Posts Tagged ‘food’

Food Review : Flavour Spot 5/5 Tacos

Flavour Spot is one of the many, many, food carts that dot the Portland foodscape.  In addition to serving great “Dutch Taco’s” (more in a sentence or two), they also spell “Flavour” correctly!  But onto their food…

The, so-called Dutch Taco is not a sexual position as one might think (Google it, you know you want to). Instead, it is a Waffle, with none of the normal toppings added.  Instead of the usual syrup or sugar or chocolate, they have instead opted to cover it with ham and cheese!  Their regular “Dutch Taco” has ham and chedder cheese, but you can pay another .50 cents and get Gouda… which sounds delicious.

In addition to this Taco, the ‘Spot also provides many other delicious offerings.  Unfortunately they did not have any spare menu’s, but I did get a photo!  Notice such offerings as the S”Mores Waffle… or the Maple Pecan. The one that I am particularly curious about is the “MB9″ (second up on the left).  It has 6 pieces of Canadian Bacon, and 3 strips of “regular” bacon… does that sound delicious or what?  They also had a special going on, which, sounded quite special! (roast beef.. on a waffle!)  In addition to their Tacos, they also offer drinks, such as milkshakes and, I’m pretty sure, coffee.

(503) 289-9866

Food Review : Swirl Frozen Yogurt 4/5

A newcomer to the Hawthorne food world, Swirl frozen yogurt, tries to bring the magic of “fro yo” to Portland from it’s native home of San Francisco.  They do quite a good job, actually.  My biggest complaint is that they do not have any cones (to be fair the guy there said they didn’t have them “yet”).  But still, being forced to eat fro yo out of a cup is like being forced to drink beer from a warm glass.  But moving on.

They sell their fro yo by the ounce, at the low low rate of .45 cents an ounce.  This is a great feature, since you can get as much or as little as you like.  This price includes their toppings too, which range from almonds to peanut butter to raspberries and fresh fruit.  The flavours of the fro yo are also quite ranged.  My chocolate and pistacio fro yo was delicious.  They also had banana, vanilla, peanut butter and several others I completely forgot about.

Their instructions are also quite easy to understand. Grab a cup and dispense yogurt.  Add toppings.  Weight and pay.  Pretty simple, eh?  I am a sucker for “fro yo”, so check this place out if you have the time!  And I also hate the term “fro yo”.

If you’d like to visit Swirl and get some of your own “fro yo” check them out on Hawthorne at the corner of Hawthorne at 35th!

Food Review : Thomas Haas 5/5 Engines

Thomas Haas, in North Vancouver BC, is a delicious spot to frequent.  It specializes in hand made chocolates, which they make in the back room.  They have a great selection of small chocolates, from the traditional dark chocolate to passion fruit chocolate balls.  They also have a selection of baked desserts and pastries (twice baked chocolate croissant anyone?).  And they have really good coffee (destroys anything Starbucks can offer, and blows away most coffee shops I go to.  Even better than the Albina Press ) to go with their great pastries.

 
The also make great hot chocolate.  They have three kinds, “normal” (with scare quotes because if you bring it home, dilute it by half because it’s really, really strong), dark and Aztec.  The Dark is super, super dark (and delicious!) and the Aztec has some spice in them (like mexican hot cocoa).  You can either get it to go, or get it for there. 

It is a great place to just sit and take in the weekend.
The staff is very friendly and will get to know you by name and by order if you frequent the place.  I have bumped into the owner, Thomas Haas, a few times and he is a delightfully friendly man who takes great pride in his work. 

The funnest part of Thomas Haas, however, is one of the walls.  It has chocolate in it.  But only if you’re lucky!  There are four trap doors in the wall that are sometimes full of chocolates.  It’s always fun watching excited little kids run up and sometimes get a chocolate.

The biggest problems with Thomas Haas stem from it’s popularity.  Parking is a bit tight, and the place is generally packed to the gills.  But, that only means it’s ass-kickingly awesome.  So, if you’re in the area, go and enjoy!

Visit them online at http://www.thomashaas.com/.  Or in real life at Unit 128, 998 Harbourside Drive, North Vancouver, BC, V7P 3T2, or call at 604-924-1847.

Food Review : Papa Haydn Desserts 5/5

Papa Haydn, a myth for many college students and a mecca for many others, is a delicious dessert restaurant in Portland.  I say dessert restaurant because, while it does offer “normal” food, it’s desserts are the more delicious part (also because I have only ever been there for dessert…)  They have three locations in Portland (Westside and Jo Bar at 701 NW 23rd Ave, and Eastside at 5829 SE Milwaukie Ave).  I have only had the pleasure of going to their Westside location, although I am sure their Eastside is just as decadant.
Their dessert menu is as extensive as it is exquisite. (note that not everything is reflected on this menu)  My most recent purchase was a piece of Triple Chocolate Torte, a very chocolate choclate cake.  So chocolate, in fact, that it took two of us about 2 hours to finish the darned thing.  I have also had their cheesecake, which is just right, not too crumbly but firm enough, and their version of the classic rumball (it was almost the size of my fist and took two days to fully devour).  
The waitstaff is very good at what they do, polite, informative, and helpful if you cannot decide between Autumn Merainge or Boccone Dolce.  Even if you are only getting an order to go the staff will take their time to help you decide the best coma-inducing treat to procure.
So if you’re in the mood for some food-coma inducing desserts, or a place to sit and talk with friends over a cup of coffee and some great cheesecake, check out Papa Haydn’s in Portland.  It gets 5/5!

Food Review : Hollywood Burger Bar 5/5

No, not THAT Hollywood, the one much closer to home in NE Portland.  The Hollywood Buger Bar is perched right on the corner of Sandy at 4211 NE Sandy, and offers a great, cheap menu of food to eat.  They serve both Breakfast and Lunch, although so far I have only sampled their lunch fair.  It was quite delicious.  The Bacon Cheeseburger delivered exactly what it promised, delicious, crispy (not limp and wet with grease) bacon, cheese and a burger along with all the fixin’s (well, most of them anyways, lettuce, tomato, onion, and pickle).  It also came with just enough fries that I could finish them all and not feel like I was going to explode.  All of that, plus a chocolate milkshake (a REAL chocolate milkshake, not one of those watery messes you get at most places… thick enough you HAD to use a spoon to eat it).
The staff was friendly.  Friendly in the “down home” kind of way, not the plastic “I need a tip” kind of way.  It reminded me a lot of the diners back East, where the waitress would scold you for not finishing everything or if you ordered an extra side of bacon.  I get the feeling the people serving us owned the joint, another good thing to see.
The reason for the 4.9 instead of a straight up 5… they ran out of Malt for my Chocolate Malt… And while the chocolate shake was delicious, it ain’t no malt.  If you’re in the mood for a good burger, and find yourself in Hollywood, definitely hit up the Hollywood Burger Bar.  You’ll get great service, a cheap burger and, if you’re lucky, a great malt.

Breakfast Review : Biscuits Cafe on Baseline 4/5

This morning some friends and I went out to Biscuits Cafe.  After a rather short wait (only 10 minutes, during which my friend went to the bank) we were seated.  Our server, who’s name i never caught, was a nice and friendly chap.  I asked him how is Halloween went, then kept up some entertaining small talk.  It was just about the perfect amount, not so much that he was annoying, but enough to make him seem like a person.  The bus boy was the same, friendly, but not overly so.  The atmosphere was nice, warm and familyish and most of the people there were families enjoying a Sunday meal.
Onto the food.  The menu was what you would except, different combination of eggs, pancakes (sweet potato pancakes did score them some points), as well as lunch items (not something we looked at).  I got some kind of omlette (bacon, sausage, tomato, avocado and cheese), which came with 1 pancake (sweet potato… quite delicious), and hashbrowns.  All that for about 10 bucks.  The plates my friends ordered were just as big, and none of us managed to finish everything despite our best efforts.  Their coffee was pretty standard for a cafe, nothing special.
Overall, I’d give it a 4 out of 5.  Not much on the menu in way of new ideas, but certainly stronger than you standard Cafe. 

Food Review : Voodoo Donuts 5/5 Dolls

If you live in Portland Oregon and don’t know about Voodoo Donuts, something is wrong with you. Not in the terminal sense, more in the how could you not know about it sense. For those of you who don’t know, Voodoo Donuts is amazing. They are true pioneers, mixing their passion with bacon, oreo and more to make some delicious delicacies. Originally only on SW 22nd, they now also live on NE Davis. Their selections include bacon maple bars, m&m’s donuts, the cock n’ balls (creme filled even), Oreo and more. Oh, their signature donut is a small donut man, filled with jelly and impaled with a pretzel…. its so much fun pulling it apart and eating it piece by piece imagining your enemies wailing in pain, gnashing their teeth and pulling out their hair. As long as i’m not your enemy, go forth and enjoy! Each one is guaranteed to kill you in five years, but they are so delicious. The magic, as they say, is in the hole.

Not only does Voodoo donuts make donuts, but they are also a wedding chapel! So those of you looking to get married in portland, check out Voodoo for a great time.