124. Portland - Back to Portlandia for More Food Carts (Portland: Southwest/Downtown)

It is time to travel again! This trip involves a stop in Portland, about a week romp in Tokyo, and a two week stay in Taipei.  The first leg of the trip began last weekend with a flight to Portland to attend a wedding.  Since I had just finished writing 12 posts about Portland last month, this quick weekend trip came at the right time... yay for more posts on food from Portlandia!

Allison and I flew out of the newly remodeled Long Beach Airport on JetBlue on Saturday morning.  If you've flown on JetBlue before, you know exactly what that means... raiding the snack basket when the flight attendant swings by! When we landed it high time for lunch.  Those in-flight snacks can only hold us over for so long...

As soon as we checked into the hotel, we headed straight for the food pods at the intersection of Southwest Alder and SW 10th Avenue.  Originally, we wanted to try the famous chicken and rice at Nong's Khao Man Gai, but this location was not open on the weekend.  No worries, we quickly found the Euro Trash cart and ordered something we could not get in California... foie gras.  Duck Butter, as it is listed on the menu, is a sinfully seared piece of foie gras laying on a bed of freshly cooked potato chips dripping with garlic aioli (known as their house made Nah-Nah Chips just by itself) and the drippings of the fat foie.  I felt hunger, heaven, and a heart attack all in one bite.  Bewilderment.

While foie gras on potato chips is delicious and all, it doesn't quite make a full meal.  Just around the corner and a few carts down from Euro Trash sits the E-San Thai cart, one of the many, many carts serving Thai cuisine in Portland.  There are six Thai food carts just at the pod at Alder & 10th intersection alone.  I ordered a green curry with tofu, eggplant and other vegetables, plopped myself down on a parking curb and let the sweat drip down my face.

Allie had a hunkering for meat, so she ventured over to the Number 1 Bento cart for the galbi bento.  The flavoring was not far from what we know as Korean barbecue in LA, and for just six bucks, it was a steal.  One thing though... the food comes in a plastic container, so beware of the heat from the steaming white rice while holding the box.  Ouch!

Sitting and eating on a parking curb is no easy task, but the good food makes it all worthwhile.  We won't let the food take away from the main focus of the trip... the wedding.  Which, come to think of it... this was about the time that we dropped the food to head back to the hotel to get ready.

We clean up real nice now don't we? I kid, I kid.  These Instagram filters make us look extremely airbrushed, so they look best on IG.  Congratulations Sarah and Ray! Allie and I wish you two all the best.  Until next time, let's all get S.O.F.A.T.

ML - 20130622

Post 117: Portland - Brunch Box and Portlandia Food Cart Pods (Portland: Southwest/Downtown)

What we know as food trucks in Southern California they know as food carts in Oregon.  There is a reason or two for this nominal difference.  For one, the food trucks in Southern California truly are traveling motorized trucks.  While they can be expected to visit certain locations on a regular basis, sometimes they need to be tracked down using social media as they move from site to site.  On the other hand, the food carts in Portland are much more sedentary and rarely roll away.  They sit in these pods or clusters in organized in the sort of way that books are neatly filed away on a library shelf.  One such shelf of food carts is located on Southwest 5th Avenue called Food Cart Alley.  We came here to visit Brunch Box, one of the most renowned food carts in Portlandia.

Brunch Box makes all sorts of breakfast and lunch sandwiches using burger buns, bagels, and Texas toast.  For those unfamiliar with Texas toast, it is extra thick slices of bread that is great for holding together sandwiches that are piled high quite possibly with ingredients that leak, drip, or run.  For those more familiar with Taiwanese toast, it is quite similar to brick toast except that it is used to hold a sandwich together.  To say that their menu has a wide array of hearty sandwiches is a complete understatement.  There is even a grilled cheese sandwich shaped into a dinosaur called the Cheezasaurus Rex.  Cheesy filled T-rex? Yes, please.

Of all the artery choking foods on the menu, though, what really caught my attention was the Hawaiian.  It had Spam, and lots of it.  I love Spam... and lots of it.  Along with grilled pineapple, cheese, a runny egg, and teriyaki sauce, the Hawaiian was quite a mouthful.  But it was delicious to the very last bite.  There were a few squirts of Sriracha somewhere in there too.  Good stuff.

Moseying down south one block and east two blocks to Southwest Washington and SW 3rd Avenue is another pod of food carts.  Here we found Batavia, a food cart specializing in Indonesian cuisine.  We ordered a lunch box of the house special Indonesian fried chicken.  It was not the crispy battered fried chicken that we are accustomed to, but it was spiced up and flavorful.  The rice was a great accompaniment, and although it looked like there was a large amount of it, the spicy chicken flavor and sauce went a long way.  In fact, the chicken had so much kick that the fresh tomatoes and cucumbers really calmed the fire on my tongue down.

Also located in the same pod of food carts is Elmasry Egyptian Food.  We saw a good amount of the late night crowd stopping for a bite here in the wee hours of the morning after the bars close, so we hopped in line too.  We got a chicken shawarma that was absolutely huge in proportion.  The meat was tender and juicy enough that I picked at it toward the final bites of the pita wrapped sandwich.  Oh, and the sauce... the sauce is amazing.

There seemed to be quite a few food stands specializing in Thai cuisine in the pods that we explored.  Nong's Khao Man Gai is supposedly one of the most popular carts in the Downtown area, but they were not open for business when we visited.  This will be in the plans for a return visit to Portland this June.  Until then, let's all get S.O.F.A.T.

ML - 20120914-15

Post 61: Taipei - I Have Returned / 台北我回來了 (Taipei: Da An District / 台北: 大安區)

The last time I visited Taipei was just a little over two years ago.  In the time that has passed, it appears that I have lost my Taiwanese aura.  Pedestrians used to asked me for directions, but now they ask me how long it's been since I moved to America.  Uh...

I didn't want to feel like a foreigner in the city that used to feel like a second home to me, so I headed straight for my favorite beef noodle soup stall in Taipei... to eat and be amongst the locals... and to somehow find my Taiwanese mojo.  Along the way to the noodle stall, I noticed that the potsticker shop that I used to frequent had since been closed... but no worries, Old Chao's Noodles (老趙刀切麵) was right where I had last seen it.

Everything was just as I had remembered.  There was the assembly line of noodle production... meat sauce and sliced cucumbers for zhajiang noodles (炸醬麵), diced green onions, roasted beef tendon, cuts of braised beef, and a boiling vat of beef broth... all in steel containers on the counter.  And the makeshift condiment station had the pickled mustard greens and extra green onions for those who need it... in same location as before. 

Old Chao and Chao Jr. stood at the stall.  Mr. Chao, wearing bright blue board shorts, was stirring the boiling pot of noodles.  Young Mr. Chao silently took orders just as his father used to.  A nod of his head and a stare in my direction was his way of asking me what I want to order.  He spoke only to clarify whether the noodles will be eaten here or taken to-go. 

And that's when I noticed the one aspect that has changed since the last time I visited.  The price.  A bowl of beef noodle soup used to be just 40 Taiwan dollars, which was just a little over one US dollar back then.  That same bowl of noodle soup is now 100 Taiwan dollars, which is a little over three US dollars.  I was surprised when I handed Mr. Chao a 100 NT note, and I didn't get any change back.  He looked back at me, and his silence asked, "What are you waiting for?"

Nothing, I guess. 

If you hadn't gotten the picture from before, let me repaint the picture.  This is a serious beef noodle soup stall.  The noodle bowls are washed on the curb between the stand and the street, and needless to say, the bowls aren't exactly towel dried.  Never mind the potential hepatitis infection.  Taste takes precedence here... not cleanliness.  Around the stall there are two prop-up tables with stools scattered around them.  Office workers in dress shirts, delivery boys with bike helmets, and complete strangers share the communal tables... and eat in silence.  One in every ten customers is a woman.  But the woman usually loses her patience and leaves for another stall with a shorter line.  

I picked up my glorious bowl of identity crisis medication, and I plopped myself down on the metal stool barely supported my oversized American dexterior.  In the 90 degree humid heat of Taipei, I devoured each strand of noodle one of bite at a time.  A bead of sweat dripped down my forehead with each strand of noodle consumed... and with each strand of noodle consumed I felt increasingly reacquainted with the land of my parents' birth. 

Comforted with this feeling, I gazed upon the hustle and bustle of the noodle stall.  Mama Chao appears from nowhere and begins bussing the twin tables, with chili oil still dripping from a previous customer's used chopsticks.  Young Chao, who looks like he's in his thirties, helps his father pour freshly brewed beef broth from a large kettle into an even larger vat... all while smoking a cigarette and talking on his cell phone.  Then he tends to customers who want a second helping of beef soup... free for those who still have noodles left in their bowls.  By the way... the large vat of beef soup? Yeah, it could totally swallow Mr. Chao alive.

The waft of brewing, beef broth drifts my way and cuts through not only the thick humidity but the exhaust from otobai that speed past the noodle stall as well.  Deep breath.  Ahhh... the smell... the smell of freshly sheared noodles sinking into boiling water.  Ahhh... here in Taipei, food reigns over weather and pollution.The last time I wrote about a piping hot bowl of beef noodle soup, it was perfect for a rainy, winter day.  Ironically, I was enjoying this same steaming bowl of beef noodle soup in the hot summer heat... but it was just as exhilarating as ever.  The true exhilaration, though, was the feeling that I could declare to the city, "Taipei, I have returned."

Until the next bowl of beef noodle soup, let's all get S.O.F.A.T.

Approximate address:
台北市 大安區/ Taipei City, Da An District
信義路 4段 60之56 號/ Xin Yi Road, Section 4, No. 60-56

How I get there:
MRT: Da An Station (捷運大安站)
exit station; walk two blocks east towards Taipei 101
make a right at Da An Road, Section 2 (大安路 2段)
pass the stall for hand made egg rolls
do not pass the stall with fresh fruit and shaved ice

ML - 20110908