!! bling bling taco !!

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2010-04-30T14:35:00.001-07:00

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Honorable mention

2009-07-16T15:59:00.000-07:00

Because it's greater than anything we could ever have hoped for.

Since we've been gone

2009-07-16T15:24:00.001-07:00

Things have been pretty quiet here at BBT lately. The reason? It turns out we all have day jobs. Horrible, horrible day jobs. But the summer time is here and it's time to get back on the amateur food-blogging horse.

If you're ever on E. Burnside an 24th and you feel like pounding down a 4,000 calorie meal, then swing on by the Screen Door. Southern food has become a recent favorite of mine and TSD is by far my favorite southern restaurant to date. Be prepared for a wait however, I've never been there during peak hours without standing by for at least an hour. On the plus side, there is a bar about one block south that you can stop by for drinks until the hostess calls to let you know that your table is ready.

My personal first order of business (on non DD nights) is to order a bourbon flight. Selections are subject to the bartenders discretion but rarely disappoint. I'd like to say that the bourbon flight is purely an enjoyable aperitif or conversation starter but it's real benefit is the pre-game analgesic. In order to successfully tackle the enormous meal to follow I'm going to need a little something to kill the pain.

By far the best entree for the money is the Screen Door Plate. You get to chose from a long list of side dishes, plus a healthy square of cornbread, to piece together something that will surely satisfy your cravings. All for $13 bucks, not half bad. I had the fried catfish, yellow beet salad, and sweet pepper hash. The meal was incredible and the portions were so large that two people smaller than myself could easily share.

This meal was back in 2008 and unfortunately I haven't been back since. Writing this review has refreshed my memory of what they have to offer, though, so I have a feeling I'll be back soon.

*Editor's note: We've also been here for breakfast and while I've heard it's quite good, I was too hungover to provide an accurate review.

Mountain Pies by Beau Jo's

2009-02-27T21:05:00.000-08:00

There has always been the rivalry between the two styles of pizza: New York or Chicago style. Well move over boys there is another tasty contender in the fight for the best Pie in the Sky . Introducing the Mountain Pies by Beau Jo's. Their "Colorado Style Pizzas" are high was the Rocky Mountains themselves. Beau Jo's started making these piled mile high pies since 1973. Located in Idaho Springs, Colorado. This pizza joint is in the middle of a quaint Main Street in the town. It's a spot where skiers plunk down after a day of skiing and get some good grub in their bellies. The pizza crust in made out of honey and olive oil instead of sugar and shortening. The sweet thick bready crust stands high to contain the mountain of ingredients. The choices of what kind of pies you want is quite a daunting task since you first have to choose out of the five different sauces: tomato, creamy garlic, bbq, and the fratboy/skibum/stoner/trailertrash nectar of the gods: ranching dressing. We opted for the BBQ Pie. Filled with BBQ sauce, chicken breast slices, smoked bacon bits, red onions, mushrooms, smothered in cheddar cheese. Holy *Bling*ing Shit!!! Sweet, savory, and BACONY taste! The three of us only ordered the one pounder and still had two slices left. The Pie was not just only our entree, but dessert too! Each table has a big bottle of honey to eat with the crust. I just grabbed the bottle squirted oozy honey on my plate and dipped my crust in it. Totally completed my meal. For all you Kobayashi wannabes there is the Beau Jo's Challenge. You and another person have to consume the "Grand Sicilian" in one hour. The prize is the free pie and $100 in cash. It's a 16" super thick crust pizza with 12-14 pounds of hamburger sausage, pounds of green peppers, onions, mushrooms, pepperoni, and covered in cheese. You can be the Don of all pizzas if you can stuff this down your gluttonous pie hole.

Kushibar - "What street food?"

2008-12-03T22:26:00.000-08:00

When I think of “Street Food”, I imagine a food cart with steam rising from the boilers below. A one manned station working furiously preparing food, while she or he takes the next five orders and cashes out the present hungry patron. Its simple, easy, and tasty food. Seattle doesn’t have much of a street food scene here, except for the hotdog carts that are dotted alongside of bars and nightclubs during the weekends.

Then there is Kushibar. This restaurant located in Belltown calls itself a “Japanese Street Food” type of restaurant. When you first approach the building it looks something like a Japanese bathhouse that the indoor patio is located. The wood slates makes it look street food-ish, but the moment you walk in the clean long narrow lines of the interior makes it look like some type of minimalist LA restaurant.

You first start with a complimentary bowl of curried popcorn they give to you to start off your drinking buds, very clever. I ended up with a Sapporo in my little hands immediately. After that we ordered about five small plates of “street food”. Some of the items that we really wanted they were out of. So all in all, its just sushi type appetizers, an awful smoke scallop dish with no taste swimming in a tasty broth. Everything was beautifully presented and no taste at all. I think the shining star of this meal was the popcorn which is the only thing that would qualify as street food. But here are some pictures for you to enjoy!

The Burger to End All Blinging Burgers....

2008-10-29T11:54:00.000-07:00

I was looking through my pictures on my computer, and we all know that we have tons of useless ones in our files, when I ran into a two year old picture of a burger I had in Las Vegas at the Daniel Boulud Brasserie located in the Wynn Hotel. The Original NY DB Burger was an 9-oz. sirloin burger stuffed with braised short ribs, foie gras, and black truffle on a Parmesan bun with French Fries. Stacked high that you had to plan each orgasmic bite. It was rich and luscious. The tomato jam worked very well to cut the butteriness of each juicy bite. It was a true BlingBling burger, the burger cost $32! I just need to pair it with some gold teef and I would be ballin'! I could only eat half of it, but took down the other half later on in the early A.M. after a night of gambling and cocktails. It was even better cold or maybe I was just drunk like David Hasselhoff.

New, Not So New Hong Kong

2008-10-25T12:54:00.000-07:00

Ahh…..nothing better for Sunday brunch than Dim Sum. I went to the New Hong Kong restaurant, formally known as New Kowloon. The new owner is the former owner’s ex-wife, so pretty much the same ownership, just new a name. I love going to Dim Sum, the bustling restaurant with a team of Chinese people working hard towards the American dream pushing carts of steaming food, showing items on their cart to the customers in hopes to stamp your food bill. While passing each other they throw jokes or talk shit to each other in their native tongue. I wonder how many of the employees of New Hong Kong came over in a ship container. (Food for thought?)

Dim Sum is the definite cure all for a hangover, very greasy, salty, and lots of fried food. You are in HEAVEN!!! We first started with a sweet baked bun with bbq pork, one of my childhood favorites. I was a somewhat picky eater as a child, not that you would know that now since I am willing to try anything these days. So that was my staple during our Dim Sum outings. Then we moved on to orders of different dumplings. Sticky rice steamed in a banana leaf, fried shrimp, friend tofu, and other steamy or fried delights kept stacking up on our table. My family tends to order way more than we can eat, we just want a taste of everything.

On item we’re sure to get every time is the good old stand by of chicken feet. A family fave, we all can eat this stuff all day. Chicken feet may make the majority of the population squirm but we love them. I swear if you had a Vietnamese family compete on Fear Factor we would not only take first place in the eating challenges, but go on to be world champions. The chicken feet are braised in some kind of savory sauce that makes the skin so very soft and tender that it just falls off the bones. Some people argue that the skin of the animal is the best part (fried chicken skin anyone or pork rinds?). It is a little challenging to eat since you have so many bones to work around but it’s well worth the effort. I don’t know why I love it, I just do. It’s damn good.

I also tried something new, Duck Tongue. It’s pretty much the bottom half of a duck’s bill with the tongue attached. The tongue was battered and deep-fried. Again, anything deep fried crispy is good in my book. I was a little weirded out by it at first but quickly got over it after the first bite. It was light and crunchy. I really could not describe it more than very crispy fried chicken skin. Just a little bit more chew to it. It was seasoned well, I think with MSG.

When you are done, say hi to the new owner that (wo)mans the front desk and runs the cash register. She was camera shy, but I did take a sweet picture of a framed photo of her and our state governor, Christine Gregoire.

Bubble Tea is Awesome!

2008-10-25T12:40:00.000-07:00

If you have not tried bubble tea, you have to go out and get one of these delicious suckers. You can have the tea in a variety of flavors, jellies, blended, iced, or even hot. Bubble tea started some time in the 80’s in Taiwan. The “bubble” in the name is actually in reference to the bubbles that occur during the brewing process, not the tapioca pearls as most people believe. I went to Ambrosia, my favorite bubble tea shop in Seattle. It looks like a hole in the wall but I can tell you they serve the best in town. Much better than the flashy, more popular Gossip bubble tea shop across the street. It must be the karaoke machine they have in the upstairs loft and the bright colored Ikea furniture that draws people there. I had the iced green apple flavor milk tea with tapioca pearls at Ambrosia. The balance of flavored tea and milk was just right and the tapioca pearls have the perfect chewiness and weren’t too sweet. Pop in the extra wide straw, suck, chew, and swallow (that sounds slightly dirty). Enjoy!

Obama endorses !! Bling Bling TACO !!

2008-10-14T10:45:00.000-07:00

Here he is showing his support for BBT by eating a taco. It worries me a little that it looks like the guy next to him is either showing him how to roll a joint or how to fill a taco. Seems like the next president should already know how to do both. Regardless, we appreciate your support Obama!

Dove Vivi - The Jesus Pizza

2008-10-09T16:15:00.000-07:00

If this pizza were a professional "wrestler" it would spend no less than 20 minutes behind the curtain during its entrance while the arena filled with fake smoke and fanatic techno music pumped the crowd into a frenzy. Then when it finally emerged, 80,000 screaming fans would have a collective aneurism in the aura of its awesomeness.

In other words, I have a hard time expressing just how amazing the Pizza's at Dove Vivi really is. Their speciality is 12" pizzas on a cornmeal crust and despite their diminutive size, a single pie can EASILY feed three people. They usually have one or two specials and a few regular pies. The last time we were there we ordered one of each, my two favorites, the corn pizza with caramelized onions and the brie and grapes pizza with toasted pine nuts. While everything on the menu is always tasty, these two pies in particular offer a transcendental dining experience. They have a deep crust shell that allows for several layers of taste sensations and the topping combinations are creative and interesting. The pieces are so dense that it's difficult to get through more than two. I've eaten three pieces a couple of times but I'm not sure it was ever a good idea.

In addition to the pizzas we usually order the beet salad (amazing!) and sometimes a special salad as well. It's a nice way to warm up for the main course.

On a side note, I once bit down hard on a particularly tough piece of cornmeal while eating here and ended up cracking a filling in my tooth. I just had it fixed but if you exclude the $124 in dental work, Dove Vivi is very reasonably priced at $20/pie.

BAGEL LAND

2008-10-09T13:02:00.000-07:00

I've always kind of been a sucker for places or stores with either "LAND" or "WORLD" in the name. It's like the easiest store name ever, but always seems awesome to me.

TACO WORLD or POTATO LAND or TOILET WORLD. All awesome names, and no confusion as to what they sell or where you need to go to get any of those things.

Anyway, I got a whole wheat bagel with a schmear of cream cheese. It was fine. I've never found a bagel in the NW that compared to NYC bagels though. I'm not really sure why... it seems like it should be easy. And there are all these weird little shops in NYC with dirty kitchens and people that don't exactly inspire culinary confidence by the appearance with ridiculously good bagels. But that is not BAGEL LAND. BAGEL LAND sells a bagel that reminds me a lot of the bagels from bagel oasis in Seattle. Which are pretty good, but something seems missing. It's certainly better than Lenders or some packaged bull*bling* masquerading as a bagel, but probably not worth going out of your way to eat. However, there is a great coffee shop just north of BAGEL LAND called Ristretto. They make and roast awesome coffee.

But what is the deal with Bagel places in the NW being run by hippies? Hippies.

Sawasdee Thai Food

2008-10-09T12:43:00.000-07:00

Oh man. So good! Sawasdee is another of the food carts down at 9th and Alder in downtown Portland. We've got to get a group shot of that area sometime. It's neat. There are so many options down there, that I feel a little bad going to the same place twice, let alone getting the same thing twice, but their pumpkin curry warrants being a "repeat offenda" as my friend Booyeah might say. The pumpkin curry seems especially apropos right now since the weather is feeling more and more like fall. Waiting on the my bicycle waiting for the bridge to open and close, I knew I wanted something warming. And then halfway there, I knew. THE PUMKIN CURRY MOTHER BLINGERS, YEAH!

Anyway, it's a nicely sweet yellow curry sauce with green bell peppers, basil, tofu (optional. you can get meat or something if you want) and pumpkin. It's probably not the variety of pumpkin you are familiar with. It's green on the outside and orange on the inside. Similar to an acorn squash maybe? They cook it with the skin on though. With little score marks on the outside. It's delightful though. One thing about this place though, I got 4 stars today, and it was really mild. If you like it hot (some do), you might have to specify that yes, you may be whitey, but you like spicy food. Unless your not a whitey, in which case that would be a stupid thing to say. Maybe they were just out of hot pepper, I dunno.

I've also had the Spicy Egplant (pictured as well), and it was pretty good. Not as good as the pumpkin curry, and again, not spicy. Worth eating, but honestly I would say just go with the Pumpkin curry. Scott thinks it is one of the best things on the face of the planet.

EDIT : I forgot to mention that when I went there today, they had switched from those big nasty plastic to go containers to the nice waxed cardboard containers! I thought that was great, so I wanted to mention that.

Paseo's 2- Because you need a baby's worth of pork in you right now!

2008-10-02T22:48:00.000-07:00

During a recent trip to Seattle I had conversation with fellow BBTer, Michelle, that went something like this.

Michelle: What do you want to do?
Me: I NEED MEAT.
Michelle: We're in Ballard! You're totally not going to get anything good out here.
Me: PUT SOME DAMN PORK IN MY BELLY.
Michelle: Quit making that gesture, it's disgusting.
Me: PIG ME! PIIIIG MEEE!!

And so it was that we happened upon Paseo's 2. For quite a while people gave me very hard looks when I told them that I'd never eaten at Paseo's, well no more! Though not the original, Paseo's 2 offers the same long lines and cash only cuban delights that I had heard so much about.

The location is unassuming, just a building on the side of a busy street without a lot of parking and only a couple of picnic tables for seating, but the throng of people surrounding it betrays its quality.

I briefly scanned the large menu posted on the wall when a when a note scrawled in marker caught my eye: "Most popular". It followed an arrow pointing to the cuban roast sandwich and I knew what I had to order. The cuban roast is a mayonnaise sandwich that also includes deliciously tender pork, onions, japalinos, and lettuce, all on a roll the size of a baby's arm. The meat was perfectly cooked and very well complimented by the jalapinos, which offered just the right amount of spice.

I found myself both proud and regretful after finishing the entire sandwich. It was blinging ginormous but well worth the effort. The staff was friendly and efficient and generally tolerant of us taking their picture. The next time I'm in the neighborhood I'll definitely be back, it's nice to finally have some affordable and freaking awesome food out by Golden Gardens.

Ice cream or cupcake? It's blinging BOTH!!

2008-09-30T20:37:00.000-07:00

Well maybe not both, but its a cupcake baked in a cake ice cream cone. Genius!!! I had a hankering to bake something today and wanted to experiment. I Googled "cupcake cone" and got a recipe to make this. I LOVE IT. You can eat a cupcake anywhere and not have to worry about disposing that annoying paper wrapping or even accidentally eating it. Oh the possibilities!!!

Cascina Spinasse

2008-09-26T23:05:00.000-07:00

Hello from up north!!! Portland-Seattle-Vancouver, B.C. have been described as the Three Sister Cities. Portland being the young laid back granola type gal, while Vancouver is the eldest sophisticated woman, and Seattle being the twit-like sorority sister. So welcome to my twitty view of food in Seattle. I am honored to be part of the BBT gang. I hope I can add a little bling to the tacos down south.

I stumbled onto Cascina Spinasse, a tiny Italian restaurant on Capital Hill, one day on the way to a girly treatment of manis and pedis. A friend and I decided to check it out and were quickly denied since they had not “officially” opened yet. As a girl with an “ignore me and I’m yours” problem, I knew that I NEEDED to eat there.

For weeks I played hard-to-get, walking by the restaurant front sneaking glances at its rustic interior, antique pasta making tools, and back kitchen where you can watch the chef and cooks whirl around making sauces and pasta with dramatic flair. Finally I broke down and made the first move. Stepping through the doors we were promptly greeted by an Italian rocke

r chick named Simona. She had a great accent and a killer tat on her shoulder. Seated at one of the few communal tables in the room, we were presented with crostinis, one topped with ricotta cheese and basil and the other with rabbit pate and a splash of port wine. The rabbit pate was smooth and rich with a slight hint of sweetness from the port. All the pastas are handmade by chef/owner Justin Neidermeyer who used to sell his handmade thin beauties at Farmer’s Markets.

We ordered two appetizers, the anchovies in piemontese green sauce with crumbled egg yolk. The sauce was a mixture of herbs and olive oil which balance out the salty anchovies. I could just eat this alone with a loaf of bread and nothing else. Second were marinated beets with dill, fennel, and faro, a type of barely like grain. I liked the sweet beets with the fennel, but the faro had an annoying chew to it.

As our entrees arrived, the Maltagliatti came out in a wonderful presentation. They brought out a large bowl of random cuts of pasta topped with lamb shanks and cherry tomatoes. The server had a pitcher in the other hand filled with a rich savory broth and poured it over the noodles. The papery thin noodles swimming in one of the most flavorful broth made me just want to take the bowl straight to my mouth.

The ravioli was filled with rapini in a sage butter with toasted pine nuts. A warning for those who do not dig bitter vegetables: it may not be the dish for you, but I thoroughly enjoyed it since I was a child that grew up eating bitter melons and dandelion weeds (yes I was that kid). The first initial bite was bitter, then after masticating for a while sweetness comes through the leafy green.

Don’t expect the usual Italian desserts served in this establishment. No sugary sweet tiramisu, cannoli or gelato. We shared a peach roasted in moscato and dripping in local honey and toasted hazelnut, a perfect end to a dinner that was long awaited. After dinner, I gave Simona a hug and dragged my heavy stomach out of there.

Arosa Cafe - Hans' Waffles

2008-09-16T16:47:00.000-07:00

Across the street from Swedish Hospital in Seattle, Arosa cafe specializes in hand held waffles coated in a thin sugary topping. Actually.... that's pretty much all they do. That and coffee. It's also they need to do. The cafe was originally started many years ago (some say decades) by Hans, a german (belgian?) expatriot who spent that time perfecting his waffle batter recipe. The business has since changed hands to a lovely young woman but the batter is still being mixed by the same man so the magic hasn't changed a bit. The waffles are about the size of your hand, and are crunchy, warm and just a little bit sweet. I went back two days in a row for breakfast while on a recent business trip to the area.

Ziba's Pitas - Authentic Bosnian Food

2008-09-16T13:34:00.000-07:00

Ziba's Pitas is one of BBT's favorite places to visit in Portland's downtown cart area. The cart location in general is best visited on bike to avoid the snarls of downtown traffic and if you do bike or bring your own container many places will give you a discount on your order. Ziba's is especially pleasant with three tables (many carts have none) and BY FAR the cutest employee in the neighborhood (if the carts had a beauty pageant she would easily be the queen and the runner up).

On my first visit here I was expecting something quite different but it turns out

Bosnian pitas are not at all the same as the Greek pitas I know and love. The Bosnian pita looks something like a braided danish stuffed with vegetables, meat, and/or cheese. The result is a hot and delicious combination of crunchy pastry and soft filling. I was a little disappointed today however because my zucchini and cheese pita was a little too salty. Not a deal breaker but after the goddamn salty prime rib I had last night it was a little too much for me. Fellow Editor in Taco, Erin (prime rib free and loving it), felt the same way.

The pita plate included fresh cucumbers with yogurt and some kind of roasted pepper sauce, as magnificent in color as it is in flavor.

We'll definitely be back to Ziba's sometime soon but I hope it's a little less salty in the future. The last time we came everything was perfect.

Clyde's Prime Rib*

2008-09-15T22:07:00.000-07:00

Located in the Hollywood neighborhood, Clyde's Prime Rib promises casual OR fine dining with vintage decor and doesn't disappoint. The exterior is modeled after a castle and just inside the door a suit of (very cheap) armor commemorates your entrance into what is surely the finest interior that Portland's steakhouses have to offer.

The dining room looks like what I could only hope to see if Wayne Newton went emo and tried to "curate" the bat cave. Dim light shrouds the red velvet booths and deep blue tablecloths while the many portraits and oil paintings that adorn the walls are sufficiently lit by the crystal chandeliers hanging overhead.

I would have been content to enjoy the scenery but you don't go to Clyde's PRIME RIB without zipping up your man-pants and settling into the main course. I opted for the "Petite" prime rib dinner, slightly larger than the "JR" but with less risk of heart attack than the "Regular", "House", or "Clyde's" portions.

First to arrive at my table was a bowl of cream of cauliflower soup. I am deeply suspicious that the kitchen had run out of cauliflower and substituted heavy cream in its place. This is unimportant however when eating at a restaurant named Clyde's PRIME RIB.

Having ordered my prime rib cooked medium I was served a large cut of meat that had surely taken its last breath only moments before falling lifelessly onto my plate. I can only imagine what the rare order must look like. That being said, the meat was edible and, in the name of Bling Bling Taco, I finished the whole goddamn thing like a *Bling*ing champ. Sides included a creamed horseradish sauce, very starchy garlic mashed potatoes, and surprisingly well cooked green beans.

Despite being two thirds vegetarian, there is no way Bling Bling Taco won't be back (hopefully with a better camera) for more of what Clyde's is pimping. The stylish decor (did I mention that the entire place has no windows) is worth showing local friends and out of town guests alike, though I might recommend sticking to drinks in the ample lounge area and avoiding the salty, salty (salty) meat. Plus, we still have yet to fully understand the Vasaline and Right Guard Spray available in the men's room. Clyde is a man of many mysteries.

*Be sure to consult a physician before using Clyde's Prime Rib. A sudden rise in blood pressure may occur when consuming large quantities of sodium.

Flavor (Spot) - Home of the Dutch Taco.

2008-09-12T13:20:00.000-07:00

Somehow "dutch taco" sounds sort of dirty to me. But anyway. These are basically waffle sandwiches. I've only ever eaten here once before, but I woke up this morning craving a waffle from here, so we went there for lunch. It was delightful. I should get a picture of the cart from the outside. It's pretty cute. They are in a parking lot on the south end of Mississippi in North Portland, but have really done up the cart and area around quite well.

Anyway! On to the Dutch Tacos! I had the special today, which was strawberries, whipped cream and nutella sandwiched (or taco'ed) in between the waffle. I'm normally more of a belgian waffle lover than the flatter variety, but the waffles here are super good, and very crispy, but moist inside. Delicious.

George had what may be the most brilliant sandwich ever conceived. Bacon, wrapped in Cheese, wrapped in turkey, wrapped in a mother-*bling*ing waffle. Holy Moses! He seemed to enjoy it. Scott had the "Lemon Pie", which was lemon curd, whipped cream and waffle. He thought it was awesome as well.

Nice work, Flavor Spot. I'll definitely be back.

¿Por Que No? Well, why the bling not?

2008-09-10T14:37:00.000-07:00

Hallelujah! Blessed be those who reside near Por Que No, for they shall inherit the good tables on the sunny days.

Though PQN has amazing tacos, we've been on a big Brian's bowl kick. It's the equivalent of like 5 tacos for the price of 2. Except you only get 3 tortillas. Still though, it is delicious and quite affordable.

A couple weeks back, some nice fellow shared his chips with us though, and now we get a basket of chips to go with the bowl. The 3 tortillas, though ass kickingly awesome, never hold the mammoth amount contained in the bowl, so the chips come in handy for scooping up that deliciousness. Plus, if you get the chips a la carte, they are just $1.

There was a dog sleeping under our table today as well, and you know what they say about sleeping dogs. They say you should kick them and then feed them tacos.

This is pretty much our favorite lunch spot at the moment.

Por Que No Tacos