Little Bird ~ Portland, OR

We stopped into this fabulous cozy French restaurant called, Little Bird, past bedtime after our first night on the town in Portland, OR.   This sustainable purveyor of local ingredients serves an amazing small selection of dishes seven nights a week late into the evening.  We ordered burgers based on the waiter’s recommendation and we were not disappointed.  We all got the delicious butter lettuce salad and an order of fries for the table.  This scrumptious bistro is a must try, early or late.

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Beulahland ~ Portland, OR

Before hitting our reservation at Bamboo Sushi, in the Laurelhurst neighborhood, we wanted to see what else the area had to offer.  A quick  recommendation from a friend landed us at a locals spot called, Beulahland.  It is a great dive bar without being too “divey”.  It is a cozy place decorated with quirky art and pinball machines.  Beulahland serves local micro brews, house infused vodka, and Painted Hills beef burgers.  Our nice bartender said the burger was a house favorite and we should definitely try it.  Considering we just had a huge grass-fed beef burger at Urban Farmer for lunch earlier that day and we were anticipating a healthy sampling of sustainable and environmentally friendly sushi, we decided to put it on our list for the next time we are in town.

Pok Pok ~ Portland, OR

One of my favorite restaurants of the entire trip was Pok Pok.  Pok Pok purchases local and natural foods “when possible and practical” which is a great start.  I’m optimistic that the sustainable purchasing happens more often, than not.  Hopefully, one day, Pok Pok will make every dish with all natural and local ingredients. 

We arrived at the restaurant around 8pm after a 15 minute cab ride from downtown.  There was an hour wait so they put our name on the list and said we could wait at their sister restaurant Whiskey Soda until our table was ready.   The Pok Pok hostess gave us a little slip of paper to give to our server at Whiskey Soda so they would be able to notify us when our table was ready.  Thank goodness our hour wait turned out to only be about 30 minutes.  We were becoming ravenous and the small, cheap bites we ordered at Whiskey Soda were disappointing.  After a quick table switch from a small corner on the outside patio to the cozy, warm interior, we were ready to eat.

 The table next to us had the amazing Tilapia special so we knew that was a must have.  We rounded out the fish by ordering  a noodle dish called Kung Op Wun Sen extra spicy.  We were served an entire fish that was as gorgeous as our neighbors and smelled like heaven. The skin was crispy and the inside was flaky and not oily.  The Kung Op Wun Sen came out equally as amazing in a clay pot, noodles on top and pork  belly and prawns on the bottom.  The noodles had a great texture, firmness and heat.  A quick stir meshes it all together for probably the tastiest noodle dish I have had in months. The pictures don’t even do it justice, but  shows you how the story ended.

 

 

Urban Farmer ~ Portland, OR

We had a gluttonous eating itinerary for Portland planned, but not everything goes according to plan, especially in an amazing city like this one with so many sustainable options.

We cruised into town on Tuesday and  had lunch planned at Laurelhurst Market, but unfortunately they were closed for maintenance when we arrived.  From the outside it looked very charming and like a great neighborhood spot. It is on our list for next time. 

We did end up having lunch at The Nines Hotel’s restaurant Urban Farmer.  We chose to dine here because of their commitment to local partners that harvest food responsibly and environmentally friendly. In the restaurant there is a great sign identifying these ecofriendly groups for the food they produce. Lunch consisted of a good, borderline great, Caesar appetizer salad and an amazing giant burger.  The salad was large  enough to split and the dressing tasted good but was a tad too thick for my liking.  The delicate anchovy served with the salad was a nice touch on the plate.   The main course grass-fed, organic burger with an english muffin bun was the size of my head, that we also split.  Hands down, probably the best burger patty I’ve ever had.  It was so fresh, simple, seasoned perfectly, and just all around delicious.  We added the bacon and avocado making it a $18 sandwich ($9 per person) and was worth every penny.  My mouth waters just thinking about it.