2 posts tagged “portland restaurants”
I think it's only right to start a review of Portland bakeries with those close to the heart of downtown Portland. If you know Portland well, you know that the real heart of Portland pumps coffee and ink. The Left aorta is Powell's bookstore. There is a coffee shop in Powells, but to get the real deal for a bakery, dh says you must bake bread. The closest bread bakery is right behind Powell's Technical Bookstore, just up the street in the Pearl district.
Pearl Bakery carries my favorite drink, San Pellegrino lime or Limonata, fresh local organic orange juice, and makes any kind of coffee or espresso drink you like. They also make a good chai.
Dh ordered the ham sandwich, croissant and o.j. , I ordered the turkey and a few pastries to go. They were all fresh and scrumptious. I would like to see a fresh tomato on my sandwich though. I think it had sundried tomatoes with olive oil, which was good, but I love a homegrown tomato.
The apple cranberry tart was amazing to me, but dh said it had too much bite. He likes his apples sweet, I like a counterpoint. We both enjoyed the croissant, but then, who can resist a flakey, fresh baked croissant?! (He said I would need to get my own next time.) See the chocolate brownie in the last photo? I didn't eat it until later. I actually did a horrible thing and left it in the oven too long at home while rewarming it. (I was aghast! Heart broken! Burn chocolate?!!)
Are you hungry yet?
It was such a relaxing weekend! I love being so close to Portland. Some of the best eateries are on 21st, just outside of downtown. I don't go crazy about fusion food (something about sweet potato fizz just doesn't seem like food), but I
do love gourmet cooking. We skipped the reservations and let the wind take us. We parking at the top of the street and started peeking in the doors as we walked. I was recalling a place we'd been before, but was not set on anything in particular. We stopped at Lucy's Table right away and perused the menu. Dh accidentally saw the appetizer price list and said "sure". We asked for a table and was told "probably not", but they would check.
We got very lucky. Dh saw the price list at our table and choked up for a moment, but all was forgiven with the first bite of poultry for him and halibut for me. They were both sublime. So sorry I didn't take photos of the plate for you, but here's the link. (I did snatch their webphoto to show you where we were sitting; next to the last window from the end.)
For starters we had soup. That is Butternut Squash Soup With Truffle Oil. Dh isn't thrilled with squash and was expecting me to order a minestrone, but it was good enough that he ate it anyway. For the main course we had Oven Roasted Free Range Chicken Breast Stuffed with Taleggio & Prosciutto, Served with Scallop Potatoes, & Pan Jus for him and Pan-seared halibut Served with Lemon Mash Potatoes, Asparagus and gravy. I didn't care for the asparagus sauce, but it kept to the left side of the plate while I delicately devoured the right, middle, front and back sides. Oh my goodness. The pan seared top stayed crispy even after being smothered in "juice". Cheered on by the tastebuds, we went for the strawberry rhubarb crumble. He ate it all, but I wished I'd gone for the Boca Negra Moist Warm Flourless Chocolate Cake, Whipped Cream & Nut Florentine. Next time.
