sellwood, OR

in sellwood, a neighborhood just across the street from us, r a collection o antique shops, big n sm. it's a little area tht has a bit o granola feel to it. very quaint. ther we found on sunday afternoon, a nice little tavern/resto called Gino's. it's got yummiest pan-fried chicken. it's not even kidding when the menu says, 1/2 chicken, it comes exactly as 1/2 altogether n u get a knife near the size o medieval dagger! n def good beer. the 2 o us shared the plate o chicken n was stuffed! didn't even finish.

perfect italiano

nowhere to eat sunday evening? many resto/shops r all closed. so we went to ths family-run classic italian resto, Piazza Italiavery tasty n simple classic dishes. my lasagne was the best i've had in ages! n barbar's paparadelle w/wild boar sauce was very flavorful. i've not had such amazing italian since forever!

london/ paris

London, this is according to frnd, eve, living ther now since fall 2007...

Good places to go eat (cheap, that is) around LDN:
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1) Brick lane - great indian food
2) Marble Arch Tube has great Lebanese food (am thinking you are coming from Cali, land of better Chinese food than LDN, so I won't highly recommend London's Chinatown...)
-but if dim sum, Floating Lotus is quite cantonese n fair in price.
3) Borough Market - MUST check out. Great farmer's market and exotic foods. Open Thur/Fri/Sat
4) Camden town - sorta like this huge area where there are tons and tons of cheap food
5) Nottinghill has good eateries, too...
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Paris
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-Chez Papa, also drink ths wine while here Gaillac (red)
-au Bon St Pourcain, in st germain area (c the card posted)
-Le Fumoir, just outside of the louvre
-laudurée, the one on champs elysee
-wadja, near montparnasse area.
-Spring, an american chef, heard great review, would like to try one day.

new places to pdx listing.

CACAO, for chocolate (chocolate covered fig)

LA PETITE PROVENCE, amazing brunch n salads

PIX, late nite dessert bar, sweet & tasty

LAUGHING PLANET, very interesting alternative to traditional burritos.

saburo sushi, don't bother if ur taste for sushi is at least cali standard. but maybe if u prefer the combo rolls, they'r huge n apparently ppl love it here.

Le Happy, still happy there to find late nite chows on savory crepes + cocktails.

Heathman hotel, awesome happy hour thurs with great mix o cocktails.

St Honoré Boulangerie/ Bakery, amazing looking salads, tasty sandwiches large or small or paninis, of course, this is bakery, all the baked goods looks great.

Ken's artisan bakery/ pizzeria, perfect pastries, hv not tried the pizzas yet tho

Acadia, a new orleans bistro, comes highly recommended for southern creole food, only have tried the cocktails here. quite peppery n spicy. i like the ginger based mixes.

Le Bistro Montage is a great place to find food late at nite if u'r looking for cajun style macaroni, etc. very spicy if not careful. besides the heat, it's yummy!

Broder PDX our fav brunch place so far, for danish pankcakes... very crowded, long queue.

Chef Naoko's, bentos n bowls, organic n fresh, not cheap tho, but def worth it.

Nostrana, wood oven pizza's, local grown food, NW & itlalian menu

madeleins attept 2

after baking the madeleines myself, i've realized how easy tht process is. even simpler than a chocolate chip cookie to prep n make. the only thing is the shell shaped baking pan. but i don't hv to use tht to make it taste great.
in the end, i mananged to make the orig flavor n then some with a little chocolate shavings melted on top. tht's nice n lite too.

whistler trip food stops...

on the way up to seattle, we met up w/frnds to eat sushi at Rain, fusion japanese cuisine.

in squamish, we ate at the Zephyr cafe
while on bowen island, Vij's restaurant was highly recommended to us. it was voted as top 5 of north american restos. very interesting, i hope we get a chance to go some day.

on the return trip, we stopped in seattle, we ate at Le Pichet, i really love ths cozy little space!

clyde common

b4 the whistler trip, wnt to Clyde Common for drinks n dinner w/frnds. i had the mackerel, was quite good, tho mackerel does hv a strong taste. the cod & pasta dishes w/pork, etc all very yummy.

use wht is in ur frigo

so, instead o the typical new yr dinner, we'r prepping for our trip to Seattle/Vancouver, then Whistler. so we'r doing use wht is in the fridge day.
for lunch, i stir fried the cabbage, Chinese style (w/garlic), rice, tofu (pan fried + soy sauce)
then after walk in forest, we began to make his nana's special canteen cookies (chocolate chip) but instead o vanilla extract, recipe says to use orange zest & orange juice (we used blood oranges) it turns out so amazingly yummy & the last batch we added m&m's! o the crunch!


for dinner, we made our version of eggplant parmesan! with tons of tomato sauce, no mozzarella (using smoked gouda), we ate it w/basmati rice stir fried w/zucchini. it turned out so amazingly yummy, our favorite so far!

1:2009 lemon risotto with asparagus & shiitake mushroom

this is mini spice reporting in after a long absence. i guess no one's really writing on ths blog anymore...

i've decided to start writing in this 5 spice blog of my eat-in dine out experiences while i'm here in portland 2009.
so,
first dish i cooked ths yr, recipe found on Food & Wine site, my favorite spot to look up recipes.
intead of shiitake mushroom tho, i used a combo of white/brown button mushrooms+clamshell mushrooms.
basically i cut the recipe in 1/2 because i'm cooking for 2 instead of 4. and american portions 4 servings normally feeds 5-6 to my standard.
tho i prob hv way more veggies than the risotto, which is better anyway, to hv less starch.
n instead of the store bought boxed/canned chicken broth, my frnd allie, suggested using bouillon cubes, vegetables. being italian herself, she doesn't quite understand why in a meatless dish would the recipe call for chicken broth. i'm fine either way. but the bouillon cube worked out fine n i didn't hv to haul something heavy around town.
for the wine, i bought Fat Bastard, allie's recommendation, she's had it b4. turned out great for both drinking n cooking.

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places i hv eaten in portland (PDX)....

STUMPTOWN cafe, yummiest coffee & boulangerie.
Kenny & Zukes:, a jewish deli. such yummy pastrami & all sorts o pickles!
50 Plates, wow, the decor is quite beautiful & the gourmet sliders r just something else, esp the kobe beef one!
Higgins Bar & bistro/ resto, we ate in the bistro/bar section. had this crispy fried garlic in the sauce. very tasty tho a bit on the salty side. huge beer menu! i was told this is a very typical Portland type of resto/food.
Lovely Hula Hands, as named, quite lovely. resto is in the home style located in the mississippi section of portland. also very 'portland' style food, local & current menu. no reservations. i had the duck leg, yum, n he has the milk braised port shoulder. also very delice.
Pho Van, not bad for being far away from little saigon of Bolsa region in southern cal. but they don't serve broken rice here :-(
Pok Pok, this place i visited on last visit to pdx, ther's indoor fine dining n outdoor patio dining. def prefer the outside... tho nowadays, no 1 wd b caught ther i guess. it's a very interesting fusion of the SE Asian cuisine, creative & tasty. no wonder it's resto of the yr, 2007!
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tht's it so far.
just realized how many places i've been to already!
more to come!

my goal is to cook at least a diff dish ea/week. trying things out. nothing crazy like 1 per day. ok, if i'm good at it, 2 per week?