Seasons and Regions - Happy Hour

 Sunday July 19

We'd been here before and liked it a lot. We'd heard that Happy Hour was excellent - it was.

Arrived at four - just in time - and ordered four dishes off the menu. First tall glasses of ice-cold prosecco to set the mood. Other than being WAY too talkative, our server was excellent and enthusiastic about our choices.

Alaskan Halibut cakes - two perfectly delicious and crunchy cakes on a plate filled with roast vegetables, including radishes which I had never eaten in this way before, and really liked, and both mashed and tiny crispy fried potatoes filled a plate that would easily have been my dinner. Only $11.95

H blissed out on Mac and Cheese with BBQ pork. We also had a smoked salmon and artichoke crepe in a lovely sauce, and pesto shrimp and rice. The plan was to take some home, and it worked.

Since it was our anniversary (again? still?) we were also given a free scoop of homemade ice cream with our key lime pie for dessert. I was especially impressed by the creme anglaise served with the pie. That was a lovely extra touch.

Great meal, great deal. 

9 of 10. One dish was under seasoned and the server talked too much.

$76 = $88 total

Nebbiolo Wine Bar and BIstro

 July 11

My idea was to find a place outside of Portland. I googled best Italian restaurants and found this 

Located in Oregon City, OR, Nebbiolo Restaurant & Wine Bar specializes in locally sourced foods and drinks, including dine-in meals and takeout. Proudly serving our community for over 13 years. Sophisticated comfort foods created by our female chef. Private event catering available. Contact us now to make a reservation

Locally sourced, female chef, great comments - playing my song. And the restaurant did not disappoint.

When we arrived for our five o'clock reservation at the red brick building on a corner of the main street in Oregon City, we were the only ones - but not for long. Soon a people were streaming in and filling the tables, the bar and the wine tasting space in the back.

Despite the massive wine list, I chose Sangria (love sangria) and H had a bottle of Guiness. Bread was served on the table (a rare thing).

The sangria was perfect. H had minestrone to start - a big bowl filled with veg and pasta. Really good. My salad was delicious.

My scallop dish was excellent, H loved his seafood pasta - basically cioppino over hand made noodles. The service was great, the noise level comfortable, and we had actual, baked in-house German Chocolate cake for dessert.

As we ate a live musician was setting up to play.

And, the prices out of PDX were slightly lower. All in all10 out of 10. 

$120 +25

Thai Bloom

 Thai Bloom

Sunday June 21

PuJa - heavy dense, needed knife and dipping sauce

Crab Pad thai - too much egg wrapped around crab 

Halibut Bloom - perfectly cooked panko coated - 

All beautiful fresh vegetable

The hit of the meal was passion fruit sangria mocktail 

7.5 of 10 

108 = $130

Salty's On the Columbia

 Salty's On the Columbia

Sunday June 14 was a scorching hot and slightly hazy day, perfect for river views and seafood.

We missed dinner out the previous week for two reasons, first, we were enjoying eating the dry-roasted duck we had at home from Ranch 99, and second, we had tickets to Pink Martini at the Reser and we were feeling sufficiently celebrated for the week.

Dinner at Salty's was perfect. We started with individual little bottles of prosecco while watching boats, geese and waves from our window seat on the top floor. Our table was sprinkled with red rose petals and an anniversary card - which our dinner neighbor noticed and commented on. A nice greeting. All the service was as gracious and welcoming.

H had cioppino, served with garlic bread, which he rated a ten. I had a crab and shrimp Louie, a generously loaded salad that contained everything I like to include on my healthy diet.  

Then, were we comped a slice of cake for our anniversary. 

 All in all, a highly satisfying experience. 

8.5 of 10 (if id eaten something more adventurous, I'd have rated accordingly) 

$130 including tip

Han Oak

May 29 Week 21

 Han Oak is a communal, prix-fixe Korean barbecue restaurant emphasizing traditional flavors, seasonal ingredients, and fine technique.

Our dinner here, on a beautiful Friday evening was a unique experience. First, simply finding the obscure front door is a challenge, entering into a courtyard completely surrounded by dense green vines. The interior space - which is largely exterior, has a lovely vibe - walls painted the same soft blue green grey of our house. Our table was perfectly located in shade but enough sun for ideal temperature. More and more patrons arrived as we ate, and btw, our reservation took two weeks to get.

A prefix menu - see below - filled with unfamiliar dishes met our criteria of trying new things. Neither of us has eaten Korean food before and this restaurant is rated as one of PDX best. 

I started with a mocktail - Citron Tea - refreshing and lovely. A bamboo tray is delivered to our table containing this interesting variety of flavors and textures. We were hungry and although we did not like all the same things, everything got eaten. And yes, kimchi is spicy. I especially liked the pickles.

H ordered the pork entree, and I had the black cod. We shared each. Dessert tasted like pumpkin pie, and we were comped a non-alcoholic beverage to celebrate our anniversary. All in all, a fun and interesting adventure. Expensive but unique and a lovely place with fine service. 

$158 + 32 = $190

8.5 out of 10 

JIPBAP

plated tray of banchan & appetizers

accompanied by: kimchi, doen-jang soup and rice

smash’d cucumbers spring radish, kimchi-li crisp, garlic sauce, gim

dubu jorim braised Ota tofu in scallion soy sauce

potato salad chopped egg, k-pepper sauce, crunchy crunch

crab ’n egg steamed egg custard, picked dungeness crab, chive

dry-aged salmon hwe* citrus pepper soy, yuja cho-jang, cured salmon roe, fried shoestring potatoes

for the table

gim toasted seasoned seaweed

pickle plate daikon, cucumber, red onion

mains - choose one per guest

galbi-jjim boneless short rib, sweet potato, caroots, zucchini, pine nuts

twice cooked pork bokkeum koji cured pork coppa crispy rice cake, kimchi-chili pepper glaze, brussels sprouts, charred cabbage in kimchi butter

mae-un-tang black cod in spicy seafood broth, manilla clam, mussels, head-on shrimp, scallion, baby bok choy, chrysanthemum

mushroom ddukboki mushrooms in garlic cream sauce, parmesan, nori
* add picked dungeness crab and salmon roe

dessert

goguma mochi cake roasted sweet potato, bombay gin syrup soaked blood orange, chantilly cream, red bean misugaru

Noa Sushi Once Again

 Saturday, May 23

We skipped last week because I was not feeling well, and the next restaurant we want to try had no reservation until next week, so back to Noa, which has not failed to please. Our plan was for ramen, but we were sidetracked with our usual goal of trying something new, but first sake.

The long list of choices includes fruit sake. I ordered wonderful Passionfruit Sake, which arrived in a lovely brandy snifter shaped glass, and was thick and sweet - like mango juice or apricot nectar, absolutely delicious with a mild kick. Drink and dessert in one.

One of the things we like about Noa is the lovely service. Our charming server helped H choose his drink and explained menu items. We started with shrimp tempura - hot, fresh, excellent and accompanied by a giant ring of onion. H had miso clam soup - intense and flavorful broth full of clams and scallop, enoki mushrooms. I ordered beef short ribs which came with excellent miso and a generous quantity and variety of vegetables and met on a cast iron plate. All in all, great dishes to share and totally satisfying. 

As always, the restaurant was busy and had a pleasing atmosphere of people enjoying great food.

Rating 10 0f 10 for hitting the spot

$79.00 + 20%

Riccardo's Ristorante

 Riccardo's Ristorante

Sunday May 3

A beautiful spring day that began with a thunder and lightning storm. I chose Riccardo's because it is a well-known and well-established local Italian restaurant with a great menu and reputation. Though I had reserved inside (see storm above) when we arrived on the beautiful afternoon we were lucky to get a table outdoors on the terrazzo patio straight out of Italy.

We started with sparkling wine, then a basket of bread and cruet of olive oil arrived. We shared a scallop appetizer in a romesco sauce. Delish. H had a succulent halibut dish, and I had pasta in a meat sauce (H wanted meat) - we shared our dishes. Good food, beautiful atmosphere. 

For dessert we drove across the street and got a key lime pie.

A good start for what turned out to be a busy and good week. Doctors appt, Mother's Day iris garden and ramen lunch with Jo, lunch and art looking with Linda and Barbara, lunch with Corey. All in all, a good week 

$108.50 + 21.50 = $130

Food 7.5  atmosphere 9