Acadia a New Orleans Bistro - Portland, OR

Acadia restaurant was such a pleasant surprise. It's a New Orleans/Cajun restaurant on Fremont Street. During Portland's dining month we decided to try some new restaurants and Acadia was the 1st one we tried. They offered a 3 course meal for $30 and because it was Monday night they also offered a 3 course meal for $20. Monday's are definitely the most affordable night to eat there.

Everything we ate here was outstanding. This is hands down the best meal we've eaten in Portland so far!

In the photo you will see the following dishes: 

• Fried Soft Shell Crab and Crawfish Etouffee with popcorn rice and jalapeño tartar sauce $26
• Rhubarb salad with fresh strawberries, spice toasted oats, Portland Creamery goat cheese and tarragon – mint vinaigrette with arugula and chicories $10

• Gulf Shrimp, Blue Crab and Crawfish Gumbo with house andouille sausage and white rice $9 
• Vanilla Bean Bread Pudding With salted caramel sauce, whipped cream and toasted pecans $6

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.

smoked salmon chips $2

Popped Beans $2

Country ham plate $6

duck fat jojos

smashed chickpeas $4

Tea sandwiches $6

GRILLED SQUID SALAD with Mendocino seaweed & potatoes

My husbands favorite was their hotdogs. They've done some interesting things with their hotdogs. 

THE HAMBURGER DOG with cheese, bent brick sauce, relish 12

TBB Hotdog $6

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• Affordable Activities in Portland, Oregon 

Affordable Activities in Portland, Oregon

Museum of Contemporary Craft is free every 1st Thursday of each month.

Oregon Zoo is only $4 on the second Tuesday of each month.

Oregon Historical Society Museum is free for Multnomah county residents.

OMSI is only $2 per person on the first Monday of the month.

Portland Children's Museum is free each first Friday of the month after 4 PM

Portland Art Museum is free each 4th Friday of the month from 5-8 PM

World Forestry Center offers $3 admission on the 1st Wednesday of each month.

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Voodoo Doughnuts - Portland, Oregon

Voodoo Doughnuts is an eclectic donut shop in downtown Portland, Oregon and over the years it's become a sort of Portland landmark. Like most things in Portland it's a little weird. People actually get married in one of their locations.

Voodoo Doughnuts has become famous for it's over the top donut creations. Here you can get get a maple bar topped with bacon slices or a chocolate doughnut covered in candy.

My favorite is the donut topped with Oreo cookies and peanut butter. It's official name is Old Dirty Bast... well you can guess the rest of the name. 

My kids love the Voodoo Bubble donut, it tastes like bubblegum and the Loop donut that's covered in fruit loops.

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Bridgeport Brew Pub - Portland, Oregon

Bridgeport Brewery is a family friendly brew pub in Portland, Oregon.

Last week we had dinner there. It's in the Northwest part of the Pearl District. It didn't look like much from the outside of the building, but it was cool inside. They've done a great job with the space.
We were not that impressed with the beer here. We only tried two of them and both were fairly bitter. The food, however, was absolutely fantastic. This was not your typical brew pub food. I will definitely eat here again.

blue heron beer bratwurst plate $11.25

bacon-braised cabbage, cheese + chive spätzle, sweet hot apple mustard + russian beet salad

This is what I ordered and it was excellent. 

 the steel $14

house-made italian sausage, pepperoni, mushrooms, black olives, sliced red onion, green peppers, mozzarella + organic red sauce

Unfortunately, they do not offer a kids menu. We ordered the kids a pizza to split and it was enough to feed all three of them.

jordan’s pork chile verde $7.5

pork shoulder braised with tomatillo, onions + peppers, with white beans, sour cream + a warm flour tortilla

This was the best dish we ordered and I highly recommend it.











grilled pesto chicken sandwich $10

melted fresh mozzarella cheese, roasted red peppers,
basil walnut pesto + fresh arugula on focaccia + fries

I did not try this sandwich, but our friend said it was the best chicken sandwich he had ever had.

Lily: Oregon Zoo’s new baby elephant

There’s been a lot of excitement in downtown Portland, Oregon over at the Oregon Zoo! At the end of November one of the Oregon Zoo’s Asian elephants gave birth to a baby girl named Lily. Lily was born on November 30th at 2:17 AM weighing over 300 pounds! I haven’t gotten a chance to see her in person, but I have some photos that the zoo was kind enough to share with everyone. Hopefully we will get to go see her soon. It’s pretty cold in Portland right now, so we are waiting until the zoo increases the time to see her. Right now you have to wait in line and then you get five minutes with her. I think it won’t be long before she’ll be more available to the public. In the meantime I hope you enjoy these photos.

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Laurelwood Brewery

Laurelwood Brewery, a family friendly restaurant, in North East Portland is a local favorite. They've got a great happy hour everyday from 3-6 &  9-close with $3 pints and $4 food items.

I recently went there over the weekend for their brunch. I had the *HUEVOS RANCHEROS $9.95
Two eggs any style with Spanish red rice, black beans and hazelnut finished ham over two corn tortillas and topped with Rojo sauce and cheddar cheese. They were amazing! My mom got a hamburger.
This is one of the kids meals we ordered, the pizza.
They have little play areas sprinkled throughout their restaurant.

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Portland