A Visit to Mextiza

Wifey and I decided to try out a new Mexican restaurant out in North Portland - Mextiza on North Killingsworth. Mextiza is owned and operated by the same chef who runs Autentica, generally regarded as one of the best Mexican restaurants in the city. This place is more casual than Autentica and boasts a very reasonably price lunch menu.

We started off with an appetizer: Guacamole with thick tortilla chips, topped with cheese

Look at that guac; doesn't it look smooth? It was - very, very smooth. And fantastic. Those chips were as thick as a pita chip, but with all the flavor of a tortilla chip. The cheese they were topped with was just sprinkled and made quite a mess. I'm not the tidiest eater anyway, but that cheese was all over the place.

My main dish was the Pollo Rostizado - Rotisserie chicken with pineapple, served with spicy potato salad refried beans and Oaxacan cheese.

I'm not real sure why I got the beans instead - the waitress wasn't clear on that - but they were good. The chicken had rich flavors with a nice amount of spice. There were a ton of onions (the darker strands are the pineapple, which I didn't figure out until I ate them), but it all worked. I'd definitely recommend this.

Wifey ordered the Zuisas - Green chile and tomatillo sauce enchiladas with chicken, Oaxacan melting chese and cream.

These were also very, very good, with plenty of onions as well. The sauce had a very fresh flavor to it and we both love Oaxacan cheese (since our trip to Huatulco a few years ago), so it was a winner.

Food was very good, prices were reasonable, and the service was, um, passable. Our waitress didn't seem very sure of herself or the dishes she was serving, but perhaps that's a byproduct of it being a new place. It wasn't bad, just a little confused.

We would definitely recommend Mextiza and would go back. It also made us more excited to check out Autentica, one of the many places On The List. (The list is quite long.)

A Lovely Meal

Wifey and I decided we needed a mid-week date night a couple weeks back and decided to check out a pizza place we hadn't been before. We narrowed it down to Dove Vivi and Lovely's Fifty-Fifty. Dove Vivi is off Glisan and Lovely's is on Mississippi Avenue, and since we could pair that with a visit to The Sugar Cube for a cupcake dessert we opted for the latter. Maybe next time Vivi.

Lovely's Fifty-Fifty is the new place opened next door to what was Lovely Hula Hands, a place we wanted to go to but never did before it closed. It's run by the same people, but the focus has shifted to high quality pizza and homemade ice cream from the meals done in the old space. This space is new, long and narrow, with plenty of seating. We were there a little early - 5:30 or so - on a Wednesday and there were plenty of tables. In fact, there were still plenty of tables when we left an hour later. Admittedly that's not exactly a high traffic night, or time, for a restaurant, but it's good to know you can get a table when you want one if you play your cards right.

Fifty-Fifty has their own unique take on pizza. I've seen it described as traditional, meaning like the ones made in Napoli, but I think I must disagree. It's closer to that style than any American style, but I personally think Nostrana and Ken's Artisan Pizza are closer to what is typically Napolitano - that could just be me. That's not to say it's not good - it most assuredly is.

We decided to get two. For us this is practically a must because the first one we will always get is the classic margherita. So what next? You can see the menu at the link above - they all looked good. What we decided on isn't on the menu at the moment; it had fennel sausage, kale, and mozzarella. I wasn't sold it would be a good combination, but fennel sausage intrigued me.

Lovely's crust is very good. It's not as chewy as some, not as thick as others, but it has very good flavor and a crunch to the edges that isn't too much, meaning it's not dry and overdone. The sauce is absolutely excellent - you can taste the freshness of the tomatoes. There is also plenty of it, which we both love (and yes, I realize this is decidedly un-Italian - don't care). The mozzarella on both pizzas was very good, very fresh, and there was a nice drizzle of olive oil at some point in the layering that added another element of flavor.

The margherita was fantastic. The freshness of all the ingredients and the boldness of the flavors working in harmony really stood out. I'd eat this every day if I could. The kale and sausage was also very good. I wasn't sure about the kale, but the nuttiness from the leaves when roasted really made a nice impact on the overall flavor and the fennel sausage added a touch of savory and salty that was very pleasing. I didn't think I would like this nearly as much as the margherita, but it was fantastic. Absolutely would get again...but then again, there are others to try!

We made a point of saving room for dessert because we had heard good things about their ice cream. (Just ignore the fact we had Sugar Cube cupcakes already in the car...) Unfortunately the chocolate chip cookie dough was sold out (sad!), so we got a scoop each of the malted milk ball and the salted caramel. And wow...just wow. This might be some of the best ice cream I've had, and I like myself some ice cream.

The malted milk ball ice cream tasted, literally, like a melted Whopper. I loved these things as a kid - not so much Whoppers specifically anymore, but I like the flavor combination - and this was a flashback to then. On top of the excellent flavor profile the vanilla ice cream itself was very smooth and creamy, almost luxurious. The salted caramel was heavenly... We both agreed we'd go back just for ice cream, even if the pizza was bad - which it wasn't at all. In fact while we were there at least one couple came in just for a cone to go. Right now they are open just for dinner, but I believe they will be open on weekend afternoons in the summer for ice cream at least, if not for meals. And it's completely worth it.

My only complaint about the whole dinner is the booths are wooden benches and they are quite hard. If that's the only issue, you know there is no reason to not give it a visit. Good pizza, nice atmosphere, and fantastic ice cream - lovely indeed.

Not Feeling Gravy

Wifey and I love breakfast. We love the piles of carbs, the bacon, eggs, the cheese, the breads, the pastries, the coffee drinks, hot chocolate - just about anything that goes with breakfast is good for us. So to that end we've been hitting up various breakfast places around town that are supposed to be good - and that's how we ended up choosing Gravy, a place over on North Mississippi.

We had been by it many times, with various shopping trips out to The Meadow or to the Mississippi Marketplace carts to visit The Sugar Cube and Nuevo Mexico. It always had a line out the door and initially it was getting very good reviews. Upon further looking it seemed like while many people did like it, there were also a lot of people that did not - and if you look at the trend graph on their Yelp page (they don't have their own website) you can see the recent reviews are grading lower than the older ones.

Still, we didn't let that deter us. So we went to check it out.

We arrived one Saturday not too long after they opened and thankfully didn't have to wait at all. Considering the lines we usually saw (albeit later in the morning) we counted ourselves lucky. After perusing the menu I decided on something called a Monte Cristo-something, with think french toast topped with turkey, ham, swiss cheese, and fried egg. Wifey ordered a scramble with ham, bacon, vegetables and sausage gravy. Both dishes came with hashbrowns. (I'd give you the exact names of the dishes, but my memory is horrible and they don't have a website, let alone an online menu. That's a strike right there in my book.)

Initially we had wanted to try their biscuits and gravy also, but when I tried to order a single biscuit with gravy as a side our waitress kindly talked me out of it. She reasoned we were already getting a ton of food, and we could try the gravy from Wifey's scramble. As it turns out that was a good call by her - we did get a ton of food - and I actually appreciate that.

We ordered drinks too. The drink menu on the table boasted homemade egg nog with your choice of alcohols, but since it was 9:30 in the morning I opted for the virgin version. I really don't know if that meant I didn't get homemade or what - it sure tasted a lot like what you buy at the grocery store and nothing like the good stuff I make at home. It was not worth the $3. Wifey ordered their hot chocolate (which had some kind of claim of being the best of something) and it was barely average. Seriously, for that price elsewhere I can get something fantastic, and this was barely even worth noting.

Pictures of this meal would no doubt be impressive due to the sheer amount of found on the plates, but alas the camera was forgotten this day. I'll try harder.

The French toast part of my Monte Cristo thingie was pretty good. Thick, almost sweet, the French toast was something I'd order again - without the toppings. There was enough Swiss cheese to choke a large mammal and everything together just reeked of overdoing it just to over do it. It's not that it was bad, it just wasn't necessarily good either. The shredded potatoes on the side must have been an entire potato, which is kind of silly, really.

Wifey got an entire potato as well, in addition to her scramble. The veggies were cooked okay, perhaps a tad overdone, but the sausage gravy was just greasy. I expect a tad of grease when working with sausage, but this was literally dripping - and it must have been at least four eggs involved (the meny didn't say). Again, it wasn't necessarily bad, but it wasn't good either.

I think altogether we ate maybe a third of our dishes, and that might be generous. Like good little eaters we made sure not to stuff ourselves (too badly anyway) and brought the rest home.

It's probably eating the leftovers at home that really got me. This entire meal literally sat like a brick in my stomach, and then I felt obligated to eat the leftovers - you know, since I paid for them and did bring them home and it's not like they were horrible. They just weren't that great. And they made me more angry as the days passed, because I could literally only eat a little bit at a time.

The bottom line on Gravy is the food just isn't that great. It's not expensive, the service was pretty decent, the atmosphere was okay (well, except for the fact the acoustics aren't that conducive to actually being able to hear the conversation of the person across from you without leaning into your food - or maybe that's just me and I have other issues...maybe, who knows), the location is nice, but the food just isn't anything special.

Portland has so many other places to go that are that good, where you can wait in line if you don't mind, where the prices are comparable, where the atomosphere is good, where the service is good...that you shouldn't bother yourself with Gravy. We probably won't be going back, not when we could go somewhere like Screen Door or try somewhere new instead.

Riding a Little Red Bike

If you've been reading for a while now you know that we love breakfast food. And bakeries. In fact, I hear Portland is one of the biggest breakfast food towns around, replete with cafes, bakeries, and coffee shops all making their own versions of delicious breakfasty goodness. Our list of places we want to visit is full of breakfast/brunch places, and one that was high on that list was the Little Red Bike Cafe in North Portland, not too far from the University of Portland.

Little Red Bike Cafe has a website, but it doesn't tell you much. Their blog has a bunch more information, but in neither place will you find the actual everyday menu listed.

No matter - Yelp gave great reviews and they stand for everything we like. You know, mainly good breakfast food.

First off, know how to get there. It's on N. Lombard and we were coming from I-5 North. That means taking the Lombard exit and going left - not right, like we did. Oops. After 40 blocks I figured turning around was probably the best course of action, since we had been in NE Portland (not North) for 35 of those blocks and all.

The location is right in the middle of the St. John's area, a relative quiet area right on the street. It has some outdoor seating (chilly on the day we went), some seats at a counter looking out into the street, and a few tables.

The primary item we wanted to try was a breakfast sandwich called "The Messenger." I have no idea where it gets its name, but it probably has an interesting story behind it. The Messenger comes on a ciabatta role with gorgonzola, applewood bacon, an egg, and some delicious apple butter. We ordered that and something called - I think I'm remembering this right - Rapini's Special. That was a basic egg and bacon sandwich with gruyere on a ciabatta role, came with an all-you-can-drink cup of Courier coffee, and one of their fresh-made cinnamon rolls.

If you are wondering if that was enough food for two people, yes, yes it was. In fact, we were full for hours after, which isn't a bad thing at all.

The Messenger was fantastic. The bread was soft, not hard and crunchy like ciabatta rolls can sometimes be, so there was no roof of the mouth damage. The egg was cooked just right - not too liquidy, but enough to seep out when you squeeze it - the bacon was a hefty chunk, and the apple butter worked very well to tie all the flavors together and didn't allow the gorgonzola to become overpowering.

The other sandwich was just as well-made even though it didn't have the same bursts of flavor. The overall flavor was smooth and even, with everything melding together nicely. The cinnamon roll was fine (I'm spoiled - Wifey is a fantastic baker), but one good thing in my book is the frosting was light - just for flavor, not for dominance. The roll itself was light, so it didn't weight on your stomach like a rock the way some will-leave-unnamed commercial cinnamon rolls will.

The coffee was fine - it's the serve yourself kind, but it is French pressed. Also, another note - get your own napkins and silverware from the area in the back with the coffee. Apparently I'm not very observant because when our food was brought out we didn't have any of those things, but the guy was kind enough to get them for us. Did I mention the service was excellent? It was mid-morning on a Thursday and not very busy, so that helps, but everyone was friendly.

I would definitely recommend this place and we plan on going back. When we do I'm ordering the "Rudy Fernandez" - named for the Portland Trail Blazers guard from Spain. What's on it? Well, Spanish things of course! Jamon serrano and manchego with my egg sandwich? Yes, please! And the pictures look fantastic!

Dang, now I'm hungry... Anyway, two thumbs up!

The Sugar Cube - Heaven in a Cart

I think we've made our love of cupcakes pretty clear, but just in case you aren't sure: we love them.

But, as good as any of those cupcakes in that post are, they can't hold a candle to The Sugar Cube food cart operated by Kir Jensen at the Mississippi Marketplace in North Portland. Kir apparently had a similar dessert cart previously, but had to close, re-plan, and has opened this new outpost of goodness.

Her cart is pretty - looks like Neopolitan ice cream, and you can see plenty of great pictures here. Sorry, no pictures from us - it was raining like hell when we went.

We happened to go opening day, last Thursday. Her menu is a tribute to sweet deliciousness and although small, it's amazing.

Our first item was something called Beer.Cheese.Bacon. It was a Guinness and ginger spice cake topped with Fifty Licks (a local brand) Tahitian vanilla bean ice cream, bacon praline, honey, and white cheddar. I'm not usually a big fan of spice cake, but all the flavors here - which don't at first glance seem like they should go together - work in the best possible way.

The whole reason we actually stopped by was for cupcakes though. Foodies all over the Net have been lauding Kir's cupcakes and we've been chomping at the bit to get a chance at them, since we missed out the first time around (what were we thinking, coming late to Portland's food scene?!). The Highway to Heaven, in particular, was top of the list. She's doing a cupcake a week for now, and has a few she will be working into rotation. Thankfully opening week included this one.

Thankfully, as in thank the gods of chocolate across all universes. This chocolate buttermilk cupcake is easily the most moist (say that five times fast) we've ever had, and when she fills it with salted caramel center and tops it with chocolate ganache. It's absolutely, hands down, the greatest cupcake ever. No arguments. I will fight anyone who declares otherwise. Okay, maybe not, but I can't fathom anyone disagreeing after giving this a bite.

That was enough for one day...but we went back on the weekend. Since those cupcakes were simply so damn good and it might be a couple weeks before they are available again, we went back. I mean, how could we not? Pouring down rain or not, how could we turn our backs on the greatest cupcakes ever?

So went back, and got two more to bring home with us. This time we also checked out the Ultimate Brownie, topped with fleur de sel, chocolate ganache, and olive oil. Wait, what? Olive oil? Yep, we were skeptical too. But just like with the bacon and cheese mixed with the ice cream and spice cake, these flavors complement each other in a spectacular way. I believe the comment I heard from somewhere - might have been from my mouth, might have been from Wifey's - was "Where have you been all my life Sugar Cube?!"

It's that good. I know, this all sounds over the top and ridiculous, but I only save that for the best, and this is the best.

Unable to stop, we also ordered a Hot Chocolate Malted. It's a malted Ovaltine drink, whole milk, Venezuelan milk chocolate, whipped cream, and smoked Hawaiian sea salt. Again, it's not flavors I would think of mixing, but it was fantastically good. Personally we had never had Ovaltine before and really didn't know what to expect, but given the quality of the other items we figured it had to be good. And it was. It's not like some of the rich hot chocolates/drinking chocolates we've tried from places like Sahagun or Coffeehouse Northwest, but it stands on it's own as a fantastic drink on a cold, rainy day. And we've had a lot of those lately.

So, if you are keeping score, that's four fantastic items and nothing less than that. If that doesn't make The Sugar Cube a must visit, along with all my hyperbole, I don't know what will.

Check out Kir's Twitter account for updates. Her plan at the moment is to be open Thursday-Sunday from noon-7 (5 on Sunday), but that's very likely will change. With the Prost German pub right there, there is definitely the possibility of people needing yummy sweets late night, and she plans on taking advantage of those customers (that came out weird - not in a bad way, just presenting them with options).

None of these items will break your bank. Just go. Why are you still reading?! Go!