Laughing Planet

http://www.laughingplanetcafe.com/
3320 SE BELMONT and other locations
Portland, Oregon

The Laughing Planet has several locations in Portland and one in Eugene. It is everything I look for in a good restaurant, cheap, filling, healthy, and with vegetarian options. I eat here at least once a week and usually get the same thing, the Soylent Green. It is a bowl with a barley-quinoa pilaf, steamed chard and broccoli, tempeh and choice of a sauce. I usually stick with the cilantro pesto. It is amazing, healthy, fresh, invigorating, and pretty cheap.

Another one of my favorites is called Chairman Meow, a pretty simple bowl of brown rice, steamed veggies and either shiitake mushroom or a Thai peanut curry sauce. I always get the curry and top it with tempeh. It is just so fresh tasting and the curry gives it a little kick. They don't skimp on the veggies and it is a great balance of rice to veggies.

Another thing they are famous for is their burritos, or wraps. They have an assortment for all tastes. There is a classic Mexican-style burrito, Southwestern, mole, my favorite Thai-me-up and always a special burrito of the week. Of course we cannot forget sweet treats. They always have an assortment of cookies and a delicious pie.

Saburo's

http://www.saburos.com
1667 SE BYBEE ST
Portland, Oregon
First of all, be prepared to wait. Good things come to those who wait! They open at 4:30 on weekends and 5 during the week, so it is a good idea to be there half an hour before. If you are a single or double you may be able to sit at the bar for a shorter wait but if you are bringing a group come early and bring good conversation.

You may have had cheap sushi. You may have had good sushi. But you haven't had cheap, good sushi until you've tried Saburo's. The thing about Saburo's is not necessarily that it's cheap but for the same price you get huge amounts. The size of your typical California roll for example, is probably twice what you would expect. Although not necessary, I usually start with a few appetizers. Some favorites are Spicy Tuna Salad, Agedashi Tofu, and Edamame.


Now for the real stuff, the sushi you've never had. The nigiri range in price from a $2 inari (comes with 3) to a $4 unagi (each about 5-6" long). The regular rolls like the futomaki (veggies, crab, tamago) and spicy tuna roll are around $4 for 5 huge pieces. California rolls are huge and range from $3.50 for a regular with fake crab to $5.50 for real crab with smelt. Then there are the $6.50 special rolls like a sabu roll (tuna, salmon, yellowtail, avocado, cucumber, smelt) or budokhan (shrimp tempura, crab, avocado, cucumber, smelt) and finally the most expensive roll, spider roll (soft shell crab, avocado, green onion, cucumber, smelt) for $7.25. You can't really beat those prices. What is the catch? Why are they so cheap? Well they must be small, right? WRONG! These pieces of sushi are huge! So much so that Japanese people (from Japan) don't think it's right. But we are American fatties and we think it's great! It's a great deal, its fresh and delicious.


Jeremy and I always get way too much sushi and end up taking half of it home. You mark off your order with a dry erase pen on a plastic menu and sometimes we get a little too pen-happy. We end up with two huge platters of sushi and need all the room on the table. The people sitting next to us always stare and think we are crazy. It is just so good and cheap, for $60 two people can eat like kings and still have leftovers! These pictures don't really show how big the pieces are but basically nigiri take at least two bites and the rolls maybe 3 bites each piece. We always leave really full and end up in a food coma shortly afterward. I try to bring all my friends here and no one leaves hungry or wanting. It is the best place to get sushi in Portland!

Por Que No

http://www.porquenotacos.com/
3524 N MISSISSIPPI AVE
4635 SE HAWTHORNE BLVD
Portland, Oregon

Two locations are not enough for one of the best Mexican places in Portland! Luckily one of the locations is pretty close to me, it's open late and has great deals. Tacos are $0.50 off from 3-6pm and Tuesdays 3-close.

Definitely start your meal off with some chips. Chips and salsa or guacamole, you can't go wrong. These chips are perfect! I would go just for the chips, and have a side of chips to go with it. They are fresh, crunchy and salty. They are not to thick or thin but really, perfect. I am not a chip aficionado but they were the first thing that made me really notice this place. These really are perfect chips, which really seems like a simple thing but lots of places don't do it right. I'm not sure what it is but they know what they are doing!

They do several things well besides chips. Their tacos are also pretty amazing. If I am eating meat I go for the carnitas. I don't know if I would say "the best" carnitas but they are definitely very good. Can't go wrong with carne asada as well. They also have bowls, which I guess seem to be one of my favorite things. I definitely prefer bowls to plates and spoons to forks for that matter. Back to their bowls, Bryan's Bowl is where it's at. "Your choice of meat or veggies in a bowl with beans, rice, guacamole, salsas, queso fresco, crema, cilantro & a side of chips or 3 tortillas" all for less than $7. Most items on the menu can be made vegetarian and they have a great selection of beverages, alcoholic and non-. Of course what would Mexican food be without horchata?

Biwa

http://biwarestaurant.com/
215 SE 9th AVE
Portland, Oregon

Growing up in Hawaii and Japan I have acquired a fondness for a nice bowl of ramen. I'm not talking about Top Ramen or any other kind of instant noodles. While those are good and will hold me for awhile, sometimes you need a real bowl. Portland is not Sapporo and is not known for its ramen. Its not really a big deal here. But I have found a couple good places to get ramen. Biwa is one of them and pretty close to home.

Biwa is an izakaya, a Japanese drinking establishment. In Japan after a hard day's work you go to one of these places to socialize, drink and eat. They generally serve small plates, like tapas. There are different salads (like this seaweed salad), yakitori (various grilled meats on a stick), kimchi, gyoza, other pickled vegetables, miso shiru, and also yakionigiri (grilled rice balls) which I was really excited about. They have a decent kare raisu (curry rice) and pretty good ramen. It definitely brought me back to small kid time and made me want to go back to Japan again soon.

Ramen is something that is taken very seriously in Japan. I remember visiting Sapporo when I was really young and there are these ramen shops where you stand in line behind a row of people eating, waiting for them to finish so you can get yours and eat it as fast as possible. It was delicious of course but so much pressure to eat fast! In Japan you slurp noodles, and that means you like it. Here is Jeremy doing his best to slurp. It takes awhile to get used to making all that noise. People might stare but in Japan it would be a compliment to the chef if you made lots of noise. The last time I went to Japan we visited a "Ramen Stadium" where there are maybe a dozen ramen shops with all different kinds of ramen. You look at the different menus and choose what you want, buy it through a machine, take your ticket up to the counter and get your ramen. I want to go back!

Back to Biwa. They have two types of ramen to offer, their "Biwa Ramen" with a thick, rich, dark pork broth and what I call "the other" because I have yet to try it. I've always been a dark broth kind of gal. The only downside to this place is the price. A bowl of ramen is a certain price then for add-ins it costs more. Some of the options include egg, wakame, char siu, miso pork loin and corn. I would want it all but then I'd be buying a $20 bowl of ramen, which is just not right. In my opinion, ramen should always have wakame and char siu, and be cheap!

Their char siu is really good and worth the extra price but I like to have it all! That being said, a plain bowl of Biwa Ramen would be perfect on a cold winter's night and would beat any Top Ramen with even the best toppings. The broth is just really rich and deep. Fills you from the inside out. It's very comforting to me.

Late night menu! No pictures yet but after 10pm they have a different menu for a different crowd, one of their specialties being the Biwa Burger. It's a burger with char siu and a kimchee mayo. Definitely worth staying up late for. One of these days I will return for one with my camera. Unfortunately you cannot get ramen after 10! I know, its horrible. I often want ramen at midnight...

Screen Door

http://www.screendoorrestaurant.com/
2337 E. BURNSIDE
Portland, Oregon

This place has quickly become one of my favorite Portland restaurants. I try to go for special occasions but now live only a few blocks away so it may become more regular than that. There are two meals to write about, their brunch and dinner. Brunch is only served on the weekend. It is well known as one of the best and although the doors open at 9, there is a long line around the corner by 8:55. I recently went for my birthday breakfast celebration and it was everything AND MORE!

First off, praline bacon. It's candy.

 

My favorite, and one of their specialties is the Fried Chicken and Sweet Potato Waffle. There is so much going on here but it works in every way. The fried chicken is beyond perfect - moist on the inside, very crispy on the outside, a little spicy, some depth of flavor. It really works with the sweet potato waffle, which isn't too sweet because that's where the maple syrup comes in. It seems extreme but is very balanced. Delicious and filling.

 

UPDATE: Sept 6
While their brunch is divine, their dinner is also not to be missed. Usually I get the buttermilk fried chicken. It is perfect, just like the breakfast chicken and waffle. Crispy on the outside, super moist on the inside and a little spicy. This time I chose the Smoked & BBQ'd Beef Brisket and I was definitely not missing the chicken. While I didn't care too much for the horseradish-bacon potato salad, it also came with cooked green beans. The brisket was oh-so-perfect with nice globs of fatty goodness, perfect sauce and topped with crispy fried onions.

Of course what would a southern meal be without a proper mac and cheese? Their mac is baked to perfection, and definitely not for kids who'd prefer Kraft mac. It comes straight out of the oven, with the cheese bubbling and ready for you to eat. Creamy and delicious!

Da Kitchen

425 KOLOA ST
Kahului, Hawaii

Okay so this was from when I went back to Maui last month. This is one of those "must eat at when I am home" places. Their portions are amazingly huge and the food is ono. Can't go wrong there.

Katsu Moco - My ultimate favorite local food is loco moco. This is a step above. It's a full loco moco PLUS a chicken katsu! If that weren't enough, it is served on a ton of fried rice. How could I pass this up? I couldn't, but I also could not finish. That is rare for me. It was so good but they just give so much I had to take leftovers. So again, it was fried rice, topped with a delicious hamburger, chicken katsu, fried egg, sauteed mushroom/onions and a yummy brown gravy. I was definitely in hog heaven.

Korean Chicken - my mom and grandma love getting this here and at Zippy's. Although my grandma makes it better than both places, it was pretty durn good. My mom had her hands full with this one. I think they put like 3 whole breasts or something like that. She didn't even make a dent on her plate. I had to help her but I had my hands (or mouth) full with my own meal. So this ended up in the to go container as well. Someone ate well the next day...

I was headed on the plane so my mom took home two full boxes. I'm pretty sure my uncle was the lucky one. I thought of bringing it on the plane but that would just be so mean to the people around me. Plus I had already picked up something from TJ's market earlier.

Blossoming Lotus

http://blpdx.com/
1713 NE 15th AVE
Portland, Oregon

The best vegan food in Portland. Well I haven't tried them all but when I am in the mood for something filling, delicious, nutritious and beautiful, I head to Blossoming Lotus. While I do eat quite a bit of meat and am not vegetarian by any means, this place is the bomb!

Thai BBQ Wrap

Live Pizza

They serve all vegan food and have a big selection of live foods. While I prefer my meals to be warm and filling, the live food really is pretty good. Everything that I have tried at Lotus has been nothing short of amazing. I definitely recommend their bowls.
The Green Goddess Bowl is definitely my favorite, with an addition of their tempeh or soy curls. It is a big meal so go hungry! You can have either quinoa or brown rice (I like quinoa), topped with steamed kale, salad greens, alfalfa and a delicious sauce. I always get tempeh cause it rocks!

Crema

2728 SE ANKENY
Portland, Oregon

This is the quintessential neighborhood bakery/coffee shop for me. Good music, coffee, art, people, and of course...food. It really helps that the workers are nice, friendly and not pretentious like a lot of "cool" coffee shops. I go there several times a week and have their baked goods quite a lot. My favorite is their quiche. I don't know what makes quiche so delicious but it is. The main things are a good crust and a balance of ingredients/cheese/eggs.Their crust and ingredients are always good. Depending on what they have in season or just what they feel like, they change up the quiche everyday. I've had many different ones. They switch up the cheese depending on what the other ingredients are. I can't even list what I've tried but some of my favorites are asparagus, mushrooms and goat cheese. You really can't go wrong with that!

La Buca

40 NE 28th Ave
Portland, Oregon

The celebration of a new job calls for something delicious and filling. Our new apartment is merely blocks away from many intriguing restaurants. There is something for every appetite. It was hard to pick just one for a casual celebratory dinner but this one was recommended as yummy and cheap. Italian is one of my favorites so I knew we couldn't go wrong.

We started out with some small caesar salads. Then came some bread with olive oil and balsamic vinegar, classic. The service was quick and friendly. While there weren't many people at the time, it always seemed like people were coming in and out.

My choice of entree was the "abituale: penne tossed with spicy italian sausage in a parmesan & roasted garlic tomato cream sauce". It was amazing! The sauce was perfectly spicy and creamy. The little sausage bits were great. When I ordered I kind of expected big pieces of sausage but they knew what they were doing. The little bits are perfect for the pasta and sauce.

Jeremy had the "pomodoro: spaghetti tossed with a fresh basil and garlic tomato sauce". It was a nice, light pasta for the hot, summer day. Nothing special but nothing lacking. As refreshing as a hot pasta could be.

We will definitely be visiting this place again. Both the entrees were less than $10 and we left full and happy. It doesn't hurt that it's only 3 minutes away.