SNAPSHOTS | PORTLAND 2019 | DAY 3

For our second morning in Portland, we booked a day trip with a local tour company to explore various points along the Oregon coast. I was initially hesitant with the idea of a tour, only because it was going to take such a huge chunk of our already limited amount of time in the city. It actually ended up being my favourite part of the trip! So if you ever do find yourself in Portland, make it a point to get outside the actual city.  

Before we met up with our tour guide/group, we grabbed a quick breakfast at Fried Egg I'm In Love (FEIIL). FEIIL is one of the many food carts parked in Pioneer Courthouse Square. Like the sunny yolks in their breakfast sandwiches, the cart is bright yellow -- you can't miss it! 

FEIIL also operates a brick and mortar restaurant on Hawthorne, but their roots lie with the food cart. They're well-known for their made-to-order breakfast sandwiches, complete with a fried egg and a punny name. While most downtown commuters would take their sandwiches to-go, there are plenty of steps in Pioneer Square to stoop on, as well as a few covered patio tables. 

We ordered their signature dish, the Yolko Ono ($7.50). Each breakfast sandwich starts with toasted sourdough bread from Portland French Bakery. Homemade pesto is smeared on each slice before enveloping a hand-pressed sausage patty, a fried egg, and a sprinkling of grated parmesan.

We decided to split the sandwich and they were nice enough to cut it in half for us. The sandwich was pretty tasty, although a touch greasy. I was glad we split it since a whole sandwich would have been too heavy on the stomach that early in the morning. I will say that the pesto was a nice touch -- it actually inspired me to put pesto in all of my grilled cheese sandwiches from now on. 

We had a few more minutes to kill so we stopped by the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall to take pictures of the PORTLAND sign above the theatre's marquee.

Then we were off to Director Park, where we met up with our tour guide and fellow tourists. We were the youngest people there (by far) but it was actually fun to meet such a diverse group of people. There were mostly older couples from all over the states -- Minnesota, Colorado, and Texas to name a few. We also had a fellow Canadian on the tour -- from Montreal, which was a nice bonding point for us.  

Our tour guide, Devon, was also a great guy. Laidback, super nice, and full of information. He never rushed us at tour stops and allowed us to soak it all in.

After driving for about an hour and a half, we arrived at our first destination, Ecola State Park. It was a cloudy day but it was an amazing sight to see regardless. It was our first glimpse of the Oregon coastline and it did not disappoint.

Hey, it's me!

Leaving the park, we made our way down south to the coastal town of Cannon Beach. Cannon Beach is famously known for Haystack Rock, which is a huge 235 foot rock that was formed by lava flows millions of years ago. It's gargantuan and you don't really appreciate its size until you see it in person.

Beside Haystack are smaller rock formations that are appropriately called the 'Needles.'

Since the tide was low, we were able to walk around the tide pools and spot quite a few starfish!

Cannon Beach was also where we stopped for lunch. We were given about an hour to explore the town, so most of our group went over to Ecola Seafood under our guide's recommendation. Established in 1993, Ecola Seafood is both a seafood market and a restaurant. It's a casual quick-service type of place, where you order and pay at the counter, and then pick up your food when your number is called.

SC decided on the oyster seafood basket ($15.00) which comes with six fried oysters and fries. The batter they use is quite good, so I'm assuming their fish and chips is pretty decent as well. Out of their seafood case, she also bought a small smoked mussel cocktail ($4.99) and a small crab cocktail ($7.99). The mussels almost had a meaty sausage-like flavour while the crab was minimally salty.

I decided on the halibut fish tacos ($17.00) with two corn tortillas, cabbage, tomato, and lime yogurt sauce. You have a choice between grilled or fried fish, but I went for grilled since the tacos already come with a side of fries. (Healthy eating at its finest.) The fish was actually quite fresh and it was a sizeable, meaty portion. 

We reconvened as a group and then drove further south to Neahkahnie Mountain.

This was honestly the most stunning view I've ever seen. The ocean just seemed to go on forever.

Our last stop of the day included a short leisurely hike through Oswald West State Park. The trail was pretty flat so it was actually quite relaxing and scenic.

At the end of the hike, we reached Short Sands Beach. It's a hidden gem for sure, but a popular spot for surfers.

All day long, we were running behind schedule but we hit a major snag on the way back to Portland. The tour was supposed to finish around 4:30 but we ran into long stretches of traffic and didn't make it back into the city until 6:30.

When we were finally dropped off at our starting point, we said our goodbyes and then quickly walked back to our apartment to freshen up.   



For dinner, we ended up taking an Uber since we were pretty tired after our long day. Pok Pok NW is the second offshoot of Pok Pok, one of Portland's most buzzed about restaurants.

The original Pok Pok is extremely popular, but we had no problem getting a table without a reservation at NW on a Monday night. Pok Pok serves Thai food, specifically from the north and northeastern regions of Thailand. They also have dishes inspired by other countries in Southeast Asia, which is where chef/owner Andy Ricker spent several months each year, living, eating, and studying the culture. 

For drinks, SC ordered a beer while I went for the Cha Manao ($4.75), Thai iced tea with fresh lime juice. It was really sweet and tart. I had to wait for the ice to melt so that the flavour could be diluted somewhat.

Each table is given a small side dish of roasted peanuts with chilies and lime leaf. A good bar snack.

Pok Pok's most famous dish is their Ike’s Vietnamese fish sauce wings ($15.75). The chicken wing is left whole and marinated in a combination of garlic, sugar, and fish sauce. A thin coating of rice flour later, the wings are deep fried and then tossed in a glaze of caramelized fish sauce and garlic. We ordered the spicy version where a healthy amount of chili paste is added.

I'm not great with spicy foods so I just about died after eating them. If you can survive the heat, the wings are cooked well -- just overwhelming with the salt and spice.

Our second dish was hoi thawt ($14.50), crispy broken crepe with mussels, eggs, garlic chives, and bean sprouts. It's a popular Thai street food, and I found it very reminiscent of Vietnamese bánh xèo. The crispy edges are the best parts!

Our last item was muu kham waan ($15.75), pork collar rubbed with garlic, coriander root, and black pepper. It's glazed with soy and sugar and then grilled over charcoal. The meat is sliced and sauced with a spicy chili/lime/garlic concoction. To eat this dish, you're meant to wrap the meat with the side of chilled mustard greens.

Our server warned us that this dish was quite spicy and recommended ordering a side of rice with it. I'm not sure if my tongue was already numb from the chicken wings but I didn't think it was overly spicy. It wasn't my favourite though as the meat seemed pretty lean and was veering on dry.

Dessert never disappoints so we walked over to Salt & Straw afterwards for some ice cream.

Salt & Straw is another Portland institution, offering unique chef-driven ice cream handmade with local ingredients. They have four locations in Portland alone, not including Wiz Bang Bar, their soft serve spot, which we hit up on our first night. They also have a bunch of locations in L.A., San Diego, San Francisco, Anaheim, and Seattle.

The post-dinner line-up is long, but it moves at a decent pace. They have a lot of staff who actually come up to you in the line, asking if you want to try any samples before giving them your order. And they seriously encourage samples -- as many as you'd like!

As far as flavours go, they have a menu of 13 "classic" flavours and about 5 limited edition flavours which change every month according to a theme. We went back in August when they had their Farmers Market series. Vegetables in ice cream. Yeah, you read that right.

The vegetable flavours I ended up trying were surprisingly delicious! I also sampled their strawberry honey balsamic off of the classic menu but I wasn't a fan. The balsamic was too pungent and overpowering. In the end, I settled for carrot cake batter w/ pralined hazelnuts and caramel corn on the cob. The kid's scoop was $3.25 and I paid an extra $0.50 to split the scoop into two flavours.

The carrot cake was a cinnamon spiced ice cream with caramelized carrots, vanilla cheesecake swirl and candied hazelnuts. The winner of the night (and my heart) was definitely the caramel corn. They sauté corn kernels in brown butter and steep it into their ice cream base along with ribbons of vanilla-spiked caramel. Creamy, corny goodness.

The kid's scoop was a pretty small portion but the perfect amount of sweetness to cap off the night.

Portland, you're quite alright.

- CT

REVIEW | CHEF TONY | EDMONTON

** This restaurant is now closed. **

 

I wouldn't hesitate to say that Metro Vancouver has some of the best Chinese food in the world. Well, outside of its country of origin of course. I haven't been back to Vancouver in a couple of years now (#sadface) but whenever I do visit, no trip is complete without some dim sum!

Dim sum, or yum cha, is arguably my favourite weekend activity. Yeah, sleeping in is great, but so is a table full of steamers and dumplings. Often on Sunday morning, you can find my family and I at Wok N Roll. If you look past their punny sense of humour, their dim sum is quite good and they're also close to home for us. (Northside, still alive.)

But when a big dim sum player from Vancouver opens up a restaurant in Edmonton, well, you drive a little further to check them out.    

Chef Tony originally hails from Richmond, BC. Since their opening in 2014, they've won countless awards for their creative and gourmet take on traditional dim sum. I was surprised to hear they expanded into Edmonton, albeit a little sad, as they took over Tropika's old west location on Stony Plain Road. (Their southside location is still open, thank goodness.)

My parents already visited Chef Tony back when they first opened, but I wanted to wait a bit for things to settle down. Weekdays are considerably less busy than the weekends, as we saw on Friday afternoon.

The layout of the restaurant is still very much the same, with two raised platform dining areas. It seems like they've added more round tables, which is more conducive to the sharing nature of dim sum.

Ordering is done through a check sheet, with an accompanying pictorial menu (handy for the Instagram). Although the push-cart is more traditional, I do prefer the paper-based system as it minimizes food waste and ensures you get the food that you actually want at its freshest state. A glance at the menu and you'll notice that prices are indeed higher than other dim sum places in the city, ranging from $5.88 to $8.98 per dish. Larger items from the kitchen are priced accordingly, with most noodle and rice dishes hovering around $20. Tea is also an additional charge ($2.00/person).

Har gow is a dim sum staple, and one of my personal favourites. The shrimp and matsutake dumplings are $6.68. Instead of the typical portion of four, there's five in each basket. Trade off is that they're somewhat on the smaller side. I didn't notice any actual pieces of matsutake mushroom inside the shrimp filling, but you could certainly taste the earthiness in the background. I found it very similar to truffle actually. 

We also ordered another variation of har gow, which is their steamed cuttlefish ink shrimp dumplings ($8.98). Presentation is quite striking as the dumpling wrappers are dyed black with squid ink and then topped with a touch of edible gold. (The gold is completely unnecessary, but whatever fuels your bougie ego.)

I definitely preferred the other shrimp dumplings as the squid ink in these ones made them taste almost too fishy and briny.

Dim sum's other poster child is siu mai, or pork and shrimp dumplings ($6.68). At Chef Tony, they're given an upgrade with the addition of black truffle on top. I could eat truffles on just about anything, but it works particularly well with the the meatiness of the pork. Again, the dumplings were on the smaller side, but they were light, bouncy, and not too greasy. Probably one of my favourite items of the entire meal.

I love me some congee, especially on colder days, which is where we seem to be headed. The stewed duck congee ($8.98) was actually the first dish to arrive to our table. The congee was nicely seasoned and there was quite a good portion of duck meat hiding towards the bottom of the bowl.

The Chinese donut stuffed with shrimp paste ($11.98) is something you don't see on a lot of other menus. Shrimp paste is piped into the interior of a Chinese long doughnut and then the whole thing is deep fried. It's cut into bite-sized pieces and served with mayonaisse to dip. It's very similar to deep fried shrimp dumplings, so I found it to be a little pricey for what it was.

I was drawn to the bitter gourd and chicken shreds rice noodles ($6.68) simply because of its green colour. I did detect a slight bitterness in the rice roll but it certainly wasn't overpowering. Otherwise a very forgettable dish. I would probably pass on this one. 

We also ordered the pan-fried taro and dried noodlefish cake ($6.68). This was pretty interesting. It was basically shredded taro, packed into blocks with a thin crust of dried noodlefish. They were pretty starchy, so I wouldn't recommend it if you weren't a fan of taro to begin with. They would've been better if there was a sauce to go along with it.

Our last savoury item was the pan-fried pork pandan bun in casserole ($7.98). When the dish came out, it had a really nice aroma, thanks to the sizzling onions and scallions laid underneath. Unfortunately, the buns barely had any filling inside. I had high hopes but was disappointed in this one.  

My family loves durian so they gave the deep-fried durian dumplings ($6.68) a try. It looked like a glutinous dough, filled with durian and then deep fried. You might know durian as the world's stinkiest (and most dangerous!) fruit. It has a custard-y texture and flavour, but the most putrid smell. It's one of those fruits that you either hate or you love. There's really no in-between. Unfortunately, I'm not a fan so I didn't partake but my parents and grandma enjoyed these dumplings. If you love durian, I'm assuming you will too. 

Onto something I can actually eat, the sweet salty egg yolk lava buns ($6.98) were quite attention-grabbing. The gold-painted black bun, I assume dyed from charcoal, opens up to reveal a runny salted egg yolk custard. I love liu sha bao, and these had a good amount of salty egg yolk flavour. Usually the custard veers on being too sweet, but this was nicely balanced.

Saving the cutest for last (which also applies to my older siblings and I, haha), we got the chilled coconut juice puddings ($5.88). These are literally Instagram bait, but they were actually quite enjoyable! They usually come in multiples of three, but our server was kind enough to add on a fourth bunny so we could all have one. It physically pained me to eat the bunny's face but it was a sweet refreshing end to our meal.




Chef Tony probably won't replace our go-to dim sum restaurant, but it was nice to try something new. Service was also eager to please, as we had someone even come around to refill our tea cups, which is usually unheard of for a Chinese restaurant. We did go on a weekday though, when it wasn't so busy. I would say some food items are more gimmicky than others, but I appreciate the efforts that they've made to elevate the dim sum experience. Fair warning that it doesn't come cheap, but hey, truffles and gold flakes don't grow on trees. (Well, actually, I think truffles do.)

Chef Tony

www.cheftonycanada.com/en

14921 Stony Plain Rd

Edmonton, AB

(780) 244-8388

- CT 

SNAPSHOTS | PORTLAND 2019 | DAY 2

It was our first, and only, full day in Portland. I was pretty ambitious with our itinerary, wanting to hit up as many food spots as we could in between shopping and sightseeing. I must say, we were pretty successful (and stuffed!).

Wanting to beat the Sunday brunch rush, we started the day bright and early. The restaurant was about a 10 minute walk from the apartment so we were able to burn off some calories before promptly consuming them.    

HunnyMilk is a brunch restaurant that originally started as a weekend pop-up in east Portland. They've since opened up their own brick and mortar on west Burnside, just a block away from Providence Park.

It's a cute space, bright and airy with an open kitchen. A good third of the restaurant is a huge waiting room with couches and board games. There's also a random collection of art pieces and a smattering of honeycomb motifs throughout.

HunnyMilk's prix fixe concept solves every brunch-goer's dilemma: savoury or sweet? For $23 (+ a flat service charge of $4/person), you'll get a drink (juice, hot chocolate, tea, or coffee), a savoury dish, and a sweet component, all served up on a metal tray. There's about four savoury and three sweet items to choose from. The options are all playful and interesting. It's a condensed menu but it has enough variety to please all sorts of tastes. 

Before our food came out, we were served a complimentary churro doughnut. The churro bite was crispy and chewy, with a generous coating of cinnamon sugar. We dipped them in the accompanying chocolate pudding with whipped cream. Amazing. Me thinks all meals should start with a churro amuse bouche from now on.

Onto our mains, I went for the crispy chicken drumstick with cheesy garlic grits, avocado, a soft poached egg, and parsley hazelnut pesto. The chicken had an interesting crust (wasn't my favourite) but it was cooked well. The grits were already seasoned but eating it with the different components helped to amp up the flavour and the texture. Overall, I thought the dish was alright, but I'd probably go for something different next time.

My fortune cookie waffle on the other hand was delicious! A crispy waffle dipped in honey butter and then topped with raspberries, bananas, vanilla bean mascarpone mousse, strawberry drizzle, and crushed fortune cookies. The mascarpone mousse was easily my favourite part, while the fresh fruits helped lighten things up considerably.

For her savoury, SC ordered the dutch baby pancake, with smoky bacon, herbs, and manchego cheese. The skillet pancake is topped with a lemony mixed greens salad, cherries, and salted honey brazil nuts. It seems like one of the lighter savoury options available, but it could've done with some more bacon.

Conversely, the rice krispy crusted French toast was pretty heavy. It's fried and then topped with NY cheesecake schmear, poached rhubarb, watermelon jelly, and baby basil. The rhubarb by itself was quite tart -- I think strawberries would have been a better choice. 

Next on our agenda, we took a leisurely walk (and a bit of a hike) over to the International Rose Test Garden. The garden is located within Washington Park and perfectly exemplifies how Portland gained its nickname "City of Roses." The garden has approximately 650 types of roses and over 10,000 rose bushes.

The roses bloom from April to October. June is their peak but there was plenty of roses in bloom during August when we were there. Admission is free, as opposed to the Japanese Garden across the park, so definitely take advantage of it.

We didn't feel like the long walk back, so to save some time, we took an Uber over to Powell's Books. Powell's is arguably the largest independent new and used bookstore in the world. It basically occupies a full city block.

Powell's is three floors tall, organized into nine different color-coded rooms. It was basically a maze filled with books floor to ceiling. I could've easily spent a whole day inside here.

Unfortunately, my collection of unread books is at an all time high so I had to be on my best behaviour and walk away empty handed.

Sizzle Pie mural across the street. If you think about it, pizza does cover all the major food groups. 

We spent the next little bit shopping through some local boutiques and stores. Made Here PDX and Tender Loving Empire feature work by local artists and creators. Another store I would recommend in the area is World Foods. They're a specialty food store offering a wide variety of curated local and imported foods. My favourite section was the chocolate aisle. Yes, an entire aisle filled with gourmet, handcrafted chocolate bars.

This was Pioneer Place, a shopping mall smack dab in the middle of downtown. There's not very many stores inside but I did manage to pick up a Portland magnet in the Made in Oregon store.

We also stopped in MUJI, everyone's favourite store for pens and Japanese minimalism.

Next, we hopped into another Uber and crossed the bridge into east Portland. We planned to grab some charcuterie at Cheese & Crack, followed by dessert and drinks at SORO SORO Coffee & Dessert. There were no available seats at Cheese & Crack, so we switched up the order and got dessert first.

SORO SORO is a Korean cafe with fancy latte art and cute desserts. They're newly opened but they have definitely gained a following through Instagram. The cafe was slammed, so they did warn us that it would be a 20 minute wait for drinks. We came all the way there so we weren't too fussed. All of the tables were full as well but people were considerate and didn't linger for very long.

I'm *that* person who will order a hot drink during the summer only for the cute latte art. I decided on the matcha latte ($5.00). I'm no matcha connoisseur but they kept the bitter quality and didn't add too much sweetener.

Kudos to the barista though. Even regular latte art is not easy but they managed to pump out perfect designs under so much pressure.

We also shared a slice of rainbow cake ($6.00). A classic example of something that looks better than it tastes. Not horrible by an means, but the cake was plain and dry. Very artificial vanilla.

By the time we finished and circled back to Cheese & Crack, the room had cleared up. Cheese & Crack (short for crackers, not the drug) is a "snack shop". It's super casual. Perfect for those times when you're not hungry enough to eat a full meal but wouldn't mind nibbling on something small.

We shared the Beecher's flagship cheddar & brie brûlée cheese plate ($12.00) with a side of capicola ($4.00). Each cheese plate is artfully arranged with olives, cornichons, housemade rustic butter crackers, housemade savoury oatmeal cookies, and baguette. Condiments, like dijon, honey, chocolate ganache, and a seasonal fruit preserve, are served in vintage teaspoons and cutlery. 

I loved the interactive nature of the plate, and there were so many different combinations you can make for a different bite each time. I highly recommend a stop here!

 

Afterwards, we took an Uber back to the apartment to rest up. About an hour later, we headed back out again to take advantage of happy hour a block away at Nong's Khao Man Gai.

It's pretty much the American dream success story. The proprietor, Nong, moved to Portland from Thailand with little money and possessions to call her own. She started selling khao man gai, or Thai chicken and rice, out of a small food cart. Over the years, her empire grew, and she now has two food carts and two brick and mortar restaurants.

During happy hour (4-6pm), the restaurant serves half portions of their famous khao man gai (with purchase of a happy hour beverage) for only $5.00!

Seeing as we were eating all day and had plans for late night, the half portion was the perfect amount of food! The rice is simmered in chicken broth and Thai herbs, and served with the chicken that was poached. Despite being breast meat, the chicken was quite tender and moist. The main flavour of the dish comes from the sauce. It's a pungent mix of fermented soy beans, Thai chilies, vinegar, soy sauce, and sugar. I love that it's also served with a clear soup on the side. It's a light chicken broth, a bit on the salty side, but it was nice and comforting.

 

Since the sun was out in full force, we decided to take a longer break at the apartment and wait for the temperature to drop a little.

Later on in the evening, we walked over to Trader Joes, one of my favourite grocery stores in the states. Some of my must-haves: everything but the bagel seasoning, white truffle chips, and 99¢ coffee lover's espresso beans!

For our final stop of the day, we headed over to Von Ebert Brewing. Portland is well known for its love of craft beer, with over 75 local breweries.

Von Ebert is a relative newcomer on the scene, as they took over another brewery back in early 2018. The space is absolutely huge, and it's divided into a bar and a family-friendly dining room. Through large windows in the back, you can spy on their production room which is filled with huge beer tanks.    

SC ordered the brewer's choice tasting flight ($12.00). They constantly change what's on tap, so I have absolutely no idea which beers were included on the board. I did have a sip of some of them, but I think it just further confirmed why I don't drink.

To accompany the beer, we ordered a couple of appetizers. The street corn ($5.00) was fresh and sweet. It featured a grilled corn on the cob drizzled with sour cream and aioli, and then topped with cotija cheese, cilantro, chili powder, and lime. We also ordered the steak bites + truffle fries ($17.00) for good measure. When it came out, our jaws basically dropped. The portion size was ridiculous; so much so that the table behind us were even surprised. The fries were nice and crispy, dressed with truffle aioli, parmesan reggiano and herbs. The steak bites were also tender and well-seasoned. So worth it.



We pretty much rolled ourselves back home after that.

Happy and full. The best feeling in the world.

- CT