Balls and Walnuts
more than you ever wanted to know
Eating Portland
As usual, the appetizers were the best part of dinner. That and the view.
I began my evening at a place recommended to me by the realtor who shlepped me around town today: the Portland City Grill, a surprisingly* tasty eatery on the 30th floor of the US Bank building, AKA “Big Pink”:
I made it in time for their Happy Hour, and ordered a margarita and an oyster salad. The latter consisted of two small fried oysters topped with a citrus/mango salsa, served on a bed of mixed greens tossed with a balsamic vinaigrette. I could have easily made a main course of it.
From there I walked a few blocks east to the original McCormick and Shmick’s, where I ordered fried calamari with three sauces, and the rainbow trout entree. I found it mildly amusing to imagine ingesting a fish bone and asking my interviewers tomorrow to please pleeeeease scope me and pull the damned thing out. Won’t that make a fine first impression! Especially when I whine and complain with every centimeter of the scope’s passage.
The calamari was top notch: tender, not chewy. Two of the dipping sauces were standard, a tartar variation and cocktail sauce, but the third was cilantro and green onion, sweet and tart. As for the entree, it wasn’t bad rainbow trout but it wasn’t anything spectacular, either. Some sort of beurre blanc, topped with bay scallops and teensy tomatoes. The vegies (mashed potatoes and green beans) were perfect, though.
Interview tomorrow!
D.
*A killer view and good food? Yup.
GOOD LUCK!!!
Thanks. I think I done good, but I’ve thought that before. Guess I’ll find out soon, though.
Portland was an interesting place when I visited back in the ’80’s. They hated Californians though and didn’t hesitate to let us know we weren’t wanted there, even as tourists.
Good luck though. The weather seems to be good, not too hot.
I asked the realtor about California prejudice, and he said that the folks who hated Californians the most were the ex-Californians!
Reminds me of a quote from Maximilian Schell’s character in The Man in the Glass Booth . . . but that’s a subject for another day. (Except, WOW, what a movie. An underrated classic.)
Enjoyed having dinner with another “foodie”. I will search out the ravioli recipe shortly, but while perusing the blog I was surprised to ss you were also a gamer, impressive range of activities. I am still trying to finish fallout3 myself. Speaking for myself I think you made a favorable impression.
Thanks, Dave 😉
Hey Doug
Hope you get Portland, close enough for me to see my favorite ENT!
We’d love to see you, Suzanne!
You’ve certainly found some of our fancier lunch counters! Glad you enjoyed our hospitality.
And, no, we don’t so much hate Californians as we hate the things that Californians bring with them: traffic, sprawl, the San-Fernandoization-of-Washington-County. But don’t feel particularly persecuted – we feel that way about Seattleites, too…
Good luck with the interviews. They do good work around here, whether it’s up at OHSU or the VA or either the Legacy or Providence systems. I’ve been pretty happy with our health care here in general