Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
There are a couple of cuisines Portland's lacking in but there's plenty of others to make up for it. But that goes for most cities in the world. I wouldn't go to Berlin and complain about not finding good Chinese restaurants. And the Chinese food in London isn't recognizable as Chinese food.
I don't find great Mexican food in Portland. There's a couple of good taco carts and pretty good restaurants but nothing amazing. But then again I didn't find it in DC although there is plenty of great Salvadoran food there. And unless you want to shell out $$$ or know the secret doorway, I didn't find it in NYC. It is everywhere in LA.
I don't find great Chinese food in Portland. Decent places and good to great other Asian cuisines. But I didn't find it in DC or LA but it was easy to find in NYC.
I also haven't found any great seafood restaurants.
Most food carts are decent although the unicorn burgers and some of the ramen carts are great. There are good Indian restaurants - I always liked Swagat and Abaruchi.
But I have found great restaurants. Just went to American Local and was more than happy with the food. And dinner for 2 + cocktails = $60. Which you can't approach in NYC and really LA or DC.
If you want good Latin American (and/or Caribbean) food in NYC, look for a soccer field. See all those ladies around the perimeter with coolers and Coleman stoves? It may not be Michelin star quality, but it is the real home cooked deal. And a lot cheaper than a restaurant.
As far as the general quality of restaurants in NYC, when people laud the city for its culinary scene, some mistakenly assume any door they walk into has a great restaurant behind it. Just not true. You have to do your research and seek trusted recommendations just like anywhere else.
PS. I wouldn't eat a $1.50 taco in NYC. At that cost, it is being made by slaves chained up in the basement out of cat meat.
I've never felt the need to search for Mexican food in NYC(since I can find decent to good Mexican food anywhere on the West Coast and there's so many other things to eat in New York) but you would assume that with like several hundred thousand Mexicans in NY these days good Mexican food must exist somewhere in the city.
But yeah, if someone wants good and cheap ethnic food(and this true anywhere) one must often go to further out neighborhoods or more barebones locations. Chinese food in touristy Chinatowns are usually never the best and if one wants good Mexican you just go to where Mexican people actually live. A lot of the best ethnic food on the West Coast is in suburban strip malls far from any trendy neighborhood. But no matter where you are you need to research or have recs on where the really good places are. I ate at a guidebook-recommended dim sum place in Hong Kong and it wasn't as good as my favorite places on the West Coast--when I asked my friend in Hong Kong about it, she said "Oh, I would never go to that place, it's for tourists and old people."
But at the same time I think people often mythologize certain cuisines in certain cities--like there's no way it could duplicated somewhere else. When in truth, someone with access to the right ingredients(found in Asian/Hispanic/ or other ethnic markets in most large metros these days) and the dedication to learn how to cook something can make something tasty and fairly authentic. I cook a lot at home and honestly once you learn about the bases of many cuisines it's not that hard, hell it's a lot easy than learning to play jazz or advanced calculus or something. Same thing with pizza, yeah the old coal oven Italian family pizza joints in New York can be amazing, but it's not like it's impossible to make good pizza that comes close anywhere else.
Some of us were responding to a poster that made the comparison of upscale Portland dining to that of NYC and S.F. I was responding to that particular poster. Anyways...
I don't eat the same way I used to as my husband andI are usually with our kids hanging out in the evenings. When we go back home to S.F. with the kids we get to go out as the family watches the kids. My brother is in the restaurant business in S.F. so I get to eat some pretty phenomenal meals. Hubby and I used to eat out in NYC before kids regularly since our work enabled us to eat very well. That is my benchmark so when posters say you can get the same quality in Portland as NYC... then that's where I balked. I will say the cocktail scene in Portland is excellent and affordable. I wish I had more time to drink but mid-life responsibilities and potential next-day hang overs keep me from enjoying the artisanal bar scene. Portland has a great food scene for a metro its size. That is indisputable.
Some of us were responding to a poster that made the comparison of upscale Portland dining to that of NYC and S.F. I was responding to that particular poster. Anyways...
I don't eat the same way I used to as my husband andI are usually with our kids hanging out in the evenings. When we go back home to S.F. with the kids we get to go out as the family watches the kids. My brother is in the restaurant business in S.F. so I get to eat some pretty phenomenal meals. Hubby and I used to eat out in NYC before kids regularly since our work enabled us to eat very well. That is my benchmark so when posters say you can get the same quality in Portland as NYC... then that's where I balked. I will say the cocktail scene in Portland is excellent and affordable. I wish I had more time to drink but mid-life responsibilities and potential next-day hang overs keep me from enjoying the artisanal bar scene. Portland has a great food scene for a metro its size. That is indisputable.
How come I've been to much smaller cities that have much yummier food then? I just think the way restaurants cook here is bland, which is why I stick to things like falafel and sushi which are pretty much impossible to screw up when I eat out in Portland. I think food here just isn't seasoned properly or something, I dunno.
I will check out Por Que No for sure though. I walk by there often but have never actually eaten there.
How come I've been to much smaller cities that have much yummier food then? I just think the way restaurants cook here is bland, which is why I stick to things like falafel and sushi which are pretty much impossible to screw up when I eat out in Portland. I think food here just isn't seasoned properly or something, I dunno.
I will check out Por Que No for sure though. I walk by there often but have never actually eaten there.
Probably because you are looking either for types of food that Portland has never been known for or you are eating in the wrong places.
How come I've been to much smaller cities that have much yummier food then? I just think the way restaurants cook here is bland, which is why I stick to things like falafel and sushi which are pretty much impossible to screw up when I eat out in Portland. I think food here just isn't seasoned properly or something, I dunno.
I will check out Por Que No for sure though. I walk by there often but have never actually eaten there.
Falafel is great in Portland but the sushi is messed up. A couple of the top ranked sushi places don't even make the rice properly. Hokusei is the best, IMO.
Falafel is great in Portland but the sushi is messed up. A couple of the top ranked sushi places don't even make the rice properly. Hokusei is the best, IMO.
I tend to go to the little places that don't bring in the tourists when it comes to sushi. It is much cheaper cost sushi and much better prepared.
My jabs are not at anyone person just transplants and people in general.
My Problem with food is, it is so subjective. And I totally agree with Metakala, The term foodie needs to die. We all like food, we all can watch No Boundaries and the Food network.
My other problem is when someone says a food is not "Authentic" then it turns into a one-up of how many stars how much it costs and what hotel it was in. Then when that fails to impress it's how obscure it is and some stupid story about the chefs credentials.
I think a wise comedy duo did the best sketch on "Authenticity of food" Key and peel go into a soul food restaurant, and right off the bat they are trying to one up each other in who can order the most authentic soul food. Then it turns into this competition who can order the most bizarre soul food they can think of.
Foodies are insufferable to listen to. I listed to a story that was almost this far fetched between two of my wife's academia friends:
Foodie 1: I had some great fish tacos last night at this place on Hawthorne.
Foodie 2: Oh i'll have to try that out, I'll have to see if it compares to this one little taco shop La Taquita de Pez in the blah blah district of < insert impressive megalopolis here>. The cook was a former Zeta drug runner from Oaxaca who turned his human fileting skills into to fish fileting skills to create an incredible fish taco.
Foodie 1: Wow, I have been there too, but that place is not nearly as good as this one taco truck near an abandoned warehouse in the Muerto District of Mexico City. It wasn't so much a truck as an unmotorized trailer that was pulled around by moped covered in microfiber blankets and churro machines. He would take off for a week and go to Veracruz, catch all of his fish then come back and make only one special batch of fish tacos that you could eat only if you brought him a bottle of American whiskey, he did not accept pesos.
Foodie 2: Wow, that sounds pretty good, it reminds me of this time I made a backpacking trek to see butterflies by the thousands in highland of Mexico. I met a simple Zapotecan rancher who made me the most amazing Fish taco only using his bear hands, no tools!. He only had one leg and his only means of transportation was a rusty 1920's unicycle. Every day he pedaled down from the top of the mountain to cliff dive into the sea and he dove down 30 meters and stayed underwater for 3 minutes to grab the rare Tecuani Tonaltzint snapper that was key to Aztec civilization before the white man made it go nearly extinct. Sad what we white people do the the world.
Foodie 1: Man, tha..
Foodie 2: He would then ride back up in the night time using Zapoteca warrior spirit only to guide him by moonlight. Noon the next day he would marinate the fish in secret marinade made from the extract of the anal glands of a jaguar, and sweet rare cactus that only grows in the pumice stone in the slopes of Colima volcano above 3000 meters. Then he fileted the fish still alive to seal in the flavor that only happens at the moment of death with a goat bone knife used to sacrifice virgins on the sun god alter at Quimichpatlan since the 3rd century BC.
Foodie 1: Dude, I need to get going.
Foodie 2: Man that was greatest fish taco ever!
Foodie 1: Yeah, I'll have to try that place out on Hawthorne, later man.
Friend of foodie 2: When did you get a passport?
Winnyard Bletch : That's pretty good, Penn and Teller did something similar with Organic Food. Every episode of P&T Bull **** was done in California. They had no problem finding people who thought they were much more intelligent and enlightened then they really were.
I guess this thread got under my skin, because of all the idiotic things I hear transplants say. Mainly ones from California.
"I'm surprised the trees aren't bigger here"
Yes, we get it SF has Redwoods.
"Is it always rainy in the summer"
Yes, we get it San Fran and LA have great Mediterranean climates.
"I'm surprised there aren't more affluent neighborhoods"
Yes, we get it Lake Oswego is like South San Fran or Compton compared to Marin County or Orange County.
"Does anyone find Portland a little "blue collared?"
Yes, we get it SF has a learned population of scholars and philanthropists solving the worlds problems one $80,000 electric car at a time.
"Does anyone think tri-met is really as good as the transit in SF or LA or NYC?"
We get it, tri-met is inferior.
"Is the Washington Park zoo the only zoo?"
We get it the zoo is small compared to a world class zoo
"I thought the ocean was closer"
We get it, in Sf or LA or NYC the beach is right there and the water is almost tolerable to swim in.
"I thought the Willamette Valley had a vibrant wine scene."
Yes we get it, Napa Valley blah blah blah.
"I thought there would be more spectacular scenery here"
Yosemite, Tahoe, Hwy 1, yeah... we get it.
"Where are your quaint mountain towns?"
It snows 2 feet a night...You'd be insane to want to live in the cascades on a regular basis.
and last but not least the number one thing I hear.
"I thought Portland was a foodie city"
Yes..... we get it, our restaurants are inferior to cities with 10+ million people within 40 miles. Go figure.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
