Portland Restaurant: Revelry

What: Revelry
Where: 210 SE MLK Blvd. 
Honeys Heart: Seaweed Noodles & Tuna Bowl

Doug and I celebrated his 30th bday with a trip to San Diego (don't get too jealous - it was rainy the whole time and he got the flu on our last full day), but it was obviously necessary to celebrate with friends when we got back too.

Doug's first pick was Mae, but the stars didn't align in our favor and we had to go with his second choice: Revelry.

I will admit, I had a little bit of attitude about Revelry prior to our dinner, mostly because I do not like kimchi and I was convinced that, being a Korean street food restaurant, they would put it in everything. This was an ignorant and incorrect assumption, and having tasted Revelry's crazy delicious food, I very much regret not giving it a try sooner.

Revelry's menu is divided up into "anytime", "pancake", "noodle", "rice bowl", and "sweets". With our server's help, we narrowed it down to the following dishes to split among 7 people. Here they are in order of favorite to least favorite, though it should be noted that even our least favorite was pretty tasty.

Our group's favorite dish was the Seaweed Noodles ($17) made with Dungeness crab, red curry, and creme fraiche. This was so, so good. The noodles were nice and chewy, and a great contrast to the creaminess of the crab. And while the flavors were more delicate than some of the other dishes, they worked very well together.

Right behind the seaweed noodles was Blackened Tuna Rice Bowl ($16) with cured yolk, koji asparagus, and zucchini. The tuna was seasoned perfectly and our group couldn't get over how tasty the zucchini was. They worked miracles with that squash, let me tell you.

We ordered Mrs. Yang's Fried Chicken ($14) in honor of our attempted meal at Mae and while there's no competing with Maya Lovelace's drumsticks, we all enjoyed this quite a bit. It had just the right kick of spice and the peanut brittle crumbled on top was an inspired addition.

We also tried the Dan Dan Noodles ($16) with chipotle pork and collard greens and while this was good, I'd definitely recommend the seaweed noodles first if you only want one noodle dish.

And in last place, the Short Rib Rice Bowl ($17) with cured yolk, herb tabbouleh, and charred spring onion. This was tasty, but on my next visit, I'll definitely skip this in favor of trying something new (that will not be the case with the seaweed noodles or tuna).

We also tried out a variety of cocktails including the gin & tonic. For whatever reason, people were not as jazzed about the drinks as they were about the food (I thought my G&T was good), but guess you can't win them all.

Doug and I are already plotting when we can go back. It's been over a week, so I think we've waited long enough. Eat you soon, seaweed noodles!

Portland Happy Hour: SuperBite

What: SuperBite
Where: 527 SW 12th Ave 
When: Daily HH from 5-6pm (also available at Kask 4-6pm)

Katie and I are super proud of ourselves when we actually make it to a happy hour these days. This is partially because we rarely have weeknight dates (thanks, dogs and husbands) and partially because we never make it anywhere early enough for happy hour (looking at you, semi-demanding work schedules). So when we finally scheduled a SuperBite happy hour date, we had to make the most of it.

Our dining experience at SuperBite started with a bit of seat-selection anxiety. Katie arrived 10 minutes before me and played musical chairs, ultimately ending up choosing a seat in the bar. Moments after I arrived and sat down, Karen Brooks, Portland Monthly's food critic, walked in and sat at the well-lit kitchen bar in the main dining area, highlighting what Katie already knew to be true: she had made the wrong seating decision. Basically, we missed out on any potential hobnobbing and the lighting was terrible for photos, but we'll forgive Katie, it's a lot of pressure!

Anyway, regardless of seating choices, we unfortunately left SuperBite underwhelmed.

Our expectations were high going in because 1) this is the second venture for the husband-wife chef team behind the impressive Ox and 2) if your whole restaurant concept is built on combining unique or seemingly separate flavors into one "super bite", that one bite better be fucking phenomenal.

When we finally were able to track down a server (we know we're not Karen Brooks but come on!), we asked for his top happy hour recommendations and he tricked us into buying all of the bites, which were $2 each. The bites are really the right size for one person but we opted to share all but the salmon. Also, he didn't really trick us, we're actually very easily convinced to order lots of food...

The Salmon Crudo is served with hibiscus ponzu, pickled jalapeno, and shiso, and was a pretty solid bite - I suppose at $2, it's similar to getting a piece of sashimi at a sushi restaurant.

Both of us really enjoyed the Dungeness Crab taco with celery root tortilla, sesame mayo, orange, and tobiko. The celery root tortilla provided a unique texture and the bite featured a solid serving of crab.

I think we were originally most intrigued by the Grilled Shitake with miso-procini marshmallow and sauternes glaze, but the porcini marshmallow didn't quite live up to the hype and was fairly indistinguishable.

Next up was the Beef Tongue "spam" musubi with cucumber, and Chinese hot mustard served on top of rice. This was one of our server's favorites and I could imagine it being one that people lean towards since it is a bit more substantial.

Finally, we tried the Duck Croquette A L'Orange with crispy duck rillettes and tangerine aioli. Neither of us had tried duck l'orange prior and while it was good, again we wanted to be wowed and didn't quite get there.

As I write this, I'm wondering if our expectations were unreasonable or if the experience really was missing a little something something.

To round out our happy hour, we also ordered the Nashville-style Hot Fried Cauliflower which was super spicy and a dish I probably would skip next time around (if there is a next time around...).

Last up, we had the Double Stack Cheeseburger ($10) with ground beef and shitake mushroom topped with fontina and cheddar, fancy sauce, dill pickle, and onion on a sesame seed bun. It sounds like a good idea and a ton of burger for $10 so we jumped on it. I would actually like to get Doug and Adam's take on this burger because Katie and I were not digging the texture that the mushroom added.

The real topper on the iffy service and underwhelming food is that we both felt nauseous for the rest of the night. Not the best way to remember what should have been an enjoyable happy hour.

Basically, we're not raring to try this happy hour again anytime soon - but we are curious to know if our experience was the norm, or if we caught SuperBite on an off night. Let us know!

Portland Restaurant: Güero

What: Güero
Where: 200 NE 28th Ave
When: 11am-10pm, Tuesday-Sunday
Honeys Heart: Refrito Torta

The first torta I ever had was from a small cart in Guatemala. That torta was filled with pieces of hot dog, ham, chicken, and chorizo topped with mayo, salsa, tomatoes, and jalapenos, and though Doug was adamant that it didn't do justice to tortas as a whole, I was already hooked on what is essentially a Mexican street food sandwich.

Since then, I've had a few different torta experiences, including an insanely spicy version at Rick Bayless's Tortas Frontera in Chicago and a delicious, but sadly no longer available, carnitas torta at Edgar's Cantina at Safeco Field. My torta consumption has been lacking here in Portland though, and so I was very excited to check out the new brick and mortar location of well-reputed torta food cart Güero. 

Güero's food menu features seven different tortas as well as bowls, snacks, and sides.

I opted for the Refrito ($9.50) made with refried beans, avocado, roasted serrano peppers, fresh onions, pink pickled onions, cotija cheese, cilantro, poblano crema, and chile lime aioli.

Doug went for the Ahogado ($9) with carnitas, habanero slaw, and cilantro topped with achiote tomato sauce.

Both of our sandwiches were huge, very flavorful with a definite spicy kick, and pretty messy. In other words, come hungry and don't wear your Sunday best.

We also split a Sik'il Pak ($7) which is a pumpkin seed dip with fire-roasted tomatoes, chiles, citrus, and herbs served with jicama slices and tostadas. To me, this dish was totally lacking in flavor compared to the tortas and Doug found the dip oddly sweet. The jicama did provide a crisp, refreshing contrast to the spicy tortas, but that wasn't enough for me to be pleased with this dish.

Of course, we had to sample some drinks too. I went with the classic Margarita ($8.5) and Doug tried the Margarita Yucateca ($10) made with mezcal, sour orange juice, and grapefruit. We both preferred my margarita, which wasn't a surprise on my end since I am not the mezcal fan that Doug is.

I'd like to go back again soon to try some of the other tortas as well as La Jefa, a cocktail made with horchata, tequila, ancho chile liqueur, and orange zest. 

Te veo pronto, Güero!

Portland Restaurant: Han Oak

What: Han Oak
Where: 511 NE 24th Ave
Honeys Heart: Everything

Hiiii! Remember us? Your wildly inconsistent blogger friends?

Well, it's 2017 and that means this little blog is coming up on 9 years in existence. Yikes. We're old.

If there is one good thing about getting old, it's that we can now afford some classier dining experiences (when is the last time we even wrote about a happy hour?!) - including dinner at Han Oak.

Tucked behind The Ocean's micro-restaurant complex, Han Oak is a reservation-only, non-traditional Korean restaurant specializing in prix-fixe dinners.

The reservation process is slightly intense (read about it here), but thankfully Kelly, Adam, and I have Doug, planner extraordinaire, who coordinated a dinner reservation for us.

Dinners at Han Oak are $35 per person plus gratuity and whatever drinks and additional plates you have. Doug and I came away from our last hyped-up prix-fixe meal (looking at you, Nodoguro) feeling underwhelmed and still kind of hungry, but that was definitely not our experience at Han Oak. We were so stuffed but also so impressed with the food and drinks. Definitely worth the reservation hassle and the $35.

Here's what we had: 

1) Pork and Chive Dumplings ($9), served with black vinegar broth and ginger

These dumplings are not part of the prix-fixe meal but they are worth the extra cost. Trust me.

2) Korean Fried Cauliflower ($9), with spicy gochujang glaze and bread & butter daikon

The cauliflower was another delicious add-on, but since there are three other veggie dishes on the prix-fixe menu, you could skip this one, no problem. 

3) Napa Cabbage and Daikon Kimchi

4) Roasted Brussel Sprouts with miso and mustard

5) Crispy Sweet & Sour Potatoes with toasted sesame 

I love sweet potatoes and the sour kick that these had in addition to the natural sweetness made this my favorite veggie plate on the menu.

6) Winter Squash with togarashi, meyer lemon, and fried garlic

7) Kalgooksu- egg drop chicken broth with handcut wheat noodles and poached chicken

I didn't think this soup was as flavorful as the other dishes served, but the handcut wheat noodles had a great texture.

8) Smoked Hanger Steak

Both main dishes were served with wrappers of sorts (lettuce with the steak and rice noodle sheets with the pork belly) so you could create your own little hand-held bites. Our server encouraged us to experiment and combine ingredients from both main dishes, which was fun and very tasty.

9) Koji-marinated, slow-roasted Pork Belly with rice noodle sheets, pickled daikon, and scallion salad

I don't usually like pork belly but even I liked this.

To drink, Kel and I both had The Golden Age ($9), made with saffron soju, cocchi americano, mezcal, satsuma, meyer lemon, and gochujang foam.

The description sounds a bit ominous (soju AND mezcal), but the resulting drink was actually quite nice and lighter than I expected.

Han Oak also serves brunch and just announced that they will operate as a no-reservations noodle and dumpling house on Sunday and Monday nights from 5-10pm. Pretty sure we'll need to check that out.

Portland Restaurant: Hat Yai

What: Hat Yai
Where: 1605 N.E. Killingsworth St.
Honeys Heart: Fried Chicken & Curry Broth

Doug and I are those obnoxious people who went to Thailand on our honeymoon and have since claimed Thai food as "our thing".

We unabashedly love Nong's, visit Langbaan as frequently as our wallets will allow (so, once a year), and have been known to pick up visitors from the airport and drive them straight to Pok Pok.

So you can understand that we were pretty excited when we heard about Hat Yai, a new restaurant focusing on dishes from Southern Thailand by Langbaan & Paadee's Earl Ninsom and St. Jack bartender Alan Akwai.

Hat Yai is located in a narrow space near La Taq/Podnah's. It's a counter service spot so the vibe is pretty casual.

The star of the menu is the Fried Mary's Chicken, available in different pieces and meant to be paired with Hat Yai's curry broth, sticky rice, and roti (Thai fried bread).

I got a little confused when ordering and somehow missed the option for the Hat Yai Combo ($17), which features all the items above. It was basically what everyone in the restaurant was eating, except for us. Sorry, Doug!

Instead, we ended up with an order of Wings ($6) plus the Beef Cheek Curry with Roti ($17), and the Khao Yum ($9), rice salad with shrimp powder, toasted coconut and herbs.

The wings were delicious, especially when dipped in the beef cheek curry. They're made with an herb and spice marinade featuring cumin, white pepper, coriander, and fresh garlic, and are topped with fried shallots- so there's lots of good flavors happening.

The beef cheek curry broth was rich and velvety, so while the portion of cheeks was fairly small, it ended up being the perfect amount.

The Khao Yum was probably our least favorite part of the meal, mostly because of the tiny red peppers that we realized were SUPER spicy only after we had mixed them into the salad. We ended up carefully picking around them, which is never the most enjoyable way to eat something.

We both also tried the Tamarind Whiskey Smash, made with bourbon, tamarind, mint, simple syrup and soda, which was super refreshing. 

And, while we rarely order dessert at restaurants (I know, poor me!), I decided we couldn't leave without sampling Hat Yai's Dessert Roti ($5). The dessert roti is topped with milo (a chocolate & malt powder that is popular in Thailand) and condensed milk. It might sound a little strange, but it was so good!

Doug is already plotting when we can go back to Hat Yai, partly so we can order properly (combo, here we come!), but mostly because it was so delicious.

It's also worth noting that Hat Yai is still in it's "soft-opening" phase- though you wouldn't guess it from how smoothly things seem to be going.

Portland Specialty Store: World Foods

What: World Foods
Where: 9845 SW Barbur Blvd & 830 NW Everett Street
When: 7am - 10pm Daily (Barbur), 7am - 9pm Daily (Everett St.)
Honeys Heart: Poke, Mediterranean bowl, kebabs... 

A few months ago, my cousin Chase introduced Adam and me to World Foods in the Pearl, and I might be in love. This specialty store is family-owned by a couple from Lebanon and offers products from over 50 countries at their meat and seafood counters, in their fresh produce and dairy sections, through their wine and beer selection- and so far I haven't made a bad decision.

The obsession started with the lamb shawarma bowl, which for $7.99 is a sizable bowl of rice, hummus, tahini, pickled vegetables, lamb, and feta. It's delicious and definitely two-meals worth. And made even better by buying the grilled pita bread.

My love for World Foods grew with discovery of the ahi tuna poke bowls. Smalls are $7.99 and larges are just a dollar more and you get rice, seaweed salad, and poke. Adam and I love sushi, but it's not always in the budget so this is the perfect fix. On our first trip, I opted for the sesame poke. The small is plenty, with a generous portion of tuna!

Adam went for the spicy tuna. Since then, we've also had the salt and pepper, wasabi, and oyster sauce poke. None of them disappointed, but don't feel that you have to decide blindly, you can ask for a sample, and you can get two types in your bowl!

The goodness doesn't end there. Enjoy these bowls at their tables with a bottle of wine that they'll cork for you. Or if you're looking to take something home, grab items from the deli or some of their marinated kebabs (the ginger beef were so good!).

Basically, you can't go wrong and you should go soon- just be prepared to drive around looking for parking for quite a while if you're hitting up the NW location.

Portland Restaurant: Batter Griddle and Drinkery

What: Batter, Griddle & Drinkery

Where: 4425 NE Fremont St.

When: Tuesday - Sunday 8am - 11pm

Honeys Heart: $5 pint-sized mimosas 

Batter has been on my list since it opened last March. Luckily, it happens to be my Mimi's favorite new neighborhood joint, so we've hit it up on multiple occasions recently.

It's definitely a family friendly place with plenty of options to please everyone in a group. I say go for the $5 pint-sized mimosa with multiple juice options - I favor the grapefruit - as you look over the slightly overwhelming menu (if you're bad at making decisions like me). 

There is a sweet and savory side of the menu. Though I am tempted by the sweet side, I know that I won't be satisfied without my salty fix, so I go for the savory. 

I like to think that I mix it up, but I have ordered the Mu Shu Crepes (shredded pork shoulder, shitake mushroom, egg, ginger, scallion with hoisin sauce - $9) both times I've been here and I'm not convinced I will change my ways. I need to go with someone who will get something else and go splitsies with me. There's definitely others I want to try, and then there's plates like the Mac & Crepe ($10) with mac n cheese wrapped in a crepe topped with more cheese and bacon...and that seems scary, but also I'm curious. 

Mimi is one to stick to her classic favorite and every time I have gone to Batter with her she orders one waffle and a side of bacon, extra crispy. I can't really fault her... the bacon is spot on. Two mimosas and a crepe later, you've only spent $20. That's already pretty good brunch rate, plus the crepe I order is definitely enough to split or take half home so you have another meal there.

Still on my list is to try their after 4pm bar menu. There's something related to mac n cheese, deep fried bacon (eek), but also a detox salad so we should be able to find some balance.

Portland Restaurant: Harlow

What: Harlow
Where: 3632 SE Hawthorne Blvd
Honeys Heart: Betty Bowl 

When my friend from college, Sofi, and her husband, Esteban, came to town this summer with her new gluten-free diet, one I definitely don't subscribe to, I knew that Portland would have her back. Most places offer GF options on their menu, but I decided it was the perfect opportunity to wander SE Hawthorne and try fully GF and pretty much vegan, Harlow, the sister restaurant to Prasad in the Pearl.

I have been to Prasad with my sister - healthy people visiting equals me eating healthier apparently - and knew that Harlow offered many of the same items; bowls, soups, greens, brunch options on the weekends, and fresh juice, plus wine, cocktails, and GF beer.

We decided to be super healthy and each started with a fresh-squeezed juice. I think these could technically be meal replacements, due to their healthy ingredients and price, but oh well. Esteban and I went for the Ruby ($6) with grapefruit, carrot, beet, and ginger while Sofi opted for one with celery, that tasted mostly like celery water. If you're going to spend the $6, I would go for the juices with a bit more robust veggies. 

We snuck in right at the end of brunch and Esteban took advantage by ordering the Mercy Blues ($12.50 with avocado). I think one misconception of being GF, vegetarian, or vegan is that you'll never be full, but this was a pretty substantial dish!

Sofi and I decided to share the Betty Bowl with avocado ($11.50) and Hawthorne Mac ($7.50). The bowls are the way to go here I think. Lots of veggies, delicious sauces, and overall very satisfying. We got this with quinoa, but you could also go for brown rice.

So I completely understand that vegan people should have a mac alternative, and this really wasn't bad. It was actually pretty good. It was made with quinoa pasta and Daya cheese - which is a cheese substitute made out of the root of a vegetable - and I was surprisingly not offended. When push comes to shove though, I'm going with a mac n cheese with REAL cheese. I just am.

Harlow is a great place for healthy, and satisfying, brunch, lunch, or dinner. I should probably go more often...

5 in 5: Victoria Bar, Eb & Bean, The Green Room, Pollo Norte, and Broth Bar

I really, really want to devote a full post to each of these spots, but its been summer and work is busy and we just moved into our new house and blah blah, you understand.

Here's the drill: 5 spots, described in 5 words. (Plus a bit of info about the occasion because obvs you want more details.)


Victoria Bar (Not to be confused with Victory Bar)

The Occasion: Laid back dinner and drinks with the Bowlsby's.
The Five: Decent Southern dishes and cocktails.


Eb & Bean

The Occasion: I finally decided to give this place a try after rolling my eyes at the menu and the high prices.
The Five: Move over, Salt & Straw.


The Green Room

 
The Occasion: The second stop on a recent downtown pub crawl (Shift Drinks coverage coming soon).
The Five: Don't expect MWL's outstanding service.


Pollo Norte

The Occasion: Double date with some old college friends.
The Five: Cheap, tasty family-style dinner.


Broth Bar 

The Occasion: Blogger preview.
The Five: I just don't get it.*

*Neither did Portland Monthly or Portland Mercury. Check out Pomo's Q&A with Broth Bar's owner here and The Merc's snarky review here. 

Want to read more half-assed posts? Here's some other 5 in 5's:

• Trifecta Tavern, Lincoln, Paley's Place, Tilt, and Bibi2go 
• Uno Mas, Two Tarts, Cafe Castagna, Dove Vivi, and Basa Basa
• Pix/Bar Vivant, Luce, Horse Brass, Casa Naranja, Clarklewis