Cooking, baking, recipes and what's worth eating, with the kitchen notes that make it work.
Food & Cooking Article · 6 min read
National Cheeseburger Day, a Vancouver, Washington location that ran out of buns, lettuce, and pickles by six, and a two-hour wait made bearable by free peanuts and better company than expected — plus where this one lands against In-N-Out and Habit.
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Food & Cooking Article · 5 min read
Bún chả Hanoi at Pho Hathanh, a Vietnamese restaurant in a converted craftsman house in Portland, Oregon, run by a husband-and-wife team cooking in the style of their hometown. Five out of five, and one of my favorite Asian dishes done right.
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Food & Cooking Article · 4 min read
A Dough Zone opened on Mill Plain in Vancouver, Washington, and the best dish on the menu turned out to be sitting in the noodle section, not the dumpling case. Five out of five, and worth the trip for the Dan Dan noodles alone.
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Food & Cooking Article · 4 min read
An afternoon in Longview, Washington running a backyard apple haul — one of them a real Cox's Orange Pippin — through a hand-crank press, well ahead of the actual cider.
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Food & Cooking Article · 6 min read
Dinner at Ondus on the Waterfront inside Vancouver, Washington's AC Hotel — a Waterfront Burger a size bigger than it needed to be, a Mediterranean salmon that's good but not quite Oswego Grill-level, and a sizzling garlic shrimp cazuela worth driving across town for on its own.
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Food & Cooking Article · 5 min read
Bark City BBQ, inside The Heist food cart pod in a converted bank building in Portland, Oregon, makes the best barbecue I've ever had — five out of five. The old vault door is still built into the furniture.
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Food & Cooking Article · 5 min read
Tiger Sauce, grated parmesan and Italian dressing, on one of the best Italian subs in Vancouver, Washington. A second trip to Philly Bilmos, what Tiger Sauce actually is, and why a shop named for its cheesesteaks earns five stars either way.
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Food & Cooking Article · 3 min read
Pizza Roma is a slice-and-pie counter on SE Woodstock Blvd in Portland, Oregon, with a full bar, video poker and a back room lined with pinball machines. Three out of five for the pizza itself — fine, nothing more — but the room around it is doing a lot of the work.
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Food & Cooking Article · 2 min read
Tacos Fita is a food truck in a cart pod on SE Woodstock Blvd in Portland, Oregon, and the carne asada taco there is the best in the region — five out of five. The pickled red onions on top make it, and the habanero sauce is no joke.
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Food & Cooking Article · 4 min read
Most people never learn the actual mechanics of eating a bowl of pho — what the little cup of onion and vinegar is for, or how to build the bite. Five out of five at Pho Hung on 82nd in Portland, Oregon, and here's the method.
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Food & Cooking Article · 4 min read
A Friday-night run to the Jack in the Box on NE 117th in Vancouver, Washington — decent fast food, three out of five, the honest kind of meal you eat because you're busy rather than because you're excited about it. The Sourdough Jack earns its keep. The two tacos might be the cheapest food on the pl
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Food & Cooking Article · 7 min read
I went back to Chuckie Pies in Lake Oswego for the pizza I had been bookmarking since July, and came away talking about the rigatoni Bolognese instead. Ten-inch Neapolitan pies out of a wood oven, a seriously Italian wine list with a Barbaresco on it, and the best Bolognese I have had since the sout
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Food & Cooking Article · 5 min read
A free Double Char that showed up in the app for my birthday, a surfboard bolted to a brick wall two thousand miles from the nearest one, and the honest case — onion rings and spicy ranch included — for why Habit edges out my beloved In-N-Out, strictly at the fast-food level.
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Food & Cooking Article · 1 min read
Broken Rice is a Vietnamese cart off 82nd Avenue in Portland, Oregon, serving grilled pork over com tam — broken rice — with a fish sauce that's milder than expected and genuinely good. Five stars, indoor seating if it's raining, worth the drive despite the block it's on.
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Food & Cooking Article · 2 min read
Philly Bilmos is a cheesesteak shop in Vancouver, Washington, and the sandwich that got five stars here wasn't the cheesesteak — it was the Italian sub, dressed at the table with its own oil, vinegar and parmesan. The best one I've had.
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Food & Cooking Article · 1 min read
Saburo's Sushi House in Portland's Sellwood neighborhood is a once-or-twice-a-year drive across the river, and the Seared Salmon is the reason. Five stars, huge portions, prices that aren't terrible for what shows up on the plate.
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Food & Cooking Article · 7 min read
The New York strip was okay at best, the ribeye was dry and thin — ironic, for the cut that's supposed to be the fatty one — and both landed on the table only a little warmer than the room. Everyone who worked there was kind about it. Three stars: glad I went, and next time I'll ask them to hurry.
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Food & Cooking Article · 5 min read
The lamb and beef gyro at Anoush Deli in Vancouver, Washington might be the meatiest one I've had in this part of town. Three stars: I wouldn't drive across the city for it, but it's a generous, genuinely good gyro from a place that's part halal deli and part Eastern European grocery.
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Food & Cooking Article · 5 min read
The Black and Bleu Burger at the Uptown Barrel Room on Main Street in Vancouver, Washington is eighteen dollars and the best burger I have had in a long time — a blackened Angus patty under melting bleu cheese and bacon. Five stars, which on this site means worth crossing a city for, and I would.
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Food & Cooking Article · 6 min read
The quesabirria at Muchas Gracias Mexican Food on NE 76th in Vancouver, Washington is genuinely good, and the consomé that comes with it is thinner than it ought to be. Three stars: glad I went, and I wouldn't cross town for it — plus a sun turned red by wildfire smoke on the way home.
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