Way back on Valentine’s Day, Rob and I took a quick weekend trip up to Portland. Both of us always seem to be excruciatingly busy with work in February so this was a perfect time for a foodie getaway to a new city. 🙂
We don’t know how to start our mornings without caffeine so on our first day we walked over to Stumptown, a locally owned shop and roaster known for its quality coffee.

I am NOT a coffee connoisseur (what can I say? I love my Starbucks) but I thought it was excellent!
Although the main focus of our trip was to eat our way through the city, we managed to squeeze in a little sightseeing. We rented a car for a day and headed east to visit the waterfalls along the Columbia River Highway. Too bad for us it was the one day that was super overcast and rainy that weekend.

But Multnomah Falls was so beautiful! Even despite the rain. I’m sure it would be even more stunning during the Spring and Summer when the surrounding trees have grown back their leaves. I had originally wanted to hike the half mile up to the Benson foot bridge that you see in the photo but the rain started coming down too hard and the pathways were getting slick and muddy.

We also made a pit stop at Wahkeena Falls.

Our last stop before heading back downtown was the Vista House, which is an observatory and rest area for travelers.

It also has an incredibly stunning view of the gorge.
So, the food! When we were planning the trip, my colleagues in Portland sent me a looooong list of places to try. It was difficult narrowing down the list to a select few but I think we did a great job. Everything we had was pretty fan-freaking-tastic.
I learned Portland is a huge weekend breakfast/brunch city. Waits are long but the food is so worth it.

We shared an insanely good (and gut-busting) biscuit sandwich and fried green tomatoes at Pine State Biscuits.

And a ridiculously yummy Swedish breakfast at Broder.

I’m a HUGE fan of Thai food so there was no doubt that we would dine at Pok Pok.

We were too late for lunch and too early for dinner so they only had the transition menu available (darn, I was really looking forward to trying their noodle dishes!). Luckily they were serving their signature fish sauce wings. YUM! I’m seriously drooling right now thinking about them. They were the kind of yummy where you want to lick your fingers and lick your plate to get every last delicious morsel. OMGSOGOOD.
Our dinners were just as memorable too. On the recommendation of our good friends R & R, we went to Andina for Peruvian tapas in the Pearl District. We shared ceviche, a selection of oysters, avocados stuffed with crab and other goodies.

But we didn’t share dessert. We each had to get our own for double the yumminess. The trio of crème brûlée was amazing.
Our last dinner in Portland was at Beast. Rob’s a Top Chef Masters fan and had seen Chef Naomi Pomeroy in season 3. So we were excited to check out her restaurant. I took pictures but it’s so dark in there (and I’m a total amateur) that they’re not really share-worthy. But WOWEE, the tasting menu was damn good. Seemingly simple dishes like a cauliflower soup and a beet, orange, fennel, goat cheese salad were highlights. I highly recommend Beast BUT be prepared — seating is all communal which we had no problems with (even if we did, our tablemates didn’t talk to us anyway, lol). AND since the six course tasting menu is the only option, there are no changes or substitutions to the menu — even for dietary restrictions. Totally not an issue for us, just a PSA.

Here we are waiting for dinner service at Beast! One of our very few pictures together on this trip (it’s hard to get pics when it’s just the two of you, grrr).
And because everyone always asks, yes we did go to Voodoo Doughnuts. We went late at night so the line wasn’t too long at all. We shared a maple bacon bar and it was just… ok. It was fine for the 10 minutes we waited but I wouldn’t wait in the ridiculous morning lines that we saw. I’ve heard that it’s overrated and I tend to agree but I’m pretty stubborn and like to try things myself. 😉
All in all, Portland reminded me a lot of Berkeley (our old stomping grounds!) so I felt at home right away. Thank you, Portland, for such a FAB time with my valentine. 🙂
For more pics, check our Flickr here.
Blog Update – Portland – http://t.co/Keqrf8VIs3
Very cool, thinking of heading there around in July too.
Aww, it looks like a wonderful getaway 🙂 what’s the next adventure?