With Jodie on break and us in need of a wee respite from househunting, we took off Saturday morning and spent the weekend in Portland. We Hotwired a $50 room at the Red Lion near the Portland Convention Center, right on a Max line and MLK, so easy access to anywhere in town. Here are some highlights…
- Dinner at Nicholas, Ash & MLK. Pitas 2 feet in diameter and an amazing lamb dish (more info: Extramsg.com and Citysearch, though the latter’s description as "shabby" is lame and snotty. The place is small and cozy)
- Lunch at Chopsticks in Hawthorne. Tasty, complex hot-and-sour soup, and yummy potstickers (more info: Review of Chopsticks – Portland, OR, 97214 – Citysearch)
- Nighttime roam around downtown Portland, including Pioneer Square
- Brunch at the Hawthorne Cafe
- Picking out sock yarn at the Yarn Garden, 15th & Hawthorne
- Serenity, quiet and cute photos in the Japanese Gardens
- Walking around the Pearl District (including a very cool paper store, Oblations); more info: Shop the Pearl, PearlDistrict.Com, and Pearl District Neighborhood Association
Glad you enjoyed your weekend. I hope the flowers were blooming up at the Japanese Gardens. I was just in Tokyo and I like our garden better than any of the ones I saw there.
However, you could have done much better for food. 😉 Next time hit Karam (not far off the Max) for Lebanese, Simpatica for Sunday brunch (walkable from where you were staying), and Pho Van for Asian on Hawthorne.
The trees were blooming. It was a bit overcast, but the sun would come out and really light up the leaves.
Thanks for the food tips. We thought about the Pho Van, but we just happened to be closer to the Chopsticks, and proximity won out – we were fairly peckish from the drive.
Have you been to that Ethiopian place around… what is it, 16th & Hawthorne? I’ve been curious about Ethiopian for a while.
Jarra’s. I haven’t been to that one. I think most people agree that the ones nearer north Portland (which I’ve been to), including Blue Nile, Mudai, and Queen of Sheba are the best. Just don’t do Horn of Africa. Blech.
It’s an interesting cuisine, though not one of my favorites. I’m not a huge fan of injera, the sourdough pancakey flatbread they eat with their (essentially) curries.
Sweet. Thank you. Next time I’m up, maybe we can snag a bite?