Portland is one of my favourite places for food. Yes, mine and everyone else’s. There are so many different options and such great produce!
Mediterranean Exploration Company
There are a few things that Portland has/does that reminds me of Sydney; firstly it’s seems that half the restaurants in the center of the city all seem to be run by the same group, and the other thing, during the week, it’s hard to get in anywhere after 9. After walking around the Pearl District seeing kitchens closed everywhere we found the Mediterranean Exploration Company, and it was a good find.
Every dish we ordered was delicious, a nice selection from Lebanon, Greece and Israel. I’ve been trying to think which was my favourite dish and I can’t pin it down. I just know it’s not the bread pudding, which was nice enough, just not what I wanted it to be. The nectarine salad was the right amount of sweet & tart and perfectly paired dressing and accompaniments. The hummus was the best I’ve had in awhile. Falafels have a good flavour and super crisp outside. Tentacles were good. Ok I think it’s a toss up between the nectarine and the falafels.
Tasty N Adler
I think it’s fair to say that this place was the start of the brunch scene for Portland. I had wanted to go here on my last visit but they were closed. So with Kevin in the groomers, it was the right time to brave the inevitable Saturday morning queue. You will always have to wait for this place.
The food is good. Word of warning though, you’re better off sharing dishes. They will bring them as they are ready which meant mine arrived well after Al finished his! The biscuits are really good and so is the cornbread. They’re known for steak so both Al & I made sure we got that (told you we should have shared) and the rumours were true, they do good steak. But I probably should have got the biscuit breakfast sandwich, I did not need that much food.
Departure
Recommended by @zendonesian I was really looking forward to this meal. It’s at the top of the Nine hotel (which looks lovely). We opted for the Chefs Tasting Menu and wine pairing which gave a great selection of dishes. The tasting menu is a lot, you’ll roll out at the end (worth it).
Each dish was presented so beautiful, and delivered a flavour wow. StBdout dishes for me were:
- Citrus cured shellfish: the pineapple ice that went with it was phenomenal. A flavour explosion.
- Charred carrots: there’s something about the combo of beautifully cooked carrots and nuts that works so well.
- Sushi: delicate and delicious with some unusual combinations that work well.
- Wok fried broccoli: I mean, I love broccoli. This was done with some Szechuan peppers and garlic. It was hot! But good hot.
Al loved the fancy chicken & rib. I’ll admit, I tasted them both and the marinades were phenomenal, I’m just not a wing & rib person.
Then there were the beautiful desserts. Almost too pretty to eat! But we did. They were good but I was pretty much too stuffed to enjoy them properly.
There were a few other places that we checked out as well, all delicious:
- Yonder: delicious southern food
- Proud Mary: amazing Aussie cafe
- City State Dinner: still good breakfast
I’m pretty confident you can’t get a bad meal in Portland. I need to keep going back, because there’s so many more to try. Plus I didn’t get to any new food carts!
Jilltopia 
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