The Portland Review

This past weekend, Scott and I had a quick trip to Portland for his company Christmas party. This was my first trip to Portland, and with only 2 nights, I knew we had to try to jam in a lot. The city definately lived up to it's reputation, as it was cold and wet the entire time. In fact, when we were picking out this lovely produce at the Portland State Farmer's Market, it was snowing!

Despite the snow, we quickly picked out some fabulous veggies to bring home. Check out the assorted wild mushrooms - I was in heaven! I would have loved to get more, there was some beautiful squash, so many varieties of kale, vibrant peppers, etc. But, we didn't have a lot of room, and wanted a few things that would travel well.

 

Of course, being the foodies we are, the restaurant selection was overwhelming. Portland has a super restaurant scene. Since the Christmas party was one night, we really only had one dinner and 2 lunches on our own. We finally decided to do dinner at the Portland City Grill. Our argument being, that we really wanted to "see" Portland. (And if you look hard, you can "see" Scott taking this photo.)



While we may have found a more eclectic menu at another venue, we had a great dinner. Pictured is my meal of the Misoyaki Glazed Black Cod. The sweet carmelized mirin and miso glaze was "lick the plate" worthy. I also tried the cioppino, which I didn't get a picture of, before it was gone!

One thing we found suprising was the lack of Oregon and Washington wines on the wine list. This seemed to be true at many of the places we stopped to have a glass of wine. Many of the menues were loaded with French and California selections, and maybe one or two from the Willamette Valley, but that's it. Disappointing, as our favorite part of eating out when we travel to a great wine area, is trying several new and fabulous wines.

I can't wait to return and spend more time is this great city! Next time we will visit the falls, wine region, and maybe the coast... Mmmm...so many places and so little time.