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« What I Did for My Summer Vacation...... | Main | Portland: Breakfast at Mother's Bistro & Bar »

Monday, 19 June 2006

Comments

Ted

Oh Kirk I'm SO jealous. As an urban planning major, the city of Portland comes up over and over again for their excellent downtown, amazing public transportation, and lovely urban environment. I'm sure it blows Gaslamp out of the water! Hope you had fun, and as always, interesting review.

Jay

Powell's is the real deal. For food in Portland, I particularly enjoyed Navarre (sp?), Le Happy, a place I think was called Montage, and the Horse Brass Pub (with Mirror Pond on cask).

Rachel

mmm !!! that is pood pr0n at its best!! I am so ashamed that I love sushi and sashimi yet have so much more to learn ... I can't believe you can even tell the different cuts of tuna!! To me, its tuna and its fresh ... I'll take it!! you should start some sushi and sashimi classes!!

Anyway, a styrofoam statue is a bit boggling in the city. They are lucky that vandals haven't got to it yet!!

Lynnea

Wow! I haven't been to powells since last fall. I'm so envious of your trip there. It is time I made another trip to Portland. I also love the powells on Hawthorne street on the east side. Great selection even though it is smaller. We found stuff there that they didn't have at the big store. Their cookbook and gardening store on Hawthorne is actually overwhelming to the point that I couldn't make any decisions on what to buy. But it is always a pleasure to see most of a store devoted to cookbooks.

Oh stumptown is great! But what a silly name isn't it?

Kirk

Hi Ted - Portland is one of, if not the most pedestrian friendly city I've ever been to. The city is also so very well designed, and easy to navigate.

Hi Jay - Yes, Powell's is the real deal. BTW, I had a really good dinner, and thought of you.

Hi Rachel - Believe me when I say, I'm not a sashimi expert. But tuna belly consists of 2 parts O-toro is the prized, ultra rich, well marbled(and $$$$) portion. While chutoro is less so.

Hi Lynnea - I think Stumptown is a great name that gives Portland "character", but there's not too much "stumpy" about the city.

ed (from Yuma)

I suspect that the mirugai is from not too far away. Back in the days it was included in nigiri combos because it was so cheap. When I was first living on the Oregon coast (c. 1980), I remember seeing clam steaks on menus. It was often the cheapest item and was a huge slice of grilled geoduck. Nice clammy flavor, but back in those days not nearly as revered or expensive as razor clams. Ummmm razor clams.

kyle

Nice to hear you getting a break! Sounds like the drivers in Portland are more courteous than they are in Hawaii!! I guess we're losing our "Aloha" state title. BTW great pics of the sushi...did you try speaking any Japanese to Murata-san??

elmomonster

What a coincidence. I was thinking of making a trip up there this month. Thanks for the preview!

Kirk

Hi Ed - The mirugai was quite good, and fresh.

Hi Kyle - Thanks. My pathetic, non-existent Japanese would probably cause more confusion then anything else. It might even get me kicked out! ;o)

Hi Elmo - You'll enjoy Portland, great people.....some interesting places to eat. I probably should have let you know, then we could have met up......I'll have a photo especially for you in a future Portland post.

Milgwimper

KIRK,

Keep it coming! I am really enjoying the write up on Portland. :) I wish I could have visited Powell's it is one of my to do list in life! :)

Kady

I saw that restaurant on the Food Network (yes, I admit I've seen a few episodes of $40 a day!). It sounds like it might take a while to learn what they do best but that it's worth it none the less. Thanks for sharing all of those pics. I'm dying to go to Portland!

clare eats

Mariko that visited me over here lives in portland (supereggplant.com) it sounds like a great city and I would LOVE to go there!

Kirk

Hi Mills - Yes, Powell's had been on my list for a long time as well.

Hi Kady - Really, $40 a day? Geeez, am I out of touch.

Hi Clare - Portland is a wonderful city.

Reid

Hi Kirk,

You're making me jealous with all that delicious looking sushi. *sigh* I haven't been out to eat "real" sushi in a while. Time for me to go get some!

Kirk

Hi Reid - Don't you just crave the stuff after a while?

Pam

Hey Kirk!

Welcome back from Portland! I've been dying to go up there...a few of my friends are originally from there & I've heard great things!

Yeah, I hear you on the maguro being too cold--I've noticed that alot lately too.

Kirk

Hi Pam - Portland is the most pedestrian friendly city I've ever been to. People are really nice as well.

ExtraMSG

Oh man, you missed Murata's best: the salmon. Must have the salmon nigiri next time. Must. I agree that their tuna is disappointing. It's better than most places around town, but doesn't even approach what you can get in Japan or truly high end places elsewhere. (Of course, the prices here are a hell of a lot lower, so maybe it's just an issue of price.) I haven't seen true o-toro anywhere yet. Maybe they save it for special customers. Also, the halibut nigiri is really good as is the unagi. I don't like mackeral, but I've heard from others that Murata's is a definite step above most. The hamachi can vary, but it's usually pretty good as you said.

ExtraMSG

Oh, btw, Powells has a dedicated cookbook and gardening bookstore on Hawthorne (along with a separate general bookstore) next to Pastaworks, a gourmet deli. It's not much smaller than a Barnes & Noble.

One of my favorite things is that they have clearance/sale books, and a ton of them, even just among cookbooks (and they're actually good ones):

http://www.powells.com/cgi-bin/partner?html=salebooks/CookingandFood.html&partner_id=26368

Leonardo

Thanks for the out-of-towner's viewpoint. Glad you enjoyed Puddletown. Rain is no excuse to not see the Japanese Garden. On the contrary, that's when the garden is at its most beautiful. You must see. Kirei-so!

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