Portland: Tasty N Alder and other "stuffs"

*** Tasty N Alder has closed

Ever since we've been doing a good amount of travel internationally, the Missus really hasn't been too keen travelling much in the US, other than heading "home" to visit Her parents and such. But, we had such a great time on our recent visit to Seattle, a city we used to visit almost yearly, that the Missus asked me if I'd like to take a belated birthday trip to Portland. I'd heard that the food scene in PDX has really taken off in the last couple years and it had been over 7 years since our last visit. In other words, we were overdue. I always enjoyed the city, folks are very nice, almost borderline too friendly at times....even the street kids are often quite polite. We did notice a few changes since our last visit immediately; many, many, more hipsters.....man, I don't think they sell many razors in PDX anymore. Folks seemed even more eccentric....some of the outfits wouldn't be out of place in Shibuya! Loved the gal who walked out of one of the business high rises; briefcase in tow, rockin' shiny tap dance shoes featuring bright red bows, a polka dot mini skirt, and a mouse-ear barrette! Keep Portland Weird indeed....or were the folks just doing a reverse satire of Portlandia?

Did I mention the easy $2.50 Max Red Line from the airport to downtown. That, added to being able to check in at 945am at the Paramount, and things were starting out well.

We were of course starving....and downtown Portland is a very easy walking town. Tasty N Alder had been on my list for a while and the Missus and I enjoy family style......

The place was quite full when we arrived....mid-morning and all. Our Server was the most amazingly cheerful and friendly woman. I wish I got her name....friendly, efficient, did a great job talking to us about the menu. She made our visit so pleasant and pleasurable.

always on the look-out for veggies, we started with the Radicchio ($6), which turned out to be the Missus's favorite dish of the trip. In fact, She requested a return visit just for this supposedly simple looking salad.

This dish was just so subtly excellent, from the nice crisp thick cut bacon lardons, to the ice cold radicchio, prepped perfectly, without any of the bitter bite. Topped with crumbled egg...you know how much the Missus loves Her eggs, right. The manchego cheese was shredded so fine that I asked if it was done using a microplane (it is). The cheese melted into the wonderful dressing thickening it....I also think there's some bacon fat in the dressing as well. It was thick and rich in a pleasant way......almost like the best possible Caesar dressing. Wonderful!

Curious, we ordered the "Saigon Brussel Sprouts". Actually, the flavor is more Thai influenced.

The Missus took one bite and said, "I know this flavor....you know this flavor....you make stuff using these flavors". This indeed had the Palm Sugar-Fish Sauce-Garlic flavor I use for making my Thai Garlic Shrimp. Though this is much more sweet and is glazed. I loved the idea and knew I'd be making this after we returned home.

The Smoke Trout Board ($10) was our least favorite item of the day. The trout was decently smoked, but nothing special, the 6 minute egg was over done, though the pickled beets are really great with a nice, balanced flavor.

I was fascinated with the Patatas Bravas, which turned out to be a huge portion for $7. And to make the Missus even more happy it was topped with....you guessed it, two more easy over eggs. That make about five eggs if you're counting.

The garlic aioli had a wonderful "punch", the potatoes had the great texture of spuds that had been twice fried as the interior was fairly creamy. It was a bit too salty and the sauce seemed a bit heavy handed with regards to paprika, but you can't say it was bland.

So this with coffee....what do you think this would cost in San Diego? Here it was $33.......almost a shocking bargain for us. Plus no sales tax. I'd forgotten how reasonably priced things were in Portland.

Like I mentioned before, the woman who waited on us was just a joy. While the Missus went to the restroom, she stopped by and we had a nice chat about the food scene in the city. She told me that the last 3-4 years have been quite amazing for the city. Man, I was looking forward to the rest of our trip.

Tasty n Alder
580 SW 12th Ave
Portland, OR 97205
Hours:
Sunday - Thursday 9am - 10pm
Friday - Saturday 9am - 11pm

Mary visited Tasty n Sons on her visit.

After brunch we headed off to see some familiar sites and to make one important stop....Powell's Books. To quote something from an earlier post that included Powell's; "yes, it's all true; the bookstore takes up an entire city block. And yes, you do need a map to get around. And yes.....used books are mixed in with the new. And yes, I think there are people living in Powell's, that may have not left in years" I managed to pull myself away from Powell's.......

Powell's Books
1005 W Burnside
Portland, OR 97209 USA

I really enjoyed the "Pearl" district on my previous visits so we walked on over....man, it's gotten even more upscale since our last visit. Lots of development. The Missus couldn't resist dropping by the Whole Foods to take a peek and even bought some goji berries which were $7/lb cheaper than in San Diego.

The beer selection was pretty darn good as well. This looked like a nice Whole Foods.

We walked a bit more, then headed back to the hotel for a nap. We both woke a 4am to catch our flight, so a nap was in order......

Thanks for reading!

Comments

[ken]

Nice post! Powells is still fabulous. Next time up there, you might check out Blossoming Lotus, which I think has some of the best vegan cooking on the West Coast.

[Olson]

Hah, that’s funny – I was just in Portland this last weekend, and also hit up Tasty N Alder and also had the radicchio salad, which was insanely good. I don’t even like radicchio. https://twitter.com/SageOlson/status/572471652207894528

[Kirk]

Yes Ken, Powell's is still fab! Thanks for the rec!

That's too funny Sage....so were we! And that salad is awesome.

[caninecologne]

Kirk, it was your first posts on Portland that made us visit back in '09 (and again in '12). Yes, lots of changes! I love Powell's and the many different food pods

[tofugirl]

Portland is a great town with a great food scene! When we've gone our trips have all been eating-and-drinking binges, heh! This reminds me that I'm overdue for a visit. The only thing they don't have better than Vancouver is the Asian food...that's definitely loads better up here :)

[kat]

overdue for a visit too! everything looked great:)

[Kirk]

Hi CC - I believe there are like 700 food carts in PDX now! Amazing!

Hi TFG - I'm thinking we'll be doing Vancouver - Seattle - PDX in one "swoop" next time.

I think you'll love it here Kat!

[jack]

Thanks for sharing Kirk. This Fall I have a niece and nephew going to Oregon and Oregon St, respectively, so looking forward to spending some time up there.

[Kirk]

I'm sure you'll have a great time in Portland Jack!

[Ed (from Yuma)]

Nice post. Powell's Ahh Powell's. I never have had time, money, and cart space to go to all the sections of the store on one trip. I always stagger to the check out overloaded, just wishing I had got to the cookbooks, or biology books, or . . .

Good news for me these days is that Powell's does mail order (and never a sales tax!!). While they don't sell kitchenware and foodstuffs like Amazon, book lovers should check them out! (sorry for the plug).

[Nhbilly]

Sounds like a beautiful city full of good eats. Now where is all the food pictures? 😉 Stop holding out...

[Kirk]

Hi Ed - I'm sure you could one of those folks who look like they never leave the place!

Coming up Billy!

[James]

We went a couple of years ago and loved the food - though the highlight for me was Public Domain coffee, right down the street from the Westin where we stayed. (Full disclosure - I didn't like Voodoo Donuts at all.)

Can't wait to read more!

[Kirk]

Hi James - LOL...Voodoo Donuts is kind of passe' from what I've heard, so I went somewhere else. Wish I knew about Public Domain Coffee though....since we weren't really impressed by Stumptown nor Barista.

[tofugirl]

Kirk look me up if you head up to Vancouver :)

[Kirk]

We sure will TFG!

[Kyle]

Wish there were all those food carts when I was going to school. Voodoo is overated. Will have to try Blue Star Donuts when I'm in PDX again.

[Kirk]

Hey Kyle - Blue Star is coming up. I recall seeing the number of '700' with regards to food carts in PDX