20 posts tagged “portland”

Seen on the Rose Garden/Pittock Mansion hike:

Seen around my work campus:

And near the Millikan Way Max station:

And on the way to the Farmer's Market from my home:

Larger versions can be found in the Adventures of Pech 2009 Picasa Album

Ever since I moved here, I have noticed on the way back on the Portland Streetcar, there has been this really nice looking Indian restaurant along the way. The stop I get off to walk across PSU and then home is still another stop away, so I never got off early to take a look. I remedied that last week.

Inside East India Co Grill is a very contemporary restaurant- they have a list of interesting (and strong!) cocktails. I would say although the presentation is modern, the food itself tastes very traditional, though not the "home-cooked hole in the wall" that has been the current Indian restaurant fave, Tandoor. East India Co certainly does have a classier atmosphere going for it though, and beautiful looking food, even if the complexity of flavor, in my opinion, really varies. I think I've been spoiled by my experience at Rasika in Washington DC, as East India Co seems to try to do something similar but isn't quite up to par.

To start was the Papdi Chaat- mini crispy poories filled with potatoes and spiced with chaat then topped with yogurt, tamarind, and mint chutney. This looked great when presented, though it gets destroyed when trying to cut it up to share. The flavor of this one was very good. Along with this, not pictured, was papadum along with the red tamarind sauce and mint chutney. The papadums were perfectly fine (who could possibly mess that up?), but I wished the two sauces had more kick. My cocktail, a Sharaabi Lassi (Sub Rosa Saffron Vodka and Mango lassi) was giving me more of a kick.

My main dish was Begam Bahar Ratan of baby scallops and chopped asparagus cooked in an aromatic sauce with cashew nuts, lemon, ginger, green chilies and cilantro, accompanied with rice and the lentil stew of the day. The stew was great, and I think if they had held back just a bit on the cream the taste of the scallops and asparagus and other seasonings would have come through instead of being muddled. Look at that cute little pyramid of rice...

The naan and garlic kulcha was warm and fluffy and slighlty doughy, definitely fresh, which was great. The side of dahl (slow cooked lentil) was a bit on the blander side though (and it doesn't have to be prepared that way), and the other main dish of Aloo Gobi of cauliflower with new potatoes, stir fried with ground spices & tomatoes garnished with cilantro, was ok, nothing special. My second cocktail of Rangpur Chill (cucumber and Indian green chilies muddled and shaken over ice with Tanqueray’s Rangpur Lime Gin) was pleasant but could have used a bit more chili though the combinition with the cucumber was a brilliant idea. We finished everything off with pistacho kulfi, which was a soothing mix of flavors and textures that ended the meal on a high note.

So the theme was- I liked it a lot/it was just ok. I would go back again since it is a short walk away, rather than necessarily going all the way to the other side of downtown, if I wanted Indian food, though the prices here are also reflective of the atmosphere here being crafted rather than a hole in the wall that plays Indian music videos on a TV during the meal. Sometimes you want a classy ethnic meal though.

On the other hand, there are also two Indian carts around the corner that I want to try. They offer all vegetarian chaats, which are snacky appetizer bites, but I also am drawn in by their War of the Roses type story.   

It's true that Portland isn't sunny everyday. But, its not so dark and dreary and rainy that it's really that different from winter in the Midwest. Oh, except it isn't as chillingly cold! It's chilly, but not uncomfortably so like the temperature is below zero or anything.

Maybe I was lucky because my first winter here happened to be unusual. We got lots of snow (as seen in previous post during December) where for two weeks, Portland had several feet of snow and it was a winter wonderland where the city closed down and kids were off school and snowman-making and sledding excitedly. The other winter days yes, had cloudy days, but at least once a week, there were sunny days too, or glimpses that were enough to hold onto and brighten the week from being depressing. Even though there was sometimes rain, it was drizzly not hard rain most of the time that cleaned everything up so it was fresher. It barely got below freezing this winter. The worst part was just ice- which was pretty to see, but not great to walk on trying to get from place to place. Fortunately, since it wasn't below freezing very much, the ice was only annoying for a week or so before it was gone.

I work in Beaverton, so I go west everyday, away from the city, and to the other side of the West Hills. In fact, my train (and cars) goes through the huge Robertson Tunnel that is 3 miles long, and the stop inside the hill is the second deepest such station in the world, according to Wikipedia, passing through basalt up to 16 million years old (samples are in that station on display). The hills pretty much blocks all of my view of the downtown of the city and its surroundings.

Once in a while though, as I go down from the house towards the Max station at Goose Hollow, or before the Max goes through the tunnel on the way back home, I might see a glimpse of a snowy white peak. This past weekend, with the weather sunny and approaching the 70s, on Saturday I finally got a chance to hike up to from NW Burnside to the International Rose Garden and past the Japanese Garden along the Wildwood Trail to Pittock Mansion  to get a better look.

From the Rose Garden, where Mt Hood started to tease me. Here are the highlights of from pictures of the day:

Between the Rose Garden and Pittock Mansion on Wildwood Trail, we came across a pleasant, unexpected sight:

and then the full reveal at the backyard of Pittock Mansion:

The trail was very hilly up here in Washington Park, but all those squats I do during the week and my daily walk home up the hill definitely helped keep me going. It was much easier doing those 3.8 miles on the way down than up. The really muddy parts of the trail- the kind where when you step in them you sink down and the mud makes this sort of burping sound with your foot- were not great. On the other hand, I also saw joggers run past and then back- and one of them was a girl who was chatting non-stop as she ran, both times she went past me. I was a little stiff that evening after sitting anyplace too long and the morning after, but I'm fine now. You can totally do both these views by driving and parking mere yards away without the hike. The sequoias though- would mean you'd have to at least put in a little walk to that. 

Things I would advertise to potential visitors of Portland...

1. Waterfalls- a mere 30 minutes from downtown Portland, you can visit the Columbia Valley Gorge area all the way to the Dalles where you can view cliffs 1500 feet above the water, all following the Historic Columbia River Highway. The highway was built with the scenery in mind and echoes classic Italian masonry- you can see 75 waterfalls, includnig Multnomah Falls and a few others that you literally can drive only a dozen yards or so away to park and take a short walk to the thundering water.

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2. Mountains in the horizon- there aren't many places you can visit a volcano... much less be able to really see the before and after of nature since its eruption in 1980. But yet, Mount St Helens is only 2 hours away from Portland. St Helens is not what you see in the many shots of the city looming in the distance though (fair warning, on clear days)- that's Mount Hood, and sometimes we also glimpse Mount Rainier. The shot below is probably taken from the International Test Rose Garden in Portland (which contains more than 10,000 plantings of more than 500 varietals), or the lawn of Pittock Mansion. The Japanese Garden is not far from the Rose Garden so you might want to stop while you are up there, but I actually prefer the Portland Classical Chinese Gardens because you can have tea and Chinese snacks while perhaps listening to classical chinese musicans in the old fashioned teahouse (which is almost like in those old fashioned chinese movies- the buildnig in the background in the photo below is the teahouse!).

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You can also get a great view on a clear day on the Aerial Tram that is only $4 roundtrip from the Oregon Health & Science medical offices at the bottom to the OHSU University campus at the top. You should have at least visited here Dr. Lynn... 

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3. Oregon Coast- sandy beaches with rocky outcroppings catching tide pools of ocean life, and stone bluffs with pounding waves threatening the lighthouses: beautiful, see for yourself by visiting the Oregon Coast Visitor's Assoc' image library of more than 1200 photos.

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4. Touring the country- Napa and Sonoma Valley are not the only areas to enjoy touring wineries. The Oregon Wine Board notes that Oregon Wine Country includes 15 winegrowing regions and more than 300 wineries! Willamette Valley is fairly close at a little over an hour away, and has a lot to offer. For those looking for fruit in another form than liquid, drive an hour the other direction and follow the Fruit Loop for 35 miles or farmlands and orchards - there's still wine, but also fruits, lavendar, and....alpacas.

5. Opposites, all in one state. I've never been, but I've always wanted to go to Crater Lake. It looks beautiful, even though it is a caldera- it is a collapsed volcano that has filled with rain and melted snow, and there is no inlet or outlet to it so its water is pretty pure- and thusfamous for that surreal blue as well as being the deepest lake in the US, and 7th deepest in the world.

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On the other hand, did you know there are deserts in Portland also? Just go to Central and Eastern Oregon deserts, including the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument for the Painted Hills as shown below. Check out this flickr set- why go to the southwest when it's right here?

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And of course, there's also my wonderful ability to find good eats and drinks everywhere I go. Maybe that's my superhero power.

The original plan was to go to Bailey's Taproom for Friday, and then the Spring Beer and Wine Festival on Saturday. I had been ancticipating the Spring Beerfest for a while, but not really for the beer. Instead, it was the Tour de Cheese that excited me, where five cheese companies and Whole Foods knowledgable cheese peeps would spoil me with slivers of cheese. All of this still occured, but as a bonus, I got an email from Saucebox the day before touting their new drink of the season. I couldn't help but add to my plans with a stop at Saucebox after their advertisement.

"Saucebox Innovation brings ETERNAL YOUTH

Introducing the new Saucebox GojiBerry cocktail:
Eternal Youth made with sun-dried, all-natural goji berries from Heaven Mountain in Central Asia. This delicious "super-fruit" is the world's most-powerful anti-aging food, rated #1 on the ORAC (Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity) scale. We muddle housemade Goji-ice with kaffir lime infused gin, lilikoi and lime for the perfect drink you can enjoy while treating yourself well. This specialty cocktail is exclusive to Saucebox and is available in limited quantities."

What better way to celebrate a birthday (not mine- mine is April 29, so still a couple weeks away). I grabbed a table when they opened, and started the celebration. Though the drink pictures looks red in the email campaign, it was orange when I received it.

It is an excellent drink, with a refreshing taste, some nice texture with the crushed ice, and packs a nice alcoholic buzz with it, so food was needed if we were going to make it to Bailey's across the street. Hello $1-5 happy hour menu of perfectly crispy and salted frites in a generous bowl, crispy Sweet Potato Spring Rolls with lettuce, cilantro, and sour lime dipping sauce that more than made up for the perfectly cooked but blander rolls, peanut noodles, and the super flavorful pulled pork udon noodle with egg.

And that food was needed, because besides the Kickboxer drink I had last time (with the Thai chile vodka with passionfruit puree and citrus juices, topped with raspberry puree- still a great drink, but shouldn't be had with the pulled pork noodle because it's too much flavor for any tongue to handle without being overwhelmed), we continued the birthday celebration after the Eternal Youth with the ridiculously pretty and fruity pineapple for two.

I've heard of the urban legend of the deliciousness of Toro Bravo, similar to Pok Pok, ever since I first moved to Portland. It is raved about by the local press and web bloggers and foodies in the area, as well as some people I know at work. However, I haven't had a chance to visit because 1. They don't take reservations unless you are a group of 7 or more, and I don't have the patience to wait 2. It is tapas, which is generally limited veggie-friendly and small-dish focused, which means you have to really be willing to share or pay as much as a medium-end restaurant but for tiny plates to get full.

Fortunately, I finally had the opportunity to dine there with a group, and got to taste a lot of the dishes. My summary would be that the food was great- full of flavor, the atmosphere was charged and fun. But, it was also noisy- the room not having good sound proofing is one thing, but did the music have to be so loud on top of the echoes of people and the open kitchen and their pans prepping food right there? We also had a disastrous experience with the check and the waitress insisting she could not divide up the check, and then running one charge at a time and bringing an updated check, and then running another charge an an updated check... and then losing the cash because one of the check clipboards obscured a bunch of $20s. It was ridiculous, especially for a party of 14 people, on a Sunday evening so it wasn't crazy busy (though still hopping, even on a Sunday!).

But let's focus on the food. They charge $1 for bread with butter and olive oil. I thought this was stupid. Tapas come to the table family style and as they are ready, which means that at any given time, you might only have one dish devoured by the 5 people in just 4 minutes, and then have to wait another 10 minutes and suddenly have 3 dishes put down. Since people order different tapas, someone who doesn't eat dairy products or red meat other diet restricted may have to wait until the next round of dishes to appear. Bread tides over the uneven timing of food for a smoother dining experience, and I don't think the restaurant should have charged the customer for it.

I didn't try the bread plate in protest of this. My first bite of food ended up being the Tortilla Espanola with nettles. I always get a tortilla as a tapa because it is one of the ways I judge a tapas restaurant. Tortillas should be firm but not too solid, and cool to room temperature but not chilled. Because this is a cold tapa, it usually comes out immediatly too, which I appreciate (especially with the lack of bread). In fact, my tortilla was passed out at the same time as the bread plate another diner ordered at my table. They were really generous with their sauces on the tortilla, and it was a chucky pie size with a creamy mayo sauce and a spicier red sauce (but not very spicy). It was a tasty start, and I wouldn't mind ordering it again to start a tapas experience again here, though definitely be prepared to share this portion! In the photo, the other side looks exactly the same but with the red sauce instead of the white, that's how big this thing was. Another diner thought the nettles would be bitter or sharp, but they added just a subtle counterpoint to the egg and potato.

I did get to try two pinchos (the tortilla is actually a tapas dish, though the bread and butter/olive oil is a pincho). One was the Manchego and Paprika Fritters with spicy salsa roja. These fritters are very small- think the size of the dime. I tasted more of the friedness than the manchego and paprika, and they were timid with the salsa, sadly. Disappointing. Thankfully, at the same time these fritters arrived, so did the Griddled Bacon Wrapped Dates with warm honey. At $6 and 3 dates in the dish, you're talking about $2 a piece for a date with its bacon wrapper and drizzle of sweet honey. But, this delicious complexity of flavor is worth ordering every time.

In terms of Tapas, I tried quite a bit of different dishes, thanks to the sharing nature of my dining friends.

The passable and mediocre tapas plates: The Crab & Chicken Croquettes with samfaina were piping hot when they arrived at the table, and had good chunks of crab and chicken inside that burst as you bit in. The samfaina, the cut up vegetable sauce that came with them, could have used more juicy vegetables to compliment the croquettes as the veggies seemed a bit dry and were more like a diced vegetable side than a sauce. The Harissa Stewed Butternut Squash with crumbled sheep's cheese wasn't bad- lots of flavors on the tongue, though the texture was overall mush but tasted good- the cheese is barely there. I think an extra touch of another type of texture would have really elevated this dish. The Sauteed Spinach with pine nuts & golden raisins was unremarkable but good to add some veggies and non-battered plate to the mix. I was surprised the amount of sauteed spinach was so small- probably only a fistful, and you probably know how spinach shrinks when sauteed. When I saute spinach just for myself, I probably make twice as much just for myself (usually two handfuls).

The Oxtail Croquettes with spice roasted chili mayonnaise- you end up with 3 croquettes for $14. The flavor is good, very savory and rich, but there is another beef dish which you would get better bang for your taste, and value for your stomach portion-wise, for the same price: the House Smoked Coppa Steak with olive oil poached potatoes, chopped olives & salbitxada. I only had a little bite of this steak that was the entire length of a palm, and you didn't even need the rest of the sides because the steak itself was so full of flavor. It's like a whole entree, for the same $14 price that you would have gotten the below oxtail croquettes.

The really amazing tapas plates: The House Smoked Coppa Steak I mentioned previously that has steak that is so good just plain and on its own,, and the Tortilla (as well as those bacon wrapped dates). Also, the Spicy Octopus & Prawn Stew was crazy good. It's actually so much flavor packed into a single spoonful that I don't know how you can finish a bowl by yourself and not have your tastebuds be numb from overstimulation. At first acquaintance on your tongue, you taste the vegetables, and then the seafood blossoms flavorfully until you rae kicked by the spicy heat at the end. And that's the experience with every single spoonful. Wow.

Although my review sounds mixed above, I really do think they have a lot of home runs with their flavor profiles- I would not recommend having so many fritters and croquettes in one sitting as it is a bit overwhelming. The dishes I highlighted are truly amazing, and I admit I have been spoiled by tapas in Chicago at Cafe Iberico and Cafe BaBaReeba, but Toro Bravo definitely is a cut above that. One thing I should also note is that I didn't notice anyone ordering paella at all here, nor sangria pitchers, which would have been the course in Chicago. I think that at the heart of it, they are very like what you would expect if you had tapas in Spain, and so expecting 100% perfection on what is essentially drinking food is holding it to a high standard. 

Next door to Toro Bravo is this adorable little bar with little bites called The Secret Society. They have lots of wonderful drinks and a few teeny bites to tide you over- we went here for the after the bill paying fiasco for a little breather, and it was lovely. I didn't try any bites except for one cheese straw to go along with my brandy champagne cocktail, but the cheese straw was a tasty morsel to go with the even tastier drink that packed a surprise punch. If you do find yourself coming to Toro Bravo, make sure you stop here afterwards to unwind from the more hectic atmosphere of Toro Bravo.

I'm happy to announce that finally, I found a Thai restaurant in Portland that just blew me away. I finally was able to get a driver and dining friends to Pok Pok. Pok Pok is pretty famous in Portland and is on the "Best Restaurant" local list, but is a bit more of a pain to get to via public transportation. I know that the chef is known for specializing in Southeast Asian street food, not the fancy stuff of Typhoon or the regular cooking found in a myriad of many other Thai establishments offering pad thai and fried rice, and non-spicy curries which have been tamed with coconut milk.

And most exciting for me, there is a lot of Northern Thai cuisine offered. So when I went, my eyes went immediately, after trying to understand the english transliterations of the Thai food dishes, to Kaeng Hung Leh, a curry withsweet pork belly and pork shoulder curry with ginger, palm sugar, tamarind, turmeric, Burmese curry powder and pickled garlic. It was marinated just to the right falling off the bone tenderness, and the curry was very savory and rich- more rich than I had in Chiang Mai, but I had no problems with this upgrade.

My drink of choice, a bloody mary with Thai chili vodka, didn't have the fruitiness of the Kickboxer from Saucebox, but did have the tell-tale recognizable taste of those little Thai hot peppers, so it was good enough for me. I would have liked a bit more tomato though.

As for the Het Paa Naam Tok, a Spicy Isaan forest mushroom “salad” with soy sauce, lime and chili powder dressing, shallots,lemongrass,mint, cilantro and toasted rice powder (basically the vegetarian equivalent of the traditional Waterfall Thai Beef dish), it was ok. The Khao Soi with tofu, a vegetarian version of my usual nothern style curry with egg noodle dish, was described as being made with their "secret curry paste recipe, natural chicken on the bone and house-pressed fresh coconut milk. Served with pickled mustard greens, shallots, crispy yellow noodles and roasted chili paste. Chiang Mai specialty, with Burmese origins." The curry itself had great flavor, though I admonished my companions for not using the sides, but the noodles were not fresh egg noodles (though the crispy noodles were right on), so I will have to look elsewear for Khao Soi. I have noticed that other normal Thai restaurants also offer this dish, not just ones that specialize in Northern Thai style food, so there is still potential for me to find a substitute for my fix back in Chicago that I only got from my favorite Thai restaurant Sticky Rice. This dish would taste a lot better with the chicken too instead of being vegetarian (the soup itself of the curry is good), but the noodles are too important for me to forgive.

The Khanom Jiin Naam Yaa, a ground fresh fish curry with krachai, lemongrass, chilies and glangal, served over rice vermicelli with herbs, pickled mustard greens and boiled egg, did not have enough daring fish parts and I was able to tell. Passable, but not remarkable.

A nice surprise was a Vietnamese dish of Ca Muc Nuong, with nice squares of large calamari, grilled whole over charcoal, chopped and served with lettuce and herbs served with a spicy lime/garlic/chile dipping sauce. That dipping sauce was awesomely spicy.

 
I tried to challenge Pok Pok by ordering a dessert which sounded like an improvement of normal breakfast food: Pok Pok Affogato, which they offer as condensed milk ice cream drowned in a shot of Vietnamese coffee, served with a Chinese fried donut. I thought the donut was fried too crispy rather than being doughy on the inside and crisp on the outside-it would shatter as we tried to break it, almost like a chip. But it tasted perfect, and the bowl of ice cream and coffee was perfection.

I also tried the Coconut Ice Cream Sandwich, which is coconut - jackfruit ice cream served on a sweet bun with sweet sticky rice, peanuts, condensed milk and chocolate syrup. The sweet bun was not sweet enough though, not like what you would get in Thailand. But, I was still impressed by the Pok Affogato and am ok with it. I smile because they did get the size of the scoops of ice cream right!

Next time I go, I already have ideas on what I want. I would try the Kai Yaang (roasted chicken), Papaya Pok Pok (which is one of their specialities and namesake because of the sound made when mashing ingredients with morter and pestle), the Sii Khrong Muu Yaang which sounds like its been fancied up slightly (Carlton Farms baby back ribs marinated in whisky, soy, honey, ginger and Thai spices. slow grilled over charcoal and served with 2 spicy dipping sauces), and Yam Khai Dao, described in the menu as a salad of crispy fried egg,Thai chilies, Chinese celery, onions and carrot with lime, palm sugar and fish sauce dressing. Yams are all based on their balance of acidity, so it is delicate mixing and not just a salad of ingredients thrown together.

Until we meet again, Pok Pok...

I have found my favorite happy hour in Portland so far. At Saucebox, their happy hour from 4:30-6:30 T-Fri and 5-6:30 on Sat, boasts a 2 page menu of bites from $1 to $5, ranging from taro chips and spring rolls to udon noodles, burgers, and spare ribs. They also have a lot of really interesting drinks. I went for the Kickboxer- house infused Thai chili vodka with passionfruit puree and citrus juices and then topped with raspberry puree was delicious! Your first mouthful gives the sensation of delightful fruit juices, but then you get kicked by the chili! I loved it, it is my new favorite drink in Portland.

Their happy hour menu is incredibly impressive- three $1 items, three $2 items, six $3 items, eight $4 items, and four $5 items does not leave you wanting for what to order. The food is most Asian, though they also offer some normal bar favorites like a whole deep cereal bowl full of fries, and quarter pound sized burgers. They have a dozen really interesting signature cocktails, or you can go for the house red or white for $5, or a small little carafe of warm sake for $4. A great deal.

I was able to try the pork sarong, which is two meatballs with deep-fried noodles and a tamarind dipping sauce, was ok, but for that same $3 you would be better off with the crispy sweet potato spring rolls another person ordered at my table. Saucebox's $5 happy hour special (their upper end) included crispy pork spareribs with a orange ginger bbq sauce. The meat was so good I didn't even use the sauce. It was tender and falling off the bone meat, but thanks to the quick deep-fry the outside was super crispy crackly. This is better shared because 3 ribs was little too much for me- have one and get another dish or two (sorry for the blurred picture- the Kickboxer and the sake definitely affected me)! Another dining friend had the pulled pork udon for $4, which was a great burst of flavor and is also recommended, though a bit hard to eat with the slipperyness- don't be afraid to ask for a fork instead of using the chopsticks.

Tables filled up quickly between 4:30-5 with trendy hipsters making for some interesting people-watching in the atmosphere of dark wood and huge mirrors. This is just down the street from the Big Pink building, and so I am already itching to go back and try some more.

For some reason, on my walk today, I came across these three, and took a photo of all three. Now I feel like playing Rampage.

This one I had seen many times since it is by PSU. One day I will eat here at the South Park Seafood Grill.

This one I have also seen many times, and it is pretty well known. In fact, usually you say the name of the restaurant "Greek Cusina" and "purple octopus" together. I can sort of see why it is associated with this restaurant- they do serve marinated octopus, and he seems to be a mascot, along with the color purple, if you examine their website. But the eyebrows really bother me.

This was a new one for me. His name I guess is Jake, of Jake's Grill and Jake's Famous Crawfish. I'm not quite sure what he is- crawfish or crab?

This weekend I enjoyed a stroll around the Pearl District, finished off by the Confessions of A Shopaholic movie. I found the movie more fun than the book actually- the book, and the book series in general (admittedly which I gave up after reading 3 of the books), made me annoyed which how she never seemed to grow and learn to handle her problem with consumerism, debt, and being truthful, plus her rationalizations in the book were stupid. The movie focuses much more on rounding her out as a character with showing much more the exhilaration she gets from shopping so the viewer is more forgiving, and she is implied to have learned better at the film's end. Isla Fischer is quite the talented and likable actress as well, balancing intelligence with bad choices in a sympathetic way. It's not the deepest movie, but it's marketed as fluffy fun so I overlooked its numerous leap from reality and some of the caricatures they use for characters.

I also finally made it to Oba! I have heard lots of great reviews on this restaurant, but never gone since it seemed very trendy, and I just didn't feel like waiting for a table when there are so many other places to try which don't require as much of a wait. Besides, Andina is just around the corner... Well, I was only there for happy hour, but I would like to return again for actual dinner. I had three drinks, the favorite being the guava margarita. The prickly pear margarita was a frightening shade of fuschia, and the mojito not muddled enough to give that minty zing that you get from better mojitos at Andina's or W. At $5, the prices of the margaritas during happy hour were just right, but the mojito didn't deserve it's $10 price tag.

I enjoyed two appetizers with my cocktails. One was the ecuadorian griddled potato cakes of yukon gold potatoes, muenster cheese, achiote and green onions topped with peanut sauce- I thought the flavor profile was good, but it needed better texture instead of just being soft mush.

The other was the chilé-corn fritters with pasilla-tomato sauce andlime crema- this had the much needed crunch that the potato cakes should have had a bit of, but to the opposite end because they were pretty greasy and could have used more sauce to balance out the oil. Despite the sauce you see in the picture, it didn't have enough kick to be that counterweight. Looking around though, I saw many other interesting tapas being enjoyed around me, and the dinner menu offering items such as costillas con sofrito (pound of carlton farms babyback pork ribs marinated in tomatoes, onions, cilantro and kahlua. finished on the mesquite grill) and roasted butternut squash enchiladas with creamy toasted walnut sauce and quinoa salad, among other options, seem intriguing.

Oba also is located kitty corner from Giorgio's though, which was highlighted by Gourmet magazine and other publications for their homemade pasta, and Ten 01 known for its farm-to-table approach and Restaurant of the Year 2008, is only a few blocks away. I may visit those two before Oba for a special occasion, but Oba is the perfect atmosphere for a more energizing trendy evening. Whew, it's a good thing this neighborhood is totally unaffordable to live in- I walked past a listing for an apartment/mini-townhouse and the listing on the flyer was... 1.5 million dollars. Granted, it was by the streetcar line, but... it's by the streetcar, and the train whistling through the railyards here I can even hear from my apartment more than 2 miles away.