From Seattle, we took a leisurely drive to Portland, Oregon. We had booked The Nines hotel (thank you SPG/Starwood points!) and were told it was quite the sexy hotel. It did not disappoint, with not just a sexy (if not small) room but a lovely gift of champagne and chocolate covered strawberries from the hotel.
F-in classy The Nines Hotel. Complimentary champagne and chocolate covered strawberries from the GM. #theaxelbaums #thenines #baller by @nycnomnom
We had heard that Portland was famous for their foot trucks, which congregate in specific squares around the city. We set off to find one but were dismayed to find that they are not a dinner thing and most were closed. We found one Korean/Hawaiian cart open and decided to try some the special of the day (and one of my favorite dishes of all time), Bibimbop. We were ravenous and surrounded by weird homeless people (I guess that’s what we get for trying to do this for dinner… now we know) so we devoured it and forgot to take a picture of it. Basically, it looked like cut up vegetables and beef over rice… pretty much like every other bibimbop you’ve seen. And it was good, but nothing too out of the ordinary, and sadly, even though it was flipped around in a wok, cold. It did not satisfy.
So off we went to a famous brewery (that is actually out of Bend, Oregon, where we were heading in a few days), Deschutes. We were surprised to see that this was actually a very large place and was packed. We had to wait about 45 minutes for a table to come up. Waiting was fine… we had so-so bibimbop to hold us over and just got a beer at the bar. I tried the Imperial Smoked Porter and absolutely loved it.
Deschutes Brewery Imperial Smoked Porter. Awesome. #nycnomnom #theaxelbaums by @nycnomnom
Our first snack was the pretzel, which came with a mustard and cheese sauce. Now I don’t like mustard, but I LOVED this. I don’t know what the cheese and salty pretzel did to change my mind, but this mustard was fantastic. And the pretzel itself tasted exactly how you want a fresh baked soft pretzel to taste.
Pretzel with cheese and grain mustard to dip. Yes. Yes. Yes. #nubulous #nycnomnom #theaxelbaums by @nycnomnom
We also decided to try the macaroni and cheese, which came with cavatappi pasta tossed in a rich stout cream sauce with grilled red onion, baby spinach and sharp white cheddar cheese topped with bread crumbs. And we added bacon, as if macaroni and cheese made with beer wasn’t already indulgent enough.
Killer stout Mac and Cheese. #nycnomnom by @nycnomnom
This was insanely good. So good, in fact, that I commented on Instagram/Facebook that even though we were beyond full, we couldn’t NOT finish it and the only thing that was left was the bacon. And when I leave bacon over anything else, you know it was DAMN GOOD.
You know the mac and cheese was something special when I’m too full to eat the bacon but the mac is all gone. #nycnomnom #theaxelbaums by @nycnomnom
Deschutes was everything you want a craft brewery restaurant to be. Great food, great beer, and lots of space for people to socialize. We said how much we would love a place like this in the city (it would never have the same feel though) and I realized that this place is everything Heartland Brewery tries to be and fails absolutely miserably at. Shame.
If I lived in Portland, I would spend many evenings here.
Total Nom Points: 7 out of 10
