Portlandish Food!

I've been hungry to go back to Portland for the past week.  The food we ate was so good!

On Friday night we drove from Portland to Vancouver, Washington, to Joe's Crab Shack.  It's one of those places famous for big baskets of crab legs, shrimp, and other shellfish, tossed in with new potatoes, corn, and sausage.  First of all, we had great service, and couldn't have asked for a better table in front of the windows viewing the mighty Columbia River!  

 Since I neglected to take pics of ours,
here is Sassy with her Joe's dinner
(post of their visit here)

Because they'd been to Joe's and loved it, Prince Steadfast and Princess Sassy took us to the Crab Pot in Seattle last year, which offered the same type of 'wear-your-bib-and-dig-in-with-your-hands-and-shelling-tools' type of dining.  

Compared to the Crab Pot, which offered Pacific, both local and from Alaska, seafood, Joe's Antarctic king crab, and East Coast types of seasonings weren't as impressive and tasty to us.  After trying both, Princess Sassy prefers Joe's, but Hubby and I lean toward the Crab Pot instead.  The big positive here is that when we get a yearning for fresh crab, the place we want to go is an hour away instead of 3.  Going to Joe's was still fun, and it had good ambience, and as I mentioned, personable and prompt service.

For Saturday's lunch, we went to one of those places that had intrigued us during previous visits to the city, but we'd never gone in... The Deschutes Brewery Pub.  The place seemed to be packed, but we were seated right away.  It's a little bit loud, but fun.  --Lots of windows, high ceilings, colorful, and with kind of a rustic-industrial decor. 

We were overwhelmed by the menu, but not in a bad way.  So many things on their lunch menu sounded so wonderful, it was so hard to choose! (They also offer a good-sized gluten-free menu, so those with such dietary limitations have more than just a couple of options from which to choose.) 

Hubby chose the Housemade Pastrami (with whole milk mozzarella, arugula and green chili mustard on toasted spelt grain sourdough) and fries, while I ordered the Grilled Cheese.  I'm not usually a grilled cheese sandwich fan, but I couldn't resist this description: "Briar Rose Creamery goat cheese, cream cheese, Gruyere, and cheddar on our rustic white bread grilled with a parmesan garlic butter and served with garden tomato soup with roasted jalapeño cream."  The waitress suggested that the cheese sandwich was even better with avocado, bacon, and/or tomato... she usually has all 3... so I took her kind advice.

Of course, we sampled a bit of their brew, too.  The
Deschutes Twilight Summer Ale in the .3 liter size was perfect.

We were very happy with our choices!  If I ordered my sandwich again, although wonderful as it was, I think I'd skip the extra expense of the additions.  The sandwich was good on its own.  Actually, to be honest, I thought maybe it was a little unexciting at first, but then, as one should do with all grilled cheese, I dipped it into the soup, and WOW.  That fresh tomato soup, and especially, with the roasted jalapeño cream (roasted jalapeño mixed with creme fraiche), added just the amount of acidic and spicy zing to elevate that whole dish to amazing.

My mom and dad used to wake up and decide it was a great day to drive to the coast for chowder, to Tillamook, Oregon, for ice cream, or to Eastern Washington for lunch.  They often picked up one of my grandmas to take along for the fun.  We agree that this is a place for which it'd be worth making the 6-hour round-trip to Portland... Just for a day's adventure and a fantastic lunch.  --And just a block from Powell's giant bookstore, so a double-bonus.

Saturday night's dinner and Sunday brunch...yet to come.