Location

23 Hoyt
529 NW 23 and Hoyt
Portland, Oregon 97210
503.445.7400

Erin: If I were to compare this restaurant to an old boyfriend it would have to be Andrew. Andrew was great. He was beautiful, gave me a plant for my birthday and he silently counted all the sports he played on his fingers while no one was looking. I loved him (kind of). One night he told me he didn't want to see me anymore. It broke my heart. I cried. I tried to change his mind. I think I begged? Then I feigned ill. I fell over and told him I was dizzy and didn't feel well. He left. Then I ate a bunch of ice cream and started dating his friend Erik.
Much like Andrew- 23 Hoyt gave much and took little in return. The happy hour we partook of was inexpensive and filling. 23 Hoyt was beautifully decorated and meticulously located (I mean imagine if 23 Hoyt was located on 11th and Couch). The food was great. All the waitresses were attentive and the water glasses were never empty. My 23Hoyt Burger was delicious and the onion rings were awesome. As I felt our time was nearing an end I ordered squash raviolis just to push back the inevitable. The brown butter and sage sauce that I'm usually crazy about was good but not great. That's when I knew our time had run it's course. When we finally left I did feel dizzy and my stomach definitely hurt. Probably from all of the fried food. I will, however, always look back on those tempura mushrooms with fondness. Those were the good times. Mmmm. Yum. Ponzu sauce.
Lucky for me Moonstruck Chocolate Cafe was located just across the street. I was able to move on like every other warm blooded woman in this world- with chocolate. Maybe 23 Hoyt has a best friend....

Acadia Amazing

Acadia A New Orleans Bistro
1303 NE Fremont Street
Portland, OR
503.249.5001


Erin: First of all I have been out of town for a spell and I have been living on Wendy's french fries and chocolate Oreo frosties. When Erik and I started this blog we vowed to save our pennies when not eating out in Portland by eating crap fast food and ramen noodles. Poor idea. However, that is not to undermine the complements which I am about to abundantly bestow upon Acadia (a new orleans bistro) but to punctuate the beauty of this meal when compared to fast food for a week.
Having been a vegetarian for several years and just starting to eat meat in small amounts I tend to quickly look over a menu and pick out all of the vegetarian dishes first. If none of them sound good I usually go for something extreme like steak or beef. I know, I don't get it either? Anyway, the only vegetarian dish on this menu happened to be goat cheese gnocchi in brown butter with sage, butternut squash, pecans, pears and wilted arugula. YUM!! I didn't need to look at any of my other options. I could hardly order it fast enough. It was even better than I could have expected. So many great flavors all in one dish! I also happen to know that everyone at the table (5 in all) was exceedingly pleased with their dishes. Not one of us left the table without wiping our plate clean with the bread the waitress never ceased to bring by our table.
I also have to commend Acadia for serving the perfect portions. I was completely full and satisfied but not too full. I had room for the best part of the night, DESSERT! I ordered old fashioned buttermilk chocolate cake. And I ate it all! Not one person wanted a bite. I think it was all that talk about swine flu and germs that kept people honest. Not me- I ate off everyone's plate with no regard for my personal health all night long. Just like usual!


Erik: On Mondays at Acadia you can get a three course meal for 17 bucks. On Mondays I order the three course meal and everyone else is left in the dust. I ate a salad and some bread pudding AND an entrée, not in that particular order. Some people might say that they don't want to pay for greens. Well, I say to them: you can't get greens for free dummy. The salad was simple and fresh. I ate the salad first. Then came my entrée which was blackened catfish over mashed potatoes, tomatoes, and okra, all in a hollandaise sauce. The portion was medium/small, but wow did it fill me up. It was really good, I daresay as far as southern bistro food a lot better than the Montage. For me, a sign of a really well put together dish is if it has tomatoes in it and I like the tomatoes. This might not mean to you what it means to me but "I liked the tomatoes." They were small and cherry, and they popped! Love when that happens. The bread pudding was super-excellent and didn't have any raisins in it. Keep raisins away from me. There were five of us at this event and I got stressed out about splitting up the check. The waitress was so great about it, and I was relieved. I'm still stressed about the squealing noise my car is making though. Go to Acadia and eat.

Continued

50 Plates
333 NW 13th Ave.
Portland, OR 97209
503.228.5050

More photos from 50 Plates

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50 Plates
333 NW 13th Ave.
Portland, OR 97209
503.228.5050

Erin- At 50 plates the menu, being a proud and a confident menu, strikes up a conversation with just about any patron that walks in the door. The conversation is pretty much always the same but never gets old. It goes a little something like this-

Menu- Hey!... Hey you! Yes, you... Yeah, I'm a menu and I talk, what of it? Look, I got these great Silver Dollar Sammies up in the corner here, you should really try one. You'll like it.
Patron- Silver Dollar Sammies you say? Hmmm. What is that exactly?
Menu- Oh, just the best baby hamburgers you'll ever eat. No big deal (the menu can be sarcastic sometimes).
Patron- Baby hamburgers? Um, it looks like this one is chicken dunked in maple syrup and served on a waffle? Am I reading this right?
Menu- Listen honey, I ain't got all day. There are other people that would jump at the chance to order that Roscoe Slider. Trust me, order any of them and you'll go home pleased as punch.

From what I've noticed patrons tend to throw little hissy fits just upon seeing the sliders brought to their table. Not to mention what they do once they've tried one. The menu is justly confident. I personally found the weird little chicken, waffle, syrup creation quite charming and after tasting it I asked my waiter to send my menu friend back around. I definitely wanted more.

Erik- I've got an issue with 50 plates, and that issue is that I COULD EAT 27 SLIDERS AND STILL WANT MORE. Unfortunately, at four bucks a pop, that's not going to happen. This restaurant is in the "bourgeoisie" price range, or at least the "semi-snoot" price range. Whatever. Everything that I ate there was real real tasty, I'm telling you. Imagine the usual burger contraptions: cheeseburger, portabello burger, hawaiian burger, etc. Now shrink 'em, and as they shrink the tastiness condenses to a more concentrated state. They may or may not have a "Honey I Shrunk the Kids" machine in their kitchen, but that's pretty much how it works.

Other things that happened to me, and may happen to you:
-The light at the table where we sat was extremely skewed to my side, so much so that I felt I was on stage for the whole restaurant to see, and as a result I had to mind my manners.
-I pick up the water (bottle on the table) to give my glass a refill just as the waiter comes over to do the same. Awkwardness ensues.
-Erin and I, at 24, were far below the clientele's median age.
-After the meal the waiter brings over two spoonfuls of chocolate. They were on the house. I'm not sure if this happens to everyone or he just thought we were special, but I'm going to go ahead and assume it was because we are special.


One last tip. If you go to a great restaurant like 50 Plates, but the menu items are on the smaller and more expensive side, and you find yourself still hungry, JUST GO TO WENDY'S AFTERWARDS AND BUY YOURSELF A FROSTY, SIZE LARGE.