rick r.'s Profile

Finding Bete-Lukas without knowing where you're going can be tricky.  Not that I'd ever be guilty of such a thing.  But just in case, it's on SE 50th, just south of that corner on Division where North is.  Same side.

The sign is small, and the place is upstairs, lending an air of...wait!  are they actually open?

But persevere, and bother to read the signs, and you'll end up navigating a flight of stairs to a pleasant-feeling Ethiopian restaurant.

The typical configuration of a small Ethiopian restaurant seems to be one person working the front, and another in the back doing the cooking.  The front person occasionally helps out in back, so there's a chance you could be standing there for a number of minutes before being acknowledged.  Just remember that you waited a lot longer at the Tin Shed or Apizza, and was _that_ acknowledgment worth more than none at all?

Anyway, the dude is super-friendly, imparting bits of wisdom and humor occasionally.  After our meal, we were sitting with our beers, and he came by, our immense plate still partially covered with delicious injera and a variety of dishes, and suggested, "Sit back, relax, and perhaps you'll finish the food," which, as we knew was ludicrous.  But there was something there...the not rushing us out despite us being the only occupied table near closing time.  

We had a table of six.  We crowded into a table comfortably and ordered two each of the veggie and meat combos.  Sides of cottage cheese and berbere powder.  Some injera.  So that's four combo entree for six people.  And we couldn't finish it.  He poo-poo'd my appetizers, suggesting we see what we get, then decide if we want more.  There was no need for the appetizers.

And no shortage of flavors.  There were two kale dishes, one with beef, the other curried.  The salad was a nice version of the classic tangy-sweet green salad youve seen before.  The carrot and potato dishes were cooked perfectly, just enough resistance with no tough spots.  The sauces were mild but flavorful.  

I think that we missed having some chicken (doro wat I think), but we didn't notice that we missed it at the time.  Everyone devoured the bread, the food, the sauces.  And we had a great time.

The atmosphere was friendly and fun.  While mostly empty, there was a birthday party celebrating nearby, and we were celebrating old friends visiting.

Oh...and afterthought.  not sure if this is on the menu, but they brought out some layered cake for that party that looked fantastic.  I didn't sample, not sure if that's where it came from, but you might look into it if cake's your thing.

I put two dollar-signs for price, not because you can't eat here for cheap (veggie dishes for 6 bucks IIRC) but because there's so much you shouldn't constrain yourself.  Have a beer, celebrate friends, experience some fun flavors.

man, I'd hoped for better.  It wasn't bad.  It just wasn't...much.  The sauce was sticky, the chicken was boring, the veggies were unexciting.  The rice (brown) was fine.  It was expensive.  $7 (plus tip) for a tiny-ass bento boat?  Ouch.  I know I'm sitting in the pearl district, but I need some grub!  

When I think of bento, I think inexpensive and I think decent portions.  You'd better have at least one of the two.  If you're curious what I'm referring to, checkout Du's Grill (Sandy)...I'd say the gold standard.

The soy sauce was empty too, but there wasn't enough food to bother asking for more.

Pretty good bento.  I got the spicy chicken bento ($4.75) with stir fried veggies and white rice.  The veggies were pretty tasty.  I'm giving it four stars because I can't think of a better teriyaki joint in Beaverton.  But I would not make the drive from Portland to here.

I'm on the fence.  3 stars or four stars?  I'll write and see where it falls.

N heard about this place through some review or other, probably the WW.  While it's no around the corner for me, I'm always excited for a new pizza joint.

The place is sustainable.  organic.  fresh.  Those are good things.  The topings are tasty, and well applied....neither ridiculously abundant nor scarce.  

The sauce is flavorful but not overbearing.  Tangy sweet.   Awesome.

The crust.  Lacked.  It was so close to really good.  But it had three problems.  It was too soft in the middle.  This is classic, perhaps stylistic, so I can deal.  But it was too tough on the outside.  Crunchy and dry.  Not great.  In addition, it lacked flavor.  The crust was reduced to something holding the sauce and toppings off your hands.  Bummer.  I'm thinking that it was an off night.

The beer selection was good.  I had the TG IPA.  They also had a coupla Dicks...one the brown.

The people were friendly, the place was open and comfortable.  And who would've expected something showing up on Dekum? (and there's a new smokehouse opening there immediately)

Oh the other problem.  It's expensive.  The large pizza was thirty bones.  With tip and one pint we dropped 40 bucks.  Ouch.  That's date night around these parts.  But we still have half a pizza left (I could easily have had more, it's not that filling).

Ok, so I'm going to go with 4, wishing that there was a 3.5.  But that's being optimistic that the crust will be better next time...

Catalina's is a nondescript sit-down chips and salsa Mexican restaurant in Parkrose, which may or may not be a part of Portland, depending on who you ask.  Tonite was my first visit, and it didn't take long for us to become the only customers in the place.

She brought chips and salsa, the chips were very fresh.  Crispy and still warm, a bit flaky.  I asked if they had a salsa picante.  They did not, but the waitress indicated that the house salsa was spicy.  It actually was, so I was quite pleased.  

I ordered my obligatory "first time here" chili verde.  It came out piping hot.  The pork was cut into smaller-than-usual chunks, which is fine...better verde penetration!  The verde sauce itself was pretty good.  One of the better I've encountered in Portland.  Rich and flavorful, it lacked a certain tang and roasted flavor that I crave.  But chili verdes are like fingerprints and personality disorders.  Every one is different.  And this one is a good effort.

N got the shrimp and spinach burrito after fish tacos were unavailable.  I am not normally a shrimp fan (I feel they underperform too often) but they were pretty good here, with and interesting sweet flavor.

Being the only patrons, it would seem that we'd get a fair amount of attention.  But that wasn't really the case.  She was distant.  que sera

Arrived in Minneapoils hungry!  Dropped the rental at the hotel and hit the pavement.  The door guy pointed us to a few places, and we decided that a pub burger sounded good.  

The first place we came to was Brit's.  And they were showing the match.  Holland was in the process of destroying Italy (Euro 2008).

Thirsty.  They had a decent selection of British pints.  I had the Olde Speckled Hen, a tasty one I don't see around much.  Other than that it was pretty standard fare with Boddington's, Fuller's, Guiness, and a few more.

The service was friendly.  The lunch was fine, but unspectacular.  I had the curry chicken sandwich.

Another night I returned to watch Portugal lay the hammer down on the Czech Republic, where I had snakebites and scotch eggs.

There's lawn bowling too, but I didn't realize that the first time, and it was dark and raining the second visit.  So I'll take their word for it.

UPdate:  I just remembered the major reason for dropping them to 4 *'s: their beer is friggin expensive.

In Minneapolis for a work trip.  Ate a completely ridiculous meal last night.  Mayslacks the night  before.  Holy cow I'm wrecked, let's mellos it out a bit.  Stay in downtown since that's where we are and nobody wants to drive.

The Local.  Irish pub.  Had a good time there last night staying out too late drinking too much beer and whiskey.  Let's take it to the next level and eat there.  So I got the bison burger.  It was really good.  With mashed taters.  Which were also really good.  Bacon, buffalo, beer, cheese.

Two visits, two good times.  And they have a make-out booth.

I got a recommendation for this place from a friend and cruised out for some grubbin' roast beef.  It'd been a gorgeous day, but the sun was just starting to drop so we sat inside at one of the classic booths.  "A bit small for the average American ass these days," we'd been warned.  True enough, but we persevered even as our asses grew under the pressure of the immense "Original."

That's what we both ordered.  The original.  Slow-cooked roast beef with garlic and spices, served up tall on a large roll, stacked higher with yellow deli peppers and onions.  Some good, hot horseradish on the side, along with the meat juice sauce.

The size of the sandwich was somewhat intimidating at first, especially when trying to squeeze it into the relatively tiny au jus container.  But the juicy goodness soaked into the bread without ever compromising the integrity of the bread.

Service was friendly.  I was disappointed that the restrooms had been modernized and lacked any real character.

This is a fun place to gather a few folks together.  It's interactive, casual, varied, and entertaining.  I have no idea if it's authentic, but I don't really care all that much.  

Must gets: bulgogi and beef tongue.  Really.  Try the tongue.  I haven't tried the short ribs yet, but they're on my list for next time.

Personally, I thought the veggie platter was a bit of a ripoff, but that's just me.  I mean the whole place is expensive, but $16 for a tray of sliced partial veggies?  ouch.

Beer: try the Hite.  Nice and mellow but a full flavor.

Throwing things onto the grill is pretty fun too.

And I love all of the sides.  Usually I'm not a huge fan of the radish kim chee, but it's good here.  The black beans are interesting.  Like I said, they're all good.

Not a great value for a restaurant, but worth it for the tasty experience.

Been wanting to get into this spot for awhile now, and last night was the night.  Wanting to get out of the Sandy Hut, needing food, and wanting to see the rest of the game, I suggested Boss Hawg's.

First, the parking lot experience was one of the stranger that I've had.  There was construction going on, and cars were parked a bit chaotically.   In front of us was a tow truck.  Maybe he's towing?  He just stopped.  Then sat.  Then started inching backwards.  No reverse lights.  Then he stopped.  In the end, it was apparent that he wanted out, but he had no interest in communicating that to us.  When we found our spot, there was a guy standing in the middle of it talking on his cell.  As we made motions towards the spot, he didn't move.  Only when it became necessary for his continued existence did he slide over a bit.  After the game people were hooting and hollering in the dirt driveway, something common, but there was a surreal quality to the content.

Okay.  We got inside and pulled up to the bar.  The place was crowded but not packed.  We ordered a couple Miller Lites and got menus.  I got the pulled pork sandwich, and Dave got the meatloaf dinner.

People were friendly, and we got to talking to the dude next to us who made us order the Hawg Wings, actually a couple of pork ribs.  They came out and were quite tasty.  I felt the sauce needed a bit more spice.

The sauce they used, and apparently the only available, tasted like a western North Carolina sauce.  Ketchup, vinegar, and some sweet.  It was good.  I generally prefer a mustard sauce on my pulled pork, but the red worked well.  The pulled pork was good.  Some bark pieces, some juicy, a hearty sandwich with a nice mild smoke.  Definitely very good for pub grub, and served with an enormous amount of tasty fries.

Next to the pulled pork, Dave's meatloaf was disappointing.  It tasted like a patty melt, more burger than anything.  The mashers and texas toast were both good though.

The beer selection is pretty good.  They had Lagunitas IPA, Blue Moon, Mirror Pond, and Black Butte (I think) on tap, in addition to the macrobrew selection...not sure why Miller Lite just sounded right then.