Recently, Fooditka and I were cruising around Division Street looking for something delicious to eat. Fortunately, the place we wanted to try was closed, so we popped into Sen Yai Noodles for a quick bite instead. I didn't realize it at first, but Fooditka pointed out that it's part of the Pok Pok family, so it should come as no surprise that the overall experience was a good one, and I will most likely be going back sometime soon.
Atmosphere:
Sen Yai is situated on the corner of 34th and Division, only a few blocks from its parent restaurant. It stands alone, in a pretty good sized space with plenty of room inside, and ample parking as well. There is nothing fancy about the place, but the general atmosphere is certainly inviting and friendly. There is an authentic feel to the dining room, with the artwork and general vibe conveying a real Southeast Asian flavor to go along with the food.
Food:
We were in the mood for a pretty light dinner; no apps, no dessert, just a quick bite on the way home. We each ordered one dish and a drink. Fooditka went with the Phat Thai, and I chose Kuaytiaw Reua, or "Boat Noodles". To drink I ordered the Pok Pok Bloody Mary, and Fooditka got one of the drinking vinegars that is another Pok Pok specialty.
Phat Thai - This is a pork heavy dish; the rice noodles themselves are cooked in rendered pork fat, and Fooditka also got some ground pork thrown into the mix. It was a very tasty dish, a little peanuty, and very flavorful with all of the pork. The stir-fried eggs, tofu, and radishes all went really well with that delicious Pok Pok fish sauce that seems to flavor so many of their dishes so well. Overall it was a delicious choice.
Boat Noodles - This dish was delightful as well, and pretty different from Fooditka's. They both have noodles, but that's about all they have in common. It's a big bowl of dark broth with two kinds of beef, house-made meatballs, spinach, chilies, herbs and bean sprouts. The dish had a little heat to it that crept up slowly, and by the time I was done slurping the last of the broth from the bottom of the bowl, my bald head was covered in a fine sweat. The dish was so flavorful that I didn't really notice until after I was done. I'd highly recommend it if you like hearty soups and spicy noodles.
Service and Cost:
The service was o.k. Not great, and not bad; I think the waiter gave me the wrong noodles with my dish, but I was pretty hungry and not about to send it back. As you can tell from the above remarks, I still enjoyed it immensely. The overall cost was not expensive, each dish went for about $11.00, although my Bloody Mary seemed a little pricey at $10. I wouldn't order it again, but other than that I was happy with the overall experience.
2.75 Mmmms
Sen Yai Noodles - 3384 SE Division Street Portland, OR 97202
503.236.3573
pokpoksenyai.com
Our friend Adam was in town recently, and although his stay was very brief, we managed to get together for dinner. As he was the guest in our fair city, we encouraged him to pick the place. Adam decided Pok Pok was the way to go; he'd been there before on a previous visit to Portland. We were up for it, as we hadn't eaten there yet, despite the restaurant's sterling reputation both locally and around the country. Let me begin by saying that it's a reputation that is very well deserved.
Atmosphere:
Pok Pok is located on SE Division, amidst several other wonderful establishments; this corridor is one of the true centers of the impressive culinary scene here in Portland. The restaurant itself seems pretty quirky, with an eclectic feel to the decor and the layout. There are several dining rooms as well as an outdoor seating area. We checked in with the hostess, and she brought us outside, around the corner, and up the stairs to an intimate area with about six tables or so. The place was pretty busy, even for the middle of the week, and I'm sure this is usually the case, but our little area was quiet enough that we could enjoy each other's company as well as our food.
Food:
We were pretty hungry, so we ordered a variety of dishes to split between the three of us. We got two salads, an order of the boar collar, and their famous wings. Basically everyone in the city of Portland has told us that we neeeed to try Pok Pok's wings, and I was excited for the chance, although wary that they'd been built up too much in my mind.
Wings - I'd say it isn't possible to build these wings up too much in one's mind. They deliver on their promise and then some. The flavor is pretty unique, with that tangy, wonderful Southeast Asian essence coming through in every bite. Apparently they soak the wings in fish sauce for twenty-four hours, and this combined with the perfectly fried texture and the sauce they are tossed in makes for a singular wing experience, and they're served with some pickled vegetables which help balance out the plate. The more I ate, the better they tasted, and at the end of the meal when we were all full, I seriously entertained the idea of ordering some more for the road. I managed to restrain myself, but barely.
Boar Collar - Officially called Muu Paa Kham Waan, the dish was quite interesting and the meat was deliciously tender and savory. I've had boar sausage before, but never grilled pieces like little chunks of steak. The boar is served with ice cold mustard greens and a hot chili sauce; our server told us the way to eat this dish was to alternate bites of the meat with bites of the fresh chilled greens to really open up the dish and help cool it down at the same time. The overall experience was excellent. I highly recommend it.
Eggplant Salad - This dish's real name is Yam Makheua Yao. It sounds like a mouthful, and it is. The grilled eggplant that is the base is then covered with a variety of seafood and a delightful fish sauce, and the entire plate works wonderfully together. The heartiness of the eggplant and the shrimp, pork and prawns make for a very filling and satisfying dish. There are also lime and chilis that give the flavor a little kick in the butt and put it over the top. We got some sticky rice to go with it, to help balance out the flavor, and cool off the palate when things go a bit too hot.
Steak Salad - Neua Naam Tok is a leafy green salad with a delicious dressing of lime and chili, and the flank steak on top is then covered with the fish sauce that seems to be Pok Pok's not-so-secret ingredient. Again, the tangy beef and snappy fresh greens made for a wonderful tandem of flavors, and this dish is particularly hot. The sticky rice helped immensely in this case to make each bite as enjoyable as possible. Another top-notch dish.
Service and Cost:
The service was fine, but nothing to rave about. It certainly wasn't bad service. Honestly, most of my attention was on the food, and all of that was so good, maybe I just didn't have a wide enough attention span to notice our server. As far as cost, I'd say it falls into the reasonable category. The quality of the food is stellar, and each dish carried a price tag of around $15.00. The wings go for $14.50, which sounds like a lot, but the life-changing nature of them more than offsets the cost. Beer and cocktail prices are pretty standard as well. If you go, you will definitely spend some money, but it is well worth it.
3 Mmmms (plus 1 extra Mmmm just because)
Pok Pok
3226 SE Division Street Portland, OR 97202
503-232-1387
pokpokpdx.com
Recently, Fooditka and I went out for dinner with two friends of ours to Roman Candle Baking Co. on Division St. in Southeast. I know I'm playing the role of broken record here lately, but once again, the pizza that we tried was excellent. More than just a pizzeria, however, Roman Candle also does breakfast and lunch, in addition to a wide variety of baked goodies. Fooditka wrote up the breakfast deliciousness a few weeks back if you're curious. As I'm pizza boy, I will stick to what I know.
Atmosphere:
Roman Candle's layout is relatively straightforward. There is one very long communal table in the center of the dining area right when you walk in, as well as several smaller tables arranged throughout. The register is towards the back, between the pizza and the glass bakery cases that show off all the delectable looking treats. The restaurant is well situated on a part of Division St. that is heavily populated with other restaurants, bars, theaters and sweet shops. It fits right in. The decor presents a pretty clean look, with the heavy wooden tables balanced out by gleaming white tiles that back the food counter. You order at the counter, take your beverages and a number, and then sit down and wait for your food.
Food:
Obviously, pizza. But unlike the multitude of Neapolitan style pizza restaurants in Portland, Roman Candle is Roman style pizza, meaning bigger square slices, almost like Sicilian, but not quite as thick. They do what they do quite well, and there is a wide array of options from which to choose. They also have a bunch of different antipasti and salads to whet the appetite before you dive face-first into pizza. As we are grown-ups these days, we did the responsible thing and ate our vegetables.
Salads - We ordered three salads for the four of us: A veggie plate made up of lentils, Brussels sprouts, and radicchio among other ingredients; a Farro salad with carrots, pistachios, dates and ricotta; and a Misticanza salad, made with farm greens, Asian pear, caperberries and pancetta.
They were all great. My personal favorite was the Misticanza. The pancetta was delicious, obviously, and the greens and pears as well, but the highlight was the caperberries. I'd never had one before, in fact, I'd never even heard the word, but they were fantastic. Tart and tangy, they had an almost pickled taste, and a very interesting texture. I'm guessing all the seeds inside were actually capers, just tiny ones, as the berries are probably picked before they reach their full size. The farro salad was also very good, again the texture of each bite was terrific and the pistachios, dates, and ricotta all mingled very well. O.K., enough about the salad. On to the pizza.
Pizza - We ordered four slices to share between the four of us. They were big, square slices cut from huge rectangular pizzas, and the four pieces we got plus the salad was plenty of food. The four varieties we opted for were the mushroom, the pepperoni, the meat-lovers, and the daily special. They were all very good to excellent, and surprisingly, my favorite was the mushroom slice. I say surprisingly, because I don't really like mushrooms. However, there weren't a ton of them, and the rest of the slice was essentially a white slice, with ricotta on the mozzarella and no red sauce. For whatever reason, it just worked really well. Each slice goes between $6-$8.00, which sounds pretty pricey, but again, they are very substantial, and all the ingredients are quite good.
Another interesting note: the pizza is served with giant metal scissors with which to cut it up. I'd never seen this method before, but it is incredibly effective. Literally, you can snip off any size piece you'd like with phenomenal precision. The advantages to this method are two-fold. We all got to try every different variety on the table, and the fact that you can cut your pizza into bite size pieces basically ensures it will all get eaten. Personally, I can always eat just one more bite of anything, especially pizza. Thankfully, Gianni is of a similar mindset, so I didn't have to polish off all that pizza by myself once the ladies decided they'd had enough.
Service and Cost:
As Roman Candle is another order at the counter and then go sit down kind of place, our interaction with the staff was limited, but they were as cheerful and friendly as any place I've been in Portland. As far as cost, $8.00 a slice and $12.00 per salad obviously isn't cheap. However, the quality and quantity of the food was well worth the price, and I'm sure I'll be back soon.
3 Mmmms
Roman Candle Baking Co. - 3377 S.E. Division St Portland, OR 97202
971.302.6605
romancandlebaking.com
Yesterday, Fooditka needed Mexican food in the worst way. Being Fooditka, she'd heard about Mi Mero Mole, a highly recommended taco joint with a couple of locations in PDX. There is one on Division in Southeast, and one in Chinatown. We went to the one on Division. I use the term joint in the positive sense; it is by no means a hole in the wall. Rather, it's a no-frills kind of establishment with tasty food that isn't fancy, just good.
They bill themselves as Guisado Style, which is a very homey style of Mexican street cooking. Their specialty is the different traditional stews, or moles, that have various bases like beef, shrimp, pork, and veggie options. Their tortillas are also a major strength; they are made from scratch out of ground nixtamal, which is supposedly a more authentic way to do it.
They have a full bar as well with a pretty extensive drink menu, but I didn't get too far down the page, and picked the tamarind margarita, which was pretty good.
Atmosphere:
The restaurant is split into two sections. When you walk in the door, there is a line to order food. The register and the kitchen is all on that side. You order, pay, take a number and go sit down in the other half of the place. The cashier is also the bartender, and you grab a bottle of tap water and some glasses on your way to your table. When your food is ready, they find you and bring it to you. The place was clean, and pretty busy, but there was plenty of room to sit.
Food:
The first page of the menu tells you all of the different moles that are available on a given day. There are Beef and Lamb, Pork, Chicken, Seafood, Veggie, and Vegan options so you will definitely find something you like. These are all the fillings and you can get them as tacos, burritos, quesadillas, and plates. We opted for the 5 mole sampler, and a meatball taco, which is yet another option to choose from. One note: although we didn't get the burrito, I saw several people going to town on them and they looked stellar. Next time I go, I probably have to get one.
Mole Sampler - This was a 5 variety sampler that came with a bunch of soft tortillas, rice, and beans. The moles were all pretty different, and all very good. The 5 different bases were Pork, Beef, Shrimp, Chicken, and some kind of veggie which I think was sweet potato, but I couldn't swear to it. My favorite was the pork; the sauce was lighter and creamy, and very nicely seasoned. It complemented the pork which was really well cooked; tender and juicy, but nice big chunks. The shrimp was also really tasty, but they only gave us two shrimps, so...meh. The chicken also stood out; it was more shredded than the pork, and the sauce was a bit darker and more tangy. These are served with a pretty big plate of rice and beans, along with the soft nixtamal tortillas. The tortillas were great, and the whole effect of mole, rice, beans and fresh tortilla was exactly right.
Tacos Albondigas - Although the sampler was probably enough food for the two of us, I wanted to be sure, so we got the extra taco. The meatballs, or albonigas, are made from beef, pork, and ham and then stuffed with an egg and smothered in a chipotle-tomato sauce, so...hell yeah. And the one taco came with 2 large-ish meatballs cut it half, so there was plenty to split between Fooditka and yours truly.
Service and Cost:
There wasn't a lot of service, as we ordered and then sat with our beverages and waited for the food. The cashier was also the bartender, and he was nice enough, and the guy who served us our food was totally pleasant as well. The food came out pretty quickly, and when we were done we bused our own dishes. The overall cost was perfectly reasonable for a nice amount of really good food; our mole sampler, extra taco, and margarita came out around $12.00 a piece. I would definitely go back again.
3 Mmmms
Mi Mero Mole - 5026 SE Division St Portland, OR, 97206
503.232.8226
mmmtacospdx.com
