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Went to the Vancouver Arawan tonight and they're expanding. Anyone who has waited too long at the best all-around Thai in Vancouver will be quite thankful. I also had a dish I hadn't tried there before and usually don't like: yum nua (beef salad). So many Thai restaurants have the same failings as most other Asian restaurants. They just have boiled or mediocrely stir-fried meats. There's no crust and they're overcooked, often chewy. Not at Arawan. There's a wonderful crust and the meats are cooked medium and are still juicy. Plus, they have a very nice dressing for the salad, similar to many other Thai salads, with a wonderful balance of sour, salty, spicy, and sweet. The emphasis is on sour first with this one. Very nice salad.

The Aurora exit is a great I-5 stop for berries and peaches and such. But recently I noticed a sign for BBQ and hot dogs. Tried to stop by the other day, but no one was there. It's just a little trailer 1/4 mile west of the interstate. Today, they were open. They have several dogs and sausages and seem to buy quality, so I imagine they're good. But I was there to test the Q. They don't have a sampler plate, but I asked for one and they agreed. I got the pork loin, tri tip, and pork ribs. They also do chicken and sandwiches. The tri tip was dry and not smokey at all. The loin was better, decently moist and tender for loin, which I don't think generally makes good Q. It also wasn't that smokey, though. The pork ribs were clearly the best of the three and pretty decent. They're only seasoned with salt and pepper, which is nice, imo. They were tender and decently moist. They're still only as good as LOW's on an off day, but they're worth eating and a good I-5 stop. The BBQ sauce is overly sweet, imo, btw. They're open 10-5 M-S, closed on Sunday. See a couple more pics (including their menu with prices) at the link below. http://www.extramsg.com/modules.php?set_al...=view_album.php

I used just the blade in my Cuisinart before I got a meat grinder. Just make sure you pulse. You don't want meat puree.

I thought Puerto Vallarta was a better food city than Guadalajara in many ways. My favorite place was the birria place at Las Nueves Esquinas. Something like that. Mexican food. Here's a pic: Report back. I'd like to be proven wrong on Guadalajara's food the next time I'm down there. I only ate Mexican, btw. But I wasn't there for an extended time.

Went to the summer loaf the other day before heading out to Cannon Beach. Took a decent number of pictures. My blog entry is now up (man, I'm behind): http://www.extramsg.com/modules.php?name=N...=article&sid=22 I say in my blog entry that La Provence of Lake Oswego was the star. Has anyone been there? Also, I had some terrible sorbet at Staccato. I'd only had gelato before. Is that typical? Anyone know if Guanaja is going to continue to be at the market? Did you get your legs licked by all the frickin' dogs, too? (All Dogs Can Go To Hell!)

420, dude. Speaking of which....My mom's boyfriend when I was growing up grew it betwixt the corn in our garden. I blame him for my girth. I just couldn't stop munching that corn....Luckily, though, the hanging pot plants in our extra bedroom and the repulsive smell has kept me from drugs ever since. Back to curry: why do pot-smoking hippies smell like curry?

Trying to get more comprehensive still in my Portland BBQ experiences. Hit Doris' today with duckduck. She got the rib combo and I got the pork ribs. I probably should have got something else so we could try more stuff. Well, their pork ribs are not good. They're big, but dry, not tender, and difficult to eat at times. They might be as bad as those at Big Daddy's. Luckily, my companion remembered that one of their ribs was good and one was bad, so she got the combo. The beef ribs are much, much better. They were falling off the bone tender and moist, the sinews nicely lubricated. I don't know how smoky the meat actually was since I forgot to ask for sauce on the side. I so much prefer sauce on the side. There was a little bit of a smoke ring on the pork ribs, though. But the beef ribs could have easily been braised instead of smoked. Either way they were still good. The sides were okay, nothing special, and the sweet potato pie was okay, but nothing special either. The people were very nice and it's a pleasant little place with a patio out front. Prices are okay. Lunches come with one side while dinners come with two. Most lunches are $7.25 to $8.25 and most dinners are about $3 more. I hope you get more meat at that price. I assume you do. They serve lunch until 4 pm. They have a specialty of the house I'd like to try: oxtails. If their beef ribs are any indication, they should be good. You can also order ala cart. $10.50 for a half slab of ribs. $18.50 for a full slab. They also have catfish, fried chicken, and some other stuff. I'd like to try Tropicana and Clay's next, though it may be a while. Also, there's a place off the same exit as the Berry Empire, Rob's or something -- just a little cart -- that's never been open when I drive by. Anyone try it? I think that might be the Aurora exit. Anywhere else? Here's what I've tried (* by my favs): *LOW, *Campbell's, *Yam Yam's (as much for the buffet as anything), Cannon's, Russell Street, Reo's, Doris's, Buster's, Big Daddy's.

PS. Recently on Craigslist, I commented that these would be my choices if I had 9 meals left in Portland: * Pambiche: the oxtails or the ropas viejas and dessert * Tortilleria y Tienda de Leon: The nopales stew and the bright orange and bright green salsas * LOW BBQ: The lamb ribs at the Portland Farmer's Market or the brisket * Karam: The falafel * Curry Leaf: Malabar chilli chicken or a cabbage-mustard seed dish (I'm bad with Indian food names) * Pho Van: Banana blossom salad * Cha Ba: Po pia sod or green curry with beef * Tabla: Braised short ribs * Andina: Ceviche and the free rolls And I'd be surprised if you spent over $10 for more than one of these entrees.

So, K, you came down from Seattle to Portland to go to El Gaucho for your anniversary.

There are two curry plants: http://www-ang.kfunigraz.ac.at/~katzer/eng...l?Murr_koe.html I've grown the herb with great success here in the NW. I think it has a somewhat curryish aroma, but not near the intensity or the interest of the curry leaves. btw, I used to think the curry plant in my herb garden was the same as the curry plant that Indians use until Trillium let me know here on eGullet. I just thought mine needed to grow up to get the big leaves.....

No, Park Kitchen is on the north park blocks and is so much better than Southpark, though I never ate there 5 years ago. http://www.parkkitchen.com/

The last time I was in Chicago -- or was it Dallas -- I made the mistake of buying smoked asafetida and tried to bring it back in my bag. Man, everything stunk like asafetida afterwards.

We don't really do innovative. But try Park Kitchen and clarklewis. Also Hurley's. You may also want to look at Caprial's, Fife, Tabla, Casanis, Bluehour, among others.

Remember, us Portlanders often have restaurants named the same. We have a Gypsy, eg. It's just three extra presses to put an SEA in the title......

More than its flavor, I suspect it's losing its aroma. I can't imagine that maintains very well in canning. I've never noticed commercial salsas with the fresh, wonderful flavor of cilantro added before service.

Though it's worth noting, Suzanne, that you only ate at one place with entrees over $20. I've never denied that Portland doesn't have "professional" service. I've lamented the fact, also, that Portland doesn't have any haute dining. But you get what you pay for and in Portland you don't pay much. I also think it's largely stylistic. Portlanders and their servers are more laid back than in many other places. The things that are most important to me -- not long waits for dishes, not long waits when you have reservations, keeping my drink full, pleasantness -- are all handled as well as I've experienced in other cities or better at the same price point. Of course, at places like Charlie Trotter's or The French Laundry I got vastly better service. (Though I did have to wait to be seated at Trotter's for a half hour, but they more than made up for it.) Not only did they handle all the basics impeccably, but I couldn't stump them with questions about the dishes and they handled lots of little things. But then, as I mentioned about SF, I got good "professional" service except that they failed on many of the basics, most commonly *huge* waits between courses. I guess what I'm really saying is that when someone says that this or that place has bad service, they need to expand on that declaration. So often it's more about priorities and what one privileges.

Is cajun what you're looking for?

I just made about 3 qts of coq au vin using Mastering the Art as my template. Gonna be gone for 2 weeks and my wife needs to eat. It'll be served over mashed potatoes and frozen in gladware. It ain't pretty, but it is pretty tasty.

If you like Thai food, Eugene has two interesting, and very different, options, that I often go to when I'm down there. (Grew up just outside of Eugene: Go Elmira Falcons!) Anyway, they're Chao Pra Ya and Ring of Fire. Chao Pra Ya is more traditional and cheaper. I think I've liked everything I've had there. Ring of Fire is more like our Typhoon up here, more suited to the American palate. But their preparations are impeccable. And they have an awesome dessert and people seem to really like the bar. The dessert consists of fried bananas with honey and coconut ice cream. I've had similar things at other places, but this is by far the best one I've had. The only comparable place was Abacus in Dallas, but that's a **** fine-dining restaurant. My friend and I usually go to Chao Pra Ya for food and Ring of Fire for dessert now. But my wife prefers Ring of Fire. And their yellow curry with apples is something I've craved before. Sweet, but in a good way. I also go to Priya Indian over in Santa Clara area, I think. If the buffet is busy, then it's usually pretty decent, but I prefer to go in the evening and order. For Portland, check out these threads: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=48378 http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=41040 If you have something specific you're looking for in Portland, it'd be easier to recommend.

I have a few pics from a place on the Big Island below. If you look at the one with the guy and all the syrup bottles hanging that will show you how many flavors they do, probably 50 or more. In Hawaii, tropical flavors are king (eg, passion fruit, coconut, mango, etc): http://www.extramsg.com/modules.php?set_al...lbum.php&page=6 Here's one that I didn't put on my site, but shows the massiveness. This one has a scoop of ice cream in the middle:

planojim, it is getting a little late for cherries now. Our weather (first two weeks in July) was more uneven than in the past. We had some nice days, but also some lousy days. We used to go more in the late summer, like you, and we always seemed to get a day or two of bad weather. But often it would be so hot and muggy you couldn't sleep at night. (The houses we stay in are 75 years old, so they don't have AC.) The most annoying thing this year were the biting flies. Never noticed them before. Also, had never seen leeches in the water before, but we saw several this year. On Oregon vs. Michigan: Oregon has better cherries, but Michigan has better strawberries. I do wonder why there aren't more places like Bortell's, but fish seemed easy enough to find, just not as emphasized as I would hope.

Probably likely. Most perceptions are molded and actually hard-wired to some degree pretty early from most of the pop-science I've read. But then again, kids have much more sensitivity to such things usually, so maybe they have to be endeared to it over time, too, and it's just the culture/tradition that requires most to come to a love of fishiness. What's weird, though, is that when you watch an episode of Iron Chef, the tasters often give kudos to the chef for his ability to mask or reduce the fishy flavor using this or that technique. Take someone like Scott -- DFW, though. When I met him, his palate was very narrow. It's grown enormously in the last couple years, to his credit. People can learn to like all kinds of things that they once thought were gross or bad, even pain, as the S&M crowd or the crazies who get their Thai food at maximum heat prove every day.

Both City Market and Pastaworks have their grocery items supplied by Pastaworks, I'm pretty sure. Pastaworks on Hawthorne usually has a slightly bigger selection, I think. You'll also want to hit the gourmet grocers, the premiere one being, imo, New Seasons (a local chain). There's also a Whole Foods, Zupan's (another local chain), and Wild Oats (formerly a local chain). This page by a friend has a couple other suggestions, including: But I've never been.

I'm the same way, fifi, despite having grown up in the PNW with tons of fresh salmon, trout, steelhead, and crab. I'm just starting to be able to stand some fish and have never been able to handle salmon. I recently did a dinner at a Japanese restaurant with other Chowhounders and eGers where we just let the chef give us what he thought was best. Very interesting stuff, but most of it just didn't fit my palate at all. Japanese, I think, is the most difficult for the American palate. But I consider that a problem with myself, a character or palate flaw. Japanese and other Asians often like chewy and jellied items more than us, too. eg, we had a fishy custard that was just too different for me. But I could see that the texture and everything was nice and I could see that it worked for what they were doing, but... Again, I see it as a problem with my palate being too narrow to enjoy something that another country and culture thinks is great.

I'm way behind on my blog, but finally put up my report on the Division/Clinton street fair. The coolest (literally and figuratively) thing there was the Pix Ice Cream Social. Wow! Definitely check out my pics. There's a link to the photo albums in this link to the full entry: http://www.extramsg.com/modules.php?name=N...=article&sid=20 Here's what I wrote in my blog, though, about the ice cream social: