John G.'s Profile

A gem of a place in the Hawthorne area of Portland. Great French feel and food.  

Crepes are their specialty and they have a wide variety, both vegan and with meat.  I ordered the one with black forrest ham, onions, special French cheese, etc. Topped with the bechamel cream sauce, it was truly scrumptious.  Every morsel was exploding with flavor.

Other in the party had the Croque Monsieur (grilled ham and swiss cheese sandwich topped with melted swiss),  Quiche du Jour, and the Le Percheronne crepe (black forest ham, brie, avocado, mushrooms, creme fraiche).   All were reported to be excellent.

Nice wine list, of course, and the server made some nice suggestions.

Not to be missed is the assortment of dessert crepes.  I had the Mont Blanc which was with fresh berries, chocolate, whipped cream. Yummy for sure.

Chez Machin is a great place for a true French breakfast, lunch or dinner.

Dropped by for lunch.  Great menu, unique place and very good food.  Loved the selections.  Their macaroni and cheese is great.  We had the crab sandwich and the grilled ham and cheese.  Both cooked very well, very tasty and very filling.

Attentive service, great drink selection.  

All this adds up to Mother's still being a Portland favorite both to locals and tourists.

3 and 1/2 stars  total rating, but I'll round it up to 4. In our continuing effort to "eat" our way through Portland, Wildwood was on the list tonight.  Nice upscale place in NW Portland.  Eclectic interior.  Sharp and robuts cooking area immediately in sight. upon entering.  We were seated in a nice booth.

Selection of wine was really oustanding.  Great Oregon and Califonria wines on the list.  Appetizers were extensive.  We had the special salad and the Tillett mussels.  Salad was very good, and the mussels most likely they best I have ever eaten.  In a nice wine boulion broth.  The mussels were very large, tasty and tender.   Two pieces of garlic bread on the top.  Dipping the bread in the sauce was an epicurean delight.

For entrees we had the lamb and the ribeye.  The lamb shoulder was cooked just right and very nice. The ribeye was on some mashed potatoes with blue cheese that tasted scrumptiously.  My one complaint is that the steak came out lukewarm, instead of hot off the grille which I would expect from a place like this.   It had obviously been plated and then had some wait time while the other meal was completed.  For such a fine establishment, you'd think they would have waiting meals under heat lamps.  Wildwood, take note.

Desserts ordered were the pumpkin cheesecake and the apple/pear torte.  Both nice and enjoyable but did not compare to a dessert we had the previous evening at Carlyle.  

Service was attentive and friedly.  The server responded well to our requests like small tastes of wine before selection.

Wildwood is certainly a nice place to eat.  We had a nice time, but the items mentioned above, if corrected, would put this up to near 5 stars.

Very nice hotel in the heart of downtown Portland.  Just one block from Pioneer Square.  Served by 3 of the Maxx light rail lines.   Very good location.

I stayed in the original hotel (not the new towers).  Rooms were updated, very clean, and did have some nice extras like bottled water, coffee maker, etc. in the room.  Beds were very plush and comfortable.

Staff was friendly and always greeted me when I went by.  Excellent fitness center on the Plaza Level.  Got a free copy of USA today each day I was there.

Very nice place.  Would stay again on a future visit to Portland.

Been to many conferences, and the one I went to at the OCC (Supercompuitng '09) was ran very well.  Spacious layout with good signage.  No problem finding Registration.  Good guides and the display booths in the Exhibit Hall were layed out so they were easy to find.

Adequate bathroom facilities were to be found, but took a little searching for initially.  Food places were adequate to actually quite good (mexican food place).  

OCC is spacious with plenty of meeting rooms.  Very nice visit and was able to handle the conference just fine.

Hilton Hotel restaurant.  Ate there several times for breakfast and lunch.  It is in the ok range.  However, being a hotel place, it is pricier.  Since I am on my company expense account, not a problem.  

I had an eggs breakfast, fresh fruit plate, oatmeal and some grilled salmon.  The food was cooked as I asked and was okay.  Nothing great, but certainly more than passable.

I ate here because of the convenience, and for breakfast or lunch, it works just fine. I'd steer clear of going here for dinner due to high prices.

Stopped by for lunch at this busy downtown place.  Part of a chain.  Lot's of selections of food and brews.  Everything in the middle of the road.  Almost a sports bar theme with many different areas. They have pool tables also for entertainment.

Food was average for lunch and we had the Sonoma wrap, grilled chicken sandwich and the enchiladas.  

Our local friends told us this is where some party people in their 20s go to let off some steam in the evening.  Whatever.

One of the finer restaurants in Portland.   In the NW section of Portland, and a little ways from downtown, the drive is worth it.  Gracious host and all the staff were very professional.  Upon entering, the bar area is to your left.  Handsome bar and the decoration is contemporary.  

We sat in the back right area which is the most private.  Greeted by the server and had some before dinner drinks.  The wine selection if from all around the world.   We settled on the butter lettuce salad for starters, and had the pork shoulder and sablefish for main courses.

The food was truly scrumptious.  Gourmet all the way.  The reduction sauce on the pork was out of this world.  It was served with braised cabbage with pieces of pork intertwined.  Truly tasty.  The fish was like a cod served on a chowder like setting.  Again.  just lovely.

Dessert was a home run ball with the  Black Mission Fig Cake.  It is served with brown butter ice cream and lemon curd.  Indescribable, you have to go try it to see.

Prices were $7-$11 for appetizer/salads and entrees were $16-$26.  Quite reasonable given the high standard of the meal.

For a fine meal in Portland, Carlyle should certainly be high on the list.

Best pizza in the Tri-Cities for sure.  Loved the experience.  Went there for lunch.  Place is an independent and run very nicely.  Many beer selections, and some nice wine selections also at reasonable prices.

I did the lunch special which is a small personal pizza, salad bar and a drink for $7.19.  Great deal.

The personal pizza was really tasty.  The crust was lovely and ingredients fresh.   The place was very clean.

Can't say much more, except "I'll be back"!!!

One of over 100 restaurants in a chain.  Adequate BBQ would be the best description.  For the area, not bad though.

Place is funky with lot's of 19/20 year old servers running around in their black T-Shirts. Was greeted by two friendly persons and sat down.  

Server was nice and to explain the menu and the 5 sauces, they give you free french fries (which are actually pretty good) and spell out the sauces with the sauces on a plate for you to sample. I liked the Sassy and the Sweet.  You have to try it to understand.

I wanted to go with two meats, so chose the combo St. Louis ribs and brisket.  Got to admit both were pretty good.  The ribs were lean and came right off the bone, the brisket smoked nicely and not too dry.  

The downside of Dave's are the sides.  The corn was yucky and soft (sitting in a tub of hot water a long time), the green beans were not cooked completely, the mashed potatoes just tasted weird (had to cover up their taste with some BBQ sauce), and the corn muffin was so so.  They need lot's of work on the sides.

But, the meat was very good, and I enjoyed the BBQ sauce selection.

So, Famous Dave's is worth a stop in the area if you get that BBQ hankering.