Portland 2016 Recap

A few weekends ago, we took a quick trip to Portland. Virgin America had a great flight deal. We paid about $200 RT for two people and a baby (no charge). Here is a summary of our 3.5 days there.

A trip to Portland is not complete without a cappuccino at Stumptown Coffee Roasters.

Must stop at Pine State Biscuits for fried chicken, biscuits, and gravy. I usually don't like heavy country foods like this but dang these biscuits were good and the gravy was great.

Don't skip on the hot sauce. I thought the Foot High sauce was really good.

I had an ice cream flight all to myself from Salt and Straw. They are known for some unique flavors. I was not a fan of most of these flavors. I found that there was usually one ingredient that dominated the entire taste. For example, the Strawberry Balsamic tasted mostly of balsamic. The Honey Lavendar jsut tastes like lavendar. It was kind of disappointing for me. Phil had a cone of the Almond Brittle with Salted Ganache which he really enjoyed.

 From left to right: Wildflower Honey with Ricotta Walnut Lace Cookies, Double Fold Vanilla, Strawberry Honey Balsamic with Black Pepper, Honey Lavendar

I hear everyone rave about VooDoo Donuts but Blue Star Donuts is where it's at. This old fashioned buttermilk was so perfect. 

Of course I had to try Pok Pok. I've heard so many great things about the chicken wings. They did not disappoint at all. Spicy, salty, sweet, sticky, crispy. Everything else pictured here was also spicy, espeically the papaya salad. I suggest getting the coconut rice. 

Vegan/vegetarian food was also on my to-eat list because Portland is a hipster town so why not try what the Portlandians eat. We were very satisfied and surprisingly full on the Thai fake chicken wrap and the raw nachos. My mocktail was also great.

For one of the dinners, we had Italian food at Grassa in downtown. I wasn't a huge fan of ordering at the front before I sat down. It adds pressure to the decision making process. The meatballs and carbonara were fantastic anyway.

Brunch is also a very Portlandian thing to do so we tried Tasty & Alder. Steak and duck egg on top with eggs, grits, and steak at the bottom. Yum.

We are super into acai bowls now and had to try a few in Portland. Top is from Carioca Bowls and bottom is from Moberi. Both very good. I liked Moberi just a touch better. They're a truck and there's a bike out front attached to a blender so you can blend our own bowl.

Speaking of trucks, Portland is well known for its food trucks which take up entire blocks and are pretty stationary. I tried the Bing Mi which is a crepe with egg and black bean sauce. It was only just ok.

We also explored the Portland Japanese Garden and it was a nice time.

Pre-Opening Party for Curry Up Now - San Jose

DISCLAIMER:

I received an invite to attend Curry Up Now's pre-opening party. Every food and drink item in this post was complimentary. I will not review service because it was also a training event for their new staff and hiccups are to be expected. This post will show some of their food and drink offerings.

Grand Opening is on Thursday 9/24/15
http://www.curryupnow.com/san-jose

Curry Up Now started out as a food truck and has expanded to 3 brick and mortar locations, 5 trucks, a catering business, and a bar. Their latest location is in San Jose off Zanker Road. It's in a small retail strip below an apartment complex. The location is spacious. Parking is limited to a few spots out front, in the garage, and the rest is street parking which is hard to find.

($3) Mango Lassi, also available was Rose Lassi

($8.25) Deconstructed Chicken Samosa

Lots of chickpeas, chutneys, and mini samosas. This thing is much larger than expected and I enjoyed it. One of the chutneys has a very distinct taste so it might not be for those who don't like spices and herbs.

($8) Dynamite Tangra Wings

smothered in Indian-Chinese spicy sauce and dusted with ghost chili powder. That ghost chili powder will really get you. But if you let it cool a bit and rub the powder around in the rest of the hot sauce, it's not as spicy with some white rice.

($9.50) Sexy Fries
Indian inspired poutine (but it doesn't have gravy) with sweet potato criss-cut fries and lamb dopiaza. The lamb is quite good and it's the same one that comes in the Thali dish. I personally enjoy sweet potato fries vs regular. I wish the cheese was a melty kind and that there was some sort of gravy or more sauce. Otherwise this is just fries underneath a scoop of lamb.

($6) Itsy Bitsy Naan Bits

Chopped up naan with tikka masala dip. Tasty but not worth the price. No meat in the sauce.

($13) Thali with Meat Sweats option for $1 extra

Turmeric flavored brown rice was dry. It comes with butter chicken, ground beef keema, and lamb dopiaza (same as on top of the fries) which was all good. There's also a side of some strongly salty and sour eggplant(?) pickle which I hate but I see it served at all Indian restaurants. Someone explain to me what this is and how it's eaten (top left in small bowl). Naan was rather oily and not quite authentic but still tasty.

($9.50) Tikka Masala burrito

Whole wheat tortilla, turmeric and fenugreek white rice, chicken tikka masala with onions. This burrito really says fusion food truck - something wrapped and convenient. It was good and filling, I would order again.

($6) Hot Balls on Ice

Gulab Jamun (those sweet milk balls in syrup you often see at Indian restaurants) and kulfi ice cream. This ice cream had a strong pistachio taste. Very strong. The gulab jamun was good but I wasn't a fan of the ice cream.

Half of the restaurant is a bar called Mortar and Pestle. It's a full bar with beer, wine, and spirits. 

($14) Green Isaac's Special
Bombay Sapphire Gin, coconut water, Demerara and LN2. I don't recognize those last two ingredients. rum and liquid nitrogen?! This drink is too strong. Phil agrees. This isn't just a female opinion. The drink is so strong. I guess if you can get wasted for $14 then it's a good deal for you.

First Republic Bank Food Truck Event - Palo Alto

 

When my classmate invited a group of us to First Republic Bank's free food truck event for clients and potential clients, I could not miss the opportunity. My main goal was for the Treatbot truck which I absolutely loved at the Moveable Feast event. For the first time ever, First Republic Bank in Palo Alto hosted a free event with 3 featured food trucks and a wine/beer selection for their clients and potential clients. Since the event was free, I cannot comment on the pricing of the foods mentioned below.

Giveaways included a stuffed eagle, which is on the First Republic Bank logo. There were also packages that included the Zagat SF Bay Area Restaurants guide for 2012. I am definitely looking forward for using it. I have already used the wine opener in the pack and have given away my tin of chocolates to a chocolate lover who appreciates it much more than I do. These are great giveaways.

Our first stop was a taco station by Anytime is Taco Time. We had protein choices of chorizo, chicken, pork, or beef. I opted for chorizo and chicken. After adding toppings of green salsa, radishes, cilantro, and a squeeze of lime, these tacos were delicious. Probably not as good at the Tres Gringos taco stand in front of the Improv in downtown San Jose, but still very good and well seasoned tacos.

The wonder and magic of Sam's Chowder Mobile was previously unbeknownst to me. Oh Sam's Chowder Mobile, why have I not eaten your food before?

Shrimp Po' Boy with fries. You can't see it here but there is a bun on the bottom and top of the pile of shrimps. The shrimps were fried goodness dressed with a light dab of tartar sauce on top of a bed of shredded cabbage and tomato slices. I would have liked them to market this as popcorn shrimp in a small cup or something instead. I can't imagine making a whole sandwich out of this.

Fish and Chips: I can't give an accurate review of fish and chips because I don't like it. The fish is usually too oily when prepared this way and the combination of fish and chips feels too heavy. My friend seemed to like this item though.

Clam Chowder: Good but unremarkable.

This is the money maker right here. Sam's Lobster Roll is so good. Large chunks of lobster on a fluffy buttery roll. Yes, it does taste a little like a heart attack but its too good to miss. There's cole slaw on the side if you want to balance your meal with some greens. I ate the rolls alone and it was delicious. I even got back in line for 2 more so I could take home and have for lunch the next day. By the way, still just as good when heated the next day.

From Treatbot: Chocolate chip cookies with a scoop of the 408 ice cream. The 408 is caramel ice cream with fudge chunks. The first half of the sandwich was delicious until I got a big fat sugary stomach ache. This sandwich should be shared. No person could safely consume so much sugar. Yummy nonetheless.

What do you think?

Would you like your bank to host a similar event for you, your family, and your friends? For me, unfortunately I am not high net worth enough for a bank like First Republic but if I ever got to that point, I would like to establish a more personal relationship like this with my bank. When I have more money to manage and to spend, I want to get to know the people handling it. I hope this event was successful for First Republic.

First Republic Bank

Anytime is Taco Time on Yelp
Sam's Chowder Mobile on Yelp
Treatbot on Yelp

Giovanni's Shrimp Truck - Hawaii

Before heading to Hawaii, many people around me suggested a visit to a "supposed" famous shrimp truck near North Beach. This shrimp truck is called Giovanni's.

Literally a truck on the side of the road with a lot of markings on it. I wish I had a pen, I would have written "I like boobs."

Closer look at the side of the truck. Surprisingly, no drawn pictures of weiners or boobs to be seen.

Procedure is, you order in the right window and they serve you in the left window. Each side was probably 20-30 people deep.

When we first arrived, we were all the way at the end of the area.

Getting closer to the truck, I start to decide what to have. They have three options, scampi, hot & spicey, & lemon butter. The scampi is considered the "known dish."

After ordering, there was a 20-30 minute wait to get the food, so Sara was messing around with my camera. Random fact, I forgot to pack all my shirts for Hawaii. Hawaii is probably the only place you can get away with 2 t-shirts(I had to buy one to juss mix it up)

Finally!!! The famous garlic shrimp scampi(and I thought scampi meant pasta).

The full plate. This was $13. You get 12 shrimps and two scoops of rice. Each order they take, they make individually so that explains the delay, but the wait is totally worth it. The mixture of garlic, lemon, oil and whatever else they have is perfectly mixed with the shrimp. The sauce also gave the rice a lot of flavor as well.

Overall, this shrimp is awesome. I would definitely recommend a visit to this truck at least once if you go to Hawaii. The flavor of this shrimp is something I'll remember. I would like to say this was the best flavored shrimp I've ever tasted.

I would yelp it a 5 if I wasn't lazy. Yes, there is a long wait, but there's a good reason.