Japan-Town embedded here- I see signs here or there all in a different language, but never so many together that it seems like a flag indicating community that would support these home-country flavor profiles in a business. At least, not that I've seen so far, but I've only been here a year and mostly in the city. But, as my discovery of Nakwon's neighborhood has shown me, it's definitely here- not obvious like a neighborhood in New York, Chicago, or LA would have, the radius might only be a few blocks a couple blocks away from the busy main streets- but that makes these hole in the wall secrets even more alluring for me- and I think a bit more accessible and less intimidating then being the only non person of that ethnicity for a mile or so around. I actually feel lucky now that I have to go out to Beaverton daily for my job- because now it won't be so out of the way to explore a little bit more out here and not just in the Portland city proper (my usual hunting grounds), and sometimes I don't want food with a Northwest spin- I want to be transported to the other side of the world. Nakwon definitely did that for me- I was only in Korea for a day during a layover, but this tasted like something I could definitely get there. 

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A Lunch in Beaverton

January 7, 2010 by Leave a Comment

The first time I went to Hall Street Grill, it was when I had flown in for an interview at the company I currently work at. After a few interviews with 1 or 2 people at a time, I went out to lunch with the peers who would be part of the user experience team. Hall Street Grill is in Beaverton so is one of the few places in the suburbs I know about- after all, I don't own a car. Actually, every single place I've been to eat in Beaverton has been related to my work- either a lunch or happy hour- and I can count them on two hands. Hall Street Grill is one of the top 5.

The proof of this is that while at that lunch with my possible new co-workers, after I ordered the $10 or so lunch special of sandwich with housemade chips, when the sandwich appeared it looked so delicious that I knew it would be delicious, and I pulled out my camera. Whether or not I got this job, I was going to document this deliciousness.

So here is my top recommendation for this place: lunch. the lunch special. The crab melt: crab cakes made from regional crab with the local Tillamook cheddar cheese and a fresh tomato. I've been there a couple of other times and tried the quinoa risotto and squash ravioli, but they were not memorable. Just looking at this sandwich, you know this is one of the best thing, if not the best thing, on the menu.

But perhaps you want to go someplace that has a bit of variety of goodness to choose from, instead of only one guaranteed slam dunk. Then I would direct you to Pho Hoa Hong or Best Baguette. Simple Vietnamese- and for $5 or less at lunch (Best Baguette is always less then $5). The bread at best baguette is a fresh french bread that is the perfect merger of crunchy toast outside and soft inside, and the perfect frame around their pork in any form (grilled and marinated, shredded with pork skin, etc) and accessorized with pickled carrot, daikon, cilantro (so you feel like it's healthy although you are about to finish this huge foot long of bread because you can't help yourself) jalapeno for a kick once in a while in the tastebuds, and a little house mayo, salt, pepper, and splash of soy sauce. It sounds really simple, but it's really really good because you can tell everything is fresh. It's banh mi, but the cleanest I've ever had it.

Pho Hoa Hong next door in this strip mall is also owned by the same family. Unlike other pho places I've tried with their Americanized blander versions, this bright secret offers what I could imagine eating plastic seats and card tables in Vietnam. Maybe it doesn't have the daring complexity if I had gotten it from a food cart on the side of the road in Southeast Asia, but for the atmosphere where at least they understand and speak English well and doesn't intimidate you with everything all in Korean on the menu and walls, and for the price, I'll definitely definitely take it.

 

 

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