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I should have put BeWon in my list of options by type of cuisine. BeWon, an upscale Korean restaurant, may be my favorite Asian restaurant in all of Portland metro.

I guess I have to take your word for it, but it's just *so* contrary to what I've seen from them I have a hard time believing it without corroboration from someone I know. I've bene there several times in the last couple years and have experienced some of the most professional service in Portland. They even try to do some of the little things that personally I don't care that much about, like folding your napkin when you go to the bathroom and things like that. I can't imagine someone yelling in the intimate dining room. This is Paley's, right, the place on NW 21st near Wildwood? I know they've never confused me for a reviewer.

I'm always looking for cool dishes and I've had some tasty breakfast items in Latin America. I'm not sure I liked breakfast until I ate it in Latin America. Interested in anything from your favorite pan dulces to chilaquiles to cachapas. Whatever. If you want to include a recipe, that's cool. But if you just want to give a brief description I'll try to find a recipe that matches. Thanks.

Did you see that Gourmet picked it as one of their Portland recommended restaurants for the year?

So what's the range for the entrees, then (in price)?

I like Laslow's menus and the sound of the dishes and the prices, but the times I've been there, always with several people, there were several dishes that weren't executed properly, an off flavor, bitter sauce, overcooked meat, or the like. Maybe I've just been on bad nights, but I just think their execution comes up short. I wonder if Paley's attempt at more formal service comes across rude in Portland. I know the others who have described that bar tender's service clearly got poor service. The times I've been to Paley's, though, the service was very good. Maybe a little stiff, but very good. And like I've said, I dress rather casual and don't spend much on clothes, so I doubt I would have fooled anyone into thinking I'm wealthy. I tend to like service that gets the job done but otherwise leaves me alone. I have no real desire, eg, to have the waiter kneel at my table and pretend to be my friend. (Not implying anything about you pitti or anyone else, just my own feelings on the matter.) Nick

If you're serious, KarenS, you should message me privately. Not the right kind of thing for the public part of the board.

That's unfortunate. I've never felt that way at any of them and I never wear more than a polo shirt. In the summer, I often dress even more casual. So I doubt they ever are fooled into thinking that I'm wealthy or anything. I don't drink, either, which can often lead to a snobbiness from waitstaff who are seeing their tips diminish. I think all of the places you mention are missing something in the flavors primarily, though, that keeps them from being the level of food you'd find at those that I mentioned. I'd put a place like Buckman Bistro before those that you mentioned. We may just look for different things in our dishes, however.

I'm glad you mentioned this, because I've never been a fan of Miso Happy either and so started to dismiss this place. btw, where are the best Vietnamese restaurants for items other than Pho? I love Pho Van in the Pearl (it's surprisingly better than the one on 82nd, which doesn't make sense, and the menu is better, too) for their lotus and banana blossom salads and some of their other non-pho dishes. Any other good places I should try?

Interesting selection. I wouldn't put any of those in my top 10, probably, except maybe Pho Van in The Pearl only because I'd be giving it a nod for some cuisine diversity. I think I've been to them all in the last year except Fratelli's. I certainly don't think I got anything special as far as service goes at any of them. For a service/food combo, it'd be hard to beat places like Genoa, Wildwood, Paley's, and Caprial's. Of course, they're also some of the more expensive. Heathman often has a good service/flavor combo, but there are nights when the service just lacks, unfortunately. They're few, but it does happen. But Heathman also has better prices than these.

Technically, the only difference between making a masa quesadilla and a corn quesadilla would be that the former would be fresher. In my experience, when you say masa to a Mexican, they will assume you mean either fresh or flour masa (masa harina). And usually, since it's more common, they will assume you mean masa harina. This will always be assumed to be made from corn. There are two grinds that you will commonly find. There is "...para tortillas" and "...para tamales". The grind for tortillas is finer than the grind for tamales. Making a tamale grind actually isn't that hard to do at home. You can go buy dry kernel corn for the purpose at a health food store or mercado latino, soak it in lime water (the chemical, not the fruit), and then grind it or even use a food processor. It works decently. Many Mexican markets actually have fresh masa for tamales frozen. It's definitely better than the stuff you make yourself from masa harina. If you use masa harina, then you add water to make a dough and then make the tortillas from that dough. Diana Kennedy has a book on tortillas that is now part of her Essential Cuisines compilation that you can find in any Barnes and Noble or online. Bayless' Authentic Mexican also does an excellent job of covering tortillas making. Both cover both flour and corn based tortillas. If you haven't made your own flour (meaning wheat flour) tortillas, you're missing out. It is some effort, but they're really good. Unlike corn tortillas, you don't need a tortillas press to get a good product. I highly suggest using lard, though, not shortening, unless you're a vegetarian. I've found that making quesadillas from scratch using either fresh or flour masa takes some practice but is well worth it. There is a quality to them that is just fantastic. If you've had them in Mexico, you know what I'm talking about. It's much easier to do this using a cast iron comal or skillet. A comal can be picked up in most any Wal-Mart and places like Bed, Bath, and Beyond or Linens and Things often even have pre-seasoned Lodge cast iron cookware. That's highly advisable. Seasoning is the most annoying part of cast iron. I don't know where you live, but in most cities that have a Mexican population at all you'll find little taquerias or taco trucks that have real quesadillas, that is, not Tex-Mex, Sonoran, or California style quesadillas with wheat flour tortillas. I'd suggest putting out the request on your regional egullet forum.

Does Casanis have a website? And do they serve lunch on weekends? I've been wanting to go there but haven't made it on a weekday yet. It's on my short list, though.

I actually put that edition of Bon Appetit on my shelf to save for my next visit. Its "Travelling with Taste: Mexico City" article was excellent. They had several very good recommendations and clearly explained which were more Mexican comfort food and which were more upscale. They also had an excellent suggestion in the Puerto Vallarta restaurants. Based on that, I'll definitely be checking their suggestions in other towns on next visit.

I originally wrote this for epinions. Hope it helps: What I Wanted from the Trip: I am a devout foodie, and Mexican is one of my top three favorite cuisines. I was looking for great food. However, my wife and I also needed to recharge our batteries and were looking for a place with both cultural options and lazing-around options. We also didn't want to have to spend too much money. We wanted to keep our total budget for 10 days, including airfare and room, to under $2000 if possible (and we succeeded). Puerto Vallarta with its old world architecture, artists, diverse dining, and beaches was our final choice. Location: We stayed in downtown Puerto Vallarta, el centro, the romantic zone. I don't have much info on Nuevo Vallarta, Marina Vallarta, or even the hotel zone. I didn't want to spend that kind of money (and might as well just go to Las Vegas if I was just looking for a resort and didn't want local culture). Food Recommendations: I've listed out here some of my favorite food experiences and places. Comida Corrida: One of the best deals is the comida corrida. Lots of the little mom and pop Mexican places nestled within the shops and storefronts have one. It was running 35 pesos when I was there (less than $3.50). You'll get an appetizer, usually a choice of soups, a choice of entree, and a drink, usually whatever jugo (juice) they've made that day. Options for entrees are things like moles, albondigas (meatballs in sauce), or some sort of stewed dish. The entrees are usually served with beans and rice and fresh made tortillas. And salsa, of course. I got stuffed every time. Most of the places seemed relatively clean, though I always checked it out first. My favorite place for comida corrida was Tia's on Pino Suarez and Cardenas near Playa Los Muertos. They also serve a desayuno (breakfast) special for 25 pesos with eggs any style, chilaquiles (a yummy tortilla casserole), and beans. Another good place for desayuno and comida similar in style to Tia's, but without a comida corrida, is 3 Huasteces on Olas Altas, just south of Playa Los Arcos across from A Page in the Sun. Very good tortillas and a very good mole pueblo. Few items over 50 pesos and its solid quality. btw, there's also a little Indian place on Cardenas, can't remember the name. It serves Indian and Sri Lankan cuisine. Excellent. I've had some great Indian food and this place was up there. Best rice I think I've ever had. Got a sampler plate from them. Fabulous lentil curry. Vegetarian curries were only 20 pesos, meat curries were 50. Food Stands: There are tons of food stands, taco huts, etc, in PV. If you walk away from the beach up Basilio Badillo or one of the other major streets you'll find plenty. Many serve excellent tacos, quesadillas, or even pozole. And they're cheap. Expect to pay 5 pesos for a taco. Two of my favorites were actually very close to the beach. Both were at Cardenas Square next to Daiquiri Dick's at the corner of Cardenas and Olas Altas (btw, probably the best painted bowls, platters, and welcome signs can be found here, too, by a native-Mexican woman; she'll give you a different price every time and you should give her exact change because I believe she can't add or subtract). One serves just tacos and quesadillas, 5 pesos for tacos, 10 for quesadillas. They press and grill the tortillas before you. You get choice of two kinds of meat or onion (cebollita) for filling. The other is closer to the beach, looks a bit scary, but isn't, and advertises "Pozole Rico". Yum. I had their costilla de puerco (rib of pork) with beans and rice and tortillas for 30 pesos. Rich, flavorful dish that was excellent. You can see them dutifully cleaning all their cooking equipment in purified water. They are extremely nice. There is an excellent food stand that can sometimes be found in the Parque Hidalgo just a couple blocks past the most northern end of the Malecon (you know you're at the most northern end of the Malecon when you see McDonald's, yuck; even worse, the Malecon begins with a Hooter's). They serve huaraches (means sandals, don't confuse them with the food). They are fantastic. Only place I found serving huaraches in PV. Cheap and a lot of food. A huarache, btw, is a thick corn tortilla piled with sauce and other toppings and cheese. Almost like a Mexican pizza, you might say. Nice Restaurants: It took me a while, but the last two nights in PV, after looking at tons of menus and asking around, I found two great Mexican restaurants that a midwesterner's grandmother wouldn't be afraid to eat at. They were Los Milagros on Juarez and Pipila and Xitomate on Morelos and Aldama (both just a couple blocks away from the ocean near the Malecon). The former is traditional Mexican with a variety of dishes from a variety of regions. I had their mole rojo and my wife had their mixed molcajete. We both had soups for appetizers, me a chipotle soup, and my wife a lime soup. The mole was very good served with a tender breast of chicken, beans, rice, and tortillas. It was under 80 pesos and a fair portion. The flavor was excellent, rich, sweet and spicy. My wife's dish was impressive, served sizzling in a large basalt molcajete (large mortar for grinding foods). It had a whole grilled nopale cactus paddle, tender beef, large succulent shrimp, sausage, and chicken all in a mild tomato salsa with cheese. Very, very good. About 140 pesos. The soups were both good as well. They were a brothy soups with mixed vegetables and meat and the hint of their respective attractions, chipotle and lime. We had the orange flan for dessert, which was good. They have live music and very good service with very friendly waiters. btw, a table next to us ordered the tequila flamed lobster. They turned off all the lights and flamed it table side. Very cool. Nice Mexican garden decor with linen table cloths and napkins. Xitomate was nueva cocina mexicana. The place looked it, too, with chic fixtures, place settings, and furniture. All very Mexican, still. This was our most expensive meal of the trip, but they more than earned it. In Portland, a meal like this would have been almost twice as expensive. In a city like San Francisco, Chicago, or New York, forget about it. My wife started with the thinly slice scallops with cucumber and jicama julienne and aguachile sauce, 88 pesos. I don't usually like seafood, but this was excellent. They served it with thin, crispy tortillas and you made little tostadas. My wife and I were practically battling with our forks over every bite. For dinner, my wife had the grilled salmon in poblano chile sauce, squash blossom, and tender corn, 126 pesos. Tasty sauce. I can't stand salmon so I didn't try it, but the sauce was great. My wife enjoyed all of it. It was served with an excellent sautee of mixed squash and root vegetables and small roasted potatoes dusted with chile powder. I had the heart of beef tenderloin with chipotle sauce, 148 pesos. It was cooked perfectly medium rare as I had asked and was very tender and flavorful. The sauce was good and again it was served with the sautee of vegetables which were excellent. The meat was served on top of some sort of tasty potato cake. We had the special, toluca ice cream cake, for dessert. Fantastic. A kalua, espresso, vanilla ice cream cake with caramal sauce and nuts on top. It really was fantastic. Also served with fresh berries. 48 pesos. Some nice touches: they served an amuse bouce before the meal, a small huitlicoche (corn mushroom) quesadilla that was quite tasty. They also served chips and four salsas. All the salsas were excellent, two red salsas, one green, and a mixture of pickled onions and jalapenos. The chips were red corn with sesame seeds baked on. Very tasty and interesting. The service was **** quality. The waiters spoke impeccable English. The chef came out and congratulated a woman celebrating her birthday. The maitre'd classily and cooly brought her dessert, putting a candle in it, and lighting it for her. Food Warnings: At first I was a bit disappointed. There's not as much variety in the types of Mexican as there is in, say, Mexico City, especially for someone like me who is not a huge seafood fan. We first looked at places recommended in various guidebooks. eg, Cafe Ollas, a very popular place that would be better named Cafe Parrilla, because most things are grilled, came highly recommended. However, both my wife and I found it mediocre and overpriced. The atmosphere was decent, the service was good, but the food was lacking. Oily and bland tortilla soup, greasy quesadillas, mediocre fish, burnt chips, etc. I would suggest steering clear of places that obviously cater to tourists unless you really don't like food that's not entirely familiar. Places like Fajita Republic will be packed and they'll give you decent fajitas like you're used to back home at your local Tex-Mex place, but you'll be missing out on some new and wonderful flavors and be paying twice as much. Steer clear of hotel restaurants, too. They can even be lamer, serving little more than hamburgers spiced up only by being called hamburguesas. They probably won't even be as good as Red Robin or the like. I'm sure there are exceptions, but odds are... If you're paying over 100 pesos for an entree it better be some of the best food you've ever had. (btw, I checked out Oscar's, a place recommended here on epinions; it looks okay, the setting is nice, but the menu looked very boring.) Places to Stay: We stayed at the Playa Los Arcos and the Hotel Yazmin. For two nights we paid $240 at Los Arcos. The room was Motel 6 quality with cable and air conditioning, but the view was nice, overlooking the pool and beach. Hotel Yazmin, half a block away, was 450 pesos a night, with excellent air conditioning, great hot water and water pressure, very thorough maids, and decent, though a little stiff, beds. We chose that over the slightly closer to the ocean and slightly cheaper Hotel Lily because they had a nice garden and courtyard. Either would be an excellent modest cost choice, though. (By comparison, in the hotel zone or Neuvo Vallarta in the resorts, you will pay close to $200/night or more; and all the action is downtown.) Activities: You get a lot of the same activites that you find in places like Hawaii, but at a much lower cost. We took a day trip on a boat with open bar (though I don't drink), continental breakfast, lunch, and snorkling for $35/person. We probably could have talked the guy down, too, but we took a similar trip for $70/person in Hawaii and jumped at the chance. We went snorkling at Los Arcos (only mediocre snorkling because of the murkiness of the water as compared with Hawaii or Cancun), then on to Los Animas Beach (probably the best beach in the bay) and Quimoxto for a hike or horseback ride (125 pesos extra for the horse and not worth it; the horses were very scrawny and old looking; the hike is easy) up to a waterfall. The waterfall is okay. The lunch is mediocre. Be warned of the breakfast. The fruit had been sitting out by the time we got to it. I avoided it. My wife gobbled it up. She came down with la turista. If nothing else, I would take a water taxi to Los Animas. It is a very beautiful and uncrowded beach with nice sand. Bring a lunch, though. Also parasailed. 250 pesos and well worth it. Only about 10 minutes but very fun. Felt very safe and they land you right where you take off on the beach, on a dime. My wife parasailed, too, and loved it. Make sure you meander on the malecon at night. Lots of art, street performers, etc. You can watch the spanish galleon shoot of its fireworks, too. Try La Chata for a place to eat. Ate at their Guadalajara restaurant and really liked it. Cheap, too. For all activies, shop around and bargain. Don't buy it the first time someone comes up to you if you're at all budget conscious. Compared to Hawaii: Compared with a trip to Hawaii, Puerto Vallarta is a steal. From Portland, OR, I paid about half for what my airlines tickets to even Honolulu would have been. I was able to stay in a range of hotels for certainly less that I would have had to spend in Hawaii. The activities were generally half to a third the price, and the food was similarly priced. I think Puerto Vallarta is an excellent choice for the traveller looking for a modest tropical escape. The sand isn't as nice, and the snorkeling and swimming isn't as good, and the water isn't as clear, but if you're more of a jet ski, parasailing, getting a tan, seeing the sights type of person, it's a much better deal. Final Tips: Just keep on walking by the timeshare salespeople. If interested at all (they'll give you about $100 worth of trade for activities or whatever if you do the thing), then just say yes, go to the thing, say no over and over to the sales pitch, and take your gift and leave. Don't feel bad. However, to the beach vendors, they're just very poor fellas trying to get by, be polite. A "no, gracias" and wave of the hand is usually enough. Also, a couple pesos to the beggars isn't like giving money to the panhandlers in the US. There isn't much opportunity for a guy with a missing leg in Mexico. Finally, don't be an ugly American. Be polite, don't treat people like servants, look the lowliest worker in the eye and say "hola". You'll find there are a lot of bright, friendly people just scraping by with hard work in Mexico. If you get a chance, talk with them. In PV, most of them speak better English than you or I speak Spanish.

I guess that depends, to some degree, on what impresses you. I just took a trip with an experienced Chowhound friend to the bay area for 5 days where we ate at French Laundry, Gary Danko, Fifth Floor, Chez Panisse, and Masa's (plus a ton of places for lunch and snacks). Of those, Portland food is much more in Chez Panisse's style. Chez Panisse isn't really haute cuisine. It's not showy. It's preparations aren't surprising. It's just good ingredients, prepared thoughtfully and well. I think that's what Portland's "next wave" has. But I think even Portland's high end restaurants are much closer to Chez Panisse than they are French Laundry. There's no effort to be "clever" (which could also be construed as pretentious) like Keller's salmon tartare coronets. You're not going to get a foie gras ice cream like I had in Chicago at Charlie Trotter's. But I'd rather eat the poached eggs on brioche with bacon and pinot noir sauce I had at Buckmans Bistro the other night than either of those. Is it new? Only in the sense that everything old becomes new again, like I said before. But is it good? Definitely. Fabulous, actually, just like the simple salad I had at Chez Panisse with the most wonderful cherry tomatoes I've ever had was. I like haute cuisine and I wish Portland had a place that could pull out a tour of caviar and a 12 course tasting menu with foie gras, but that's just food you eat once a month or on a special occasion. Portland restaurants make food you can and want to eat every day. I think that's impressive.

I've eaten at a few of these places. And the trend in new restaurants in Portland seems to be going this way even with places like Carafe where you have much more traditional French bistro style food with local ingredients. Sauton greeted us and seated us, waited on several tables, even dispensing water and delivering dishes, but I never saw him say, "Hi, I'm Chef Sauton" or anything like that. It's more like these chefs are inviting you into their home and making food for you. You're their guests in that more personal sense. It's not grand-standing or showing-off or trying to be a celebrity. It's a more sincere desire to make food that people like and to like the people who come to eat their food. That's the sense I get, but maybe I'm projecting the Portland-attitude that I want rather than what exists. But I think it's a defined difference from what you might find in an LA or NY or even SF where maybe there's so much competition that chefs have to do things like "The Restaurant" to survive. I don't think it's entirely new to Portland, though, just a more concentrated version of what Portland is. As I've complained about elsewhere, I do miss haute cuisine, which Portland does not have. Even pinnacles like Wildwood and Genoa have generally fairly rustic presentations, even on desserts, and you'll rarely find foie gras, truffles, or caviar on even French menus. There are few tasting menus and only one prix fixe many course menu that I know of (Genoa). There isn't even that much fusion cooking. Caprial's does some interesting fusion cooking that comes across unforced and novel. But Portland's strength seems to be in traditional food, places like Cafe Azul, Genoa, Pambiche, Tuscany Grill, Paley's, Mother's, Esparza's, and so on. And these "next wave" or whatever places seem to be similar. I consider it only new, really, in the sense that everything old becomes new again. But I think the reason why it will survive is because they do great stuff and they're not trying to be the next whatever. They could just be neighborhood restaurants and be fine.