Alder Street Food Cart Pod
The are 600 plus food carts/trucks in Portland and some of them are grouped into pods in city blocks to give locals cheap but good eats. So for day two lunch, I took the MAX to city center to try these out. I picked the Alder Street Food Cart Pod simply because it’s the largest. It took over a city block with about 50+ food carts. Like a shark, I circled all around first to pick my prey. There are about half Asian carts, Thai, Vietnamese, Chinese, Korean and Japanese, since I ate those too often I’m seeking something totally unique.
Ah, there was my first prey, a Georgian food cart Kargi Gogo. The story behind is two American Peace Corp volunteers stayed in Georgia for two years and spent their free time learning how to cook local food. They started this cart to share their favorites with Portland. The menu is simple, 5 individual items and 2 combinations.
I went with choose three and picked (from left to right in the photo): Khachapuri, Khinkaliand Badrijani. Khachapuri is Georgian Cheese Bread. Cheese are folded into bread dough, rolled flat, seared with oil and baked. Compared to cheese bread you can get in pizza places, the texture is closer to flat bread with melted core. Khinkali is Eastern Europe meets Easter China version of steamed soup dumpling (汤包). I picked the ones with grounded pork and beef fillings. It’s not too flavorful and too much dough compare to meat, especially the top part where the dough folds together. My favorite would be the Badrijani, it’s a purée of walnuts, garlic and Georgian spices wrapped in strips of sauteed eggplant. Overall, my first Georgian experience was okay, not very flavorful. Maybe it’s because the owners liked these flavor as their personal reference.
After that I circled the block one more time, there’s a Ethiopian cart, but the plate is just too much for me to handle. There’s also a Polish cart, similar thing, too much on the plate and the deserts are full of oil and sugar.
At the southwest corner of the block, I saw this Altengartz Genrman Bratwurst. The chef owner told me that they were one of the first carts on the block and has been their for over 14 years. If they can stay that long, it must be good. I picked a single bratwurst with sauteed sauerkraut and garlic. The 125 year old family recipe is mild on spics, so I added grounded mustard and spicy mustard on top to boost up the flavor.
Cabezon Restaurant and Fish Market
I got this recommendation from a foody friend who lives in Portland when I asked for seafood restaurant. Cabezon is in the Hollywood neighborhood which are mostly residential. My overall experience is it offers the downtown quality without the downtown price. No wonder it’s packed during dinner time.
For starter, I picked Chive blinis with trout caviar and crème fraiche, the bit size blinis are light and fluffy and full of flavor from the chive, caviar and crème fraiche.
My entree is Cioppino with white gulf shrimp, local fish, Dungeness crab, Manila clams, mussels and calamari, based on reviews, it’s the number one dish at Cabezon. The fish, crab, and shellfishes are fresh, and the broth is delightful, not over powering the natural taste of the seafood.
PandaWalk 