USA 2013 - Part 3 (Portland to Seattle)

After stuffing ourselves full of amazing bakery goodness, we headed downtown for some shopping, and for some vegetables.



Prasad in the Pearl District is a fantastic wholefoods restaurant, and was the first place I ever ate in PDX back in 2011. We ordered the Urban Bowl that had greens, quinoa, kale, sea vegetables, carrots, and sesame with the garlic tahini sauce. So good! After spending some time in the magical book land of Powells, buying some vintage My Little Ponies at Billy Galaxies, stocking up on goodies at Whole Foods and finally buying some proper US-sized measuring spoons at Sur La Table, we were hungry for some dinner!

Besides the Mac and Cheese burger at White Owl Social Club, the other big thing to appear on the blogs post-VVC was the fancy downtown restaurant Departure, which is on the top floor of a building. Departure is not all vegan but has a great vegan menu. Of course Ashleigh and I ordered a number of great sounding dishes.








We had Salt and Pepper Tempeh (which included nooch!), Sweet Potato Tempura Sushi, BBQ Tempeh Buns, Wok Fired Brussels Sprouts and Vegetable Tempura. Dessert was a delicious Almond, Strawberry and Nashi Crisp with Almond Ice Cream. I cannot recommend Departure highly enough, I wish I could have eaten a million more things! If you are going to Portland, make yourself a reservation and enjoy.




The next day we headed to the now closed Dovetail for breakfast. I was hoping to try their famous biscuits and gravy, but it turned out that they only have those on weekends. Instead I had a lovely Blueberry Muffin and a Lavender Rose White Tea, and Ashleigh had a scone.



I was still a little peckish, so we headed back to Sweetpea to get some biscuits and gravy! I ordered the 'Hooten', which came with tempeh, and I also got a side of potatoes and the beloved Spicy Chai. The gravy was super salty, but the potatoes and the chai were perfect.




Then it was time to say goodbye to Portland and get on the train to head towards my beloved Seattle! For train snacks I had a yummy tempeh sandwich I had bought from the fridge section at Food Fight and a Lavender Snickerdoodle from Back to Eden.

Then we were in Seattle! Hurrah! After checking into the Executive Hotel Pacific we jumped on a bus out to the University District for dinner at Araya's Place. Though Google Maps still had them at the location where I visited them in 2011 (and had a lunch buffet on a day of insane eating), but it was closed! Eeep! Thankfully we happened to stumble across a 10 Billion Lives bus full of helpful vegans who directed us to their new location, which is right near Wayward Vegan Cafe, Vegan Haven and Pizza Pi (more on them later).






I love fresh coconut juice! We ordered starters of Spring Rolls and Tofu Satay. The spring rolls were meh (I really only ever want one... they get cold so fast), but the tofu satay was incredible. Best peanut sauce ever. For mains we ordered two of our favourite Thai dishes - I am crazy for Pad See Ew and Ashleigh loves Yellow Curry. The Pad See Ew was a bit different in flavour to what I am used to... it maybe felt like it had a lot of tamarind or something in it? But it was still good. Yum!

USA 2013 - Part 2 (Portland)

Portland has vegan options hiding everywhere, so the following morning we headed out to Flavour Spot, which has a vegan waffle option. We went to the North Fremont and Mississippi location, which is just a little cart with an undercover seating area.



The Vegan Waffle Sandwich is a waffle with vegan sausage and maple cream. It was damn delicious! Flavour Spot is a great starting point for a couple of hours of meandering around looking at the cute shops on Mississippi. And if you don't mind a bit of a stroll, I highly recommend heading over to N Williams Ave to visit the amazing Queen Bee to pick up some gorgeous vegan bags or wallets. There is also a super cute vintage shop in a double decker bus called Lodekka over there!

When near Mississippi street you must visit Mississippi Marketplace, a great collection of food carts with some amazing vegan food on offer.




I had to visit Homegrown Smoker. I had been to their downtown location in 2011 and had a great eggplant burrito, but shortly after I returned home the internet exploded with posts about the MacNoCheeto Burrito. Two years later I finally got to try it! Mac and cheese, beans, soy curls and other goodies wrapped up in a burrito. This was really yummy, though perhaps did not quite reach the dizzy expectations of all the hype. Ashleigh ordered the chilli cheese fries, which were also good.

Mississippi Marketplace is also the home of Native Bowl. At the time this was run by the fabulous Julie Hasson, though it now has new owners as Julie is focusing on her amazing range of gluten free baking mixes, Julie's Original.



I had the chance to catch up with Julie over lunch. We had a lovely time talking about baking and recipes, and it was amazing getting to meet the author of one of my favourite cookbooks, Vegan Diner. If you don't have it, you should order it (and also order Vegan Pizza while you are at it). Meeting Julie was certainly a highlight of the trip!

After heading in to downtown to check out the Portland Art Museum, we went to White Owl Social Club for dinner. This was shortly after VVC, and the talk of the blogs was the vegan Mac and Cheeseburger on the menu.





We also got some Kale Slaw for some greens. Let me tell you, this burger exceeded all expectations. I don't know if I can adequately explain the beauty of this burger. The patty is made out of mac and cheese! Sadly it seems to no longer be on their menu, so you will just have to imagine it.



We ordered the vegan S'mores for dessert, however when they came to the table the waitress told us that the crackers had honey in them, which we hadn't been told when ordering at the bar. Honey is obviously not going to be passing my lips. They ended up taking it off our bill, which was nice, and we ate the chocolate and marshmallows. I think I almost set every single marshmallow on fire, I don't have the gift of the natural marshmallow toaster!

The next morning we headed out to Back to Eden Bakery. Ever since a visited this gorgeous gluten-free vegan bakery in 2011 I had been obsessed with going back to this magical place!









Chai, Mushroom and Leek Quiche, Tempeh, Broccoli and Cheddar Quiche, Marionberry Coffee Cake, adorable interiors, stuffed bakery cases and a Vanilla Soft Serve Sundae with Berry Sauce, Coconut Flakes and Banana. A very successful outing! I wish I could have eaten more!! And more! And more!

USA 2013 - Part 1 (Portland)

More travel posts! Last year I was able to get back the USA for a veterinary conference that was going to be held in my beloved Seattle. I spent 48 amazing hours in Seattle during my 2011 trip, and I was desperate to get back!

This time I was travelling with my friend Ashleigh. We flew with Hawaiian Airlinees, and had planned a trip visiting Portland, Seattle, Vancouver and Honolulu. A 10 hour flight, a 7 hour stop over, and a 5 hour flight after leaving home, we arrived in Portland, Oregon.



We were hungry after all that flying (Hawaiian air does not provide vegan meals, so we were living on noodle cups and snack foods), and arrived in Portland at about 11pm at night. But one of the benefits of our hotel, the Eastside Lodge, is that you can actually see Sizzle Pie from the entrance. We got the 'Bad Reputation', which had Daiya Mozarella, mushroom, onions and black olives. Heavenly! It was so hot we burned our mouth, but it was so good and we were so hungry we just couldn't slow down!



The hotel was also walking distance to a 24 hour Voodoo Doughnuts. There is something amazing about being able to buy a selection of vegan doughnuts at 1am in the morning. We got: Gaytime, Maple, Jam-Filled Voodoo, Jam-Filled Glazed, Cinnamon Cone, Coconut Covered Chocolate and... ummm... Cream-Filled Cock and Balls. The Gaytime was definitely the best!

Our hotel was also about six minutes walk away to Sweetpea Baking Company, which is in the vegan mini-mall, and we headed down there for breakfast the following day.



On the way we saw this SQUIRREL! We don't have SQUIRRELS! in Australia, and I am always so excited to see SQUIRRELS! when I am overseas. SQUIRREL!



We had a delicious breakfast of a hummus bagel (sprinkled with nooch), breakfast potatoes, a brown sugar scone and a lemon strawberry danish. And excellent way to start the day!



Sweetpea is also home to the best chai in the world. I am extremely picky about my chai, and their Spicy Chai (I had it with almond milk) is something I still dream about!



The first time I went to Sweetpea in 2011, they didn't seem to have much. However this visit was much more impressive. Look at their beautiful bakery display! After breakfast we headed up to watch a bit of the Rose Parade, which was on while we were in town. it was fun, lots of awesome marching bands. And a giant crocodile float made out of Brussels sprouts.





For lunch we met up with a friend of mine at Hungry Tiger Too. I had the Texas Burger with Slaw, which had crispy fried onions on it. For some greens, there was a vegan Greek Salad, and of course we had to order a side of vegan mac and cheese! Hungry Tiger Too seems to have undergone some changes in menu, but it still looks pretty good! It was also just a short walk from our hotel. Our hotel had such a good location! After lunch we visited Herbivore Clothing and Food Fight for a vegan shopping spree. Cute clothes! Fun food!

For dinner, we had reservations at Portobello, an amazing vegan restaurant that I had visited in 2011. We chose the tasting menu, and each chose a different item for each course to maximise the number of dishes we could choose. Behold!




For first we had a beautiful fresh beet salad and a very rich and delicious mushroom pate.



Portobello has a nice drinks list, including mocktails for me to choose from! I had a Citrus Reviver, which had orange, grapefruit, lemon and lime juices mixed with simple syrup and vanilla. Yum!




The second course included some of Portobello's famous gnocchi, served with asparagus and sugar snap peas. These are honestly the most amazing gnocchi anyone will ever have in their life! Our second plate was a lovely pea ravioli with mushrooms.




The third course was 'mains', which included portobello roast and cauliflower steak. The portobello was served with polenta, greens and a delicious cashew cream sauce, and the cauliflower had chickpea panisse, fennel and chimicurri sauce. Delicious!!




The tasting menu does not come with dessert, but you cannot go out to dinner and not order dessert! Ashleigh ordered the decadent Ice Cream Sundae, while I could not go past a Rhubarb and Strawberry Tart.

After dinner we took a bit of a stroll home, with very full bellies!

USA 2011: Portland Part 5

My final day in Portland, and I was looking forward to some brunch. Before brunch I needed a snack. Please do not judge me. There were things I had to eat up. I really should hide this part of my trip, but here it is.




Don't judge me!! *hides* Well, I had to eat these or they wouldn't get eaten. One was a vegan twinkie I had bought in Seattle that was getting a bit too smooshed from frequent travel. I've never had an actual Twinkie before, but to be honest I don't think I would miss them. Fakey-tasting cake with fakey-tasting-super-sweet cream. Sorry America, if I am dissing one of your great cultural food experiences, but there it is. The other part of my pre-brunch snack was a Rice Dream Ice-Cream Sandwich. This I liked! It was creamy but not too sweet.

Poor K had been sick during the trip, and had spent the night before coughing and getting not much sleep, so I headed out to brunch on my own with plans to meet up with them later. I hopped on a bus (by this point I was super awesome at getting around PDX on their awesome, cheap, reliable public transport - are you listening Brisbane??) and headed out.

On the way to the bus stop, I discovered and awesome store that sells vintage toys, and I could see some first generation My Little Ponies inside. Now, I love My Little Ponies. I have a collection of the first generation ponies. But the store was closed! Oh, how my heart did wail and weep in devastation. I have had dreams about finding thrift stores full of My Little Ponies, and now here was my dream so close to coming true, but denied! Woes! I took my shattered little heart off and tried to console it at this place.


I had heard so much about brunch at Blossoming Lotus, and their day or brunch had arrived, so I was there. I ummed and ahhed at the menu for a bit, before making my final decision.


This is the Lotus Benedict. The website seems to have a lunch menu instead of the brunch menu, so I will try and describe it as I can remember. An biscuit sliced in two (tasted like a nice scone, actually!), with maple-baked seitan (or something similar), tomato, steamed kale, homefries and a butternut hollondaise sauce. This was delicious and filling, and exactly what I needed after so many sweet breakfasts! I much prefer a savoury start to my day. Yum! One thing I had really wanted to get from here, but didn't in the end, was the peanut butter banana smoothie. I mean, it sounds amazing, right? But I was feeling pretty full and all that sugar for breakfast had made my stomach a teeny bit touchy, so I did did not. I am sure I can make a PB banana smoothie here in my kitchen, once the price of bananas drops down to at least pretend to be affordable!

After brunch I made my way back into town, going through a shopping centre with its own ice rink on my way to the MAX. I MAXed back in to go to the Portland Saturday Market, which is also open on Sunday. And meandered around until I was able to meet up with K and Toby.


Someone was walking their miniature pony! I went bought a necklace for a friend's birthday and looked at some cool cat toys that I couldn't buy because they all contained catnip (customs in Australia does not like dried herbs) and then met up with my PDX vegan buddies. A new Voodoo Doughnuts had just opened up near the markets (their soft opening), and the line out was huge. Honestly, PDXers are mad for donuts!

K hadn't eaten, and we couldn't find much in the way of vegan g/f food at the markets, so we went wandering. We had hoped that the Sonny Bowl food cart would be open, but no luck, so we ended up back at Prasad. I was still full from brunch, so I just ordered a peppermint iced tea. Refreshing!


I felt that I could not leave PDX without experiencing the Bye and Bye, a vegan pub. K and Toby were up for the trip (especially given that it would put us in close proximity to a little place called heaven), so off we went.


I ordered the Weeping Tiger sandwich - tofu cutlets, lettuce, tomato, onion, jalapeno, Sriracha and Vegeaise - after someone on the PPK said that this sandwich completes them. I confess, I got the chili stuff on the side so I could have just add a bit and have a wimpy, not so weepy, lunch. Remember that time I ate ice-cream and twinkies for breakfast? My stomach sure did. This was really nice, though I am not sure it completed my life, but I did enjoy it. Whatever they did to the tofu cutlets was delicious! It came with a choice of sides, so I chose some collards to try, as I hadn't yet had the chance to try these magical vegetables that do not seem to exist in Australia. They were nice, but I still like kale the best!


Toby ordered the Meatball Sub, which was also really nice. I would probably consider this above the sandwich next time. Noms!


K was still a bit full, and was saving room for heaven, so she snacked on some chips and salsa.


Toby also ordered a vegan white russian, because he could and he had to. There are lots of cocktails there, including vegan bloody marys and their signature Bye and Bye, which is pink and served in gigantic mason jars. Given that I haven't had a drink for over a year, I am pretty sure one of those would slay me, so I stuck to some water. There were lots of people enjoying a Sunday afternoon cocktail, though. It was a great atmosphere!

But not as good an atmosphere as heaven. *sigh* Toby went off to look at music or drink coffee or something... who could know when K and I had in our sights the most magical of places - Back To Eden Bakery. Have I mentioned that this place is seriously like a magical wonderland? I want to live there. I could eat croissants and cake and cookies and ice cream every day!


Last time I showed you loads of photos of their sweeties. Here are some photos of their savouries in the case.


K ordered a beautiful looking gluten free Hazelnut and Strawberry (I think?) cupcake, and also enjoyed a berry flavoured milk shake.


I had this gorgeous Strawberry Vanilla Tart. It was perfect. The pastry was just right, not at all gluggy or thick. The custard was smooth and creamy, and the strawberries were not to sweet and not too tart. It was heavenly! If I could marry a shop, I would marry Back To Eden. Seriously. I am so sad I didn't get to eat more there, and I never got to have a banana split! Oh, the humanity!

After our eating, we went back into town. K and I took a walk through downtown Portland. I wanted to see the Portlandia statue. We followed the directions on our map, but couldn't find her. We asked locals where she was and they didn't know. Eventually, we found her.


She was up above, looking down from a building! Our hearts skipped a beat, as from that angle she is kind of terrifying. Like she's about to swoop down and carry you off to somewhere not nice. I can totally imagine parents in PDX telling their kids to be good or Portlandia will come and get you! Once the initial shock wore off, she was pretty impressive though!

We had hoped to find some stores that K wanted to look in, but the maps seemed to lie to us and we could not find them. We ended up wandering around the streets a bit. There were lots of very cool statues and sculptures.


Predictably, I really liked the statues of critters, like these sweet little deer.


Afterwards, we split up and I went into Powells Books. This place is amazing and huge and has possibly every book ever. And cute stationary to boot! I had already spent some time exploring in here, as it was just down the road from our hotel, but today I had the intention to buy. I carefully selected some new vegan cookbooks to add to my collection - Heart Vegan Meals For Monster Appetites and Vegan Desserts. I am bummed I did not remember to get American Vegan Kitchen! I did feel pretty cool though, because I had a lot of the cookbooks that were there already. Vegan cookbook addicts unite!


I met up with K and Toby again to go out for dinner (K had already snacked on some g/d goodness from Wholefoods) at Sizzle Pie. This is an omni place with vegan options, that sells pizza by the slice. A friend had raved and raved about it, telling me to get there as soon as I arrived in Portland. I got there, though it was my last stop.


I got a slice each of the two vegan pizza's available in the cabinet. There was the special, which seemed to be some sort of cashew cheeze with onion, spinach and some sort of faux meat, and also the pepperoni and cheeze (Daiya), cutely named Thunder and Lightning. I definitely likes this one the best.


The slices were HUGE. Here is a demonstration, see the size of the slice compared to the size of my head. Americans like their pizzas gigantic! (Also note that I am actually wearing one of my three My Little Pony t-shirts, thus making the inability to buy vintage My Little Ponies even more tragic).

After dinner, with bulging bellies, we strolled across the Burnside bridge to get back to the south west, where our hotel was. It was a lovely walk. During our stay, we named each of Portland's four quadrants. SE was Serious Eats, home of Hungry Tiger Too, the mini-mall, Portobello, Gorditos, Potato Champion and so many others. NE became Nice Eats, Nothing Else, home of Native Bowl, Ruby Dragon, Bye and Bye, Vita Cafe, Back to Eden and Dovetail among others. SW, where our hotel, Home Grown Smoker and Prasad were located, was So Weird... I am not sure why. And the NW was No Where, because we had no reason to go there ever!


On the way back across the bridge from Serious Eats to So Weird, I noticed this nifty Portland sign for the first time. It kind of reminds me of a christmas reindeer. I am going to blow this photo up and make it the first page of the Portland section of my scrapbook.

Once back at the hotel, I had some serious packing to do as I was leaving at stupid o'clock in the morning for San Francisco. K and Toby came for moral support, peppermint tea and an ice-cream party! K and I had wanted to have an ice-cream party for some time. It ended up just being two flavours, the Cherry Nirvana that I had previously bought and also some Hazelnut Fudge from Luna and Larry's that K brought along. The second was definitely the winner. So delicious!

Eventually I bid K and Toby goodnight to get some sleep before the final leg of my journey. I am so thankful that I had these two awesome people to travel and eat my way around Portland with! Thank you!!

K and Toby have also blogged about their experiences on this day, as well as the two other days the spent in Portland afterwards, here and here.

So, final thoughts on Portland? The food is amazing, though I really found that was all there was to do. I loved Seattle more. I do want to go back to Portland for a couple of days though, so I can finally get the Macnocheeto Burrito from Home Grown Smoker, get another Mississippi Bowl from Native Bowl, get dinner at Portobello and spend an entire day, from open to close, at Back To Eden eating everything that they have! Oh, and buy My Little Ponies, of course!