Portland Food Trend: Poke

This recent poke craze in Portland is seemingly great news if you like poke- and we do- but behind the hype, do the new poke spots really satisfy our raw fish cravings?

In December, we wrote about the $7.99 poke from World Foods in the Pearl, and were so excited about the anticipated openings of Bamboo Sushi Annex and Poke Mon. We tried both and took a stab at homemade poke. Here's the rundown.

What: Bamboo Sushi Annex
Where: 1122 SW Stark St

When Katie and I have busy weeks where we might not see each other for happy hour, Bachelor viewings, wine drinking, or more recently puppy play dates, we try to have lunch.

A few months ago, we hit up Bamboo Sushi's recently opened (when we went it was only two days old) "The Annex".

Faced with the option of building our own bowls atop rice, salad, or chips, or picking from the signature dishes, we decided to opt for one of their creations, assuming that if they developed a specific combination, it's probably because they know best.

We shared a Bamboo Bowl ($13) with Oregon Albacore, Avocado, Fried shallots, scallion, nori, and green machine sauce.

We also tried the Poke Nachos ($10) with chips, spicy tuna, krab salad, yuzu guac, fried shallot, fried garlic, habanero masago, cilantro, creamy habanero masago sauce, and eel sauce.

The green machine sauce on the Bamboo Bowl was pretty sweet and uninspired, and the texture - or lack of it - of the nachos made for a less than ideal experience. I would have definitely opted for a second bowl instead.

What: Poke Mon
Where: 1485 SE Hawthorne Blvd

Next poke stop: Poke Mon. After The Annex, I had high hopes that this would be the poke I'd been dreaming of.

 

 

Typically when we go out for sushi, I lean toward salmon rolls and Adam towards tuna, so when there is a salmon poke option I'm all about it. The Garlic Salmon Poke ($10.75) with red onion, cucumber, avocado, cilantro, citrus, and garlic ponzu, was fresh, but didn't have any real kick.

Adam's Spicy Ahi Donburi ($9.75) with minced fresh ahi, sweet onion, cucumber, bubu arare, sweet shoyu, nori and creamy spicy sauce was the best price point of the bowls so far, but we learned (and Katie and I already knew this because of the nachos at The Annex) that the minced ahi in a poke bowl doesn't provide much excitement in terms of texture.

     

Since our bowls were $3 cheaper than at The Annex, we also got a side of the House Mac Salad ($3). It was okay, but generally mac salad is just kind of okay in my opinion.

What: Homemade Salmon and Tuna Poke Bowls
Where: Katie and Doug's House (jk, Ziggy's House)
Honeys Heart: How easy homemade poke is!

Doug and I were set to make to make two different types of poke together, but then Doug and Katie went and got an adorable puppy so while Katie, Adam, and I did this....

... Doug made dinner and it was delicious. We neglected to take photos (we will plan to make this Adam's responsibility moving forward), but I've included the photos from the blogs where we found our recipes to give you the idea.

Through some gchat recipe sharing, Doug and I selected the Salmon and Avocado Poke Bowl from the blog Just Putzing Around the Kitchen with sushi-grade salmon, avocado, red onion, green onions, soy sauce, white sugar, sesame oil, ginger, and sesame seeds.

The amazing thing about poke is you really just have to chop and combine all the ingredients and then it can refrigerate until you're ready to serve. Great option when hosting a small dinner and you want to minimize cooking, but maximize fancy. We served both our poke's on rice, so that was the only thing that required some heat.

The second recipe we selected was a Hawaiian Raw Tuna Salad from Serious Eats, with tuna, onion, scallion, sesame seeds, soy sauce, sesame oil, honey, and optional crushed red pepper.

This particular poke bowl called for hijiki and wakame, dried seaweeds that can easily be found in any Japanese market, that you then let sit in hot water for about 5 minutes. We bought seaweed salad anyway, so we could have skipped this part. 

The homemade poke was better than either bowl at Poke Mon and The Annex, and it's so easy! My grocery shopping did remind me why sushi and poke are so expensive. I spent $75 on salmon, tuna, two sakes (cheap ones), and seaweed salad, but it did serve four people and made much more than we would have gotten in any $11-13 bowl.

Overall, I would say skip the high prices, and make it at home!

Portland Specialty Market: Providore Fine Foods

What: Providore Fine Foods
Where: 2340 NE Sandy Blvd, Portland
When: Daily 9 am - 7:30 pm 

When my parents come through town, we often hit up Elephants Deli off of West Burnside and grab a few salads from the deli case. It's close, tasty, and has lots of options. In the same spirit, we recently decided to meet them at Providore Fine Foods on their way through town. 

A food hall featuring Flying Fish, Arrosto, Little T Baker, Pasta Works, and Rubinette Produce Market, Providore Fine Foods offers a diverse selection of salads, sandwiches, chicken, pastas, and oysters. The four of us split a sampling of cauliflower salad, brussels, chickpea salad, and fritto misto in addition to a selection of sandwiches.

Oh yeah, and oysters. I don't know when I went from hating oysters to really liking them (maybe four years ago), but there's no turning back.

I would say that nothing was bad, but nothing stood out, and the oysters weren't a good enough deal to inspire us to drive across town. Basically if we lived closer maybe we would pop in, but I wouldn't go out of my way.

Portland Restaurant: Breken Kitchen

What: Breken Kitchen
Where: 1800 NW 16th Ave
When: Monday - Friday 7am - 5pm
Honeys Heart: Breken Draper Chicken Bowl

I started a job at Children's Cancer Association about a month ago and along with new office digs comes the critical task of finding new coffee shops and lunch spots in close range. Coffee spot? Check. Ovation on NW Overton and 9th serves up a good latte and chai tea. Lunch spot? Check. In addition to Lovejoy Bakery and pretty much everything else closer to Naito in the Pearl, I have a new option! This took a little longer to find due to my initial lofty goal of packing lunch daily to be healthy and save money, but I was finally introduced to Breken Kitchen by some co-workers.

The menu breaks down pretty simply. Soups, sandwiches, bowls, and a lasagna of the day. Clearly I was initially tempted by the cheesy carb-loaded lasagna option, but per a recommendation and a slight obligation to my lunch-time goals I ordered the Breken Draper Chicken Bowl ($9.95) with brown or Jasmine rice, black beans, corn, pickled onions, cherry tomatoes, avocados, chimichurri and house made salsa.



The bowl is simple, but tasty and filling. Something that I could easily recreate, but it's definitely the kind of thing that tastes better when someone else makes it... and puts chimichurri sauce on it.

In my subsequent visit I tried the Albacore Tuna Melt ($9.50) with a simple green salad. The tuna is super simple and the sandwich only includes Tillamook Cheddar, so the star of this show is really Grand Central's fluffy Big Country Bread. It's really very simple comfort food, so maybe $9.50 is a stretch. I think at a future visit the Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup ($6.95) will still provide the benefit of that delicious bread, but for a slightly better deal.



Breken Kitchen also serves breakfast (yet to try) and sports a decent beverage menu. I ordered a latte made with Water Avenue Coffee and later saw that they have wine, cava, and beer. Drinking lunch anyone? Obviously only on Fridays when I work a half day...

Cute vibe, wifi, good food - simple, but satisfying - and multiple drink options. Probably best I didn't know about this when I was working from home. 

Portland Restaurant & Market: Prettyman's General

What: Coava Coffee
Where: 2631 SE Hawthorne Blvd
When: Weekdays 6am - 6pm, Weekends 8am - 6pm

When I work remotely (which is always...), there is a point in the day when it is so hard to focus at my house and I have to get out. I planned on lunch at Prettyman's General but they don't serve coffee, so first stop was next door's Coava Coffee. Just the caffeine boost I needed.

What: Prettyman's General
Where: 2637 SE Hawthorne Blvd
When: 11am - 11pm Daily
Honeys Heart: The vibe

Coffee in hand, I went to my final destination, which turned out to be the pretty much the cutest place. The little store has different spaces with couches, chairs, and a loungey vibe with specialty products, a small food menu, wine, and beer.

Too cute, right?

I settled in with the smoked steelhead (from Flying Fish Co. down the street) salad with kale, arugula, and a lemon dressing. The salad was fresh and there was a generous amount of fish!

Definitely a spot I would recommend spending some time in if you're looking for a change of scenery or an off-site lunch or drinks with co-workers or friends. 

Writing this makes me ready to go back, like tomorrow... 

Kelly's Wedding Weekend! (and Portland Restaurant: Serratto)

Two weekends ago, we celebrated a very special event: Kelly and Adam's wedding!

Anyone who knows Kelly and Adam will not be surprised to hear that their wedding weekend was full of love, laughter, dancing, drinking, and general merriment making.

And while of course I had an amazing time at the wedding itself, one of my favorite parts of the weekend was our girls lunch and mani/pedi session following the rehearsal.

Kel chose Serratto as our lunch spot and I think it was a great choice! 

What: Serratto
Where: 2112 NW Kearney

Honeys Heart: Grilled Chicken Sandwich

Serratto serves Mediterranean cuisine with a focus on local ingredients. The day we were there, they were proudly displaying a huge platter of giant heirloom tomatoes- yum! 

Serratto also has a great ambiance- bright, airy and elegant. Perfect for a celebratory lunch with the girls!

Here's a sample of what we ordered: 

Grilled Chicken Sandwich ($11) on brioche with bacon, avocado, lettuce and tomato. 

Caprese Salad with fresh mozzarella, tomatoes, basil and olive oil.

Pizza Margherita ($10) with fresh mozzarella, tomato, garlic and basil.

Cobb Salad ($12) with romaine lettuce, grilled chicken, bacon, avocado, tomato, blue cheese, sliced egg and blue cheese vinaigrette. 

 Simple and delicious!

After our tasty lunch, we headed out to get mani/pedis at Oasis Nails & Day Spa. $30 mani/pedis + a complimentary glass of champagne = another great choice, Kel!

I'll also share a look at some of the special little details from the rehearsal dinner which took place later that night. 

 Mason jars, striped straws, giant balloons, custom water bottles. So cute! 

Congrats again, Kelly and Adam! Cheers!

Portland Restaurant: Boke Bowl

What: Boke Bowl

Where: 1028 SE Water Ave

When: 10 am - 3 pm Mon - Sat

Honeys Heart: Fried Pears

Katie and I were introduced to Boke Bowl over the summer at a World Forestry Center fundraiser. Their food was awesome and we have been anxious for them to find a permanent location. Having heard nothing but rave reviews about Boke Bowl's recently opened restaurant on SE Water Ave, and getting a tweet from Boke Bowl saying "bring it ladies" it was definitely time to hit up this hot spot.

We know this is the darling of the Portland food scene right now and we know we might upset some people by saying this... but we weren't so impressed. Now, before you go getting all defensive, let us explain why: 

After placing our order at the counter, we found a spot by the kitchen and began our lunch with Pork Steam Buns ($6). The pork was tender, the buns were warm and soft, and the pickles, though kind of surprising, added a nice flavor.

So no complaints there really. And $2 per bun seems pretty fair. Moving on.

Due to our convenient location, or the generosity of the chef, we were given some complimentary Fried Pears ($2.50) which were probably our favorite part of the meal. The sweetness of the pears, combined with the tart flavor of the vinegar was really delicious.

But then came the ramen. Katie chose the Pork and Chicken ($9), and so did I... I thought. But I was served the Seafood Miso ($10), which ended up being okay with me. Katie's meat-filled ramen was heartier, with a darker broth. The flavor was subtle and lacking the complexity we expected after the pork buns and the pears. A bit of a letdown for sure.

The seafood ramen, made with boiled shrimp, was lighter and we thought more flavorful. You might expect garnishes such as greens, braised bamboo or water chestnuts in a ramen, but we thought the butternut squash in these was a nice addition.

So what didn't we like about the place? Though our bowls were good, and despite the fact that Boke Bowl is competitively priced with other popular ramen places in town including Wafu, Biwa, and Mirakutei, we both felt slightly unsatisfied.

Perhaps we did it all wrong and we should have added some of the sauces on the table or Pork Belly ($1.50) or Buttermilk Fried Chicken ($3) off the menu, but then our bowls of ramen would have been $11 to $13, and that just seems sort of crazy for a bowl of soup (which, come on, is what ramen really is).

Or maybe we just played into the hype too much and set our expectations higher than they should have been. (But really, have you been on Twitter lately? @Bokebowl is blowing up.)

Or maybe we just aren't huge ramen fans to begin with.
 
Anyway, the point is, we probably won't be going back soon. Which means two more spots open at the lunch table for the rest of you. You're welcome...?

Oh, and we also decided to try one of Boke Bowl's Miso Butterscotch Twinkies ($1.5) for dessert, which we enjoyed because we liked that it wasn't overly sweet. But would we order it again? Probably not.

But hey, Boke Bowl also does a Korean Fried Chicken Night on Thursdays from 5 to 9:30pm so perhaps we should try that?

Portland Restaurant: EaT: An Oyster Bar

Posted by Kelly

What: EaT: An Oyster Bar
Where: 3808 N. Williams Ave
When: Sun, Mon, Wed 11:30am-10pm & Thurs, Fri, Sat 11:30am-'round midnight

Regrettably I don't make it up to North Portland as much as I'd like to since graduating from UP last year, so when I was going to be on N Williams anyway and my mom was in town to treat me to lunch, I thought it was time to try Eat: An Oyster Bar.

We began our southern dining experience with fried pickles and it's accompanying homemade sauce. The pickles were awesome and the sauce was SPICY, but good!

For my main meal I ordered the gumbo. Full of meat, clams, prawns and of course a couple oysters. It was also SPICY, but still had great flavor. I'm not usually an oyster fan so I picked around them. Mostly, I enjoyed it though! 

My mom opted for the Shrimp Etouffee, which was once again SPICY, but still maintained a its flavor. I hate when food is so spicy that is just takes over the dish and looses it's flavor, that's definitely not the case at EaT though. It was a lighter, more tomatoey etouffee than I have ever had. I might be slightly biased, but I think I like my mom's Etouffee better...but I'm supposed to say right?!

I would definitely say that EaT is worth a visit! The food was tasty  (I also hear the Jambalaya is good) and on a sunny day the funky mix and match of tables and chairs opens up expanding onto the courtyard area. Great for a summer day!

Portland Restaurant: Bunk Sandwiches

Posted by Kelly

What: BUNK Sandwiches

Where: 621 SE Morrison, Portland

When: 8am - 3pm Mon- Sat

Last weekend Rachel and I worked the Indie Wine Fest as logistic/event coordinators hired by Watershed Communications and Flint Design, the founders of this unique festival that showcases small Oregon Wineries. Since we were on the job we weren't tasting, but instead walking laps around the event, at the Bison Building, being available for questions, monitoring the space, and raising suspicion among the wineries and attendees about our "role" ....some thought we were OLCC (HAHA). Our miles of walking definitely made us hungry and Katie (with Watershed) was definitely appalled that I had never heard of Bunk, so she went and picked some up for lunch. 

Rachel and I shared (because we generally like the same things...) the Meatball Parmigiano Hero ($8) and the Oregon Albacore Tuna Melt ($8). So good, very filling, and reasonably priced. I definitely will be back to try their other sandwich specials!