Mommy Travels

Andina - Peruvian Cuisine

Andina is a popular Peruvian restaurant in downtown Portland in the Pearl district. We went their last weekend for date night. The multi-level restaurant was awesome. It had a neat atmosphere.

While we waited for a table we watched the craziness of the open kitchen cranking out food as fast as they could. We only had to wait 15 minutes for a table on a Saturday night, which for Portland is amazing.

The meal started off with bread and three dipping sauces a jalapeño sauce, passion fruit sauce, and some sort of peanut sauce. All the sauces were tasty.

Next, we shared a small salad which was plenty for the two of us. The salad is one of their small plates that can come in small, medium, or large. All their Peruvian tapas can be ordered that way. Although there were lots of tapas on the menu the salad was the only one we tried.

Instead of tapas we ordered from their entrees menu. This one is the lamb entree. It was a huge portion.

I ordered one of the specials flank steak with chimichurri sauce. It was a wonderful meal! I do not know what to call the vegetable rice stack, but it was so good.

We finished the meal off with dessert. We had the flan which was good, but thicker then flan I've had before. Andina had a bunch of unusual sorbets on their menu we had some sort of raspberry hazelnut sorbet.

Labels: Downtown Portland, Pearl District, Pearl District Portland Oregon, Peruvian cuisine, Portland, Tapas, Tapas Restaurant

Departure - at The Nines Hotel in Portland, OR

Departure is a trendy Portland, Oregon restaurant serving Asian fusion cuisine. It is located inside The Nines Hotel, an upscale hotel near Pioneer Square.

They have a great happy hour and a killer patio with stunning views of downtown Portland. I've been here twice to eat dinner and once late at night, just to hang out and get drinks. At night it is very crowd with lots of people seated and standing. It seemed to be a late night hot spot. For dinner things are much quieter and everyone is seated at a table. There is no one milling about like at night.

Departure food is incredible, hopefully the picture do the food justice. We ordered small plates to sample a variety of what they have. For the most part it is all small plates or sushi rolls.

This curry noodles was good, but it is bright and it is messy. Next time we would not order it, because if you do get it on your clothes I think it will stain.

Curry

Labels: Downtown Portland, Oregon, Portland, Portland Oregon

Keller Fountain - Portland, OR

Portland, Oregon has amazing fountains and the best part is almost all of them are open to the public to play in for free. We make it a point to go play in a few of these every summer, because they are awesome. This one is Keller Fountain, right across the street from Keller Auditorium in downtown Portland, Oregon; and it is one of my favorite Portland fountains. Some of the areas are deep enough to swim in.

To get a solid idea of what kind of fountain this is check out the pictures.

Labels: Downtown Portland, Fountain, free, Keller Fountain Park, Oregon, Portland Oregon, Portland-Vancouver Metro Area

The Bent Brick - Portland, Oregon

The Bent Brick over in Northwest Portland, just north of the Pearl District hosted us the other night for Urban Hour. An event put on with UrbanSpoon.com where contributors to Urbanspoon have a chance to meet each other and enjoy great food.

Bent Brick's atmosphere is awesome, they have done a great job with their space. There entry way was really neat, but I didn't get a picture of it.

While we were there the bartender gave us a demonstration of one of their signature cocktails made with rhubarb.

To make their signature drink On The Veranda you first have to make a rhubarb cordial.

Rhubarb Cordial

2lb rhubarb cleaned and cut into 1 in pieces

1 cup sugar

1liter vodka

Combine ingredients and shake to incorporate. Keep chilled. Let sit one month and shake daily. Strain and enjoy.

On The Veranda cocktail

2 sprigs mint

1 strawberry

1/4 oz simple syrup

Muddle well.

1 oz rhubarb cordial

1/2 oz sage liquor

1/2 oz white verjus

2 oz gin

1 dash angostura bitters

Shake well, double strain into chilled glass and garnish with a mint sprig.

We had the chance to sample everything on their happy hour menu. They have an extensive happy hour menu that they offer everyday from 4 - 6 PM and 9 - 10 PM.