HHH Girls Night and Date Night Favorites

No offense to Doug, but one of the best Valentine's Days I've ever had was in Boston with Anna, Shannon, and Erica. We had an early dinner (and sake bombs) at our favorite sushi restaurant, indulged Anna by meeting some weirdo author at our go-to Emerson bar, and then went to the movies, which really just turned into downing nips in the front row (nips = mini liquor bottles obvs.) and then having a drunken heart-to-heart in the theater bathroom. Seriously, it was the best.

So in honor of that night and because Valentine's Day is coming up real soon too, here are some of Kel's and my favorite Portland spots for Girls Nights. And, because we don't want the boys to feel left out, we'll include some of our Date Night favorites too. (FYI, we filled our lists out separately, just to see how much they would or wouldn't vary.)

Girls Night:
Early Happy Hour
Katie: Mint/820 or Elephants Deli
Kelly: Noble Rot

Late Happy Hour
Katie: Driftwood Room or Cocotte
Kelly: Driftwood Room

Wine Bar
Katie: Sauvage
Kelly: Ambonnay

Cocktails
Katie: St. Jack
Kelly: Mint/820

Dinner
Katie: Por Que No?
Kelly: Luc Lac or Thai Peacock

Dancing
Katie: Splash  
Kelly: Jones or Boiler Room

Brunch
Katie: Sweedeedee
Kelly: Gravy

Girl Time
Katie: Pedis and mimosas at Oasis Nails and Spa
Kelly: Pedis and champs at Oasis Nails and Spa

Date Night: 
Early Happy Hour
Katie: Clyde Common
Kelly: Paadee

Late Happy Hour
Katie: Cafe Castagna
Kelly: Nostrana

Casual Drinks
Katie: Hale Pele
Kelly: Elephants Deli

Casual Dinner
Katie: Dove Vivi
Kelly: Boxer Sushi or Samuari Blue

Special Occasion Drinks
Katie: The Box Social
Kelly: Imperial

Special Occasion Dinner
Katie: Beast or Toro Bravo
Kelly: Beast or Le Pigeon

Dessert
Katie: Fifty Licks
Kelly: Fifty Licks

After Dinner Entertainment
Katie: Curious Comedy Theater
Kelly: Helium Comedy Club or Movie at Kennedy School

Happy (Early) Valentine's Day to you and yours! Cheers!

Portland Bar: Ambonnay Champagne Bar

Portland Bar: Ambonnay
Where: 107 SE Washington Street
When: Mon-Thurs 5-10pm, Fri-Sat 5-11pm, Sun 1-7pm

Ambonnay takes up a small corner in an industrial office building in Southeast that is also home to Olympic Provisions east side location. The small bar feels grander with tall ceilings, concrete walls, copper accents, mirrors and dim lighting. Unfortunately my horrible phone photos in the dark bar aren't doing it justice. I promise, I will stop doing this! 

I love me a glass of champagne, so when Dana suggested we try Portland's first champagne bar that serves nothing but bubbly I thought it would be a great opportunity to have some girl time while expanding my palette. Cooks Brut for $5.99 at Fred Meyer might get me by for some casual mimosas or a French 75, but in general I don't have a lot of experience with champagne or other sparkling wines - with exception of some tasty Prosecco I have had with Rachel.

We went back and forth between splitting a bottle, of which they offer over 50 options, or just going for a glass and finally opted to each try a different type so we could explore more of the menu. At $12-14 a pop we were only going to be having one glass each.

We enjoyed all three that we tried. Dana's rose was a bit sweet for us, but still tasty, and the other two were crisp and light. Though we only had drinks this visit they do offer a cheese plate ($12), truffle popcorn ($4) and olives ($4) and on their website you can find information about events at Ambonnay and their sister business Red Slate Wine Co.

This would be a great place to kick off a celebratory night, but not a bar I could afford to frequent. If I had some extra bubbly money in my budget I would really love to spend some time sampling and learning about many more of these sparkling wines!