Overworked. Underfed.

Pambiche

After successive, yet delicious, New American meals, I was craving something with just a little bit more oomph and flavor. Perhaps some Asian fare? But of course, Portland isn’t the place to be when you’re craving a salty umami rich bowl of ramen or spicy cold Korean noodles. It was brunch time, and I think…

Paley’s Place

My tour of Portland’s fine dining establishments continues with Paley’s Place. It is owned by executive chef Vitaly Paley, who was awarded the 2005 James Beard Award for Best Chef Northwest. It’s located in a Victorian style house in the Northwest area of Portland. Reviews on Yelp complained about the place being small and cramped. …

A&J

Even though Irvine is packed with Chinese people, the Chinese food is still inferior to that in the San Gabriel Valley. The SGV is more like bleeding Chinese people, so that probably explains the difference. This was my first time at A&J which is a Taiwanese restaurant, I think. They serve dumplings, noodles, small cold dishes,…

Daikokuya

Daikokuya makes up one of the Big 3 ramen joints in LA. I already posted about Shinsengumi, which probably ties for 2nd place with Daikokuya in my opinion. While I love their curly ramen noodles, I get more excited about the pork bowl than the ramen. Also, the wait time is simply atrocious. I thought I’d…

Beast

Beast is a unique dining experience. It is a restaurant composed of a staff of 5 (2 chefs, 2 servers, 1 busboy) and 2 communal tables (20-30 seats) with a large open air kitchen. Dinner service is only offered Wednesday through Sunday with two seatings at 6:00pm and 8:45pm. Brunch is offered only on Sundays…

Waterloo & City

Dine LA used to be an event that inspired excitement. What delicious new foods would I discover? What great deals would I get? After many a Dine LA has come and gone, I have just become very tired of the prix fixe snooze fests. I’d rather just pay the extra money to have the more interesting dishes…

Red Medicine

Red Medicine is a Vietnamese fusion restaurant that recently opened a few months ago. It’s probably more known for the drama generated by some controversial actions by the management rather than its food unfortunately. It’s ratings on Yelp are pretty dismal, mostly because of the drama. I’m usually not a fan of fusion food, but…

Veritable Quandry

When it comes to the food in Portland, I will have to admit, I do have a case of food “beer goggles.” I’m a little more generous on my compliments and generally hold food in a Portland to a lower standard than to food in LA. Why that is the case? I’m not quite sure….

Tabla Pasta e Vino

Some of my dinners in Portland don’t end as well as they start off. Dinner at Tabla was just such a meal. Strong starters, good wine, weak finishers. Sometimes its actually easy to forget bad appetizers if the entree and desserts are a smash hit. Unfortunately its not so easy to forget when its the…

Burgerville

Not all my posts can be about amazing 3 star Michelin restaurants. Well, at least, some of my readers prefer it that way. Something about pretentiousness and the like. So to all of you, I dedicate this entry. Burgerville is something like the In N’ Out of the Pacific Northwest. I’m not quite sure if…

Yu Chun Chic Naeng Myun

I never knew about Korean food until I got to college. My first experience was not a great one. I was really put off by all the strong, pungent, and spicy flavors. Since then I’ve really grown accustomed to the flavors, and have really learned to appreciate the bold taste of Korean cuisine. I would say…

Christmas Dinner 2010

The H.o.P. usually celebrates the holidays pretty casually. Some meat, potatoes, greens, and of course, a fruit tart. Things are changing as the years go by. Not only is our family growing, but we are all growing up and somehow meat, potatoes, and a salad just doesn’t satisfy our palates these days. In addition, we…