Portland, OR.

Still raining and snowing so I might as well address Portland this time.

I love Oregon! The first time my family and I drove up the coast on vacation in 83 I fell in love with the cool coastal towns like Lincoln City, Newport and Tillamook (Tillamook has the best cheese by the way, in stores now). We somehow missed Portland on that trip but business has taken me up there a few times since and it is an easy city to enjoy some good eats. Just watch your driving as it's easy to end up on the other side of the river on accident. Maddening!

Here are a couple of my favorites,

Steamers Asian Street Bistro:     http://www.dumplingsandtea.com/

This is not like any Asian cafe you will have visited. First off I'm a sucker for edamame and their bamboo steamed edamame is the best. Even after a nice helping of ginger pork and szechuan chicken dumplings there is always room for edamame. How many times can I work edamame into this paragraph??? The spicy lemon grass soup is different but gooood. I also had their chicken ginger rice bowl and it was very satisfying. I just recommend trying a few different menu items and enjoy!

Red Star Tavern and Roast House:      http://www.redstartavern.com/

This was referred to me by a worker at the Marriott I was staying in and I give it an A+. Start with the Red Star Cornbread. Awesome! My menu item of choice is the Carlton Park Pork Porterhouse. It's not like any pork you will have eaten before. Very tender and flavorful with the rub they put on it and eats like a white meat steak. The Dry Aged Ribeye was really good as well with the crumbled blue cheese (I love co-workers that share). For the side try the Braised Collard Greens. This is not your usual side but the bacon and garlic make it very tasty.

Deschutes Brewery:      http://www.deschutesbrewery.com/brewery/brew-pubs/portland-pub/default.aspx

Ran into this place on our way to an awesome bookstore. Go with the Brewers Platter to start. A heavenly mix of different tastes and textures. The Large House Pretzel was very good as well but it's a lot of dough so don't over eat before the main course. The Hazelnut Crusted Rockfish was very tasty. There is something about nut crusted fish that I cannot turn down. For dessert go with the Cheeky Monkey Bread Pudding. I'm not much for soggy bread desserts but the waiter talked me into it and I'm glad he did as all of the flavors really worked with this dessert.

I wanted to mention Greek Cusina but apparently it has been closed for awhile while the owner fights with the city. So just do a quick drive by when your downtown to see if its open as it is worth a visit as well.

Make sure you make your way up to the Rose Garden to walk off all of the food you have eaten as there are dozens of different types.

Make sure to let me know what you like!