The first thing you should know going in is that you need to get a cup of soup when you eat here. Lots of seafood restaurants have the standard New England style clam chowder. Hawthorne Fish House is no exception. They also have a spicy Mexican tomato-based soup they call Sopa de Pescado (Spanish for “fish soup”). It’s got an assortment of seafood delicacies from their menu set in a very deliciously spicy red broth. It’s really surprising to find this kind of taste. I admit that I need to keep my glass of water handy when I drink it, but it is worth every bite it gives back to you. You’ll also want to try the Crab pepper cheese soup. It’s a more rich and hearty soup than the Sopa de Pescado, but this too has a kick to it.

The fish and chips here are pretty good. Some of their selection, like fried oysters, don’t have the best texture for seafood n00bs, but that’s the nature of the beast. I never get their fish and chips combos when I’ve eaten here in the past because they simply have better items on their menu.

My favorite thing on their menu is their fish tacos. I was a fish taco virgin when I first ordered them from the Hawthorne Fish House, and they’re still something I always like to get. You can pick from either catfish or cod, and then pick from a variety of different taco styles. Some include pineapple salsa, sour cream, and cabbage. Others have red salsa and cheese in a more traditional Americanized Mexican style. They’re all very tasty and generously sized.

This is a pub. They have a pretty good bar, so any taste in beer you have is going to be well satiated. More in the vein of pub food, they also have a pretty good line of sandwiches. Salmon burgers are a staple of a lot of seafood restaurants now and theirs is about in line with what you’d expect there. The sandwich I enjoy the most though, is their halibut sandwich. Served on a hamburger roll, it comes with their tartar sauce, with optional cheese, and a freshly fried fillet of halibut. It’s probably one of the nicest basic fish sandwiches I’ve ever had. I’ve found this sandwich is at its best if you opt for their jalapeno tartar sauce, either in the sandwich or on the side.

This is one of my favorite seafood restaurants. It’s probably my favorite fish and chips place in general. The prices aren’t always super awesome, but you get what you pay for. Want one last tip? Save room for ice cream. They offer a generous cup of moose tracks at definitely super awesome price.

Note: This is a review of the Hawthorne Fish House, which sometimes has different items on its menu than its sister location. I found this out the hard way. Some things, like the soups, weren’t available at the Corbett location when I was last there. It was kind of a bummer.

4343 SE Hawthorne Blvd.
Portland, OR 97215
(503) 548-4434

Website

EaT: An Oyster Bar is located on N Williams Ave just south of Pix Patisserie and Lincoln Restaurant. The interior has a sort of Bourbon Street feel, but without the humidity.  You can seat yourself at a table or the bar and help yourself to free crackers while you peruse the menu. If the weather is nice, they’ll have the garage-door-style storefront open and you can enjoy your meal in the afternoon sun. A member of the waitstaff will bring you a carafe of water and some glasses and take additional drink orders before giving you time to decide on food.

The first thing you’ll see on the menu is, of course, oysters. They are available raw at the market price, which was $21 for a dozen or $11.50 for a half-dozen, or baked at $7 for three or $12 for six. The baked options are Rockefeller, made with fresh spinach and watercress and topped with Parmesan cheese, or Bienville with a mushroom bechamel sauce and Trinity vegetables. EaT also offers various oyster shooters for $3 a pop.

I couldn’t quite get myself to order raw oysters, even though I’d really like to try them someday, so we shared three oysters Rockefeller instead. They were delicious, hot from the broiler, and I think we should have ordered six instead.

If oysters aren’t your style or if you want something else with them, you could have a po boy or one of several delicious cajun and creole dishes they serve, like seafood gumbo, blackened catfish, or cajun bbq shrimp.  We went with an oyster po boy and jambalaya to complete our meals.

EaT offers po boys with shrimp, oyster, catfish, or “debris,” which is beef roast cooked such that it falls into delicious little bits. The po boys come on a toasted French roll with tomatoes, cabbage, pickles, and come-back sauce in a basket with fries. You can also add a little spice yourself with Louisiana hot sauce on the table, or with their chili-infused vinegar. The oyster Po Boy was very good and came loaded with enough fried oysters that we ate a few to make it easier to close the sandwich. The sauce was good and didn’t overpower the flavor of the oysters.

The jambalaya was also very good. EaT’s jambalaya is a Cajun-style “brown” jambalaya rather than a Creole-style “red” jambalaya made with tomatoes or tomato sauce. It is a traditional rice, not pasta, dish with the Trinity vegetables, chicken, and house-made Andouille sausage. The sausage was the best part of the dish, and there was plenty of it. Overall, the dish wasn’t very spicy, but the sausage had just enough heat to keep me interested.  I tried adding some hot sauce to a couple of bites, but it didn’t need it and I enjoyed it better without.

The food was all very delicious, so I give a hearty recommendation for that, but we did note a couple of negative things about EaT.  One of these is that the service was…  casual…  It wasn’t awful, and it wouldn’t stop me from eating there again, but the waitstaff seemed bored, or as if they had better things to do than take our orders and bring us our food.  Though I’m sure there are far more interesting things to do than wait tables, cheerful and friendly service makes a meal much more enjoyable.

The other thing we noticed was that some of the dishes weren’t as clean as they could have been.  One of the cups brought to our table had something on the rim, and the plates brought out with the oysters Rockefeller had some dry flakes of something on them.  They may have just been harmless dry herbs from the kitchen, and unlike the cup, we didn’t send the plates back, but dirty dishes twice in one visit needs to be noted.

The last thing I think could use some improvement is the website.  Often my first impression of a restaurant comes from the website, because I like to look at the menu before I go or check to see when they’re open or if they have a happy hour.  I was able to find the menus on EaT’s site, but they’re sort of tucked away at the bottom of the “At The Bar” page and I had to hunt around a bit before I found them.  So if you want to check out the menus before you go, that’s where they are, but I would definitely recommend to the owners of EaT that they have their website redesigned.

Despite these few small complaints, the overall experience at EaT: An Oyster Bar was good.  The food was delicious, and I’m sure we’ll come back again.  When we do, maybe I’ll be ready to try some oysters on the half shell.

3808 N. Williams
Portland, OR 97227
(503) 281-1222

Website

Like most pizzerias, Lucky Lab serves whole pies all day with slices at lunch time. Beer is also served all day if you feel like making your afternoon even more nap-tastic. The lunch slices are a healthy size, unless you’re a big fatty like me and have an appetite. This time around, they had cheese, pepperoni, veggie, and meat pizzas to pick from. We tried the veggie, pepperoni, and meat. Cheese is for kiddies.

The pepperoni was a bit spicy– that’s great in my opinion. Really tasty, spicy, pepperoni is hard to come by in this Domino’s world. The meat had a good selection of varied meats. It wasn’t kitchen sink heavy, but it was generous. Same went for veggies, which had plenty of onions, peppers, olives, and mushrooms. The crusts are a bit on the thick side, so if you like a thick crust you’re in luck.

Lucky Lab also has a variety of salads in case you want something light. In addition to a spread of their own beers, they have a few soft drinks on tap.  The service at this location is pretty good. The staff are friendly, helpful, and very laid back. They don’t jump down your throat with fake charm.

The pricing at Lucky Lab is pretty average. You’ll pay for one slice what you’ll pay at less reputable joints for a whole pie. Whole pies can range from $15 to $20-ish. You get what you pay for, however. One whole pie can probably feed 5 hungry adults, especially if they’ve each got a mug of beer to keep them bloated.

* We reviewed the Multnomah Village Public House location, but there are two others, their addresses are below.

Lucky Lab Public House
7675 SW Capitol Highway
Portland, Oregon
97219

Website

Also visit:

Lucky Lab Brew Pub
915 SE Hawthorne Blvd.
Portland, Oregon
97214

Lucky Lab Beer Hall
1945 NW Quimby St.
Portland, Oregon
97209

We prefer to go during happy hour and sample several different dishes.  We almost always each get one of their fantastic wood fire grilled burgers.  It’s an excellent burger, particularly with blue cheese.  We also often enjoy a plate of house-fried almonds.  On our most recent visit, we also tried the Arancini, which are fried risotto balls with pork sausage and lemon aioli for dipping, and grilled apricot with gorgonzola.  Both were pretty good, but far from the best food we’ve tried at Clarklewis.  The apricot seemed a little under-ripe and its flavor was overwhelmed by the gorgonzola, but it was certainly worth trying.

The star of the evening was the spaghetti with Groundworks basil pesto.  The spaghetti was covered with a generous amount of  what may be the most delicious basil pesto I have ever had.  Even after the spaghetti was gone,  I found myself scraping the remains of the pesto from the plate with my fork.  If that’s on the menu the next time we visit, I will definitely get it again.

It is always worth inquiring about the soup of the day.  Clarklewis’s chefs make some excellent soups.  One that sticks in my mind is celery root soup with truffle oil.  It has a smooth, creamy texture, and the aroma of the truffle oil can’t fail to make your mouth water.

Other happy hour staples include bread from Grand Central Bakery, salads, and artisan cheese plates.

I’d love to comment on the dinner menu, but we have yet to actually order anything from it.  There are always many delicious-sounding items, such as hearth roasted Carlton pork shoulder or housemade tagliatelle with braised lamb ragu.  One of these days we’ll go strictly for dinner and report back on our experience, but given how much we’ve enjoyed what we’ve tasted during happy hour, I have no doubt that dinner is fantastic.

Clarklewis has a large selection of wines, a full bar, and several interesting non-alcoholic beverages, so there’s something for everyone.  They also believe strongly in supporting local, organic farms, so you can pat yourself on the back and call yourself a good neighbor every time you eat there.

1001 SE Water Avenue
Portland, Oregon
97214

Website

I have to admit, my first visit to Bella Faccia didn’t live up to the hype I’d heard from friends or read on the Internet. Nevertheless, I went in again with an open mind and I was not disappointed. The interior of Bella Faccia is slick. They have a nice patio, which is a haven for smokers. There is some real nice glass artwork up for sale too; I highly advise everyone to check that out as well.

Having had garlic knots at Faccia’s little sister store, Pizza Fino– which is also owned by Linda Zumoff, I was eager to try them again. They were as good as I remembered. These things are like crack, delicious, buttery, slathered in oil, garlic, and dipped in marinara. I could eat 50 of them. Luckily, the very nice folks there gave us a half-dozen order of eight… though there is some dispute as to how many there actually were. Like I said, they’re narcotic. The only criticism here is that the marinara was cold, rather than warm.

Bella Faccia has pizzas premade, if you want a by-the-slice deal, or you can also have 12 or 18-inch pies made. There are a lot of vegetarian options, and plenty of meat too. We’ve tried several, but the Schmo2 is our favorite. It has just the right mix of meat and veggies.

The service here is friendly and amiable. The slices come out fast, but the pies don’t. That’s not a criticism. That’s a fact of life, bub. Pizza takes time, especially the kind of gourmet pizza you get here.

It’s clear from spending time in Bella Faccia that it is a haunt for a lot of locals. That’s always a very positive sign. They also serve Staccato gelato, have some beers on tap, and a limited supply of bottled soft-drinks on hand. We strongly recommend people check it out.

2934 Northeast Alberta Street
Portland, OR 97211-7034
(503) 282-0600

Website

It was difficult to choose from the many delicious-looking options. In addition to the standard menu, there was also a special, a house-made ravioli stuffed with chicken, asiago cheese, and a few other things, tossed with arugula and asparagus. The special sounded excellent, but we finally settled on the penne pasta and the rack of pork. While we waited for our entrees, we munched on delicious, freshly-baked bread dipped in a mixture of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, blue cheese, and basil.

Both entrees were fantastic. The menu describes the penne pasta as “Sliced chicken breast tossed with cumin, Hungarian peppers, cilantro, fresh tomatoes and a touch of cream.” The cumin and peppers give the dish a bit of spice I usually find lacking in a typical tomato pasta sauce. If you order it, make sure you save a couple of pieces of bread to sop up the sauce at the end. It’s excellent.

The rack of pork is marinated with honey and star anise, grilled, and then topped with an apple-cranberry chutney. It sits atop a bed of coconut rice surrounded by sauteed brussels sprouts and wild mushrooms. Don’t be put off by the brussels sprouts. If your only experience with them involves a bag from the freezer and a pot of boiling water, you need to try these.

The pork was cooked perfectly. The apple-cranberry chutney was a great finishing touch. The meat was firm enough to need a knife to cut, but was deliciously tender and easy to chew. The spices enhanced the flavor of the pork rather than hiding it.

We didn’t try it, but we heard people in the restaurant raving about the Tom Yum Soup. If you get soup, salad, or an appetizer, you can expect to pay $20-25 per person. The service at Chameleon was very friendly. We had no trouble getting a table, but we arrived pretty early in the evening, and it filled up before we left, so we recommend calling ahead for a reservation.

2000 Northeast 40th Avenue
Portland, OR 97212-5311
(503) 460-2682

Website

The meal begins with a basket of chips and a bowl of house-made salsa, first round on the house.  You can add two additional varieties of salsa from the daily selection for $3, which we tried.  Today’s choices were salsa verde and a fruity salsa with mango, pineapple and jicama.  They weren’t bad, but the best of the three was probably the red salsa that came with the chips initially.  All three salsas were a bit weak in the spice department for our tastes. We prefer them with a bit more bite.

For our entrees we had Layuda and Chilaquiles, both with carnitas (pork).  A Layuda is sort of a mexican pizza.  This is the first time I’d seen it on a menu in a Mexican restaurant.  The hand-tossed crust is topped with refried beans, onion, cheese, and your choice of meat.  There is a vegetarian option as well with roasted vegetables.

I had never had a Layuda before, and I’d like to try it again, but I wasn’t particularly impressed with the one we had at Agave. The crust of tasted a bit floury to us, and overall it seemed a bit bland. I think I’d have liked it better if I’d had a little extra salsa to dip it in, but we used all of ours with the chips.

The Chilaquiles was better. Chilaquiles is often called a “Mexican casserole.”  Agave’s rendition of this dish defaults to vegetarian, with tortilla pieces mixed in with oven-roasted vegetables and a tomato-pumpkin seed sauce, but feel free to add some meat for a couple extra bucks.  It was good with carnitas.  The sauce was surprisingly sweet, with a hint of cinnamon and other spices that often accompany pumpkin.  Not quite what I was expecting, but the only thing left on my plate at the end of the meal were a bit of the beans and green rice, Agave’s version of Spanish rice.

Agave seems like a good place to go if you want to try something different in the Mexican cuisine. They have tacos and enchiladas on the menu, but the price seemed a bit steep for taqueria fare. Everything else on the menu seemed a bit out of the ordinary, though, so perhaps they’ve put a good spin on the staples as well. Maybe it’s worth a shot.

Though some of what we had seemed a bit bland or light on the spice, if Agave switches the menu up a bit, we’d happily give it another try.

7361 SW Bridgeport Rd
Portland, OR 97224
503-372-9152

Website

The Maiden is in kind of an obnoxious area in Inner Southeast on Morrison. Parking can be a pain in the rear, but the pay off is worth it. The staff are very friendly and give rock star service. The poor kids can’t help but be outdone, though, by the boys in the kitchen.

Tapas don’t appear on The Maiden’s menu, at least not in name. There are many dishes that in any other universe would be called tapas. Instead, The Maiden menu breaks up everything into variations based on plate size (small, medium, large). You don’t need a degree in gastronomy to figure out which would be tapas and which would not. An excellent aspect of this menu is that most of the best stuff is available in a very inexpensive happy hour version.

The best item on the menu is the bacon-wrapped dates. Modern foodies, especially men, understand that anything wrapped in bacon automatically becomes the best thing in the universe. The last time I had something like this, it was a date stuffed with Serrano ham (and the bone). No thanks. This, however, is a work of art. The dates are indeed wrapped in bacon and stuffed with manchego (sheep’s milk) cheese and covered in a light sauce. It’s very rare to find a food that is such an immense concentration of flavor. The happy hour portion includes 4. You need at least 2 per person. One just isn’t enough.

The Pa amb tomáquet was also amazing. Be sure to order it with the ham on it. The Serrano ham is the only reason you’d eat this anyway. Their Spanish tortilla, which is nothing like a Mexican tortilla, is flavored differently from time to time.  Spanish tortillas are like giant potato cakes. The Maiden’s are really good, and I was interested by the idea of the flavor changing from time to time, adding flavor to what otherwise is a one-trick pony. The costillas, pork spare ribs, were good but not as amazing as the other things we sampled. Finally, we also tried the fish tacos. I am a huge fan of fish tacos, and these were good, but not the best I’ve had in Portland. There was a tad too much vegetable for me.

One thing about The Maiden that I find exciting is how much of the menu I still want to sample, like their burger, their awesome desserts, paella, and duck quesadilla.  I can’t wait to go back and try some of these foods same foods again and sample new ones. We definitely recommend you pay them a visit. Don’t be an idiot like me and wait.

639 Southeast Morrison Street
Portland, OR 97214
(503) 232-5553

Website

Sweetness Bakery is a small, family-owned bake shop nestled in a tiny strip mall on 52nd Ave. near Foster Rd. They have really awesome pastries, and their really awesome staff are more than happy to tell you what’s what and what’s tasty.

From what we were able to sample, the highest recommendations would go to the Fat Albert– a small cupcake-shaped pastry that is the love child of a cheese danish and a lemon tart. Had I known what I was getting beforehand, I wouldn’t have wasted my time with the smaller version. We also really liked the walnut sticky bun. While you can’t really go wrong with sticky buns, this thing was amazing. It was perfectly, exquisitely moist and gooey. We really liked their seasonal muffins, too. We got to try apricot, and it was moist, fluffy, and not thick and cakey like a lot of muffins.

Their breakfast menu has some zest to it– like egg scrambles with avocado or ricotta cheese. What we liked most about the food wasn’t that it stepped outside of any norm, but simply that they made excellent use of high quality ingredients. The food is great, not overfilling, and especially awesome when paired with a pastry.

3524 SE 52nd Ave.
Portland, OR 97206
(503) 788-2177
Website