Café Castagna (1758 SE Hawthorne St.)

For so long I have been hearing on all the foodie discussion boards and blogs about how Café Castagna has the best burger in the city of Portland. A couple of weeks ago I decided to verify that statement.

And I declare: it's true. Thick, beefy burger cooked medium rare, with pickles that tasted homemade. It was delightful. And the mess of fries I got with it - crispy and thin. Just right.

I don't actually eat burgers very often because I don't find them to be a particularly interesting food. But when done right, they can be very tasty. And I found this to be extremely tasty.

I know some of you might be saying, "Wait a minute, missy! How can you say if this is the best burger in Portland when you just said you don't eat them very often?" And to you I say, Well, because it tasted better than any damn burger I have had pretty much anywhere, so in the world of Lizzy Dishes, I say it is the best.

My friend ordered the house-made Italian sausages - one very smooth, one not so much. Both of them very good. I can't describe the taste very well, because, well, the memory is blotted out by the memory of my burger. I do remember thinking that they were excellent, though.

I do remember the taste of the chocolate pot de creme that I ordered for dessert - a rich, dark chocolate with the mellowing touch of whipped cream, served with a fennel shortbread. A great finish to the meal. Sigh.

Eat Out and Help Children

My friend Ansley emailed me about the Tap Project today. What a great idea!

"Beginning Sunday, March 16 through Saturday, March 22, restaurants will invite their customers to donate a minimum of $1 for the tap water they would normally get for free. For every dollar raised, a child will have clean drinking water for 40 days."

Here's a list of Portland restaurants participating. Let's give them our business this next week and raise some money for clean drinking water!

¿Por Qué No?
23Hoyt Restaurant & Bar
3 Doors Down Cafe & Lounge
A Cena
Acadia Bistro
Acorn Cafe
Alberta St Oyster Bar and Gril
Andina
Apizza Scholls
Arleta Library Bakery Cafe
Basta's Trattoria
Bay 13
Beast
Besaw's
Biwa
Bluehour
Blueplate Soda Fountain
Broder
Cafe Allegro
Campbells
Carlyle
Castagna Cafe
Cava
Clarklewis
Cup and Saucer Cafe
Cup and Saucer Cafe North SE
Cup and Saucer Cafe SE
Daily Grill, Portland
Dove Vivi
Dragonfish Asian Cafe
East India Co. Grill & Bar
Fire on the Mountain Buffalo Wings
Francis Restaurant
Fratelli
Geno's Grill
Gilt Club
Gino's Restaurant
Gracie's
Half and Half Cafe
Hot Lips Pizza (1)
Hot Lips Pizza (2)
Hot Lips Pizza (3)
Hot Lips Pizza (4)
Il Piatto
Iron Horse Restaurant
Isabel
Jade Lounge
Justa Pasta
Kenny & Zuke's Delicatessen
La Buca
La Calaca Comelona
Lauro Kitchen
Le Pigeon
Mamma Mia
Masu Sushi
Matchbox Lounge
Mekong Grill
Meriwether's Restaurant
Mother's Bistro and Bar
Navarre
Noble Rot
Nostrana
Nuestra Cocina
Paccini
Paley's Place Bistro & Bar
Pazzo
Piazza Italia
Pinocchio Bar and Restaurant
Podnah's Pit BBQ
Pok Pok
Red Star
Rontoms Lounge
Roux
Salty's on the Columbia
Saucebox
Savoy Tavern & Bistro
Screen Door Restaurant
Serratto
Seven Virtues Coffeehouse
Siam Society
Simpatica Dining Hall
Someday Lounge
Tabla Mediterranean Bistro
The Daily Cafe in the Pearl
Toro Bravo
Trebol Mexican Restaurant
Veritable Quandary
Vindalho
Vino Paradiso Wine Bar & Bistro
Wildwood Restaurant and Bar

Pok Pok (3226 SE Division)

So have I ever told you how I like things quick and dirty? Give it to me straight. Give it to me fast. Give it to me now. Sometimes this even applies to food. Forget the artful appetizer, the beautiful entree, the two hour meal time. Just give me the food already. All of it.

Pok Pok delivered. Twice. Now they are in my quick and dirty little black book of places to go when I am really hungry and want good food fast (okay fast after a bit of a wait for a table).

So let me just give you a quick and dirty rundown of the two meals I ate:

Limeade: Warmish, salty-ish, delish

Ike's Vietnamese Fish Sauce Wings (mild): Crack cocaine for chicken wing lovers

Khao Soi Kai (chicken curry soup): tender noodles, chicken off the bone - I couldn't stop eating it.

House Roasted Peanuts: Salty, spicy, warm - careful of the dried chiles - I accidentally ate one
and lost my voice for a minute.

Papaya Pok Pok: Who knew that papayas could be so hot?

Hoi Thawt (crispy crepe with mussels): Crispy, chewy (good chewy), fresh

Grapefruit Drinking Vinegar: My new addiction. I wonder if I can concoct at home?

Muu Paa Kham Waan (boar collar): Arrrrgggh! (Had to do that) Deeply spicy and complemented with chilled salted mustard greens. I want to eat this with my hands all night long, with roars in the background.

Muu Sateh (pork loin skewers): Tender, tasty.

Okay, I know I haven't covered everything, but seriously, this is so much food and I'm embarrassed that I tasted all of it in only two meals! Also, I can't possibly think of any more adjectives to describe the kick-ass food. The service was fast and impeccable, and it needed to be - the food was disappearing fast. Pok Pok is richly spicy - spicy that you can taste for hours later and in your dreams that night and even if your taste buds are gone from the heat, you will want more.

Pine State Biscuits (3640 SE Belmont St.)

Biscuits were one of the first things that I learned to bake. I am a bread fiend, so quick access is important sometimes when you need that dense serving of carbs fast. First I learned how to make baking powder drop biscuits. Those are okay when you are in a real hurry, but nothing compares to the cream biscuits I learned to make that rise a couple of inches high as they bake until golden brown.

They split easily because they are so flaky and buttery. This is by far the best biscuit to use on top of a chicken pot pie. But the best way to serve them is plain, with butter and jam. Hot. Right from the oven. Or with a pile of sausage gravy on top, yeah, that would be fine too.

I'm so happy that Pine State Biscuits opened up a real-live store. Their popularity at the Portland Farmers Market propelled them into a storefront. Halle-freakin-lujah. So Saturday morning when I met a couple of friends for breakfast at Pine State, I decided to go for the gravy. Spicy sausage gravy, with paprika (I think) sprinkled on top of the biscuit, oh yeah, and the fried egg over-easy. So warm. So solid. Such a freakin good meal with such complex, heavy-hitting taste.

They have no juice, only this Cheerwine soda that really isn't that great, but it makes me happy to look at the bottle and you can't help but be in a good mood when you are drinking red sugar at 8 in the morning. It's coffee or soda here, folks. Oh and water.

It was a packed and I'm sure it will stay packed for a while. Great biscuits are hard to come by. These are de-light-ful.

Ristorante Roma (622 SW 12th Ave.)

I'm not really into politics anymore. I am disenchanted by politicians. But somehow, when you get a group of friends together, at a hole-in-the-wall restaurant and the discussion becomes a little passionate and political over a tartufo or a panna cotta, well, things just get a lot better.

Such was the other night at Ristorante Roma. I wasn't too hungry, so I had minestrone soup, which was deliciously bean-y and chock full of vegetables. I tasted the spaghetti carbonara, peppery and bacon-y, the ravioli, rich and flavorful and the pappardelle, sweet and creamy with sausage.

We jabbed politicians, confessed our reasons for voting for _____ and confessed our confusion, while we tasted the exquisite desserts. The tartufo, a chocolate powerball of hazelnuts and some kind of creme, and the panna cotta, looking beautiful with the nectarines and caramel sauce. We agreed it looked much better than the "vasectomy on a plate" as the waitress at the Wonder Cafe called it one time. As the conversation turned a bit more... um... sexy, the lights were turned down and the closed sign up just as they gave us the check. Great timing. There is nothing better. Here's to good friends!

Mother's Bistro (212 SW Stark Ave.)

Oh this is long overdue. I can't believe I haven't written about Mother's before. My sister had a birthday breakfast there about a month ago, with my mom, both grandmas and our sister. It was a good time! I have to say though. They have a policy about not seating you until your whole party is present, which I totally understand. But they were not flexible at all considering we had one 98-year old and one 89-year old, who both need assistance walking down the street. That was a little disappointing.

But the food and the service once were were seated were great. My sister had made flower arrangements and brought jars of lemon curd for everyone, which the waitress ooh-ed and ahh-ed over. They brought her some complimentary crunchy French Toast with candles in it for her birthday. Luckily, we all had a bite. Very hey-mom-let's-put-corn-flakes-in-the-French-Toast-ish. It was delicious.

I ordered the biscuits and gravy, which were pretty good. I did like my grandma's pancakes better, though, with coconut in them. Those were really great. My mom got the eggs benedict, which was good, but the hollandaise seemed a little gloppy. It tasted great though.

I've eaten dinner at Mother's before, but not for ages. I do remember their pot roast and their mac and cheese being delightful.

So for all you people who have been to Mother's before, what's your favorite?

Baker and Spice Bakery (6330 SW Capitol Highway)

My sister bought this cake for a friend's surprise party last weekend. Baker and Spice Bakery did a great job of customizing this cake with a Vespa - and as it turns out, the pastry chef knew the birthday boy! I'm definitely going to be checking out more of their sandwiches and pastries in the near future.