Black Bear Diner - March 25, 2006

"Think Biscuits" is what A.H. gave as a hint yesterday when we were discussing today's breakfast. I knew we weren't going to Biscuits restaurant since we've been there before. (Biscuits Restaurant was good - 4 stars I think; we just don't usually go back somewear we've been).

The hint was right on: the biscuit was huge, but it wasn't the flakiest I've ever had. It reminded me of what someone once said of Spinal Tap "Wow, they are louder than I remembered". Of course someone once said that of me when I was cheering at a band competition many years ago. So, a kind of compliment I guess. And as a friend of mine says: "quantity has a quality all its own."

A.H. also indicated we'd be seated and eating earlier than usual; making me think we were staying on the west side. As we turned east from Murray onto T.V. highway, I thought "Oh no! A.H. has scooped me and picked one off my list". We pulled into the Black Bear diner, which used to be a Lyon's restaurant. It shares a parking lot with a hotel.

I've been on the verge of ordering corned beef hash for weeks now, so when I saw it on the menu with a little bear icon indicating a home made recipe, I figured the time had come. And this was the hash to wait for; it was FANTASTIC; a beautiful mound of shredded corned beef with a few potatoes mixed in. I also opted for poached eggs. If you've been a faithful reader of the blog, you know I'm particular about poached eggs! A great poached egg is a little bite of heaven while a badly poached egg can be a soggy brick. These eggs were very, very good. I cut into the little clouds and got nice runny (but not watery) yolks.
It was so beautiful I had to take a picture of it!










The hash browns were definitely good; nice and crispy which is how I like them. The coffee was good but not great. Our waitress was great - a real professional; she did a great job of describing the various options. Also, lots of staff were walking around with coffee pots and they kept the cups filled. The booth we had was great with lots of room on all sides.

The Black Bear Diner is very popular; it was pretty full when we got there at 8:45 and when we left (after a couple of hints from our waitress) there was a huge line. It turns out to not that it is one of a chain - Carlita and I ate at one in central Oregon a few years ago.

As I mentioned, the diner shares a parking lot with a little hotel; when we parked we saw a school bus from some place in Montana. As we left we saw a young man loading his stuff. We struck up a conversation and discovered his school is in a little town 60 miles north of Missoula and they came to Oregon for their senior trip. They were packing up to head for Seaside for the day. Wow; from Montana to the coast in a cheese wagon! I guess we take the ocean for granted.

Definitely a place to return to - I give it 4 stars.

Madison Grill

[Rick] I ordered the same entree that Bake did, but unlike him, I only tasted them that morning instead of all day long. I found the sauce to be a little too lemony for me; but, really, I'm not a huge fan of anything "benedict". The coffee was good and reheated often.

The decor of Madison Grill was very warm and inviting. Nice high ceilings with lots of woodwork. It reminded me of a comfortable "smoking room" at an true gentlemens' club. Without the leather furniture.

I gave it four stars.

Madison Grill - March 18, 2006

No picture this week 'cause I forgot the camera. DANG! We went to the Madison Grill on the southeast side of town: 1109 SE Madison; just north of Hawthorne where it turns from a one way to a two way street.

Breakfast was pretty good but not great. I had a crab cake benedict. The poached eggs were PERFECT; when I cut into them the yolk was runny but not watery; the whites were perfect little clouds. The crab cakes were another matter - I'm thinking they used canned crab meat. I tasted those crab cakes all day long (urp!).

If we could take these poached eggs and pair them with the crab from Sammy's a few weeks ago we'd have a little slice of heaven! (At Sammy's the eggs were served on top of big hunks of fresh crab.) The Madison Grill hash browns were nice, but not as crisp as I like them. This is a personal preference so I can't really bust them for that.

The coffee was good and the service was very good; they open at 9:00 and we were the 2nd party in; they were obviously still setting up when we got in, but they still handled us well and got us what we needed.

Carlita had the corned beef hash; the bite I had was very good.

We went to Madisons with A.H. and Rick a couple of years ago in the summer after we walked the esplanade; during that visit we saw Bob Packwood. So, now we've seen one Democrat and one Republican.

I think it was that walk that convinced A.H. he had to go in for his back surgery. Since then he walked in a marathon so that is impressive.

All in all, I'd give it 3 stars - would be 4 if the crab cakes hadn't repeated on me all day.

Gravy

[Rick] I wrote a really great blog about our experience at Gravy. Unfortunately, it's floating in cyberspace because it didn't publish to this blog.

Basically, I liked it and gave it four stars. I had the Bacato Scramble (if I remember right) and it was yummy!

I want to go back because I was covetting Carlita's Fried Egg Sandwich.

Gravy - March 11, 2006

[Bake]. We went to "Gravy" on N. Mississippi Ave this week. A.H. made the choice and he did a great job as usual. I give it 4 stars

I thought it was very good and the portions are HUGE. I had a scramble with ham, bacon, sausage, onions, peppers, and whatever. It comes slathered in sausage gravy, but I had the gravy on the side. I could barely eat half of it.
The coffee was excellent (I think they serve Stumptown coffee).

This part of Portland is in the midst of a major gentrification and it sure shows. New cool hangouts like Gravy are side-by-side with stores and bars that look like they've been there for years. Being 50-somethings with no tatoos and no piercings save for Di-di and Carlita's earrings meant we were definitely out of our element. We had a nice conversation with a young couple; the guy rides a 10-speed bike converted to a 1-speed; the gearing was very interesting.

You can see from the picture it was COLD that morning; this is a popular place and we had about a 20 minute wait for our seats at 9:00. (Glad it wasn't raining). This is pretty unusual; being at breakfast by 9:00 usually means no wait; this was probably the first wait we've had in months. Our seat ended up by the window, which made for a nice view, but didn't do much for our warmth. But the coffee helped out.

The wait staff were very friendly, knowledgeable, and helpful. The service was okay; we hada bit of wait for our food and our coffee cups went dry a coupleo ftimes. I'd probably go to 5 stars if service had been a tad faster. But I'm not complaining, the place was hopping. This is just what we are looking for in our breakfast; good food, good service, and a fun atmosphere, all delivered in a funky neighborhood location.

SAMMY'S

[Rick] Well, I cleaned up my plate, so I must have enjoyed it. I had the Artichoke Heart and Crab Omelet ( I think it was called something else on the menu, but can't remember what). The potatoes were good and the whole wheat toast really good with, what seemed to be, homemade jam.

The stained glass light down the center of the restaurant was very nice. I want to go back and try a "bene". There were three or four different kinds. I rated this ****.

Emanon - February 18, 2006

Bake here. I'm a little behind in posting, so things may show up out of order. My little sister was in town and we dragged her along on our excursion.(That's her in the green sweater in the picture) We went to Emanon at 1000 NW 17th Ave in Portland. It is a little place, not crowded at all. I think our waitress is also the owner. She had some family (niece and nephew, or son and daughter) come in while we were there, so it was really a family affair. The kids served us and made sure our coffee cups were full. Emanon is "No name" in reverse. Pretty cute.

It was a real cold weekend and we got there just as they opened and it took a few minutes for things to warm up.

The best part of the breakfast are the scones! OHMYGOSH! Delicious. I think I had a blueberry/cranberry one. I'd go back just for the scones! I had a scramble with ham, bacon, onions, and cheese. It was very good.

I got the tip on this place from Bruce and Aliece at my work. I can definitely see why it is in their rotation. I give it 3 1/2 stars; a second visit may kick it up to 4.
A confession: Carlita and I went there on a little scouting excursion a few weeks ago when A.H. and Rick couldn't make it. So, you know that it is a place to return to.

Sammy's Restaurant March 4, 2006

Bake here. Today we went to Sammy's Cafe on NW 23rd, between Everett and Flanders. At least I think it is Sammy's; they recently had a makeover and the old sign is gone replaced by one that says "Cafe @ 23rd". Nevertheless, the awning still says "Sammy's" (actually you have to read it), so we'll call it Sammy's.

I was a little trepiditious about our meal for a number of reasons. Recent postings on portland.citysearch.com say the food is "so so" but the service is great. I've also heard that if you stray away from standard "American" fare, you may be disappointed. Plus it is in NORTHWEST and, being from the suburbs I was worried about being able to find parking.

But, Jeff from my work raves about the breakfasts here. I wish I could render in print how he says he likes the crab cakes benedict. Basically, he says "I like it " then lowers his chin to his chest and says in a deep drawl, "a LOT, ... A LOT". He's from Alabama and still has a twinge of accent, so I guess that helps. So, of course I had the crab benedict, and I liked it A LOT! There were BIG hunks of crab on a perfectly toasted English muffin topped by a poached egg. The egg was just a tad on the hard side and didn't run all over when I cut into it - so that took a bit away from the experience. The coffee was good and the potatoes (home fries?) were seasoned with onion and bell pepper (green and red).

The service was not up to my expectations. We had to wait quite a while to get our menus and water and order coffee. Rick finally got up to pick up our menus herself. Then we didn't see too much of our waitress until after she brought the bill; at which point she showed up a number of times to take our money (but we weren't ready). She was very pleasant, just not a professional waitress, so no big deal.

Parking was fine; they have a nice little lot behind the building.

And we had a celebrity sighting - John Kitzhaber (Oregon's past Governor) came in and had breakfast. I discovered the difference between the movers and shakers and the rest of us. While we had breakfast and chatted about inane things like names that "old fashioned" (Lois or Herb for example), John wrote an essay or something, read part of a book and took notes and talked (discretely) on his cell phone.

All in all, I give it 4 stars - definitely worth a return visit.