D.F., no lo me gusta

Still haunted by the quickly-fading memory of amazing mole and tacos we had in Los Angeles, we decided to chase the tastes, and our instincts led us to D.F., where lavendersoda had found yummy mexican morsels once before.

We found D.F. tucked into a corner of the Pearl, across from Tanner Park (worth a walk through. nice, composed, urban nature. cute!). We scored one of the high booths along the front of the restaurant. They're a great little respite from the acoustically-challenging slab concrete walls and floor. Whlle waiting for our third, we ordered drinks and a round of chips and guacamole. For lavendersoda, the Refresca, which lived up to its name with mint-infused tequila, tonic, cucumber and a sprig of mint. Though I'm sure the bartender wouldn't miss-mix a drink on their own menu, there wasn't a taste of tonic, just soda. Either way, two rounds were ordered. For noneifbysea, the Tradicional margarita, a TART take on a favorite drink. Lucky for NIBS, tart= good.

The guacomole was great- light and fresh, maybe it could have used a squeeze more of lime. The salsas were (HOW WERE THE SALSAS?).

To start, we also ordered up two of the al pastor tacos and two of the barbacoa. These are nice, traditional little tacos. Two or three meaty bites in a warm corn tortilla. The al pastor, shredded pork with pineapple was barely the favorite. The barbacoa, a goat taco, was just meaty and gamey, and not in an exciting way. Maybe it's because we had just had some amazing little tacos in LA, but these were just OK.

For the main course, we went heavy on the mole. The oaxacan mole negro, served over a skirt steak, was favored over the mole poblano, served with chicken. There wasn't as huge of a distinction between the two, and neither came out fighting with that awesome savory chocolate thing that a good mole does, where there's an incredible depth of flavor and complexity, where cinnamon hovers over the palate and chocolate smoothness just makes you shake your head. It wasn't here. It was good, it just wasn't great. The third in our party got the garlic shrimp, which though neither of us tried, looked pretty alright. I know that if it had been spectacular, a bite would have been forced on one of us. It wasn't.

And then there's the bill. $100 for the three of us (four drinks, guac, four little tacos, two main courses, and another app- the shrimp dish was a small portion). We had amazing mexican food in LA for next to nothing, and for the life of us, we can't figure out why it hasn't happened here yet. We realize that just five or so years ago, there was no mexican food to speak of in Portland, and that this catagory has expanded by leaps and bounds. This is some of the better mexican food in Portland, which is sad to admit. But, when we really need our fix, we're going to venture out to taco carts or to the Hispanic markets and see what we can't make ourselves.


food: we wanted it to be good, but it just wasn't. The more we thought about it, the sadder we were.
drink: good drinks. can't knock the drinks. Try the refresca, you'll like it.
atmosphere: the pearl at its most pearlescent. Which for NIBS and Lavendersoda, isn't always a bad thing
strikes: oh, the food. and our high expectations, which were struck down unceremoniously
tally: lavendersoda takes one for the team on this one. This time, memory didn't serve well.

First bites back part 2

After a bad dim sum scene in LA, noneifbysea was adamantly convinced that he was done with Chinese food. Ridiculous, right? So in a calculated way to get an Asian food fix, get a for-sure tally on the good list, and hopefully change NIBS’ view of all Chinese cuisine, we headed over to Sungari Pearl.

This is the only place we’ve ever been in Portland where one of us wondered out loud if we were underdressed. Somehow, our usual jeans and t-shirts seemed a little too casual in this glass-enclosed enclave. It just feels elegant in there. “It’s Portland,” I said. ‘We’re fine.” So we sat down, strategically placing the linen napkins on our laps to cover any bike grease marks.

Drinks! Always a fun cocktail list, and of course, I can’t remember for the life of me what I got. Something vodka based, with lemon. It was great. A perfect blend of tart and sweet (but not too sweet). The kind of cocktail that just screams ‘danger.’ I limited myself to one. Noneifbysea chose a margarita-like tequila cocktail. Of course it didn’t fit in a Chinese restaurant. Honestly, its like he wants it to fail.

To start, we each got a small bowl of the wintermelon soup. A delicately-flavored thick broth with bits of pink ham and ethereal chunks of melon. That’s right. Ethereal chunks. Large pieces of melon would appear on the spoon and melt away in your mouth. A little salt brought out the flavors even more. It’s like nothing else.

For the main, Moo-shoo pork and ginger chicken. The Moo-shoo is assembled by a waiter tableside, the plum sauce arriving alongside the meat and pancakes on fire! Food on fire? Bonus points! Our server doused the pancakes with the engulfed sauce, added the meat and veggies, and deftly rolled them up (with chopsticks, no less) for our hand-held convenience. It tasted great. A nice mix of sweet and savory, veggies with bite and a floury pancake.

The ginger chicken was fine. Ok. A little lukewarm and lacking in ginger flavor. It felt much more like any other Chinese restaurant, with somewhat fresher ingredients. Again, needed some salt. The moo-shoo was the clear winner of the duo.

All in all, a good dinner. Good enough to turn the rising tide of disdain for all of Chinese cooking stemming from Noneifbysea. We might even go back one day. Or maybe finally make it out to Wong King’s for Dim Sum. Then again, maybe it's too early to press our dum sum luck again.

food: probably the freshest, most interesting Chinese food around. We just wanted it a little warmer.
drink: great cocktail list. Questionable wine storage (glass case right where the sun hits? We’re worried!)
atmosphere: a little modern, a little cold. But for us, these are pluses.
Strikes: lukewarm food, pretty damn expensive
Tally: a plus point awarded

First bites back part 1

After a jaunt to L.A. (lavendersoda for work/pleasure, noneifbysea joining in on the fun bits), we’re both back in PDX and ready to continue our tour of Portland eateries. Straight from the airport and right off the bat, we hit Sagittarius Café for a quick no-frills lunch. It’s a neighborhood standard for Noneifbysea, but LS hadn’t had the pleasure. It’s friendly, straight-forward, comfortable. The food is just fine. Really, it’s not even worthy of a write-up, but then Noneifbysea graciously offered to add it to his “negative” tally, and always excited to tip the scales to her favor, lavandersoda suggested we drove right over.

Noneifbysea ordered up his usual, a cheeseburger with bacon, fries on the side. To drink, a pint of Pelican IPA. Lavendersoda, still on a BBQ sauce and chicken kick ordered up the BBQ Chicken sandwich, fries on the side. To drink? A special ginger ale- straight ginger ale boosted with fresh ginger and bitters. Yum!

The burger was fine, straight-forward, maybe a little too well-done. Any egregious flaws were buried with Tillamook chedder and crispy bacon. The chicken had a little too much pepper, and then the sauce had a little too much salt. Lavendersoda wasn’t feelin’ it, but NIBS was. So, we decided a couple bites in to switch plates. Good move, us!

All in all, fine. It probably belongs in the same group as Dots or the Laurelhurst. A ok place for a burger, but there’s better food in town. Sagittarius does have a great little bar, so maybe this is a drink spot first, food joint second.

food: fine. Maybe a little worse than fine. I don’t feel like I need to head back there.
Drink: nice little bar, good beer on tap. Maybe this is just a place for a drink.
atmosphere: a whole lot of pink, but not in a girly way. Great music, cool vibe.
strikes: food not the best.
tally: Despite the comfortable atmosphere and ease of the place, the food just wasn’t good. And food is our main tipping point around here. The negative point goes to Noneifbysea.

PBM is on vacation

We're out of town until 9/18. Check back soon for the latest ranting and ravings!

The ill-fated reprise of the Gotham Tavern

We had heard the rumors on the blogs: there was movement inside Gotham Tavern. Someone had moved in, intending to open up the place again. We followed the news until we found a post that confirmed it. Gotham was re-opening with a new owner, but under the same name. September 1st. We were there.Turns out, we were wrong. They’ve already been open three weeks. A soft opening, according to what could only serve as a disclaimer on their menu. The grand opening is slated to happen later in the month. In the meantime they’re “working on and expanding [their] menu daily.” Caveats acknowledged, we dove in.

Right now, yes the menu is limited. Really limited. And the drink list, well, that’s non-existent. There’s a full bar, two or three crap beers and a couple of good ones (Pelican Pale Ale, of which noneifbysea got a pint), and a spotty wine selection. Again, no list to refer to, so I had to go with the server’s suggestion. A received a full glass of too-warm, indistinct Pinot Noir. It wasn’t encouraging. There’s a lot of room for improvement here.

Noneifbysea started with the Citrus Salad, a sad mélange of bagged mixed greens, mandarin oranges segments fresh from the can, candied almonds and baffling honey chili vinaigrette. It was a strange showing, and quickly clued us in that, well, we weren’t in Gotham anymore. At least not the Gotham we once knew and loved. It all just screamed “Sysco.” I decided to brave the soup special, or “soup of the moment” according to the menu. Clearly I chose the wrong moment, since I ended up with a cream of mustard greens garnished with lemon crème fraiche. It tastes just as bad as it sounds. Even if they had used fresh ingredients, which I highly doubt, the flavors were just attacking each other, my palate being collateral damage.

Since I had entered into the first course with such bravery, I decided to hedge my bets and go simple with the main. Something safe, like the Rosemary and Garlic marinated chicken skewers. This, sadly seemed like my best bet. I received three pasty-white chicken pieces with tired flecks of herbs. They tasted even worse than some of the worst food I made when I was still teaching myself how to cook in college. Bland and cold, and bordering on underdone. Just awful. Served with thick slices of chalky-white beefsteak tomatoes and mozzarella, drizzled with an inexplicable red wine and balsamic reduction. As noneifbysea astutely observed, “why, in the height of tomato season, would you put these on a plate?” After a skewer and a half, I couldn’t eat anymore.

Noneifbysea went with the Gotham Burger, which, according to our server, the chef “puts a lot of love into.” Hm. NIBS asked the server if the beef was local or organic or anything special, and after checking with the kitchen, he revealed that, no, it’s just regular beef. Well, the regular beef came out on a regular sesame seed bun with three limp little pieces of bacon huddling on top. It was juicy, there was that, but the only flavor was coming from the herb aioli slathered on the bun. It wasn’t terrible, but this wasn’t a burger in the running for Portland’s best. It’s the kind of thing you might pay $5 for at a bar. A dive bar.

We were kind of relieved to know that they didn’t have any desserts to choose from. I don’t know if we could have stomached another course. In fact, before the check came, we started making plans as to where we were going to eat after we left.

While we were there, in the space that looked exactly the same as it once did, except for a new mural and cheap folding chairs pushed into the tables, we kept feeling one thing over and over. Sad. Sad that they were serving such horrible food where once it had been so good. It’s the same feeling you get when you drive past your childhood home, and they’ve planted new things that don’t fit or a novelty mailbox that has no business standing in front of your house. It wasn’t right.

We really wonder what kind of place this is going to shape up to be, or what kind of sweeping changes they could make in the next month to make it even a little better. The place looks exactly the same inside, but the food is so different. It’s bar food. Bad bar food in a really, really pretty setting. The food was so bad that it seems almost unfair to compare to the old Gotham. But when someone moves in, leaves the name and all the interior design intact, down to the throw pillows in the booths, it more than invites comparison, it begs it. Sadly, food-wise, there is nothing the same. Gotham, as it stands now, is truly an empty shell of what it once was.

• food: bad ingredients means bad food. a shame.
• drink: too early to say. early signs, not great.
• atmosphere: there's none yet. no one knows it's open. looks like the old gotham.
• strikes: food. drinks. atmosphere.
• tally: too bad points aren't given for bravery. A mark on the negative side for Noneifbysea.