Friday, October 23, 2009

Portland Happy Hour: Wild Abandon Revisited

Posted by Kelly

Adam came home from a former Rose Festival co-worker's birthday recently and gave me Rachel Trice's card, President of PUNCH, dedicated to event marketing and pr. He told me she wanted to know more about Happy Hour Honeys' blog and that he thought I'd really enjoy talking with her. We emailed and decided it would be appropriate to meet at a happy hour. I chose Wild Abandon on SE Belmont and 25th, remembering my vow to return after going last October with all of my college roomies pre-Latin dance class.

Arriving at 5:15ish with plenty of happy hour left we ordered their Goat Cheese Torta ($8) and drinks to start. I had a lemon drop ($5) and Rachel tried a Pinot ($5). Still chatting and snacking on the plate of goat cheese with pesto and whole cloves of garlic served with grilled bread, we decided to order round 2 of drinks. The waiter, providing consistent attention, wandered over multiple times before we decided to order round 3 of drinks and the Shrimp Mazatlan ($5, shrimp cooked with peppers and onions served with polenta cakes)...I said in the first post about Wild Abandon that I wanted to try it next time and I'm glad we did.

While swapping stories and showing each other pictures of our puppies on our phones, we asked for dinner menus. Perfect, a fellow happy hour-er that (like Katie and I) orders more than one drink and one happy hour dish! We chose to share the Surf and Turf ($19) and order round 4, why not? Wild Abandon's surf and turf featured steak and scallops served with garlic mashed potatoes and grean beans. The meat and scallops were cooked perfectly, and who doesn't love some garlic mashed potatoes? I would highly recommend this entree...and if you share that plus a happy hour item you're sure to be full, with your taste buds satisfied, and your wallet not too stretched.

I would definitely recommend putting Wild Abandon on your list of happy hours to attend in SE. You'll be glad you did, not only for the food but the unique atmosphere using a variety of hanging lamps to provide a dim lighting in the small, thin building. And Adam was right, Rachel and I hit it off and had a great night!