On our recent road trip to Seattle, Lingon and I stopped by the famed Pok Pok Thai restaurant. After hearing SO MUCH about this restaurant, both from friends and in the T&L Best Thai Food article. There was a crap load of traffic getting into Portland, and we did not make it until about 1.30pm or so, and were told there was a 45 min wait. We said OK, and took a little walk, and discovered Tidbit Food Farm and Garden, which was a park with trailers into shops and restaurants. There was a cute area on the interior were one could sit down and enjoy the chow. Since we were saving ourselves for Pok Pok, we did not try this. But they had shops like Hapa Ramen and Namu, SF names but we don't think are from SF, a bakery, really a whole lot of different cuisines, and was super cool. Gotta save something for our next trip to Portland! My photo from the outside sucked, but it's all I've got.
We finally got the callback to Pok Pok and excitedly headed back. In my mind, I already knew I wanted the famed chicken wings and the shrimp and pork belly glass noodle. Both were REALLY REALLY good. In addition to that, we got the papaya salad, which was the most disappointing dish. The papaya was neither tart nor sweet, just kind of bland, and did not really have a kick to it either. For all that was recommended about it, I have to give it a zero for lack of taste, and being overhyped due to its Pok Pok-ness. We got a Chiang Mai sausage that was pretty good, but we recently had better sausage so were not all that impressed. I got a Thai iced tea and Lingon got a gin and tonic with kefir lime in it. So, we had a couple of great dishes, a pretty good one, a bad one, and some beverages. Not a bad meal, really, but more than the food itself, the atmosphere of the restaurant was unparallel. A whole bunch of outdoor seating, 90 degree Portland weather (supposedly unheard of), gave the feel of being by the beach in a hut type restaurant in Phuket or something. It was just cool to hang out at, and the atmosphere really made the place. Another one off the Travel and Leisure list.
After lunch, we went to the also-famed Blue Star Donuts. The shop had very unique flavours, such as vegan pistachio cake with raspberry hibiscus and cointreau creme brulee. We chose the chocolate ganache and maple bacon donuts. They were both good, though were not blown away. Disclaimer: I don't think we are the best judges of donuts since neither of us is in love with donuts.
That was round one.
On the way back, we stopped again at Pok Pok, opting to try totally things. Round two. We got the boar collar, which was spicy and totally delish, the catfish over vermicelli rice, which was super meh (the catfish was perfectly fried, great texture, but rather tasteless, and the noodles were just oily and just as tasteless), and the pork belly and shoulder curry, so good! Since we only got 3 dishes this time, we got a side of sticky rice, which came in this cute basket that seems to be all the trend, and that was not super flavourful but worked well with the food. Lingon got a Thai coffee, super sweet, which I liked. In short, I would say we enjoyed Pok Pok, some of the dishes really blew me away, and I liked that their menu was not the generic pad thai, or pad see ew, etc. (though I do love those dishes), and the super chill beach side hut atmosphere really attracted me.
The first time I went to Portland was with Lingon maybe in 2008 or 2009. We stayed in downtown, it was February, Valentine's Day weekend, rainy and miserable. I thought I hated it. But this time round, it seemed we were in Southeast Portland (not super familiar with the neighbourhoods since I did not do any research beyond Pok Pok), and the vibe was really cool. I think I will give Portland another chance, and come back for its other culinary delights. There will be a round three, Portland.
We finally got the callback to Pok Pok and excitedly headed back. In my mind, I already knew I wanted the famed chicken wings and the shrimp and pork belly glass noodle. Both were REALLY REALLY good. In addition to that, we got the papaya salad, which was the most disappointing dish. The papaya was neither tart nor sweet, just kind of bland, and did not really have a kick to it either. For all that was recommended about it, I have to give it a zero for lack of taste, and being overhyped due to its Pok Pok-ness. We got a Chiang Mai sausage that was pretty good, but we recently had better sausage so were not all that impressed. I got a Thai iced tea and Lingon got a gin and tonic with kefir lime in it. So, we had a couple of great dishes, a pretty good one, a bad one, and some beverages. Not a bad meal, really, but more than the food itself, the atmosphere of the restaurant was unparallel. A whole bunch of outdoor seating, 90 degree Portland weather (supposedly unheard of), gave the feel of being by the beach in a hut type restaurant in Phuket or something. It was just cool to hang out at, and the atmosphere really made the place. Another one off the Travel and Leisure list.
That was round one.
On the way back, we stopped again at Pok Pok, opting to try totally things. Round two. We got the boar collar, which was spicy and totally delish, the catfish over vermicelli rice, which was super meh (the catfish was perfectly fried, great texture, but rather tasteless, and the noodles were just oily and just as tasteless), and the pork belly and shoulder curry, so good! Since we only got 3 dishes this time, we got a side of sticky rice, which came in this cute basket that seems to be all the trend, and that was not super flavourful but worked well with the food. Lingon got a Thai coffee, super sweet, which I liked. In short, I would say we enjoyed Pok Pok, some of the dishes really blew me away, and I liked that their menu was not the generic pad thai, or pad see ew, etc. (though I do love those dishes), and the super chill beach side hut atmosphere really attracted me.
The first time I went to Portland was with Lingon maybe in 2008 or 2009. We stayed in downtown, it was February, Valentine's Day weekend, rainy and miserable. I thought I hated it. But this time round, it seemed we were in Southeast Portland (not super familiar with the neighbourhoods since I did not do any research beyond Pok Pok), and the vibe was really cool. I think I will give Portland another chance, and come back for its other culinary delights. There will be a round three, Portland.
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