Oh Oregon. The land of no sales tax and food trucks, which is a three-hour drive away from Bellevue/Seattle. Needless to say, it is a frequent driving destination for me and the rest of my relatives, who have a similar value system as I do (cheap food, cheap shopping--why not?).
In any case, we had an all-girl expedition (mom, sister, cousins, aunt) to Oregon a few days ago on a very rainy (after all, I do live in the Pacific Northwest) morning, where our first stop were the food carts/trucks.
Food Trucks and Mobilization: Oregon has seen an explosion of food trucks in the last couple of years, which serve a large variety of foods--tacos, sandwiches, crepes, pie, ice cream, pizza, noodles, etc. Pretty much anything you can think of...there’s a corresponding food truck to it, and these guys chronicle all the different food trucks. The thing with food trucks is that you can get quality food for cheaper, since you don’t need to tip and the chefs don’t need to pay a large overhead for their location--given this, most of the things we had were in the $6-8 price range for entrees. Not bad. Your only problem would probably be picking which food trucks to go to, as there is a dizzying array of them. Thankfully, there is always the internet.
Tabor: Wanted to go here because I'd never had Czech food, and I read an article that praised it as one of the top 10 food carts in Portland.
Goulash with Spaetzle: Thought it was delicious, as it was uncharacteristic of all the other goulash I’ve had in the past who had a more tomato-based soup stock; in comparison, this goulash had a very deep flavor, which the Wikipedia article on goulash attributes to the dark beer normally used in Czech goulash. The malty undertones of the beer complemented the beef flavor, giving the stew an rustic/earthy quality which went nicely with the spatzle noodles on it was served with. I thought that the soup was very hearty and satisfying, especially on a cold, rainy day like this one. Pretty heavy dish though--we had plenty for the next day, and the day after that. LOOK ON THE WEBSITE (they have a recipe for this--I think the chefs of this food truck used beer instead of stock).
Chicken Paprikash with flour dumplings: Was very saucy and had a nice smoky flavor from the paprika. At first I thought the flour dumplings were bread at first (but they were not, obviously); they were slightly crumbly yet absorbed the sauce nicely. It was good, but I liked the goulash better.
Built to Grill: Saw this in the second food truck cluster that we went to, and immediately recognized it as the #1 Oregon restaurant on Yelp. While waiting for our food to arrive, my cousin and I stood outside the food truck in the cold Oregon rain, watching the chef prepare his pastas in the tiny kitchen of their truck, which was equipped with only 2 gas burners...and very little counter space. The chef was a pro--he tossed his pastas on the pan itself--not using any other utensils to coat the noodles with delicious sauce.
Linguini alla Vongole: The linguini was delicious--$7 got a pretty large portion of al dente noodles with a flavorful white wine and clam sauce spiced with some red chili flakes. To be honest, it was probably better than a lot of linguini I’ve had in actual sit-down restaurants, and for the price, a lot more worth it. My cousin Mia (she has pretty good taste too) said that this linguini alla vongole was better than one she tried in the a restaurant in the Italian area of New York. That should tell you something.
The mobile food experience: True to the nature of the source of our food (food trucks), we believed that we would "feel" it more if we ate it in the car (no not really, we just couldn't find parking and needed to drive over to the outlets to shop anyway). In any case, eating our food (and passing it around) while in seatbelts...while the car was on the freeway going at about 60 mph in the rain was an experience--and VERY different from eating food on the plane. Fun times.
Lebanese food in Nicholas Restaurant:
After a shopping break, we were pretty tired and wanted to go get dinner. We decided to go to this place because it was in my mom’s “Oregon file” (she has a file of places to eat and addresses since we go there pretty often). Since I also ate Lebanese food in a place called Ye Hala the other time when I drove down (of course, it wasn't actually me driving) with my aunt to get a mattress a few weeks earlier, I was constantly comparing the two restaurants in my head. At this point in writing, I can't really say--both are pretty different. Ye Hala had a more extensive menu, while Nicholas restaurant had faster service and their menu had more Lebanese pizza items.
Pita bread...was delicious and addictive. Jury’s still out on whether this place or Ye Hala had better pita bread. I find that both places have very different approaches to pita bread; while Ye Hala had football-shaped pita bread that was more on the floury/bready side (but was still chewy), Nicholas Restaurant had 2-foot long elliptical shaped flat bread which was more stretchy. They served the pita bread with a za’atar dipping sauce, that was mostly sumac and dried herbs with olive oil and had an herby, slightly sour (because of sumac) flavor. As you can see from this picture, the bread was bigger than three human faces.
Felafel: Didn’t like their felafel as much, because it was more on the crumbly side and a bit bland. Overall "meh reaction" for me.
Tabbouleh/Tabouli: A bit more sour than the one in Ye Hala (which I liked better, because it had a “fresher” flavor), but not bad for what it was.
Hummus: I loved their hummus. Probably one of the best hummus I’ve had--it had a nice earthy flavor and was surprisingly balanced out and mellow in flavor (they didn’t overdo the tahini, which was nice).
Manakish: Was essentially a small Lebanese pizza with za’atar on it, and the “crust” that they used was a bit thicker than the pita bread that they served. To be honest, didn't tast THAT much differently from the pita bread with the dipping sauce, except that the za'atar was dry and therefore a bit stronger in flavor.
Kibbeh: Kibbeh is a dish made of chopped meat (typically beef or lamb) and burgul (chopped wheat)/rice that is shaped into triangles like this one and baked, or made into croquettes and fried. I really liked their kibbeh, because it was juicy and flavorful, with a gritty texture (from the chopped rice/wheat) The rest of the people at my table characterized it as a Lebanese meatloaf, which I thought was an interesting and an accurate description.
Kafta skewer: Mmmm. Kafta/kofta is kind of like a meatball--typically ground beef or lamb mixed with onions and other spices then grilled/fried/steamed/poached/baked/etc (according to the Wikipedia article). In this restaurant, they grilled their kafta, and it was delicious--the charred surface of the meat contrasted with the tender juiciness of the flavorful meat.
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