4 Days of Portland Dining

Recently I took my first ever trip to the Pacific North West, spending 4 days in Portland. A lot of eating happened, a whole lot. I am sharing my itinerary with ya'll in case you ever find yourself over there.

Key:

EOR= East of the River WOR= West of the River, this comes in handy when trying to maximize your time

Restaurants/Bars are Bolded

Day 1 Breweries and Restaurant Hopping

Pre Brunch Drinks: Is that a thing? Sure, we had a wait for brunch so we grabbed lovely light cocktails at Petunia's across the street (WOR)

Brunch: (WOR) Tasty n Alder: tried every bloody mary on the menu, we also had fried oysters and korean fried chicken. I think there were eggs on them, so it was able to be called brunch.

Activity: EOR Brewery Tour via rented bike ($12/day + extra if you lock at non designated bike stop)

Our favorite Hair of the Dog, great aged selection. We also biked to: Green Dragon and Burnside

Post Brewery Snack: sloppy, awesome sandwiches including the Pho’Rench Dip at Lardo (WOR)

Happy Hour: cured meat plates and a Blood and Sand cocktail Hamlet (WOR)

NAP BREAK

Nighttime Eating and Drinking EOR

Step 1: Put name down at Pok Pok

Step 2: cocktails by the fire pit at Richmond Bar

Step 3: Ease your way into Thai flavors with wings and jerky at Pok Pok's Whiskey Soda Lounge

Step 4: Dinner at Pok Pok, the rich khao soi is a must. Haven't gotten to enjoy this rich soup since Chiang Mai.

Day 2: Donuts and Tasting Menus

Pre Breakfast: mini Pip's Donuts

Activity: Weekend Market by the water, grab a $2 cup of borscht from the Polish Stand

Brunch: Lechon lamb neck was our favorite

Post Brunch Dessert: Voodoo Donuts, because you have to and the line wasn't bad!

Post Brunch Drinks: Then we went to Rogue, but I wasn't feeling the heavy, hoppy beers. Not for me, what can I say? My favorite might actually have been the "beard beer"

Nighttime Eating and Drinking EOR

Step 1: Put name down at Tanuki (open Thurs-Sat) and be really nice about it

Step 2: Go to Miyamoto for sake flights, monkfish liver, and uni hand rolls

Step 3: Gorge on the tasting menu at Tanuki, probably one of the trip highlights. Our $30 tasting menu included hijiki salad, smoked squid, crab claws, baby octopus, trout, DIY tuna hand rolls, kimchee rolls just to start. Then came pork belly, salmon, kimchee and udon mac and cheese style, and duck legs. In between meals the owner squirted whiskey in our mouths from anime soup dispenser. We also had wasabi rhubarb jello shots (best jello shots ever) and the owner brought us out a special sake from her collection to try and cookies to take with us. All of this in a dive bar like setting with X rated hamster anime on the tv.

Step 4: For a lively night of entertainment, check out Sassy's

Day 3: (Sunday) Flowers and Food Courts

Activity: lounging at the Chinese Garden

Lunch: pad kee mao with crab and stick rice from the food cart Thai Kee Mao

Dinner: Pine Street Market is like a fancy food hall, we grabbed food from Shalom Ya'll, Marukin Ramen, Pollo Bravo, and ice cream from Salt and Straw's Wiz Bang Bar where we almost got kicked out for being too rowdy, this also explains the lack of pictures.

Day 4: International Food Carts and Hilltop Roses