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The Original Burger at Hollywood Burger Bar | Reviewing The Dish
Hollywood Burger Bar Old Fashioned Burger
After having an underwhelming Island Burger at Ate-Oh-Ate, I still hadn't satisfied my craving for a really great burger. I've been to Hollywood Burger Bar on several occasions and while they may have not the number one best burger in Portland, they make a pretty damn good burger. The last time I had attempted to go to the Hollywood Burger Bar it was closed (although it was on a day which the sign said it was open). With no sign in the window to explain the odd closure, it took me a while to warm up to paying it another visit.
This old fashioned Burger Bar has a counter which seats about 10 people and tables for about 5 or 6 more. Orders are taken right at the counter and here's what I ordered:
Original Burger – 1/3 pound ground beef patty on a sesame seed bun with 1000 Island, mayo, lettuce, tomato, pickle & onion for $5.75. I added cheese for $0.50 and had an iced tea for $1.50. My order total was $7.75.
The burger took a good 10-15 minutes to come up, and the wait felt longer than it was given that the space between the chair and the counter was designed for much shorter people. My iced tea came up pretty quick and it was amazingly strong, so strong it needed a TON of sugar to make it palatable. Read more…
Island Burger at Ate-Oh-Ate | Reviewing The Dish
Ate-Oh-Ate Island Burger
Restaurant reviews are inherently problematic. With so many dishes on the menu at many restaurants, it's almost impossible to give a fair assessment of the breadth of food a place offers. Restaurants have their good days and their bad days. As a writer, it's hard to take one visit and one dish as a complete representation of what a place has to offer. To do it right, you really need to revisit a place over a long period of time, sample many of their dishes and see how they do.
With sites like Yelp, Facebook and Twitter, there is also a need for instant coverage. I know when a place opens its doors, I want to know RIGHT AWAY if it's good or not (as unreasonable as that is). So, in an effort to strike a middle ground and try a little something different, we decided to launch a new style of food review. Rather than giving a holistic view that sums up a place, we're going to review a dish. We'll try to hit both new restaurants and ones that have been around a while, the hope being that we'll discover some good dishes and help cross some not-so-great ones off the list to help narrow things down to the real winners on a menu. Read more…
KoiFusion @ 1 Portland's First Pop-Up Restaurant
Koifusion @ {1}
Portland's food cart scene is simply explosive. Once thought to be just a sign of the bad economy, Portland's carts have weaved their way into the local culture in a way that shows they aren't just a temporary stop gap or money saving alternative – they are now part of what makes Portland, Portland.
Like any great experiment, the food cart universe continues to change and evolve, including cart clusters like Cartopias in SE and on N Mississippi, and cart-turned-restaurants like Los Gorditos II.
KoiFusion, one of Porltand's most popular food carts, is furthering the experimentation with a "Pop-Up Shop" restaurant. The pop-up shop concept is not a new one (with temporary stores taking over vacant retail space over the holiday shopping season), but KoiFusion is the first to try to take this concept and apply it to a restaurant.
KoiFusion@1 takes over the failing SOLO lounge in the Pearl (1300 NW Lovejoy) and puts Chef Joe Anderson, formerly of Carlyle and the Portland City Grill, into the kitchen with a menu that expands beyond what can be done in a cart. The most notable addition is the amazingly delicious "KFC – Korean Fried Chicken". These crispy fried bite-sized drumsticks are a symphony of flavors which explode in your mouth. The "KFC" is a quintessential late night craving and a perfect accompaniment to a nice whiskey cocktail. Also on the new menu are Korean spiced french fries, which were equally delicious.
Although KoiFusion knocks it out of the park in the kitchen, the experiment is an abysmal failure on the bar side, with Joshua Palmer, the bar manager from Typhoon/Bo Bar holding on to some of SOLO's vodka heavy drinks. With a cocktail list completely dominated by infused vodka (with the exception of maybe one or two rum drinks), the KoiFusion@1 drink menu is a complete mismatch with the food. The two cocktails I tried from the menu were mostly pre-mixed and the bartenders seemed to be completely disinterested in mixing a quality drink. The result was limp, punch-like drinks which were completely dull and boring.
KoiFusion@1 would do better abandoning its cocktail program all together and simply serving beer and whiskey with the spicy Korean fare. As much as I loved the food, KoiFusion@1 is still a bar and unless they can nail down that side of things this experiment could fail.
With the pop-up restaurant concept KoiFusion will have to prove itself every single month, as the SOLO owners can give give them the boot at any time. It's a big bet on both sides of the equation.
It will be interesting to see if the concept is sustainable or if it's just an interesting recession-era experiment. Either way, the food is worth seeking out. Expect long lines and short runs on their Korean Fried Chicken, but plan on grabbing your drinks somewhere else.
KoiFusion@1 is at 1300 NW Lovejoy. (hours will be 4-midnight to start with lunch being added in the near future)
Slappy Cakes Make Your Own Pancakes in Portland
Slappy Cakes Make Your Own Pancakes In Portland
Several years ago I traveled to Japan with my family. It was a culinary adventure as much as a cultural adventure. In Kyoto our friends took us to one of their favorite restaurants which served okonomiyaki, Japanese style savory pancakes made right at your table. While I can't say I loved the funky array of flavors in my okonomiyaki, I did really enjoy the experience of making it myself.
Slappy Cakes (4246 Southeast Belmont Street) takes all the interworkings of the the okonomiyaki – batter served at your table, mixed with ingredients and cooked on an in-table flat griddle – and puts a distinctly Portland spin on it. Instead of savory Japanese pancakes, Slappy Cakes offers traditional pancakes with a wide array of mix-ins, from uber sweet chocolate chips to savory bacon and blue cheese.
Diners are offered a choice of batters including traditional buttermilk, buckwheat, vegan, peanut butter, and gluten-free. To this they can select from a large list of mix-in ingredients including blueberries, lavender honey, lemon curd, chocolate chips, cherries, bananas, bacon, blue cheese, fresh herbs and more. The pancake batter is delivered in a squeeze bottle which makes getting it onto the griddle extremely easy, and toppings come in little gravy boats. Read more…
Welcome to Valhalla – Portland's Newest Food Cart
This Way to Valhalla
Portland's food cart scene is one of the most dynamic and explosive in the country. What's exciting to see is how the food carts are growing and flourishing beyond the defined cart clusters (or cart villages like SE 12th and Hawthorne, often called "Cartopia").
This month the scene got a huge enforcement when Burgerville decried 'if you can't beat them, join them' and launched its own mobile food cart called the Burgerville Nomad.
But Matthew "Black Arm" Woodard doesn't think too highly of the big businesses jumping into the cart scene. "Cart's are for the little guy, not big businesses to make even more money". Woodard is the owner of Portland's newest food cart, Valhalla. Formerly a welder, Woodard decided to beat the economic downturn with a food cart specializing in Vegetarian and Vegan comfort food. "There aren't a lot of affordable veg sandwiches in this town. Backspace is $8!"
Perfectly Grilled Vegan Sandwhich
Launched on the hottest day in Portland in over twenty years, Portland's newest food cart helps fill the gaps in the dining options on SE Hawthorne. Located on SE 33rd and Hawthorne, tucked behind the Dollar Scholar, Valhalla serves up a simple and affordable menu that is sure to quickly find a following.
While the menu might be simple, the tastes are anything but. I had the Vegan Garden sandwich, which came panini-grilled on two slices of Grand Central Baking Como bread filled with Tofutti cream cheese, cucumber, sprouts and tomato. The bread was brushed with a rosemary vegan butter and grilled to absolute perfection. All the ingredients in the sandwich were fresh and the tomatoes were bursting with flavor. The sandwich cost only $5 – $3 less than its equivalent across town.
To accompany the sandwich I had a cup of the Vegan Creamy Tomato soup. More subtle in flavor, the soup was not overly creamy and had a nice mix of flavors. It's not your plain ordinary tomato soup and it's clear a lot of tought went into the combination of flavors.
Valhalla's Menu
The rest of my family got the three cheese and tomato sandwich ($4) which featured Boar's Head Cheese on Grand Central Bread. Also cooked to perfection, these grilled cheese sandwiches were gobbled up in no time.
Next time I visit Valhalla (and there will be many next times) I'll try the Vegan Sloppy Joes which were highly recommended by Woodard. He also indicated that he'd be carrying homemade pickles that are sure to impress.
With fantastic food at good prices, Valhalla should do extremely well and show that great carts can succeed even when they are outside the cart clusters.
Valhalla Sandwich Co. is located at 3279 SE Hawthorne Blvd (right behind Dollar Scholar). Hours haven't been set yet but they should be 11am to around 10pm daily.
Follow Valhalla on Twitter @valhallacartpdx
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