Portland Happy Hour: The Sudra

Last Wednesday Katie had planned to catch up with her wedding planner (3.5 months to go!) and I tagged along to their meet up at Stanford's so Katie and I could head straight to a new happy hour after. We were surprised to find out that for "Wine Wednesdays", Stanford's offers 1/2 off all bottles- so we obviously had to participate. Just $13 for a bottle, well if you insist!

From there we headed to The Ocean on NE Glisan to try The Sudra's late night happy hour starting at 9pm.

What: The Sudra
Where: 2333 NE Glisan St
When: Happy Hour 4 - 7pm, 9pm - Close Daily
Honeys Heart: Root Vegetables

You order at the register and then take a seat. Happy hour deals include $5 specials, $1 off all plates, $1 off all cocktails, wine, wells, drafts, and cans. We went for two of the $5 plates to share and each selected a cocktail and headed for our seat outside. During the nice weather their garage style door rolls up so the restaurant is open to the patio seating. Lovely setting!

Katie went for the Rikki Tikki Tavi ($7 on hh) with rum, New Deal ginger liqueur, cinnamon syrup, grapefruit and lemon juices, angostura bitters. Surprisingly strong on the cinnamon front, but still pretty refreshing.

I went for a slightly less spicy version of the King Louie ($9 on hh) with Cazadores Blanco, Hot Monkey vodka, combier orange, pineapple and lime juices, with a chile salt rim. I love how they use local spirits, like the Hot Monkey Vodka and New Deal Ginger Liqueur!

Per our server's recommendation, our first happy hour pick was Kale-Infused Dosa / Potato Masala / Black Eyed Pea Korma / Chutney ($5). It definitely needed a little salt, but after that bottle of wine from Stanford's I was feeling lazy.

Our second choice was the Root Vegetables / Anasazi Beans / Brown Basmati Rice / Cilantro-Lemon Sauce ($5). I think the root vegetables on this plate were my favorite item between the two plates. Super delish.

In the end, the plates were a great price and we felt like we were being semi-healthy with Sudra's focus on vegetarian fare... But I think if we were looking for crazy delicious, not just healthy Indian, Bollywood Theatre would definitely win out.

Portland Restaurant: Slowburger

Obviously Katie and I are fans of the Ocean micro-restaurant complex on NE Glisan and 24th. After this review of Slowburger and Pie Spot I think we'll have covered everything that's open there to date. As a quick wrap up: we're big fans of 24th and Meatballs and Katie and Doug definitely liked Uno Mas, but would pass on Basa Basa.

Also, before we get started. I obviously need to quit taking photos on my phone in dark restaurants, sorry about the quality of these!

What: Slowburger
Where: The Ocean, NE 24th and Glisan
Honeys Heart: The number "two"

Slow Bar on SE Grand and Washington is the original home of the "Slowburger." This funky, skatery, divey, but also awesome little corner bar features a to-die-for burger that I had with Rachel, my friend and former boss, a few years ago. I have meant to take Adam there since, as he might be the biggest burger fan I know, but we've never made it. When I heard that owner Rob Hemmerling opened Slowburger it seemed like the perfect alternative. Check out a new restaurant, but with the guarantee of great food. 

Slowburger offers five burger. Three regulars, one veggie and one seasonal. You can check out the menu here.

Adam went for the number two ($8) with a 1/2 pound of Painted Hills natural beef, chipotle cheddar, caramalized onions, Tails and Trotters smoked bacon, iceberg lettuce and slow sauce on a Grand Central brioche bun. This was my favorite of the two we tried and they're huge. We really didn't each need one!

I chose the seasonal ($8) to mix things up which featured a red pepper spread, white cheddar, slaw, and other things I can't remember. Also a great option, but when we return I would go with the number two over this. Looking back I should have ordered the other two burgers on the menu in their 3oz minis ($3.50) so that we could have tried them all. Oh well, next time!

As if two 1/2 pound burgers wouldn't be enough food we also shared the onion rings ($3) which were pretty delish. Our next visit will probably need to include an order of the sea salt fries with stinky cheese (Sm $4, Lg $5) though.

Overall, if you're looking for a filling and delicious burger this place won't dissapoint. They also have beer and wine options, or you can even fill up a growler!

Our dinner was awesome, but with the Pie Spot food cart just around the corner we couldn't skip dessert.

What:Pie Spot
Where: The Ocean, NE 24th and Glisan
When: Wed-Sun 12-8pm, Closed Mon/Tues

I scrounged through my purse for $3.50 so that Adam and I could take an Apple Crumble Pie Hole to go and warm it up later that night. I loved how it smelled and tasted like the holidays. I'm definitely a pie person over any other kind of sweet so this was my kind of dessert!

So if you haven't gotten the message yet, basically we're saying that you should go check out these restaurants! I asked Adam this difficult question as we drove away "would you go for 24th and Meatballs or Slowburger?" Too hard to choose.

5 in 5: Uno Mas, Two Tarts, Cafe Castagna, Dove Vivi, and Basa Basa

Alright guys, there were some complaints (from Doug) about my last 5 in 5 and how some of my descriptions are confusing or don't give a complete enough picture of the restaurant. But really, you should be fine with it (Doug) because if I don't do these quickie posts, this blog will sit sad and alone for much longer periods of time and no one wants that... 

Uno Mas
Occasion: We loved 24th and Meatballs so we wanted to give another Ocean restaurant a chance.
The Five: Cheap and super tasty tacos.

Two Tarts
Occasion: My parents were in town so obvs sweets were a must.
The Five: Lemon bars: good. Macarons: eh.

Cafe Castagna
Occasion: We'd heard very good things about their happy hour burger. 
The Five: Amazing burger, awesome bartender.*

Dove Vivi
Occasion: We've been conducting our own informal Portland pizza-off.
The Five: Corn pizza. Do it now.

Basa Basa:
Occasion: Another Ocean restaurant
The Five: Stick to meatballs and tacos.

*Had to write a little more our bartender at Castagna as he was so friendly and knowledgeable. Definitely a great guy to chat with. He usually only works weekends but we were happy we managed to catch him on a rare weekday!

Portland (Mini) Restaurant: 24th and Meatballs

I try to be a fairly forgiving person because, ya know, I was raised Catholic and all that ish but sometimes people do stuff that is really hard to forgive.

For example, one time Kelly (yes, Kelly of this very blog) went to the new meatball place in town WITHOUT ME.

Yeah, you read that right. She tried 24th and Meatballs without me and, probably most hurtful of all, she doesn't even feel bad about it.

In fact, I think she only agreed to go back with me because she was so tired of me bitching about her obviously major indiscretion. That or the meatballs were delicious and she wanted more.

Whatever. Let's talk meatballs.

What: 24th and Meatballs
Where:"The Ocean", 2341 NE Glisan 
Honeys Heart: Meatballs (obvs)
 
24th and Meatballs is one of several micro-restaurants located on the corner of NE 24th and Glisan. Their focus is, you guessed it, meatballs.

There are four kinds of meatballs to choose from: Classic Italian, Pork Piccante, Chicken Parmesan, and Vegan and four sauces: Tomato Basil, Creamy Cheesy, Spicy Pork, and Hazelnut Arugula Pesto.

The first time Kelly went, aka the time she stomped on my heart, she tried an array of sliders and suggested I follow suit.

Sliders go for $2.50 each and you can order any combo of meatball and sauce. I went with italian & tomato basil, pork piccante & spicy pork, and chicken parm & pesto.

I loved them all. Would have appreciated them all being served on the same plate... but that seems like a minor detail compared to delicious flavors of these meatballs. Kelly tried the creamy cheese on one of her sliders and wished they had been more generous with the sauce, so perhaps stick to the 3 other sauces when going the sliders route.

Doug and I had eaten at Luce a few nights before and as it had not satiated his pasta hankering (Luce = small portions), he opted for House Made Rigatoni + Meatballs ($8).

I might have complained that the pasta was not adequately drained resulting in watered-down sauce (evident at the bottom of the bowl in the photo above), but Doug was quite happy with his dish. 

Adam went big and decided on a Hero ($8.50). That's three meatballs, sauce, and cheese on a primo roll baked in the oven. 

Look at that cheesy, meaty goodness. Adam, you are a smart man. 

I should also mention that Kel and I had some pretty tasty house wine ($5 per glass) and Adam and Doug both ordered the Kool Aid of The Day, a steal at $1.

And, because Adam's hero took extra super long to get out, we also got to try the Famous Waffle Balls ($4) on the house.

The waffle balls usually only come with one sauce but we got to try all three: chocolate, dulce de leche and seasonal berry. The berry was definitely the group favorite but double-dipping in different sauces was fun too. 

The four of us agreed that the delicious meatballs and playful atmosphere (they certainly are proud of that slogan) made 24th and Meatballs one of our new favorite spots. We'll definitely be back!