Where: 22 SE 28th Ave
When: 10 AM - 10 PM Everyday
Honeys Heart: Cheese (duh)
It's no secret that Katie and I love cheese, so even though we sometimes make attempts to be healthy or cook to save money, we're not about to give up our girls nights completely- especially when there's cheese to be had. Cheese & Crack was at the top of our list once we decided to treat ourselves and believe me, it didn't take long.
The small, simple snack shop is just down the street from Paadee, one of my other SE 28th favorites, and seats about 20. You order at the counter and after a glance at the menu, we realized it would be best to get some thoughts from the experts.
Per our server's recommendation, we went for the kitchen favorite of La Maripos "Chubut" & Cana De Oveja ($10) with honey glazed peaches and two glasses of the House Rose ($6).
The plate/tray was perfectly laid out with generous portions of the two cheeses, shortbread style cookies, herb salted crackers, bread, honey, salted chocolate ganache, cornichons, olives, honey glazed peaches, and mustard. We added Molinari Salami ($2) to our super adorable arrangement and proceeded to create delicious bites with multiple combinations of the plate's offerings.
So cute and the best part, so affordable- which means we can return (often)!
After finishing off our cheese plate, we weren't still starving, but we weren't ready to call it a night either. Since we were already there and we love ourselves some mac, we also ordered the Macaroni & Mornay ($8) made of trofie pasta with a side green salad. We're always planning a "Best Mac in Portland" post (wait for it), so this seemed like a necessary choice.
The pasta was really unique with a texture more like spatzle or dumplings versus a traditional noodle, and though initially the portion seemed small, it was rich and garlicky and probably just the right amount.
The house white was the recommended pair to this pasta, but we mostly drink red and so we went for the House Red ($5) instead.
It's awesome to have a place to get snack-style food for a reasonable price. And bonus: they have a happy hour from 4-6pm and the last hour before closing! With the purchase of a beverage, you can get any of these delicious snacks for between $3 and $5: Mini Snack Cheese Plate, Nachos, Mornay Fondue, Macaroni & Mornay, Sandwich. Yeah, we're definitely going to have to hit that up.
