Portland So Far

I have been absolutely loving it out here in Portland, Oregon for the past few days. We arrived here on Saturday night and have pretty much been eating amazing food ever since. You're in for a treat with this post because I am going to tell you about some of the best places to eat in Portland!

I have to attribute dining at these restaurants to my sister who has the privilege of eating at these restaurants whenever she wants (which makes me extremely jealous). 

The first restaurant we ate at was Cafe Broder. It is a Swedish restaurant that has great and filling breakfast and brunch food, you can also eat dinner there. My sister, her boyfriend, my boyfriend and I all shared the sweet and fluffy Danish pancakes that come with lemon curd and jam. They're delicious to say the least.

For my main breakfast I ordered the baked scrambled eggs with mushrooms, spinach and herbed goat cheese. It came with crispy walnut bread and a fresh garden salad. The baked eggs are extremely fluffy and delicious, and they're even better when enjoyed with a peach bellini. The broder breakfast sandwich, which my boyfriend got, is also a great choice. Overall, you pretty much have to go to Cafe Broder the next time you visit Portland.

Sunday night we went to Clyde Common for an excellent dinner. I will tell you that Clyde Common is on the pricier side, especially if you order appetizers and drinks, but the food is very worth it. We began with a charcuterie plate that included 2 types of sausage, dijon mustard, pickled fennel, crispy bread and...wait for it...liver pate. It was salty, creamy and delicious and I was the only one who continually ate it (don't be afraid to try pate).

For my main entree I ordered the butter roasted halibut with green garlic, leek and fava beans. The fish was crispy on the outside and tender on the inside and I finished the entire dish. Clyde Common is an excellent dinner choice while you're in Portland.

Since I've been consuming large quantities of amazing food, I have had to keep up with my workouts and Fitbit steps. We went on what was supposed to be a 3 mile hike on the Eagle Creek Trail about 30 minutes outside of Portland. We ended up hiking 6 miles after thinking the trail was a large circle, and it wasn't. It was a strenuous hike, but it made room for our dinner that night.

After our hike that day, we went for dinner at Luce. The meal I had at Luce may have been one of my favorite this week. It was a fresh meal that did not make me feel weighed down at all once I was finished. 

For an appetizer I ordered crostini with a fig and goat cheese mousse, which I highly recommend. For my main entree I had linguine with chili flakes and clams. The dish came loaded with clams, which were cooked perfectly, and it was hard to not eat the entire dish in one sitting. You will love Luce if you decide to dine here. 

If you visit Portland you have to get lunch at least once from a food cart. There is a huge variety of food carts to choose from and sometimes it can be overwhelming. I highly recommend the 808 Grinds food cart located on SW 9th and Washington. It is a Hawaiian food cart and I had never tried Hawaiian food before, but I am now a lover of this style of food.

Pictured above is Da Combo, which includes a scoop of amazing and creamy mac salad, a scoop of white rice, Kalua pig and Shoyu chicken. The pig and chicken were some of the best slow cooked and pulled meat I've ever had. A warning though, if you get 808 Grinds, plan on either going back to somewhere with a refrigerator to store your leftovers or share with someone because it is almost impossible to finish your entire meal.

Last but not least for now, we went strawberry picking! This was the first time I've been able to pick my own strawberries and I loved every minute of it. The strawberry picking location is located on Sauvie Island, which is a short drive outside of Portland and you can find these strawberries at Kruger's Farm.

You will also find the biggest pig you've ever seen at Kruger's Farm. We fed him a few of our fresh picked strawberries and he was in piggy heaven. He's located around the back of the farmhouse and he's a must see sight.

Well, that's all for now. I'll have plenty more posts to share with you throughout the next week as in I have more eating to do in Portland and then we're off to Vancouver!