Portland Restaurant Review | Portland Dining & Food Info

Kenny and Zuke’s Delicatessen on SW Stark St. at SW 11th Ave

August 30th, 2010 · SW Southwest

Portland, OR Restaurant Review: Kenny and Zuke’s Delicatessen

Kenny and Zukes Deli, SW Portland

The ACE Hotel in Downtown Portland has created quite a city-street block’s worth of attractions for itself when you begin to unpack what they’ve lined up along SW Stark. From the event space The Cleaners, to Clyde Common fine dining, to Stumptown coffee, heck the Ace Hotel lobby is a hang out worth mentioning — and then there’s Kenny and Zuke’s Delicatessen on the west end of the block at SW 11th Avenue. If you’re traveling to Portland from New York and think you’re going to miss great pickles and ’slaw, or you’re just in the mood for some well-crafted deli food, then Kenny and Zuke’s Deli has just the pastrami for you.

This is the first installment on Portland Restaurant Review of an eatery in the Southwest district, and I’m happy that it’s Kenny and Zuke’s. Of course, I’m thinking this on a Monday afternoon as I savor the last few bits of the second half of my pastrami sandwich, which I was forced to bring home after getting perfectly full over a Sunday afternoon sandwich adventure that brought be into deli-land, downtown. Was it good enough to finish off in one sitting? Of course it was. Don’t be silly and please don’t challenge my stomach, which will compete to the death and end up getting my brain sad. Instead, I’m trying hard to eat only until I’m full, and then stop — which most of the time, A)seems to be about halfway through a “portion,” and B)is usually a frightening challenge given the fact that I absolutely love food. And pastrami sandwiches are a desert island menu option, to be sure. [Read more →]

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Tapalaya Cajun and Creole on NE 28th Ave. at E Burnside St.

August 24th, 2010 · NE Northeast

Portland, OR Restaurant Review: Tapalaya Cajun and Creole

Tapalaya Cajun and Creole, NE Portland

It’s practically a shame that for this site’s very first invitation to dine at a restaurant, the experience was this good. I frankly just do not know, projecting well into the future, how the enjoyment of an evening meal, complete with several courses of Cajun and Creole-inspired small plates, will ever be bested. Fan of hyperbole? Not so much. This is the real deal, straightforward and bare-bones honest. After spending an evening with one of the restaurant’s owners Chantal Angot, and Head Chef John, consistently dropping off bite after tasty bite, I feel anxiety and incredulity at how any restaurant in the future is going to be able to surpass the bar that has been set by Tapalaya in the Northeast neighborhood of Portland. Possibly, it can be done. For now, I will relish in the night of house-made cocktail deliciousness and the roller coaster ride through heaven that my taste buds were treated to at Tapalaya.

Conceptually, the idea that underlies the cuisine at Tapalaya is anything but commonplace — combining the quantitative half of Tapas with the qualitative half of Cajun and Creole, the equation that one comes up against is slightly mind-boggling. This is one of those things that is infinitely complex in its simplicity, an idea that will leave others in the game scratching their head, thinking — Why didn’t I think of that? Well, in a word, you’re not a brilliant restaurateur. Or maybe you are, but this isn’t your bright idea — it is, however, in existence for the rest of us eager-to-be-blown-away foodies looking for an innovative, reasonably-priced, truly authentic dining experience marked by intense flavor, unique cocktails and a setting that takes you somewhere special. [Read more →]

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Zell’s Cafe on SE Morrison St. at SE 13th Ave

August 20th, 2010 · SE Southeast

Portland, OR Restaurant Review: Zell’s Cafe

Zells Cafe, SE Portland

This is getting to be a pain. I love breakfast. I could eat it every day of my life, every single meal. I don’t want to have to tell you again. Consider yourself warned. This was the only meal that my father could successfully cook, and I mean cook the living hell out of it. The one other time he took a turn cooking for my family, he murdered a batch of pasta sauce. Looked way more like firehouse chili. Horribly scarred for life. But breakfast? Hell. Done. Killed those meals. Thank goodness my mother could and can rule the kitchen, or we’d all have been in serious trouble.

So then there’s Zell’s over there, on Morrison. Something about their quaint corner location on a one-way street, and the nice green trees on the street out front, and the brick building across 13th, it’s weird. You’re sitting inside, and you don’t feel like you’re where you are. Coming up here from Los Angeles, it certainly doesn’t feel at all like that. Nothing like San Francisco. Not exactly Portland, either, to my limited understanding. Maybe a bit like a combination of neighborhoods in New York. A little bit Village, a little bit Brooklynese. So the general feel of the place, inside and out, already has me in a soft spot. Probably cheating a bit, actually. And then you take a seat and BAM! There’s a plateful of mini scones on your table, and some homemade raspberry jam. What is a guy supposed to do then? Fall in love, basically. Oh, another gushing breakfast review. Right. [Read more →]

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Por Qué No? Taqueria on SE Hawthorne Blvd. at SE 47th Ave

August 6th, 2010 · SE Southeast

Portland, OR Restaurant Review: Por Qué No Taqueria

Por Que No Tacos, SE Portland

Dude I love tacos. I should seriously just end the review right there. Dude. I. Love. Tacos. So many of my food desires are sated with these tiny little handfuls of heaven. Stewed, grilled or fried meat or fish. Fresh salsas typically containing onions and cilantro. Small bites and portions. Zest and punch. Throw in a kick sometimes with a pepper. Spicy spicy spicy. Are you with me here? And a meal to knock your socks off when it works, typically for around five bucks. Who can top that? So when tacos are good, I want to get LOUD about it. Loudness. Taco mouth. That’s what it should be called. A reactionary state in which the afflicted goes outside of wherever they currently are, into the public realm, and screams at or near the top of their lungs with joy, in no uncertain terms. It doesn’t matter what they scream, just that they are within visual proximity of the taco restaurant or truck or stand, so that others witnessing their outburst will know that they have been struck with Taco Mouth. That is all.

So Por Qué No?, people. I’m talking seriously good, no nonsense taco heaven here. Not any kind of frilly restaurant experience but my good god are these tacos rockin’ delish. [Read more →]

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