Travel | fabliss

Mighty Quinn’s Barbeque | New York City

we came here since it was featured in a few magazines and everyone raved about this place.

we ordered the brisket sandwich. it looked amazing.

the brisket itself was on the dry side, which was a huge disappointment. we had to drench it in bbq sauce. the bbq sauce was good. it was on the sweeter side. another disappointing thing about this sandwich was the bun. even though our bun came from a fresh batch, it wasn’t very soft. we weren’t fans.

service: okay. there was a long line when we came here but the staff did a decent job getting people through quickly.
ambience: really cool place. dark interior (dark woods) but lots of windows. we went for the outdoor seats since it was a beautiful day outside.
overall: we wanted to love this place but it was a let down. we didn’t love our sandwich… the brisket just fell short.

Mighty Quinn’s Barbeque
103 2nd Ave
New York, NY 10003

By fabliss | September 20th, 2014 | Food, New York, Restaurants, Travel | 0 Comments

Olympic Provisions | Portland, OR

kyle picked olympic provisions because he wanted to try their charcuterie plate and because it was featured in GQ magazine.

we ordered:

ploughman’s platter ($14) – their charcuterie plate. two salami, pork terrine, cheese, pickled egg, bread and a glass of draught beer.
croissant and scrambled eggs ($10)
capicola and salami cotto sandwich ($9) – lettuce, pepperoncini, red onion, aioli, italian dressing on a hoagie roll.
steak and egg benedict ($13)

food: everything we got was just okay. nothing too memorable. bloody mary was pretty awesome though.
ambience: cute, clean, open space. it was actually a great stopping place to grab a beer (just wish we loved our food a little more)
service: okay. not too much interaction besides putting in our order.
overall: would i recommend it? not really. out of all of our meals in pdx, this was my least favorite. it was missing any sort of wow factor. portland has so many great options, i would pass on this one unless you are in the area and just want to grab a beer.

Olympic Provisions
1632 NW Thurman St
Portland, OR 97209

By fabliss | August 12th, 2014 | Food, Portland, Restaurants, Travel | 1 Comment

Meat Cheese Bread | Portland, OR

we were looking for a place to eat breakfast sunday morning before heading over to multnomah falls. since this is a foodie city, most of the amazing breakfast/brunch places had a long wait.

we ended up at meat cheese bread even though this was on our list for lunch. we ordered:

breakfast burrito ($7) – scrambled egg, hash browns, green chile salsa and cheddar
park kitchen ($9) – flank steak, pickled onions, blue cheese mayo, lettuce and vinaigrette
steak & eggs ($7.50) – house-made roll, sliced flank steak, blue cheese and a fried egg

the breakfast burrito. this is one of those “don’t judge a book by its cover” situations. my first thought after seeing this burrito was “i could make this.” my second thought was “this looks so puny.” christine and i both enjoyed it. this is obviously not as good as a breakfast burritos found in los angeles but it was still good (with some hot sauce of course).

kyle got the park’s kitchen sandwich. if you life blue cheese, this sandwich is for you! eric got the steak and egg sandwich. it was meh.

food: breakfast burrito was pretty good. a lot of reviews said that it was the best sandwich they ever had… not seeing it. good sandwich? yes. best, nah.
service: friendly service
ambience: casual. small, casual place.
overall: overall, it was good. i’d recommend this place if you are nearby. i wouldn’t recommend going out of your way or anything but you will have a decent meal here.

Meat Cheese Bread
1406 SE Stark St
Portland, OR 97213

By fabliss | August 11th, 2014 | Food, Portland, Restaurants, Travel | 0 Comments

Ava Gene’s | Portland, OR

before coming to portland, ava gene’s was not on our radar at all. it’s actually relatively new to division street. we first heard about it from our new buddy at salt & straw. she said that it was her favorite restaurant. with all the places we had to try, we put it on our list but knew that we might not get to it. when another friend of ours (currently living in portland) also raved about it, we knew we had to try it.

here…we…go.

this place did not have any available reservations online, which was expected since we were trying to make a reservation two hours in advance. determined, we decided to go there and try our luck with a party of 6! right place at the right time? the host let us sit down right away but let us know that he would need that table in 2 hours! can i just say that i am in love with this type of efficiency? we were/are grateful for such an accommodating host!

what we ordered:

random salumi
tre scelte dai giardini ($32) – three choices from the gardens (aka salads). this is a good choice if you want to try a few of their salads/veggies. we chose (i) cauliflower, asparagus, almonds, honey vinegar, (ii) zucchini, hominy, pistachio, oregano, aleppo pepper, and (iii) cucumbers, snow peas, squid, barrel-aged colatura, filberts.
gemelli fava beans, pistachio pesto, occhipinti ($20)
anneloni, rabbit ragu, ruby streaks ($20)
spaghetti, bay shrimp, pomodorini, chiles ($20)
ricotta cavatelli, sausage, purple broccoli ($20)
lamb leg, cauliflower, pistachios, couscous ($30)

we all enjoyed the salumi! great sharing app.

cocktails were pretty great and came in cute, tall glasses. since we had been drinking all day, we didn’t really go crazy in this department. our focus was on the food.

the salads were delicious! the zucchini / hominy salad was probably my favorite, while the cucumber / snow pea salad was a close second. surprisingly great flavors. something i would definitely recommend. the cauliflower is very light. while this was good, i probably would go for one of the other salads next time.

all the pastas were uh-freaking-mazing. i repeat. uh-mazing. we loved them all. fresh pasta. kick-in-the-face flavors. very well done.

if i had to pick one, i would suggest the spaghetti with bay shrimp… but i really would get them all again.

eric ordered the lamb. i’m not a lamb person (i find it a little too gamey for my taste) but this lamb was so well done that i didn’t find it gamey at all! well done! this has made me very optimistic about my future lamb endeavors.

food: i can understand why so many people are in love with this place. pastas are excellent. definitely one of our favorite meals.
atmosphere: i loved the decor. think stylish with an old school feel. is that a thing? very trendy. marble, high ceilings, and great lighting. who doesn’t love low hanging bulbs? if you’re into restaurant interiors, you will find this place delightful. more importantly, check out the bathrooms! they are so cool! i wont spoil the surprise. just make sure you make a visit!
service: our waitress was great! staff in general is attentive… further adding to the charm of this place.
parking: this sits on the same street as pok pok and salt & straw. we didn’t have an issue parking. we found spots in the local neighborhood (free).
overall: we had a great experience at ava gene’s! i’m careful not to overhype this place. i know the reviews of this place go back and forth and a lot of people are not happy about the price. but i say…you get what you pay for… and this place is definitely worth it. this is a beautiful restaurant with a special take on traditional italian. mindblowingly great? some will think so (like us) but in general you are in for a great meal. get ready for some fantastic, quality pasta.

ps. according to our waitress. ava gene is the name of the owners daughter. cute, right? also, this is the same guy who founded stumptown!

Ava Gene’s
3377 SE Division St
Portland, OR 97202

By fabliss | August 1st, 2014 | Food, Photography, Portland, Restaurants, Travel | 0 Comments

Lardo | Portland, OR

after our failed attempt to get a donut at blue star donuts on national donut day, we stumbled aross lardo! this place was on kyle’s list (he read great things about their sandwiches) but we were honestly going to pass this place up since we just had tasty ‘n sons a couple of hours before and we both didn’t know if we could handle a sandwich.

good thing two awesome patrons sitting at the window saw our faces and urged us to go in! (yeah, i was loving portland already)

i wont lie. mendocino farms in la has definitely ruined me forever. when i read about places with “great” or “the best” sandwiches, i automatically think “but not as good as mendo.” i need to stop doing that.

so again we had an awesome cashier/waitress (you order at the counter and seat and bus yourself). she was super excited we were from out of town and walked us through the menu and gave us her recommendation. since we were splitting one sandwich… the sandwich we absolutely had to get was the pork meatball banh mi. i told her that was a bold choice since i was vietnamese. when all the other babies were eating pureed bananas, i was eating banh mi’s so one could say i’ve had a few in my lifetime. stakes / expectations are high. very high.

we ordered:

pork meatball sandwich
lardo fries
nitro beer

we wanted to get the dirty fries but she thought it was going to overwhelm us since we weren’t that hungry. in her opinion, lardo fries were perfect (herb blend with some light cheese) and could be eaten alone. not too overwhelming.

oh jesus. the sandwich was freaking amazeballs. it has to be one of my top sandwiches. the pork meatball is perfectly seasoned and moist. the bread was great and the sauce is bomb. yes, it was messy (i almost go it on my camera) but so worth it. best sandwich in portland? i dig it.

#bringingfatback i love it.

don’t judge us but we went here two time during our 4 days in portland because we wanted eric to experience this awesomeness. we went to the original location and ordered:

pork meatball sandwich (again)
lardo fries (again)
korean pork sandwich
burger
beer flight

the korean sandwich (above) was good but it is hard not to compare to the pork meatball sandwich. pork meatball sandwich is still my number one. the kimchi is great but the sandwich could’ve been a little more moist (pork or more sauce?).

kyle was a huge fan of the burger. it is one of his favorite burgers. that guy.

so the beer is really good here (we ordered the flight). kyle’s a fan of the nitro beer (carbonation removed). this was the coolest thing to us. also! they have 21st amendment: hell or high watermelon beer (from the bay!)

food: like i said, one of the best sandwiches i have ever had and is definitely one of my favorite meals in portland. i will go out on a limb and say that i could eat the pork meatball sandwich every day. yep, i’m comfortable with that. lardo fries are great but if you feel daring, get the dirty fries and tell me how they are.
service: both locations were awesome. since i spent more time talking to the cashier at the downtown location, i liked my experience there more. note: sandwiches come out pretty fast.
ambience: i like the downtown location more. it is newer so it is fresher. the original location is a lot bigger because it has a whole outdoor (bench) seating area. you really cant go wrong with either.
parking: pay and park spots. wasn’t too hard for us to find.
overall: one of our favorite meals in portland. stupidly good sandwich. we will meet again lardo.

Lardo

1205 SW Washington St
Portland, OR 97205
Neighborhood: Downtown